So yesterday, I decided I wanted to make some homemade flour tortillas for dinner. I then set off to find a recipe. A friend of mine, Liz sent me hers and I found THIS one on Homesick Texan.
I couldn't decide which to make so I decided to do both and hubby (the mexican food lover) and I would weigh in.
Recipe 1-Liz's
Ingredients
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons lard, butter, canola or other neutral oil
about 1/2 C warm water, plus more as needed.
Recipe 2
Ingredients
Texas Flour Tortillas (adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)
Ingredients:
Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk
Here is how it went.
First in my Kitchen aid stand mixer I put the ingredients for recipe #1, let it form into a ball and knead for a few minutes until it was somewhat elastic-y (nope, that isn't a word but I am going to use it)
I put the dough ball into a bowl (the blue one).
Then I repeated this process with the ingredients for recipe #2. That went into the silver bowl.
I covered them both with a towel and let rest for a good 30ish minutes (it should be at least 20).
Then I took the dough ball out onto a floured surface and decided that they felt like the needed more kneading (that's a mouthful!) I kneaded both balls until they were where I thought they should be.
Then I separated them into 8 pieces each and placed them on a plate and covered with a towel to rest again for another 20ish minutes (should be at least 10). I put the plates on their corresponding bowls just to keep them straight. As you can see Recipe #2 has larger dough balls because it had more flour- though both recipes said they made 8, so that is what I stuck to.
After they had rested I started with the blue bowl because they had been first all along and I wanted to be fair with resting time.
I took one ball at a time and took it into my hands, starting in the middle I pressed it into an evenly flat disc and placed it on a floured surface. Then I flattened the rest of the way making it as even as possible.
I had Recipe #2 in the lead, because it had felt better while kneading. After rolling I started to think perhaps they were about even and maybe #1 had a slight edge because it rolled out nicer.
At this point I heated a non-stick skillet (because I don't have a cast-iron one, but if you are cooler than I am use that) and I heated it over medium/medium-high heat (I found a 7 on my stove worked well).
I cooked 1 tortilla from #1 - for about 1.5-2 minutes on each side (I flipped the first time when nice bubbles started to appear)- I then tore off 1/4 for myself and 1/4 for hubby- took it to him and interrupted his practice time at the piano and had him try it. He said they were great!
So I went back and cooked 1 tortilla from #2- same thing about 1.5-2 minutes each side (this one didn't show bubbles)
I then interrupted hubby again and said ok tell me which one you like better. He said he didn't really notice a difference so I brought him another piece of #1 and had him compare that way.
His thoughts (and I came to similar conclusions)
#1- thinner and not as chewy
#2- thicker, a little softer and chewy
He chose #1 as did I. We had some vegetarian taco's for dinner with these. They were great!
#2 was very good as well- they tasted almost exactly the same but the thickness of the 2nd tortilla made it kind of bready (which made it great for eating with some butter later (yum) ) but for mexican food we liked the thinner variety.
As you can see #1 looks thinner and a little more crispy whereas #2 looks thicker, softer and more bready.
You can keep these stored in a plastic bag or tinfoil for a few days in the fridge.
Depending on your "likes" for Mexican food either tortilla is a good option but in our house we will definitely make #1 again!
Have a great day and God Bless!
You can keep these stored in a plastic bag or tinfoil for a few days in the fridge.
Depending on your "likes" for Mexican food either tortilla is a good option but in our house we will definitely make #1 again!
Have a great day and God Bless!
I made tortillas once with my college roomy who was from El Saldador. We used Masa. They were thick though, more for dipping and eating as a side. And we filled some with cheese! I like that you made both for comparison!
ReplyDelete