Flour Tortillas

TGIM loves a good corn torilla, so I learned how to make them.  He's a lucky man isn't he?  ha ha ha.  Personally, I would much rather have a flour tortilla.  I love a good thick, chewy flour tortilla.  Honestly, so does TGIM.  On the rare occasion when he's home AND inside while I'm making them it goes something like this.  Cook tortilla, TGIM eats tortilla.  Cook 2nd tortilla, put in warmer.  Cook 3rd tortilla, TGIM eats it.  Cook 4th tortilla, put in warmer.  This will pretty much go on until I start screaming at him and brandishing my rolling pin as a weapon.  The thing is crazy heavy and TGIM's is a little scared that I might do some damage if I manage to connect.  What he doesn't realize is that with the astronomical price I paid for it (I was at a Vendor Fair and it's hand made in my town from wood from 4 continents, it's magnificent) I would never actually harm it.

Flour Tortillas from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

 Here's what you need - flour, oil, salt, baking powder and milk. 

 Add 2 cups flour to your bowl

 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

 1 tsp salt

 give that a mix

 now drizzle 2 tsp oil over the flour mixture

 like this.  Don't dump it all in one spot.

 give that a mix too.

 The recipe calls for either milk or water but when you use milk, magic happens.

 Mix that up into a sticky dough.

 Then turn it to your floured counter to knead

 knead it for a few minutes.  It should feel like the tip of your ear.

 and form a nice ball

 cover it with plastic wrap and let it set for 30 minutes to relax the gluten

 if you don't have one of these Terra Cotta warmers, go to White Sands National Monument and get one!  Just kidding, you can get them anywhere.  You put it in your hot oven for 15 minutes and then in the bottom of your basket to keep the tortillas warm.

 Divide the dough into 8 pieces.  What I do is divide the dough in half (top left).  Then take 1 half the dough (top right) and divide that in half (bottom).  If you do it that way, you should end up with 8 equal sized pieces of dough.

 roll it into a little ball and then place on your floured counter and roll out until about 1/4 inch thick. 

 You know they're homemade when they're not a perfect circle.

 it's thin and pliable.  Place it on your cast iron skillet or comal

 You can see how it's puffing up.  After about 40 seconds, flip it over

 Cook the 2nd side for 30 - 60 seconds.

 Put them in your basket or plate (my warmer is under the towel) and serve warm

If it looks like this, your comal is too hot.

Red Chile Sauce aka Chile Colorado

TGIM was on a special project for his job and it took us to Las Cruces, New Mexico for about a year.  Chile's are serious business in New Mexico and New Mexico Mexican cooking is different than other regions.  Personally, it's my favorite way to eat Mexican.  There is a very heavy chile influence, perfect for the chile lover that I am.     I could ramble on for hours about chiles, the different types of chiles, debate the use of the word chile  vs  chili (quick difference is that chile is a sauce made from either red or green chiles and chili is a stew with meat and and beans)  Traditionally you never NEVER put tomatoes in your red chile sauce.  I mean NEVER!!!!!!!!  If you can't handle the heat of the chile, try a dollop of sour cream on your dish to help smooth out the heat.

Here's a quick and easy red chile sauce.  It's so stinking easy and good that you'll never buy that canned stuff again.  Of course you shouldn't eat canned food because there's all that bpa in the linings of the cans, again another post.

 You're going to need some dried chiles.  These are California Chiles.  You can also use guajillo (wa-Hee-yo) chiles.  This was a 16 oz bag and I used half for a "double" batch.  Red Chile sauce freezes well so go ahead and do the whole thing if it suits you.

 Put them in a pot or a metal bowl and cover them with boiling water to soften. 

 Make sure you get them all in the water.  You want them soft and pliable.  It takes about 10 minutes.

 The rest of the stuff.... garlic, cumin and salt

 After your chiles are soft, pull out the stem and seeds.  You don't have to get them all but the majority of the heat is in the seeds. 

 toss them in the blender

 Add 2 cloves of garlic

 a tsp of salt

 and a tsp of cumin

 cover with 2 1/2 cups of water.

 blend until smooth.  There are still going to be little chunks of skin and seeds.  Don't worry.

 because you're going to strain them out. 

 Pour the sauce into a strainer over a pot.  I used a glass dish so you could see. 

 You're going to need to work it a bit to get all the liquid out.

 You should end up with something like this, some skin and seed.  Toss that into your compost or trash.

After you get all the sauce strained and into the pot (you may need to strain it in batches if you have a lot) bring it to a boil and then turn off the heat.  That my friends is it.  You're done.

Now you have your basic red chile sauce.  You can make enchiladas, carne adovado (marinated roast pork), chile colorado or anything that calls for red sauce.