Restaurants Corn Tortillas Recipes

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Cut in the lard. Stir in the water. Mix to incorporate. The dough should be slightly wet. Form the dough into a smooth ball, cover with a towel and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 12 even pieces. Place a little water on the hands and form the dough into golf ball-size balls. Take 2 pieces of waxed paper or plastic wrap from a plastic bag and cut them to the shape of the surface of the tortilla press. Open the tortilla press and lay one piece of waxed paper on the press. Place the masa ball in the center. Place another piece of waxed paper over the masa ball. Gently close the press and press down, until the dough has spread to 6-inches in diameter.
• Heat a cast-iron griddle or a large nonstick skillet on high heat. Working with 1 tortilla at a time, hold a tortilla in your hand, carefully removing the wax paper on each side. Allow the tortilla to rest half on your hand, and half hanging down, and gently lay the tortilla down on to the hot skillet. Start working on pressing the next tortilla. Cook the tortilla on the hot pan for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. The tortilla should be lightly toasted and little air pockets forming.
• Heat 2-inches of canola oil in a heavy-bottomed medium skillet until it reaches 370 degrees F. Add the tortillas, 1 at a time and fry, turning once with tongs, until crispy, about 30 seconds. Remove to a baking sheet lined with paper towels and lightly season with salt.

Steps:

• Place the Nixtamal into the bowl of a food processor and pulse 10 to 15 times. Add 2 tablespoons of the water and pulse 8 to 10 times, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Add 2 more tablespoons of water along with the salt and pulse until a dough begins to form. If the dough is still dry and somewhat crumbly, add the remaining tablespoon of water and pulse several times. Turn the dough out onto the counter and shape into a ball. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and allow to sit for 30 minutes. *You may also make tortillas from pre-ground masa flour following the directions on the bag.
• Preheat a cast iron griddle over medium-high heat until it reaches 400 degrees F.
• Divide the dough into 1 1/2-ounce portions, shape into balls, and keep covered with a damp tea towel.
• Cut a 1-gallon zip-top bag in half and line the base of a tortilla press with the plastic. Place 1 ball at a time onto the press and top with the other half of the plastic. Close the press and push down firmly several times until the tortilla is flattened. Remove the plastic wrap from the tortilla and place onto the cast iron skillet and cook for 1 minute on each side. Remove the tortilla to a plate lined with a tea towel. Cover the tortilla with a second towel to keep warm. Repeat with all of the dough. Use immediately or store in a zip-top bag in the refrigerator for up to a week.
• Nixtamal:
• Rinse the corn under cool water; drain and set aside.
• Place the water and the lime into a 3 1/2 to 4-quart, non-reactive stockpot, set over medium-low heat, and stir to combine. Add the corn and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Make sure that it takes at least 30 to 45 minutes to come to a boil. Once the mixture comes to a boil, remove from the heat, cover, and allow to sit at room temperature overnight. Do not refrigerate.
• Drain the corn in a large colander and rinse under lukewarm water for 5 to 6 minutes while rubbing the corn kernels between your fingers in order to remove the outer coating. Place the corn into a large bowl, cover with lukewarm water, and allow to soak for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, rinse, and repeat. Use immediately to make masa dough for tortillas.

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:

• Set a comal, a flat griddle, or a cast-iron skillet over medium heat until thoroughly heated. (If the pan isn't hot enough, the tortillas will stick to it.)
• Meanwhile, cut two circles about the size of the tortilla press plates (or at least 6 inches in diameter if using a rolling pin) out of thin plastic bags, such as produce bags from the grocery store; do not use plastic wrap.
• In a large bowl, mix together the masa harina, salt, and water and then knead in a circular motion until the dough feels smooth and without lumps. It shouldn't be wet or sticky but nice and moist. If it feels coarse when you gather the dough together, add a bit more water. Masa dries out fast, so keep it covered while you make the tortillas.
• Roll a piece of the dough in the palm of your hand into a ball about 1½ inches in diameter. Place one of the plastic circles on the bottom of the tortilla press and place the ball on top. Place the other plastic circle on top of the ball and clamp down the press to make a flat disk, jiggling the press a little as you get to the bottom (this makes for a rounder tortilla). It should be about 5 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Alternatively, you can place a ball between plastic sheets or parchment paper and roll out the tortillas with a rolling pin.
• Open the press, check the tortilla for dryness (see Cook's Trick), and add water to the dough if needed. Remove the plastic on top of the tortilla, then lift up the bottom piece of plastic and the tortilla with one hand and peel the tortilla away from the plastic with the other hand. Keep at least half of the tortilla off your hand to make it easier to transfer it swiftly to the hot pan.
• Place the tortilla on the hot surface and don't touch it for 30 seconds-even if it doesn't lie completely flat, resist the temptation to fiddle with it! Cook until you can easily lift it with a spatula, 40 seconds to 1 minute; it should be opaque on the cooked side. Flip and cook for about a minute longer, until it has begun to get brown freckles. Flip once more. After 10 to 15 seconds, the tortilla should puff like pita bread, if not all over, at least in one area. If it is not puffing, gently tease it along by poking it in the center with the tip of your finger. Once it puffs, let the tortilla continue cooking for another 15 to 20 seconds, so that it cooks all the way through. That extra cooking is what makes the difference between stiff tortillas and those that are toothy, tender, and pliable.
• Transfer the cooked tortilla to a clean kitchen towel or a cloth-lined tortillero (a tortilla basket, which looks just like a bread basket) and cover to keep warm while you make the rest of the tortillas.
• Cook's Trick
• The masa has to be as soft and smooth as Play-Doh. This has less to do with the kneading-which takes under a minute-than with the amount of water. The measurement given on most bags for masa harina is too low. Here I give you the measurement that works for me. Things will vary, however, according to climate and ingredients. One way to tell if your masa needs more water is to take a look at the first tortilla after you have pressed it out. If the edges seem cracked and rough, you need more water. The tortilla should be smooth and even along the edges, not at all ridged.

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.