The Candid Cook: Flour Tortillas

We use a lot of tortillas in this house.  I hate to admit it, but it's true.  And I can't get my kids to eat the store-bought whole wheat tortillas, either.  In addition to being twice as expensive (or more), they are a lot more dry than the "usual" sort.  I gave up on that effort months and months ago.  So, when I made the decision last week to stop buying so many convenience foods, tortillas were on the top of my list of things to try making at home.  I knew I wanted a recipe that used oil instead of lard, and I was fortunate enough to stumble across this one from the Food Network website.  

Before I give you a the recipe, a quick note about the flour.  The pictures shown are from making it with 100% white flour.  However, I have also made it (and enjoyed it immensely) with half white and half whole wheat flour.  That being said, I did not use your typical store-bought whole wheat flour.  I have recently discovered the wonders of Hard White Wheat.  I happen to have my own wheat grinder at home, so I can purchase the wheat in bulk and grind it when I need it.  Assuming you are like most people and simply buy your whole wheat from the store, I have found that the Gold Medal Ribbon whole wheat flour is the most finely ground and works the best in my baking recipes.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

3 cups flour (white, wheat, or a mixture)

1 tsp. salt

1 cup warm water

1/3 cup olive oil

Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl, and make a well in the center.

Combine warm water and oil and dump into the center. 

Mix together with a spoon as thoroughly as you can.  It should look something like this:

Dump the contents of the bowl onto the counter top and knead together with your hands until it forms a nice, soft dough-ball.

Separate into separate balls to make the desired tortilla size.  This time I wanted large, burrito-sized tortillas so I divided it into 6 balls.  If you want taco size tortillas, you can do about 8-10 balls.  No matter what, you do have to make it round.  You will never roll out a roundish tortilla if you don't start with a roundish ball.

To roll out the tortilla, I usually do it in three stages.  I know it sounds like it's going to take forever, but seriously the whole process takes me less than a minute.  You may start out a little slower, but you'll get up to speed once you've done it a few times.

First I flatten it with the heel of my hand to get the shape started.

Then I follow it up with a few rolls from the rolling pin, flipping it over and turning it sideways after every couple of rolls. This helps smooth out the dough, but I'm not seriously working on getting it thin yet.  I usually do this till it's about 2 mm thick.

Finally it's time for the last stage.  Remember that this tortilla will puff slightly when you are cooking it, so you want to get it as thin as possible.  Once I get to the part where I'm on my last thinning of the tortilla, I do NOT pick it up and flip it.  It WILL wrinkle.  And I hate wrinkles.  Just keep rolling from all directions and around the edges until you get it as thin as possible.  Mine is usually a little translucent when I pick it up.  Remember it will puff up slightly when it cooks, so you aren't going to end up with a flimsy tortilla.

 Now place the tortilla on a pre-heated, non-stick griddle or frying pan.  I usually set my heat on medium-high.  Cook it until the dough starts to puff up on top.  Now it's time to flip it.

Cook it another 15-20 seconds or so on the other side to get it nice and evenly cooked.

Take it off the pan and place it on a plate.  When the tortillas first come off they can be a little crispy on the outside, so it's best if you can make them first and then cover the stack and let it sit while you fix the rest of your meal before using it.  Mine turned out super-soft that way.

Use your tortillas in whatever delicious way you'd like.  Tonight I had a chicken, spinach, and tomato quesadilla.  Yum!

Store any leftovers in a sealed container or Ziplock bag.

Double-Decker Pizza Lasagna

I had to get creative with dinner the other night.

One girl wanted lasagna rolls, one wanted pizza.  

I needed something that would bake quickly so we got a little of both.

I laid 6 cooked lasagna noodles on a foil-covered cookie sheet.

Topped it with sauce, pepperoni, and some lightly sauteed zucchini and garlic.

Mixed together equal parts low-fat cottage cheese (small curd) with shredded co-jack cheese.  Added a generous serving of grated Parmesan cheese and mixed it all together with my fingers.

Still using my fingers sprinkled it on top of the zucchini and pepperoni.  (Isn't this gorgeous?)

Added a second layer of noodles.

And topped it off with the rest of the sauce, more shredded cheese, and some sliced Roma tomatoes for me and Ben.

Baked it at 375-400 degrees for 15 minutes and got this.

Served it with tossed salad and had a fantastic meal with leftovers to spare.

p.s. My "pizza sauce" recipe is nothing more than a can of Italian-style diced tomatoes pureed in the blender with some tomato paste to thicken it up.  Fabulous every time.

Mini Chili Cups

My kids don't like chili.  It's no surprise, really.  They don't like beef.  They don't like beans.  They don't like tomatoes.  Since these are the 3 main ingredients of my chili... well... you get the idea.

