Make Clour, or is it florn, Tortillas and Skip the Flour and Corn Ones
Some folks like flour tortillas some like corn tortillas. – picky, picky, picky! I say make them both compromise so you only have to make one kind – half flour and half corn and cut your work in half.
I know you are saying ….hey Guedo! I can buy both at the some time right next to each other at the supermarket but buying tortillas is like eating dirt and expecting it to taste like puff pastry. Nothing tastes a good as a fresh made tortilla of either kind and they are so easy to make.
They are technically a dry fried, quick bread and people that buy bread at the store really scare Lucy to no end…and I can’t say what they do to me on this forum. You don’t need a tortilla press either and like Alton brown we hate uni-tasker gadgets.
So make some Clour tortillas and impress your friends with how ethnic you can be when pressed. It doesn’t hurt to make your own red and green salsas, refried beans, chicken chorizo carnitas mixed with red, green, Poblano and Hatch green chilis sauted until brown with onions and queso fresco either but - one step at time is way better than none at all when it comes to just about anything fresh.
Some of you might know already that Lucy isn’t a big fan of masa made for tortillas preferring the more medium grind of tamale masa instead. Why stock both when onewill do just fine for both – plus the chunkier grind just tastes better if you aren’t making your own from scratch or buying prepared masa at the Hispanic grocery.
Lucy isn’t much for plain white bread so you can guess her clour tortilla recipe isn’t simple and nearly tasteless like normal tortillas – even home made ones. But, you can take it from me, theses are way better even it a bit different. This recipe makes 12 decent sized clour tortillas.
1 C AP Flour
1 C corn masa
1 T of lard plus 1 tsp of bacon fat
1 tsp salt
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp each of: mixed chili powder, chipotle powder, smoked paprika
2 T of finely chopped Swiss chard
Mix the above in a bowl with a whisk and then cut in the fat with a pastry cutter.
Add 3/4 C of your best roasted chicken stock.
Stir with a spoon and then knead for 1 minute until smooth. Roll into a log and cut into 12 pieces. Roll out into thin circles using the slightest bit of AP bench flour.
Dry fry in a pan until both sides just start to brown in a few places. Store in a tortilla warmer and use immediate or wrap 4 at a time in plastic wrap and freeze for later - just yummy!
Comments
Those look great! I actually have a press but have never used it since I never made tortillas! You just gave me the perfect recipe to try.
Happy tortilla making!
\clour (or florn) tortillas on LI. If you want to make corn ir flour ones, just drop the masa or flour and doublle the other one. Want then to taste plain, then drop the spices and Swiss chard.
Happy tortilla making
You will be making some of the best Clour (or florn) tortillas on LI. If you want to make corn ir flour ones, just drop the masa or flour and doublle the other one. Want then to taste plain, then drop the spices and Swiss chard.
Happy tortilla making
dabrownman
Question - do they remain pliable so they can fold over (even after frozen and thawed) or do you have to cool/freeze them in the folded shape?
Dobie
ps - is there anything you don't excel at?
more pliable than the corn ones you make so these are half way in between not as pliable as flour and not as stiff as corn tortillas. I make a dozen at time and freeze then 4 to a pack in plastic wrap and then into a plastic bag with the lot of them. i just take them out 4 at a time and thaw them in the microwave. No matter what kind of tortilla you have, once they are room temperature, you have, to get the fat warm by grilling them, dry pan frying or microwaving to make them really pliable for forming any way you want. These fold over easy once warmed just a bit in the MW.- and they taste about 10 times better than plain flour or corn tortillas.
You are too kind. I haven't been able to change lead into gold, be a concert pianist or keep my hair from going gray but,now that I am retired, i don't do much of anything and little of it well - just like before i was retired :-)
Happy baking
Thanks for the info.
More questions - the salt is regular table salt, not Kosher, correct?
I have all ingredients in kitchen or garden except lard. I do have veg shortening. OK substitute?
I'm about to make a test batch for a 'build your own taco' night for 12-16 guests in 3 weeks. I think these will be a wonderful option to the store bought ones that will be provided.
As to excelling - while I haven't read everything you've posted on this forum, everytime I'm here I seem to bump into you at least a few times a day. You always seem to offer good information, ideas or recipes. I always seem to end up either agreeing with you, re-evaluating my beliefs or starting to fantasize a new recipe.
