Friday, February 15, 2013

gluten tortillas








For Heather, who requested my recipe! It's from The Joy of Cooking, I believe (long since copied into my notebook).

2 c glutinous flour (wheat, kamut, spelt, rye...)
1 tsp baking power
1 tsp salt
1/4 c lard (home-rendered, like from the drip tray of a Foreman grill or similar, not Crisco!), butter, or coconut oil, in order of preferability
3/4 c hot water

Sift dry ingredients, then work in lard as you would for pastry. Add hot water, mix, then knead 4-6 minutes by hand or machine. Let rest 20 minutes. Preheat cast iron pan (or whatever you have) over medium-low heat (I use one setting below medium). Divide into 8-12 balls (depending on size desired).  Roll them out on a floured surface, one at a time. Cook about a minute on the first side, till the pockets of air have been growing rapidly for about 5 seconds (the expansion of these pockets starts slow, with small, slow bubbles, then gets rapid; we are watching rapid action), then flip. Cook the second side about 10-20 seconds. Each side should have a handful of light brownish spots. Transfer to a large plate and cover with a cloth, stacking each on top of the other as you go. Once all cooked, seal in a Ziploc bag. Note that if you let them sit out they will get hard; to be flexible they must maintain moisture, which is why you trap them while hot under a cloth and why you must put them in plastic (or use a beeswax cloth!). Note also that this process does not work for gluten-free tortillas, like corn tortillas, which must be made with a tortilla press (no, I don't own one, yes, it's on my amazon wishlist, teeheehee!) - rolling does not work with gluten-free doughs unless you have certain extras like eggs, or xanthan gum, and even then it's usually very delicate business!

I make these often for taco night, when I just make myself taco salad (eg taco fixins in a bowl with no bread). Ambrose also loves them as a snack.

There you are, Heather! Sooo much cheaper than buying them! ;)

2 comments:

  1. Looks delicious. How long do they keep in the fridge?

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    1. Hmm maybe a week? I usually freeze them and defrost as needed.

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