Homemade Corn Tortillas

Ken and I both love Mexican food and our favorite place to eat is up in Saranac Lake, NY - our former hometown. Casa del Sol has the best (and cheapest) Mexican food I have ever eaten. We almost always ordered the jalapeno crisp for appetizer and to this day it's one of our favorite snacks. I usually buy the flour tortillas in the local grocery store, shred some Monteray Jack cheese and slice up some jalapeno peppers. This time I decided to make my own corn tortillas using Masa Harina. Although not as good as using fresh masa which is made fresh from treated, soaked, ground field corn which is hard to find, Maseca brand Masa Harina (corn flour) is readily available in most grocery stores. The taste is different but delicious none the less. I followed the instructions on the Maseca Package but found the dough was too dry. They suggested using 2 cups of the corn flour and 1 1/4 cup of water which was not nearly enough. Afraid of making the dough too wet, I added water a teaspoon at a time but found I needed about 2 cups of water when all was said and done. The dough should not be "wet" but there should not be any crumbs and the dough should not crumble in your hands. See the following picture:

It takes a bit getting used to but fear not, you can always add water if it's too dry and masa if it's too wet. There are no other ingredients to worry about so just keep tweeking it until the dough feels right. I have a tortilla press and if you're planning on making your own tortillas, it's worth buying one. Mine is made of aluminum and doesn't work as well as I wish (cast iron would be ideal but the aluminum is way cheaper- I bought mine for less than $20). If you don't want to invest in one you can roll out the dough with a rolling pin however I don't recommend patting the dough by hand as this is a difficult technique and would need instruction as well as lots of practice. If you do use a press, it's fairly simple to operate if you use a plastic ziploc bag that has been cut down the two sides (leaving it attached only at the bottom). If you skip this step you will have the darndest time trying to get the flattened dough off the plate. Trust me- I learned the hard way. You can use plastic wrap but it's a real hassle to work with- the baggies are much better.

Tonight I purchased a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store to make things easy for myself and I shredded some Monteray Jack cheese and sliced some jalapenos. Ken and I ate our favorite quesadillas and jalapeno crisps tonight. It was like being back at Casa del Sol. Muy bien!

Using a large bowl add the 2 cups of corn flour (or more depending on how many tortillas you want) and 1 1/4 cup of warm water. Start with the recommended amount but you will almost certainly need more water. Mix with a rubber spatula in the bowl until the dough comes together. Let it sit for 5 minutes then work the dough with your hands. Divide into 12 - 16 pieces of equal size and roll into balls (they should be slightly larger than golf balls). Let sit on the counter or pastry board with a damp cloth covering them so they don't dry out.

Heat an ungreased skillet (I prefer my old cast iron pan) on medium-high heat. Place a ball on the bottom plate of a tortilla press between the plastic baggie. Close the top and press the lever as far as it will go. Open the press and lift the entire baggie and bring to the hot pan. Peel the flattened dough and slap onto the hot skillet. Cook for about 50 seconds on each side.

I cooked all of the tortillas and set them aside to cool. I re-heated them with the shredded cheese and either chicken or jalapeno slices on top until the cheese melted.

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