Flour Tortillas

My Granny Case used to make flour tortillas and cook them directly on the coiled burner on her stove. They're yummy with all the little browned spots...mmmm! My favorite way to eat fresh tortillas is hot off the stove with a little butter.
Tortillas are traditionally made on a Mexican comal, a cast iron plate. If you do not have a comal, a large cast iron skillet or griddle works well, or even an electric griddle can be used when heated up to 400 to 450 degrees F.

Flour Tortillas
3 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 to 6 tablespoons lard or vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cups warm water (approximate)
In a large bowl, blend the flour, baking powder, and salt together. With a pastry cutter (unless you are one of those, like my teachers, who always used their hands) cut in the lard or shortening. You want these ingredients to cling together slightly and hold a form when squeezed in your hands.

If the mixture crumbles, you do not have the shortening mixed in well or have too little (if it makes a hard clump them you need more flour and less shortening).
Add the water all at once and mix the dough quickly with a fork or by hand until the dough forms a mass. Work it in the bowl, moving it around the sides to pick up any flour remaining in the bowl.

Knead the dough by folding it in half, pushing it down, and folding again. It should take about a dozen folds to form soft dough that is no longer sticky.

Cover the dough with a towel or plastic wrap to let it rest for about 5 to 10 minutes while your pan is heating. Allowing the dough to rest lets any of the liquid absorb into the flour, which will give you a softer tortilla after cooking.

Take your ball of dough and begin pinching off 1-inch diameter balls. Knead each of these into a tight ball by folding them over with your fingers, turning and repeating until it is shaped like a fat disk. Place it to one side of the mixing bowl and continue to do this until you have used all of the dough.

Before rolling out the tortillas, allow the dough balls to rest at least 10 minutes. This will permit the gluten to relax and make them much easier to shape and roll.

On a lightly floured surface take one of the dough balls and begin to roll it out. To keep a somewhat round shape, roll one directions, make a 1/4 turn and roll again, make another 1/4 turn and roll. Continue to roll and turn until you the dough is about 1/8-inch thick and 8 to 10 inches in diameter.

NOTE: You can roll them thinner or thicker, if you like. Just remember to adjust the cooking time for how thick they are rolled.

Heat your pan over medium to medium-high heat until drops of water “dance” when dropped on the surface. You might have to increase or decrease the heat after you cook your first tortilla, but you should be able to tell if the tortilla is cooking too fast on the outside and still raw on the inside, or increase it if your tortilla is taking more than 30 seconds to begin to “puff” when placed on the comal.

Place the raw tortilla on the preheated pan and allow it to cook until it begins to puff up with air pockets, turn carefully since not only is the pan hot, the tortilla is hot and the air pockets may release steam that can burn. Each side should cook about 30 seconds, leaving the tortilla puffy. Press on a center part of the tortilla slightly to be certain the inside is cooked. If it looks as though it has compressed down and is a darker color, your dough is not cooked in the center and will need to be returned to the pan. As you pull the tortillas off the pan, place them inside a clean folded towel or a tortilla warmer to rest.
Makes approximately 2 dozen tortillas

Notes on cooking tortillas:
When you're skilled at making tortillas, you can roll the next tortilla while the previous is cooking. Unless you feel very comfortable doing this, I would recommend either having someone else flip the tortillas and pull them off the pan, or wait until the present tortilla is cooked before starting to roll a new one. You will find that tortillas can cook very quickly (approximately 1 minute), and they can burn very quickly! If you are using a cast iron pan, and the tortilla burns, you will need to scrape off the char and use a damp rag to wipe down your pan before continuing to cook. The flavor of one burnt tortilla can ruin the remainder of the batch.

Storing fresh-made tortillas:
The tortillas can be placed in bags or containers and kept for several days in the refrigerator. Don't freeze cooked tortillas.

FREEZE:
The dough may be frozen. After making dough balls, place on a cookie sheet in the freezer until frozen solid. Move to a ziptop freezer bag. Label and date. To thaw: Place dough in the refrigerator until thawed. Cook as directed.