Authentic Homemade Flour Tortillas

Authentic Homemade Flour Tortillas

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup lard
1 cup hot water

Directions:
Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the lard with your fingers until the flour resembles cornmeal. Add the hot water a little at a time, about 1/4 cup each time, and mix, until the dough comes together; place on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth, soft and supple. It may be sticky at first but after kneading continuously it will not be sticky.

Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, about the size of a golf ball, roll each piece into a ball and then into a shape of a sausage patty. Cover and let dough balls rest for about 10 minutes. See image below. 

Tip: keep a bit of flour on your surface and lightly flour your rolling pin and keep your surface very lightly floured. Also keep your hands lightly floured.

Preheat a comal or heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll a dough into a thin, round tortilla. Place into the hot comal or skillet, and cook until bubbly and cooked through. Flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side. Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer; or place in a kitchen towel. Continue rolling and cooking the remaining dough. Tip: Do NOT worry if the tortillas don't come out perfectly round, practice makes perfect. In time your tortillas will come out round and perfect. My first tortillas looked like the map of Italy!

Tip: A comal is a griddle that has been traditionally used in Mexican cooking. The term comal is believed to come from the Aztec word comalli, which was also used to describe the cooking tool. It is a very versatile cooking tool that can be used to prepare a number of dishes. It can be used to sear meat, cook tortillas, and even cure spices. It can also be used to toast raw coffee and cacao beans so that they are ready for culinary use. It is a great tool in the kitchen!

Irish Shepherd's Beef Pie

Tip:  Read directions completely before preparing.

3 cups mashed potatoes

1 pound lean ground beef (93/7)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons Kerrygold Softer Butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 cups beef broth

2 tablespoons browning and seasoning sauce

1 teaspoon fresh minced thyme

1/4 cup peas

1/4 cup carrots, finely diced

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Crumble the ground beef into a large skillet over medium heat, cook meat until no longer pink.

Add onion, garlic, thyme, peas and carrots and cook another 3 minutes, then set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 

Over medium heat, melt the Kerrygold butter in a skillet.  Stir in the flour and cook and until light brown in color, about 5 minutes.

Let cool off a bit then gradually stir in the broth, ketchup and browning sauce until smooth.  Set over medium heat and simmer until thick.

Stir the sauce into the ground beef and transfer to a casserole dish.

Top with mashed potatoes.

Sprinkle the cheese over the potatoes.

Place dish in oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until potatoes are toasted and cheese is melted.  Enjoy!

Tip:  Truly traditional Irish Sheppard's Pie uses ground lamb instead of ground beef.

Carne Guisada

Tip: Read directions completely before preparing.

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef top sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch chunks
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 large white onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 teaspoons comino (cumin)
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 serrano pepper, slightly toasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth

1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano (regular is fine)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water

Directions:

Dredge the cubed meat in flour, coating well.

In a heavy, deep-sided skillet or Dutch oven, add the oil and heat over medium heat. Add the cubed meat and brown thoroughly, stirring often.

 While the meat is browning, in a small saute pan, toast the comino seeds and then add them to the molcajete (mortar and pestal). Use the same pan to toast the serrano pepper.

In a molcajete which already has the comino, add the garlic, and black peppercorns. Grind into a paste. Add 1/2 cup of water and stir, this is to make sure you remove all the paste from the molcajete and set aside.

Once the meat is browned, add the garlic, comino and peppercorn paste and liquid from molcajete to the pot. Add the salt, paprika, oregano, chili powder, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, and serrano to the pot and saute for 3 to 4 minutes.

 

Add beef broth, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 1 1/2 hours, or until the beef is tender and the mixture has cooked down to a thick sauce. Stir every 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Tip:  You can serve this with rice, or beans or make some great tacos! I love breakfast tacos made with some carne guisada, scrambled egg and cheese! Carne Guisada is a Mexican inspired take on beef stew.

Yesterday I had to pick up some things from Dillard's at Barton Creek Mall and found that in their kitchenware department they now sell Molcajetes! They were made of granite and beautiful. Of course they are not made from the original basalt/lava stone. But they are really nice and will surely do the job! 

You can buy Mexican molcajetes online nowadays, but beware! The quality can vary enormously. There is a world of difference between the best quality molcajetes, made usually from dark ‘river rock’ basalt with low sand content, and cheap and cheerful ones made from grey, very porous lava-rock. The problem with the latter, to quote the gourmetsleuth.com website, is that ‘They are softer and easier to carve and thus less expensive. Unfortunately they are terribly sandy and no matter how you may try to cure them they will always be sandy. They are also typically very shallow so they don’t have a very usable capacity. These pieces are fine for decoration or serving only but we don’t recommend using them as a preparation or grinding tool.’ 

