Homemade Flour Tortillas

And holy guacamole are they easy!  Sorry, I had to.  Seriously, though, they are so easy to make and amazingly delicious.  Hubby says they’re the best tortillas he’s ever had, and trust me, he’s not one of those husbands who just says that to appease me.  The other day, he took a bite of some rosewater and cardamom ice cream I made (which was freaking awesome) and said it was the worst thing he’s ever tasted.  And no, he wasn’t being facetious.  My point is, if he doesn’t like something, he doesn’t hesitate to let me know, so these tortillas must really be fabulous. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 Tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• ⅔ cup hot water

Put the flour, salt, and baking powder into a mixing bowl. 

Whisk them together.  Cut the butter into chunks and throw them in. 

Add the oil.

Mix until you have something that looks like wet sand. 

Pour in the hot water and mix. 

It’ll be sticky when it first comes together. Knead it for two minutes or so.  It’ll still be very soft, but it will no longer be sticky and it will completely clean itself from the bowl. 

Cover that and allow it to rest for at least an hour.  You’ve just created gluten with the kneading, and it needs some time to relax or you’ll never be able to roll the dough thin enough for tortillas.  When you’re ready, heat a skillet over medium heat.  I used nonstick, but if you have cast iron, that’s probably even better.  Pull of a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball and roll it in your hands so it’s mostly round. 

Pat it out on a floured surface. 

With your rolling pin, roll it as thin as you can get it, being sure to keep moving it so that it doesn’t stick to the countertop.  It won’t be a perfect circle, but don’t worry.  That’s the beauty of homemade, right?  You want it to be thin enough that you can see through it. 

Lay it into the heated skillet.  No oil or anything in the pan.

When it bubbles up like this, it’s time to flip. 

It should be nicely browned. 

Give it about 45 seconds then check the underside.  If it’s similar in color to the top, remove it from the pan.  Stack them up on top of one another, keeping them covered with a towel as you go. 

With a little practice, you’ll be able to roll one out, lay it in the pan, then quickly roll out the next one before it’s time to flip.  Occasionally you’ll probably end up with a bit of flour in the pan, just wipe it out so it doesn’t burn. 

This recipe makes about 8 tortillas.    

If you wrap them tightly in two layers of towels, they’ll stay warm for like an hour while you make whatever you’re putting inside. 

Soft, beautiful, and delicious. 

 

What would you like to put inside these fabulous tortillas?

Chicken Divine

You’ve probably heard of a dish called chicken divan.  Unfortunately, like so many other casserole type dishes, it is almost inevitably made with canned, condensed, cream of crap soup.  Why?  Let me show you how easy it is to make a fabulous version, with no scary, jiggly, canned stuff. 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 head of broccoli
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• ¼ cup green onion
• 1 teaspoons fresh thyme
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 15 crackers
• 1 ½ teaspoons poppy seeds

First up, you need to cut the broccoli into florets.  Although I’m not using the stem in this dish, if your broccoli has a long stem on it like mine did, don’t waste it.  Clean it up, peeling off any rough or fibrous bits from the outside, then cut it into chunks.  Drop them into a freezer bag, and freeze them to use later for soup.

Then just cut the top of the broccoli into roughly bite size pieces. 

Dice your chicken breasts.  Add 1 Tablespoon of oil to a pan over medium heat and add the chicken.  Sprinkle it with the salt and pepper. 

Cook briefly on all sides. 

Then put a lid on and allow it to continue to cook for 7 minutes, moving it about once or twice so it doesn't burn. 

Remove the cooked chicken and pour in 1 ½ cups chicken stock. 

Add the broccoli and cover it, allowing it to cook for 5 minutes. 

While you’re waiting for things to cook, go ahead and chop your green onions. 

I happen to have fresh thyme on hand, so that’s what I used.   If you only have dried, cut it back to ¼ teaspoon or so. 

If you’re using fresh, give it a good rinse, then remove the leaves and chop them. 

When the broccoli has cooked for 5 minutes, it should still be green but starting to soften.  Go ahead and remove it from the pan. 

To the remaining ½ cup chicken stock add 2 Tablespoons flour. 

Stir that together until there are no lumps, and pour it into the pan. 

Stir over medium heat until the mixture becomes nice and thick.

Turn off the heat, then cut the cream cheese into pieces and add them to the pan. 

Stir until the cream cheese is mostly incorporated.  It’s ok if you still have some small lumps. 

Add the green onion and thyme. 

Stir that together and add the chicken and broccoli, along with any liquid from them, back to the pan.     

Gently stir until everything is evenly coated. 

Pour the whole thing into a buttered casserole dish. 

Give the pan a quick wash (or get a clean one out… your choice).  Place your crackers into a plastic bag. 

And crush them until you all of the pieces are fairly little.  I just used my hand. 

Melt 2 Tablespoons butter over medium heat and sprinkle in the poppy seeds. 

Add the cracker crumbs. 

Stir until everything is combined. 

Spread the cheese (I used extra sharp cheddar) over the top of the chicken mixture. 

Then sprinkle on the cracker crumb mixture. 

Bake at 350° for 35 minutes.  It should be nice and bubbly around the edges. 

See?  Delicious, beautiful, and not difficult, even without the cans. 

What recipe that usually calls for canned soup would you like to see upgraded?