I love tortillas. They’re a staple in my family’s pantry because they’re inexpensive, portable and a great way to use up leftovers.  I mean have you ever had a warm tortilla filled with leftover heated mashed potatoes, sautéed mushrooms and a sprinkling of blue cheese? Its heaven deliciously wrapped up. A few months back I was reading an article on making your own tortillas. It intrigued me. I also discovered that tortillas are healthier than I thought.  Here are some interesting statistics from the Tortilla Industry Association: Flour Tortillas:

• Are a low-fat food.
• Contain iron & other B vitamins.
• A flour tortilla averages 115 calories and 2-3 grams of fat per serving.

Corn Tortillas:

• Are a low-fat, low-sodium food.
• Contain calcium, potassium and fiber. I recommend organic corn masa whenever possible.
• A corn tortilla averages 60 calories with 1 gram of fat per serving.
• Corn is gluten-free. This makes for a great alternative to bread for those with gluten allergies.

After seeing how easy they are to make and that they wouldn’t kill my daily calorie count I figured I needed to own one.  I waved my magical purchasing wand and Wa-lah! We are now carrying a quality tortilla press at Greenfeet.com.

Soon after we added our heavy duty tortilla press to the Greenfeet product lineup (3,000 products and going strong) I was chatting with my mother in law one night and she wanted to learn how to make them too. So I gave her a tortilla press and we made them that week.  

While they didn’t turn out perfectly round they sure turned out tasty. Here are the steps we used to make corn tortillas. We used the recipe off of the bag of Masa Harina we picked up at a local Mexican market.  See our recipe section of this blog for a flour tortilla recipe. Keep in mind that practice may make tastier tortillas but not always perfect ones. But isn’t that the beauty of homemade?

Before the tortilla pressing begins, you’ll want to make your dough balls and refrigerate them according to the recipe’s instructions. When it’s time to start pressing, I recommend taking them out in small batches and keeping them covered. This prevents them from drying out which results in crappy tortillas. Well, it’s the truth.

Step 1: Place tortilla press on a flat surface (with plenty of work room) and open.

Step 2: Remove your balls from the fridge (hmm- should I have added the word dough in there?).

Step 3: Place wax paper on bottom of press (or you can use a gallon size freezer bag cut in half along the seams) and place a single dough ball in the center of the press.

Step 4: Place wax paper on the top of the dough ball.

Step 5: Close press firm and steady

Step 6: Open press and carefully remove wax paper. If tortilla crumbles or splits, reform dough ball with wet fingers, stick in the fridge and move on.

Step 7: Place tortilla on heated grill. Cook according to recipe instructions (usually just a few minutes per side at most)

Step 8: Keep in mind not all tortillas are perfect and the misshapen ones make outstanding tortilla chips, quesadilla’s, enchiladas or tostada shells.

See how easy it is? Grab your own tortilla press at Greenfeet and get started. Oh, and post a comment with your fave recipes!.

Tags: corn tortilla, flour tortilla, homemade mexican tortillas, tortilla, tortilla press

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 20th, 2009 at 6:59 pm and is filed under Green Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.