Chef Johns Corn Tortillas Recipes

Steps:

• Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Add vegetable shortening and work into flour mixture using a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs.
• Form a well in the middle of flour mixture and mix in hot water. Work flour and water mixture together with a fork and transfer to a cutting board.
• Knead until a smooth, soft dough is formed, about 3 minutes. Add more flour if dough is too sticky.
• Place more flour on cutting board, cover dough with bowl, and let rest for 15 minutes.
• Cut ball of dough into eight equal parts and cover until needed.
• Roll out balls of dough either by hand or with a tortilla press.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place flattened tortilla in skillet and cook until it begins to bubble, about 1 minute. Flip tortilla over and cook for an additional minute. Flip again and cook for 1 more minute. Repeat with remaining dough.

Steps:

• Add masa harina to a large bowl. Sprinkle in salt and add hot tap water. Stir mixture with your fingers until dough starts to pull together.
• Knead for a few minutes to smooth it out until texture resembles modeling clay or putty. Add more water if dough is too dry and more flour if too wet.
• Place a damp towel and over the dough to keep it from drying out. Let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Cut a zip-top bag into 2 rounds the same size as your tortilla press. Place 1 round on the bottom of the press.
• Place a clean kitchen towel over a pie dish for holding the cooked tortillas later.
• Pull off a little piece of the dough, enough to roll into a 1 1/2-inch or 1-ounce ball. Remove the top round of plastic, place dough ball in the center of the bottom round, and press down lightly. Cover dough with the top piece of plastic.
• Fold the tortilla press over, apply pressure to the lever arm until tortilla flattens to your desired thinness.
• Peel off the top piece of plastic. Line up the index finger of your dominant hand with the edge of the tortilla; flip it over into your other hand. Carefully peel off the plastic.
• Gently slide tortilla, palm-up, into a hot, dry pan over medium- to medium-high heat. Cook first side for 30 to 45 seconds. Turn over and cook second side for 1 minute. Flip and press once or twice with a spatula until tortilla puffs up slightly. Cook for 30 seconds more. Flip one last time and cook for 5 to 10 seconds.
• Quickly transfer tortilla to the pie dish and fold the towel over to wrap it up. Repeat pressing and cooking the rest of the tortilla dough, stacking and wrapping as you go.
• Leave the stack of tortillas wrapped until soft and supple, at least 15 minutes.

Steps:

• In large bowl combine all ingredients and stir until smooth. The dough should be slightly sticky and form a ball when pressed together. To test, flatten a small of dough between your palms. If the edges crack, add water to the dough, a tablespoon at a time, until a test piece does not crack. Divide the dough into 24 golf ball size pieces for tacos and 12 large balls for quesadillas. Place on a platter and cover with a damp towel. Line a tortilla press with 2 sheets of plastic cut from a plastic freezer bag or other heavy duty plastic bag. Heat a dry cast iron skillet, nonstick pan or comal until moderately hot. Flatten each ball of dough in the tortilla press, then remove the plastic from the top and, holding the tortilla with your fingertips, peel off the bottom sheet. Lay the tortillas one by one on the skillet and cook about 30 to 45 seconds per side, pressing the top of each tortilla with your fingertips to make it puff. Place the hot tortillas on a towel. When they are still warm but not hot, stack and wrap in a towel. Serve immediately or let cool, wrap well in plastic or a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator up to a week.

Steps:

• Mix dry ingredients together.
• Add Melted Butter.
• Add water slowly until the mixture resembles dough.
• Divide dough into balls, hand roll into golf ball sized dough balls.
• Roll out dough with rolling pin as thin as you can get it on a floured surface.
• Cook on a flat griddle at 300 F 1 min on each side, on a lightly buttered griddle until the tortilla is thin, soft, flexible, and a pale yellow color.
• a. color approximate based on preference.
• Tip 1: Tortilla should not be crispy like a chip, but flexible & soft, turn heat down until you reach a desired consistency. Also, you can reheat cooled tortillas in microwave to regain the flexibility if it becomes stiff.
• Tip 2: If using a large skillet on a range top stove, use Med to Med-High heat depending on range top, 1-2 min on each side until tortilla is soft, flexible, and a pale yellow color.
• a. Color approximate based on personal preference.
• Tip 3. Use a non-stick spatula or a large plastic slotted spatula to lift the rolled tortilla off the floured surface when transferring it to the griddle or skillet for cooking so that you don't accidently break the uncooked tortilla.

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl and form a dough.
• Take a handful of masa and make tortillas in your tortilla press.
• Cook on a teflon protected skillet or grill on both sides.