Easy As Pie...

It wasn't until I traveled to New Mexico that I knew what a fresh flour tortilla tasted like, what a flour tortilla should taste like. They are soft and fluffy and delicious enough to eat on their own, nothing like we get here. I figured I would have to wait until we traveled back to New Mexico until I could experience a real flour tortilla again.

Then I remembered the cookbook I had picked up in Santa Fe, Seasons of Santa Fe. Flipping through it I noticed a recipe for flour tortillas. I had not even thought of making my own before. You must need special equipment, I thought. Special ingredients? I scanned through the recipe, nothing special about it. Could it be so simple?

And it was. If you can make pie dough you can make homemade flour tortillas. A few things I learned along the way. Don't over work the dough or you will end up with tough tortillas. I find it best to roll out a few tortillas at a time and cook them as you go. My electric griddle worked wonderfully to cook them because you can do more than one at a time. But any cast iron pan would work fine too.

To keep them warm wrap them in a clean kitchen towel. To reheat them wrap them in foil and put them in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes.

Use them to make soft tacos (one of our favorite meals) or fajitas. They are wonderful served warm and rolled up with a little butter to go along side a bowl of soup or chile. Also can cut them into wedges and fry them in some oil to make wonderful tortilla chips. Actually they can be served with just about anything.

Flour Tortillas

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1 cup warm water

sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in vegetable shortening with a fork or pastry blender until mixture is the texture of course meal. Add the water, pouring evenly over surface of dry ingredients. Mix until dough comes together in a ball. Let stand for 15 minutes, uncovered at room temp.

Shape the dough into 1 1/2" balls. Using a rolling pin roll each ball into a circle on a lightly floured board. The dough should be slightly thinner than pie crust. Cook tortillas in a lightly greased skillet until browned on both sides. Serve hot.