Homemade Tortillas

Being a native New Mexican, I know a thing or two about tortillas. Growing up, I thought every grocery store in the world carried tortillas. I realize now that I have taken their doughy flat goodness for granted. My life really wouldn't be complete without them. So in preparation for our move to Hungary, I made a batch of homemade tortillas yesterday. I'm going to have to make a batch or so every week in Hungary, so I better get in my practice now! Here's how I did it:

Flour Tortillas

3 cups white flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt (I used Kosher for my sister's low-iodine diet)

5 tbsp vegetable shortening

1 1/4 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Add shortening and knead in with hands. Next add the warm water a little at a time until the dough is soft, not sticky. Knead the dough for a few minutes. Pull off small pieces of the dough to form 12 small balls. Let dough rest for 10 minutes. Heat up nonstick pan over medium heat. Roll out the balls into tortillas on a floured surface. Heat in pan until bubbles form, then flip. They cook up very quickly, only a few seconds on each side.

Dough after kneading, ready for forming. I made a double batch.

After forming 24 small dough balls (Remember I made a double batch). The dough is resting now. Shh...

Rolling out the dough into tortillas. My mom had a tortilla-specific rolling pin that I used.

The aforementioned bubbles. I ended up cooking one in a pan and one straight on the electric burner because I had so many to make. See those finished ones on the plate? You want those little black burn marks. That's what tortillas are all about.

Et Voila. Finished Tortillas. mmm.. I could definately do this every week in Central Europe. Maybe I can bring them to my coworkers and start a tortilla-induced riot? Yeah, I bet I could...