Homemade tortillas

I've made a lot of poor decisions at the grocery store, but I don't think I've ever made a purchase as ill-considered as that package of 50 rubbery tortillas we bought for $3. At the time I think our reasoning was, "50 tortillas for $3?! How can we go wrong?" Although looking back on it, we should have said, "50 tortillas for $3?! How could that possibly be good?" In the end, they were so inedible that Ben had to throw them away when I wasn't looking (because I can't bear to see food wasted). We've now learned our lesson and always make our own tortillas.[Edited to add: Ben thinks it was 100 tortillas in the pack. Even worse.]

Easy peasy recipe:

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon shortening
3/4 C water

Stir together dry ingredients. Fold in water to slowly wet the dry ingredients then mix until dough forms a shaggy ball. Tear off a small portion; I'll take a ball of dough slightly larger than a golf ball, but it depends on how big you want your tortilla to be. Roll dough on floured surface so that it's round-ish and flat-ish. Fry in a lightly-oiled pan on high heat. Cook until both sides are slightly browned.

Hurray! The tortillas we make aren't always pretty (notice the lack of picture) but they are always delicious. We're still perfecting our technique here (Joel, when are you going to give your master class?), so look forward to updates on our progress. Some day I might even make a round tortilla, who knows?

In the meantime, check out our earlier posts to find foods to stuff into your own delicious homemade tortillas. May I recommend huevos rancheros, black bean tacos, and even falafel?

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Have you, darling reader, also noticed that I am the only one who posts here anymore? The reason for that is that Ben is very busy doing important things. Right now he's playing with the cat. But that's not all he does, sometimes he has to nap with the cat.