I don't know about lead to gold, but straw to gold is easy. Flax straw to linen (cloth or paper) sells for good gold. A concert pianist only gets to Carnegie Hall with Practice, Practice, Practice and to keep hair from going gray, do not engage in raising children or air traffic control (two very similar endeavours).
and shortening is a good sub for the lard. Sometimes I put some butter in for some of the fat too. If you have an electric skillet set it to 350 F and you can do more than one at a time,
You will love Lucy'e idea about colonizing Mars she posted today!
I took at least 2 flights somewhere a week for 30 years and that is what probably caused my gray hair and radiation sickness as well as a penchant for hating TSA people more than hell itself.. I know they are great people off work but I hate them anyway and the plane they flew in on:-)
Happy Florn making - your guests will love them as much as Lucy does!
Thanks for the quick response. I will do a mix of veg shortening and butter. The bacon fat is 'organic' - ooohh.
I brainfarted on the chard and picked some dinasour kale instead. I think I'll go with it. It's young, tender and somewhat sweet. I'm stepping all over your recipe, sorry.
Don't get me started on the TSA, cattle fencing civilians, stop & frisk or the military with machine guns in 'camouflage' uniforms that are only conspicuous and meant to intimidate the citizens on our city streets. They are all a waste of precious resources, I think (oops, no politics).
Can you please save me the search and just tell me who or what 'Lucy' is?
Baking Apprentice 2nd Class of 11 years. Here she is. She normally has long beautiful hair but had it cut off at the salon the other day,so i got mine cut off so she wouldn't feel naked and alone.:-)
Thank you so much.
I thought she might be a dog (or an oven), but might've been a human, and I certainly wouldn't want to make that mistake.
I've had a few dachshunds a long time ago. Good dogs, good raters.
'Baking Apprentice 2nd Class'; do I detect military, perhaps maritime background?
Don't tell Lucy she isn't human, Sadly, she is at least half as human as many people I know.....but perhaps I don't hang with the best of the lot too:-)
Happy Baking
I thought as much. Thank you for serving. Glad you got out alive.
I would never call even the lowest of lowlifes I know (those who spend far too much time swimming in the shallow end of the gene pool) a 'dog' because it would be insulting to the dogs.
who just wanted to kill,kill,kill the other day in Oregon. Killing unarmed college kids en mass for sport. just so people will know who you are for15 minutes, is way past being sick. May those poor souls RIP.
dabrownman -
Sorry to take so long to get back to you.
Not only in Oregon, but now, a few days later, another in Arizona.
I do think it is interesting that almost excusively, the perps are male.
I was rampently bullied, and thus, learned to bully. I gave as good as I got (and that is the sad part, for which I am very sorry).
Yet, those were also the years in which I learned to cook and bake.
dobie
Just too many sick people to keep track of it seems
Okay, this is officially on my to do list! As usual your food looks excellent too. I likely can't find Swiss chard here at this time of the year, but think some fresh cilantro might make for some tasty taco shells. Hmmmmm, dinner solved!
Happy baking! Ski
margin - something you can't do with Swiss Chard. A little bit, say 1 T of cilantro will do. Glad you liked the Florn post Ski - you will like the real thing better!
Happy Baking .
dabrownman - just a little update.
So I made a batch of florn tortillas, bastardized the recipe with kale instead of chard, and a shortening/butter mix rather than lard (what was on hand).
I rolled a few out and dry fried on a cast iron skillet and here's my review.
When I was putting in the cayenne pepper, I said to myself, 'ooh, that's too much' and while they were definetly on the spicey side for me, after eating them a half dozen times, I quite liked the heat. But I am gonna cut down on the cayenne a little bit next time.
I also learned that the cooking was rather exacting to maintain pliability. I ended up adding about double the fat content (and of course, in keeping with the tradition of bastardizing your recipe) using coconut oil. I think this was very helpful, pliability-wise.
I also deep-fried one and tho it was delicious, when not cooked to a crisp (to maintain pliability) was too fat laden for my diet.
For some reason I got out the KitchenAid stand mixer with the pasta rollers and had at it. I then cut out 5 1/2 inch rounds with a pot lid from the sheets. This worked rather well, altho they looked 'commercial' rather than 'homemade'.
Then, just playing around, I hard-sauted some mushrooms and ground them up in the CuisineArt with some fresh oregano, salt and pepper. I mixed that up with some homemade ricotta and store-bought mozzerella to make a filling for my 'Tortiolis' (ravioli's with the tortilla sheets being the wrapping).
I deep-fried these to a crisp, and I've gotta tell you, they were quite delicious.