Ben and I love chili, and I have a rule that the kids have to eat what we are having for dinner - although they don't always eat the ingredients the exact same way.  Normally I just make a small bowl of chili for the kids with sour cream and cheese to make it not so spicy, and they can dip tortilla chips in it for dinner.  At least they are getting used to the taste, right?

This past week I got the idea to do something a little different that would actually require them to eat the beans.  And hopefully not gag in the process.  (Can we say "melodramatic picky eaters"?)

I call them Mini Chili Cups.  And they went over pretty well with Olivia, so-so with Connor, and Kelsey even choked down a couple before dinner was over.  I thought I'd share in case anyone else out there is in a similar situation.  There's  no real recipe with this - just assembly instructions.

First you take some of those Tostitos Scoops chips and put a few on a plate.  I made each child 6 because I'm obsessed with even numbers and 4 seemed like too few.

Then I spooned a little chili inside each cup - including at least one kidney bean and a little tomato.

Sprinkle with a little shredded cheese.

Then microwave it for about 20 seconds to melt the cheese.  I also put a tiny little dollop of sour cream on top of each.

They were so good, I snitched a couple off Connor's plate when he was done eating.  These would also make a fantastic party snack.  Or late night snack.  Just in case you were wondering.

Chicken Minis

Over the past 18 months Kelsey has had repeated problems with stomach pain.  At first we thought it was all intestinal.  It started with a partial bowel obstruction in the fall of 2010. We started giving her a lot of aloe vera juice which seemed to help.  Often, however, she would complain that her stomach hurt.  I went through all the possibilities I could think of - from food allergies to reflux to gall bladder problems to a kink her intestines.  And though we did find a minor food allergy (egg whites), and and she had another partial bowel obstruction in the spring of 2011, we haven't really isolated the problem.  So far, we have identified eggs and chocolate as giving her trouble - though only if she has a lot at once - and we finally got a referral to a GI doctor and have an appointment in March.

However, in desperation, I decided early this year I was cutting out all the junk food I could from her (and the family's) daily diet.  This is no mean feat, considering Kelsey's favorite foods are pizza, chicken nuggets, and corn dogs.  As a general rule, Kelsey will not eat any chicken if it's homemade.  However, I have finally found the exception: Chicken Minis.

These are basically nothing more than itty bitty, homemade, baked chicken nuggets.  But everyone loves them - almost as much as I like to make them.  Why?  Because I finally learned about "the secret".  The one that explains that you don't need to individually hand coat every single little piece of chicken when making homemade chicken nuggets.  (Plus, the ingredient list is awesome - including milled flax seed and plain yogurt.)  And Kelsey?  She'd eat them by the pound if I let her.


Note - this recipe doesn't have quantities.  I don't measure anything when I make it, and it's really hard to screw up.  So, if you are a die-hard-follow-the-recipe person this is a great time to live a little and give it a try anyway.

Chicken Minis

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Plain yogurt
Bread crumbs (plain, whole wheat, Italian - you choose!)
Grated Parmesan cheese
Garlic powder
Milled flax seed
Salt/pepper to taste

Cut your chicken up into bite-size pieces.  You can make them as large or small as you'd like - I usually aim for about 3/4-inch cubes.  The main thing is you want to have them all about the same size so all the pieces are done at the same time.  Then, put the chicken into a bowl (preferably one with a fitted lid) and stir in just enough plain yogurt to coat the pieces lightly (see picture).  I learned the hard way that if you dump in too much yogurt they don't bake up very crispy.  And who likes mushy nuggets?  No one in this house!

 In a small bowl, pour a bunch of bread crumbs, milled flax, and Parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle a little garlic powder and salt/pepper.  Mix well.

Dump about half bread crumb mixture on top of the chicken, and fit the lid on the bowl.  
Shake it up. 
Dance around your kitchen. 
Embarrass your children.

Take the lid off and peek at it.  If the bread crumbs are evenly coating the chicken, you can either stop there, or add the rest of the crumbs for that extra crunchy nugget that we all love.

I usually stir in the rest of the bread crumbs with a spoon to try to break up any of the chicken clumps.

Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 until done - about 15 minutes or so.

 See how much is actually left in the bowl?  Amazing, isn't it?

When checking for done-ness, be sure to cut open your fattest nuggets.  As long as there is no pink or "translucence" in the middle of the nuggets you can safely eat them.  Dip them in your favorite sauce (which is ketchup for my kids) and enjoy every crunchy, nutritious bite!

One of our Favorite Things

We love enchiladas in this house.  And not those creamy chicken-full-of-sour-cream-and-cheese ones, either.  (Although, admittedly, Ben and I do have a soft spot for those.)  These are the kind with the home-made red sauce.  We will ever be indebted to Barbara (and you know who you are!) for first giving us the idea for these super-easy enchiladas.

