Friday, January 30, 2009

Whole Wheat Tortillas

Last week I made Moussaka and Stuffed Peppers. Mark and I have been eating them all week. I cooked about 3 cups of extra ground beef, and two cups of extra brown rice, knowing that those ingredients, plus a can of diced tomatoes (can't wait to have my own garden so I can CAN my own tomatoes!=), some raw cheese, and fermented bean paste would make a delicious Friday night meal. Too easy, as my brother Thomas says. The only problem? The tortillas. I'm really trying to stay away from flour that I haven't ground myself, so as simple as it would have been to grab a bag of tortillas and call it a night, I decided to make my own.

I started with 2 cups of wheat berries and ground them in the coffee grinder. If you have a blender, that'd work too!

I added 1 c water and 1/4 OO to my KitchenAid mixer.

I dissolved 1 t salt, and 1/4 t baking powder into the water, and then slowly added the flour.

I mixed it for a few minutes, until I realized that the dough hook had smooshed all of the mixture to the side of the bowl and was essentially doing nothing, and then I formed the dough into a ball.

It rested for 10 minutes while I mixed up the ground beef, rice, tomatoes, and 1/2 t of each: cumin, oregano, paprika, and dash of salt and red pepper.

I broke up the big ball into 8 littler balls, and after they rested for 20 minutes, I rolled them into circles.

I had a dry preheated skillet ready for them, and let them toast lightly, about 1 minute on each side. I threw the cooked tortillas into a brown paper bag, to keep them soft.

Mark loved them. He said I should start a store. It's nice to be appreciated. =) We have enough for three meals, and it cost a fraction of what the store-bought tortillas would have. I wrapped half of the leftovers for the fridge (plastic wrap), and half for the freezer (plastic wrap and tinfoil--must go to store for bags!!)

The camera batteries are dead and Mark and I haven't bought new ones yet, so sorry about the lack of pics.

3 comments:

  1. I have been wanting a grain mill- it's on my dream kitchen list- does a coffe grinder really work???!!

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  2. yes, a grain mill is on my list too. =) i do have a manual one, but it takes FOREVER to assemble and grind, and is messy, so I got the coffee grinder in a pinch ($$$). it's been amazing. I haven't had any issues with the grains at all. (there is a space between the grinder and the cup to catch the flour, so I have to put a piece of tape over it every time I use it though...) I bought a Cuisinart from Bed Bath and Beyond. here's a link for the one I have: http://interstatedeals.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=673

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  3. OK. Thanks. I was wondering if it was a whirly blade or a conical burr.(its a conical burr) I think I'll wait for my dream list - We have a conical burr grinder but I don't want to put grains in it seeing as it costs about $200(it as a giFt). I am a very serious coffee connoisseur and I cannot live without the latte- yeah you can say coffee is bad but I don't care-I lurve it.!

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