Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Tortillas and Tostadas, my 1st real attempt

I say my 1st real attempt, as I tried this once before .. using the wrong flour, actually I didn't even use flour I had tried it with yellow corn meal :) Halfway thru I gave up trying to get them right and turned the whole batch into nachos... thick crunchy nachos lol.   I had tried the corn meal after searching seven or so shops for some Corn Masa.    A couple months later,  I finally was able to get my hands on some , it came from Texas lol  ( Thanks Mom ) .

So , this time , armed with proper corn masa , and a new tortilla press I was determined to get it right. 
I actually followed the packages instructions .. which is incredibly rare for me :)  No extra flavours .. just simple tortillas  :)  You will need : 

2 cups of corn masa
1 1/4 cups of water
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup of sunflower oil

2 cups = 14 small shells

Mix in the water and salt , and start stirring

Roll them into golf ball sized balls, and arrange on a moist towel ( Helps keep them from drying out )


If you have a tortilla press great :) If not a rolling pin will work just fine.  I cut a gallon sized freezer bag down to size, so that the dough doesn't stick to the press.

Start pressing/ or rolling :)  Half way thru I had to lightly spray the plastic with a little olive oil as they had started to stick. 

After pressing them, and before dry pan frying them , keep them moist by using a damp tea towel :)

I know, not the nest pic...  but dry pan fry them for 45 seconds a side on medium heat , the little pieces that broke off i gave to the dogs . 

Dry pan frying is complete , these are ready to eat .

Just add your toppings and away you go :)  This one was just a sampler , as I really wanted crunch instead of soft.
 The next couple of steps will give you Tostadas instead :) Yummy, crunchy goodness !  You will need that 1/4 cup or so of sunflower oil now,  i used just enough to cover the bottom of my frying pan.

On medium - high heat, just give them a sizzle of both sides.  For lightly crispy , about 30 seconds a side is good..  I preferred the ones I did at a minute per side.

I kept these warm in the toaster oven (200F)  while I finished frying all the others.


 That is it !  Homemade tortillas and tostadas :) These ones tasted great, even though they were plain. So fresh compared to store bought.  Even still, next time i make them Ill be slipping some garlic and chili into them, maybe even quickly flavour the oil before frying them off .  This took less than a hour to finish ... and that was my first try. I'm thinking next time it should only take about 30 minutes.  Ill leave you with my finished dish :)  Free range beef , with peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic on homemade tostadas :) 
Happy Eating ,
Rich


3 comments:

  1. OMG Rich, I'm drooling. Just pass the hot sauce. :D I am really glad you posted such good pics. as I really needed those pics. to help me know what to do. Now to buy a tortilla maker.

    Hmmmm - a bit of cheese melted on top of the fried ones, a little hot sauce, a bottle of really good beer = Heaven! :D

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  2. Thank you Lindy :)
    LOL No hot sauce required :) There was 3 different hot peppers in the mix, and a little hot sauce was added to the beef while cooking :)

    Your snack ideas is great tho :) almost like a giant nacho :) lol

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  3. I came back so I could click "Drooling". LOL!!!

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