So tomorrow I'll be making a double batch for saturday's 'Build your own Taco' party and of course some little Tortiolis for appetizers.
Thank you so much (and sorry to step all over your recipe). These are by far the best tortillas, etc, I've ever had.
dobie
saying that a 16th of a tsp would kill anyone though. Still, non Hispanics might have a problem with too much hot spice. All corn tortillas are not pliable at room temperature and prone to breaking if you try to fold them when cold - even half flour ones. Best to warm them up wrapped in warm kitchen towel and heated in an a microwave, dry fried in a skillet or warmed up on the grill to make them fordable. Make sure you keep then in a tortilla warmer after warmed up.
If you want them pliable at room temperature you will have use some kind of oil in the mix instead of lard or Crisco but then they won't be quite right and be oily. For enchiladas you would't have to warm them just dunk them in the enchilada sauce first.
These are great deep fried as chips or Chimichungas (invented at El Charo's in Tuscson) or taquitos, Glad you liked them and have a great time at your build your own taco party.
There is nothing worse than partially fried, oil laden tortillas or ones fried in oil that is not hot enough :-)
I've don the pasta maker thing but it just too much work that way. mecisan A
dabrownman
doohh.
Stepped on your recipe once again (this time, unintentionally). Somehow chipotle became cayenne during the trip from Man Land to the Kitchen. What a hoot. It really was good tho, and I am not one for overly 'hot, spicey' food.
I hear what you're saying about foldable and microwave. I did let one cool down from the skillet and then 'warmed up' in the microwave and it was pliable/foldable, so that's what I'm going to go with.
The pasta maker sheets that led to the 'tortiolis', while a bit of work, fried up nice and crisp (not at all greasy) and hot and melty cheese inside.
I also ran a few sheets thru the 'linguini' cutter of the pasta maker and deep fried them. Very good. Crisp, not greasy, etc.
All in all, even with all my mutations of your recipe, it is a very sound, flexible and inspirational one.
I thank you again and I'll let you know how it all turns out.
dobie
Cool thread, DA. Inspiring. Thanks for sharing pics of those lovely lovely tortillas.
for on of my all time my favorites - shawarma!
DAB:
These have been on my list since you posted them, but I just got around to making them . Took advantage of the 60-degree weather here in NH to grill some marinated, mexican-spiced-dry rubbed pork and pair it with arugula, chèvre, tomatoes and a hit of chipotle sauce. Pretty festive, no?
BobS
That sounds pretty damn fine. Chevre? Good idea. I will try it.
And yes, pretty weird winter so far in the North East, US. I mean, seventy and sweating with the windows open and the fans on, on Christmas day? How odd.
dbm
As long as this thread has been reinflamed, here's some feedback.
The last six discs I made way back then have been wrapped in plastic in the back of the cheese drawer for about 2 months now.
First, no mold, which surprised me.
Second, I took them out the other day and micro'd them for 30 seconds and they were perfectly pliable for tacos.
Made as a tostada, when bitten into, I was trying to understand the synergy of flavors from all the toppings we applied. What was it that brought new light to the flavors? Then it dawned on me that it was the shell itself that added that 'certain something'.
I am a fan for life (no matter how I might bastardize your recipe).
And I thank you again.
dobie
kept the mold at bay:-) I think recipes are just the starting point and they need to be tweaked to make them just right for you. My favorite way to warm up cold tortillas and make them perfectly pliable again is to warm them in the microwave in a just damp kitchen towel. You are most welcome dobie. These shells are very versatile and I' glad you like them.
dbm
Probably did keep the mold at bay. I actually made them three times. The second time, I corrected the cayenne/chipolte thing.
But I missed the heat, so the third time, I did a blend of both and for me, it was perfection. And those are the ones that lasted in the fridge (I guess about 2 and a half months). I still have 2 in there, just to see how long they will last.
I also have about six in the freezer, which I am pretty sure will be just fine. I like that I can make them and store them either way for the start of a quick meal now and then.
And the recipe is very versitale indeed.
Thanks again dbm, you always come thru.
Happy Holy.
dobie
They look delicious. I could eat those all day! We smoked a Mexican spiced pork butt the other day to make some green chili tomatillo, smoked carnitas tamales for Christmas. Used this recipe, replaced the flour with masa and upped the liquid to make it more spreadable.
Happy New Year!
the pasta sheeter and then through the linguine cutter and then boiled for 2 minutes as fresh pasta!