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Title: Tortilla Dough/corn Tortillas
Categories: Mexican Bread
Yield: 1 Servings
2 | lb | Corn kernels and boil in 4 quarts water over a high heat. As |
HOW TO MAKE CORN TORTILLAS: To make tortillas, you need a clay or metal griddle or, failing that, a frying pan. If the dough has been resting for some time, you will have to knead it again to make it smooth and pliable. Form small balls of dough that fit into the palm of your hand, pat each one between your palms, moving it from one to the other until it forms a very thin pancake. If the dough tears, patch the break and stick it down with moistened fingers. Cook on the griddle turning once. When ready, the tortillas should puff up, although this is not always so. To check if done, lift gently; if the tortilla sticks to the griddle, it is not completely cooked. To keep warm, wrap in a napkin and place in a chiquihuite, jicara or other container. As the tortillas tend to sweat, after a few minutes unwrap the napking and separate them to avoid sticking, then wrap up again. If freshly made tortillas are not eaten the same day, wrap them in a napkin, then a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator. In this way, they can be successfully reheated. Tortillas need never go to waste. If you wish, place them in the sun immediately to dry and put in a paper bag. They can then be used later for making tortilla crumbs, chilaquiles, tostadas or other dishes. Tortillas vary considerably in size but are generally preferred small and very thin for making tacos. In Oaxaca, tortillas are much bigger -- as much as 6, 12 or 15 inches in diameter -- and are, incredibly, made by and in the same way. Tortillas can be soft or crisp; the dough used is the same but the method of cooking is different. To make crisp tortillas, instead of a griddle, a deep bottomless (??) pot with sloping sides is used to receive the heat directly. The tortillas are slapped on the outside of the pot and turned once. [I read this as you cook the tortillas on the bottom of an iron pot turned upside down.]
Recipe from "Traditional Mexican Cooking" (sub: and its best recipes) By Adela Fernandez (Cookbook purchased in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico)
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