Taken from "http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=wus&tab=aus&id=21""

Mexican Picadillo

Tip: Read directions carefully before preparing.

Ingredients:

1lb lean ground beef

2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2inch cubes

1/2 cup yellow onion, diced fine (1/4 inchor less)

1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced fine (1/4 inch or less)

1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced fine

2 tablespoon canola oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground coarse ground black pepper

1 teaspoon fresh ground comino (cumin)

1 cup beef stock

1/2 cup cilantro

2 large tomatoes, cored, peeled, and cut into 1/2inch pieces

Directions:

Heat a large skillet and, when hot, add the canola oil. Add the ground beef, crumbling as you put it in the skillet.

When lightly browned, add the onions, red bell pepper, tomatoes, garlic, and all the spices. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often, and then add the diced potatoes, and then the cilantro.

Add beef stock, bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, stirring every 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, put into a bowl and serve over Spanish rice or with hot flour tortillas.

Tip: If you would like to spice it up, add a chopped jalapeno. Picadillo, Mexican style ground beef, is a popular lunch meal particularly in Northern Mexico.  Picadillo is an easy dish to prepare that’s in every home cook’s repertoire.

Bacon and Green Onion Cheese Ball

Tip: Read directions completely before preparing.

Ingredients:

(For Cheese Ball)

1/4 cup brown sugar ham, finely chopped

1/4 cup green onion, finely chopped

1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 teaspoon Hidden Valley, Garden Green Onion Mix

(For Rolling Cheese Ball)

1/8 cup real bacon Bits, (I use Oscar Mayer)

1/8 cup green onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup Colby Jack or Mild Cheddar cheese, finely shredded/cut

Directions:

(For Preparing Cheese Ball)

In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine green onion, brown sugar Ham, cream cheese and Garden Green Onion Mix. When mixed well, form ball out of the mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.

(For Rolling Cheese Ball)

Before serving, in a medium-size mixing bowl, combine the real bacon bits, green onion, and cheddar cheese, and roll the cheese balls in the mixture.  Enjoy!

 Tip: This cheese ball is great with buttery crackers!

Creamy Green Chile Turkey Enchiladas

Tip:  Read directions completely before preparing.

Ingredients:

The Turkey Stuffing:

1 ¼ pounds, ground turkey

1 (4 oz.) can of mild Hatch’s green chilies,  drained

1/2 cup chopped onion (about ½ medium onion)

1/2 teaspoon, salt

1 teaspoon, comino (cumin)

The Green Chile Cream Sauce

½ cup chopped onion (about ½ medium onion)

1 can (15 ounce) Hatch’s Green Chile Enchilada Sauce

½ cup milk

½ cup heavy cream

8 oz. sour cream

2 teaspoons Knorr Chicken Bouillon

Assembly:

8 – 6” corn tortillas

1/3 cup canola oil

8 ounces (about 2 cups) cheddar jack cheese, shredded

¼ cup chopped green onions

Directions:

The Turkey Stuffing:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large nonstick skillet, over medium high heat, add about 1 teaspoon canola oil.  Add the ground turkey and sauté until cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Add onions and chopped green chilies and mix with turkey.  Continue cooking about 3 minutes until onion is translucent.

Add minced garlic, mix and sauté another minute.

Remove from pan and set aside.

The Green Chile Cream Sauce:

In the same skillet, over medium heat, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and starts to turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes.

Add Hatch’s Green Chile Enchilada Sauce.  Add the Knorr Chicken bouillon and stir thoroughly.

Slowly whisk in the milk, heavy cream and sour cream.  Let continue cooking until the mixture is lightly bubbling and has thickened, about 4-5 minutes.  Remove from skillet and set aside.

Assembly:

Softening the Corn Tortillas for Assembly:

In the same skillet, but cleaned, soften the corn tortillas by adding the canola oil and heating over medium high heat.  Once the oil is hot, add one corn tortilla at a time, using a pair tongs.  Turning tortilla over in about 10 seconds.  Once softened bout 5 seconds, remove from pan and set aside.  Continue same process until all 8 tortillas have been softened.

Set up all the ingredients to prepare for rolling the enchiladas.  In an approximately 9” x 11” baking dish place one tortilla and add ¼ cup of turkey, 2 tablespoons of cooked Green Chile Cream Sauce, 1 tablespoon chopped onions, and 1 tablespoon shredded cheese.  Roll up and place at one end of dish.  Continue process until all 8 tortillas have been filled, rolled and placed as shown below.

Top with some of the remaining, if any, turkey, and onions.  Pour the Green Chile Cream Sauce over the top of the enchiladas.  Top with all the remaining cheese as shown below.

Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour, until the enchiladas are bubbling, hot and lightly browned. Serve and Enjoy!!!!

Serves:  8