Corn Tortillas

Store bought corn tortillas can be dry and rubbery. There are little Mexican bakeries that sell fresh ones that are DIVINE, but I don't know of one close to my house. Besides, I like being self sufficient in cooking from scratch. Corn tortillas are simple--3 ingredients. I mix it up in my Bosch with wire whips in less than a minute. The dough will be very sticky, as the masa hydrates it will be a bit easier to work with, but you must, must, must use something non-stick in the flattening process. Plastic, wax paper or when heat is involved, parchment paper.



Hand rolling is time consuming, but takes only the most basic equipment--a rolling pin. A tortilla press is a better choice, they are fairly inexpensive (look at thrift stores) and make perfect tortillas with less effort. I use a flat bread maker by Villaware. The bottom iron gets hot, which prevents sticking, so I only have to use parchment on the top (which only gets warm). These are more pricey, but we it weekly for flatbreads with left over pizza and bread dough.



You will need to cook as you press because the raw dough sticks to almost everything (including spatulas). This is where chef hands can come in really handy. But if you are rolling or using a press there is no heat and once one side is cooked it will not be sticky and can be flipped easily with a spatula. Look even my three year old can do it! I love his concentration, follows by the smile of accomplishment. If you have kids, please cook with them. It is something they can use all their lives and builds a healthy relationship with food. Even as little as two and three can do things with supervision like cut a banana for their breakfast, grate cheese, roll meatballs, sprinkle salt, grind pepper, dump in pre-measured ingredients, stir a batter or just play with a piece of dough.

2 cups Maseca Corn Masa mix

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup water

Mix ingredients thoroughly, then separate the dough into 16 equally sized pieces and form each piece into slightly flat little balls. Cover with plastic wrap and rest 15 minutes. Heat skillet to 450 degrees. Press balls and cook immediately. Don't forget the parchment paper! Cook tortillas about 90 seconds per side. Keep warm in a clean kitchen towel until gobble time. Makes about 16.