Tortillas!

We have a number of recipes using tortillas, so it's time I add the recipe for making these things. Now my friends here in Papua New Guinea can just skip this one since we've been making these ourselves for years, but for the rest of you I've described MY method here and taken plenty of pictures all along the way...

These are made with whole wheat flour that has been sifted (for reasons you don't want to know), so the larger flakes of bran have been removed. You can use a combination of white & whole wheat flours or even just plain white flour for different tastes and textures.

Ingredients:
6 C whole wheat flour
1 T salt
1 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 C oil
2 C boiling water
  (boiling water will make them soft and easier to roll out)

Mix until the dough looks like this. Knead about 5 minutes. Dough should not stick to the bowl (or to your counter top if you are kneading by hand). If it is sticky, add a little more flour.

While it is kneading, clean your stove and counter top so the pictures won't show all the mess. Oh wait, that's just for me...

Cut the ball of dough in half, and then in half again and so on until you have 16 balls of dough. Keep them covered with a piece of plastic wrap.

Begin to roll out a ball of dough. It will stick to the rolling pin so I let it wrap around a bit and then pull it off. Put the "stuck" side of the dough down on your counter (it will help it stick to the counter as you shape it).

Roll out tortilla, pushing the thicker areas around to fill in the thinner areas as you shape it. Round is the preferred shape but it really doesn't matter. They're home made after all!
Peel gently from the counter top, flip over and place off to the side while you roll out another. If you do this, the tortillas shouldn't stick to your counter.

Put your ultra wide non-stick 2-burner griddle (that might be just me again) or another wide bottom pan on the stove and turn the burner(s) to medium. Not too high or they will burn, but not too low so they take too long to cook and dry out. It may take some experimenting. Let it get hot.

After the tortilla begins to bubble, turn it over (I just use my fingers - real FAST). It takes appox. 60-90 seconds on the first side, but only 30-45 seconds on the second side depending on how hot the pan is. Also, they may not bubble up at all, but still turn them over when brown spots begin to form on the bottom. Keep watch not to burn them.

ENJOY! You may never be satisfied with store-bought tortillas again :)

Salsa with Homemade Tortilla Chips

SALSA
Stir together the following veggies:
4 large tomatoes, chopped
1/2 large white onion, chopped
1/2 large red onion, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
2 Tbs diced green chilies
1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs fresh cilantro, minced
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Vary the chilies & jalapeno according to how hot you like it. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours (if you can wait that long!)

Homemade Whole Wheat Tortilla Chips
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray each whole wheat tortilla (1 per person at least) with olive oil cooking spray. Sprinkle with a little salt and stack on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife cut the stack into strips. Place in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm with the salsa you've been cooling! SO GOOD :)

Oven Brown Rice

So not as scrumptious looking as the Coconut Bars, but a little balance here would do us some good! Brown rice is better for you and way more tasty than white rice. I'm not always successful with brown rice, but I get it right most consistently with this recipe:

2 Cup brown rice
1 t salt (or seasoned salt)
1 T olive oil
3 1/2 Cups boiling water
1-2 t chicken bouillon (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 2 qt. casserole dish that has a lid (or else you can cover the top with a double layer of aluminum foil that you pinch around the edges of the dish to seal). Put the rice, salt and olive oil in the dish, and pour the boiling water over it all. Put the lid on (or foil) tight and bake for 1 hour. Fluff with a fork and let sit 5 minutes with lid on. Delicious!

Later I'll use some of this for veggie fried rice...recipe to come!