I literally have used this recipe to use up dozens of leftovers - especially of the chicken variety.  And I do mean ALL KINDS of leftovers - pork, ground beef, even BBQ chicken, once.  We just chop it up, mix it with black beans and little sauce, and we are ready to go!  They have all tasted wonderful.  And so, after Christmas when we had a ton of leftover homemade chicken tenders... guess what I was making?

That's right.  Chicken and black bean enchiladas.  I also discovered an easier way to assemble these babies, which I thought I would share for those of you who may be interested.  Read on to find out what it is...

As a side note, you can make these enchiladas with any type of meat/poultry/beans that you have on hand, but my favorite combination by far is the black bean and chicken.  I have also made it with meat and cooked veggies, like peppers, onions, and zucchini.  That was also delicious!

Quick & Easy Enchiladas
Enchilada Sauce:
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 c. salsa
1/2 to 1 pkg of taco seasoning

Enchiladas:
Small taco-size tortillas, flour or corn
Chicken
Black beans
Shredded cheese (save some to sprinkle on top!)

First, gather the ingredients for your sauce.

Pour the tomato sauce into a small bowl or measuring cup, then refill the can with salsa.

 Add salsa and taco seasoning to tomato sauce and stir.  I find that some taco seasonings are spicier than others, so if I'm not sure how much I need, I use half a package.  The next time I can always add more if I need to.

Once you've got your sauce ready, start preparing your filling.  Take your leftovers and chop them up or shred them.  The chicken tenders I was using were a lot easier to chop than shred, so that's what I did.  Notice I left the breading on?  That's because these are really hard to screw up.

Add black beans.  I used a can of black beans because it was what I could get my hands on quickly.  Just toss them in a strainer in the sink, rinse them, and add them to the chicken.  Voila!

Now you will want to season your filling so it tastes kind of Mexican and not blah and unseasoned.  I have done this other times by adding cumin, salt, and pepper, maybe some lime juice.  However, the easiest way to do it is to just stir in a few spoonfuls of the enchilada sauce.

Now here's my "quick and easy" tip. 
In the past I have assembled the enchiladas putting in one filling at a time.

Chicken?  Check.

Beans? Check.

Cheese? Check, check!

Although it takes more time, this is a good way to make a variety of types of enchiladas at the same meal.  For example, Olivia doesn't like black beans but prefers plain chicken enchiladas.  I can do that when I don't mix the filling ingredients.  Or maybe I am using up more than one kind of leftovers - like taco meat and garlic chicken.  I don't want to mix those, either.  But when time is of the essence, you really can just dump it all in the same bowl if you want to.  Including the cheese.  I did, however, use two different kinds of cheese.  The bowl on the left is the pepper- jack (yum!) and the bowl on the right is colby-jack.  You can mix in as little or as much cheese as you'd like.

 Next, before we start rolling, we must prepare the pans.  Coat with cooking spray and spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pan, like so.  This is also when I turn on my oven to start preheating.  You'll want to bake these at 375 (cold filling) or 400 (warm filling).

Next, place about a quarter-cup of filling in each tortilla.  Roll up enchilada style and place into pans.  Spread a little more sauce on top.  You're not going to be drowning these things in sauce, but you do want to have a coating of sauce on the outside of the tortillas to keep them soft while you're cooking them and to add flavor.

 Next, sprinkle a layer of cheese on top.  Since I use more than one type of cheese, I sprinkle whatever cheese on top that I used in the middle so I can tell them apart.  Notice - pepper jack on the left, cojack on the right.

Bake in your oven for 25-35 minutes or until all the cheese is melted.  I forgot to take a picture of the finished product until after dinner.  This is all that was left...

And they make GREAT leftovers the next day!  In fact, Ben requests that I make extra on purpose so he can take them for lunch for the next few days.

I'm telling you.  If your family is into Tex-Mex, you will want to try this and soon!

Peanut Butter Fudge & Peppermint Spoons

I made some Christmas treats yesterday with the girls.  I had to make some refreshments for the cantata, and I was trying out a new fudge recipe from Our Best Bites and really wanted to do a peanut butter variety.  So, I modified the recipe and halved it (just in case is turned out badly).  Lucky for me it was a success!  It is awesome, so of course I had to share.  The recipe uses a candy thermometer, so I bought one just for the occasion.  If you don't own one, they are worth the investment of $3.50 - trust me.  It took a lot of the guesswork out of making candy.

Also, while we were waiting for the fudge to set we made some dark chocolate mint hot cocoa stirrers for gifting.  I bought the flavored candy melts at Hobby Lobby the other day, and we just melted them down, dipped the spoons in, and set them on parchment paper.  Then we sprinkled them with crushed candy canes and left them alone to set.   They looked so good after I wrapped them last night I was compelled to take a picture.  I'm inordinately proud of myself - they almost make me look crafty.

And now... on to the fudge recipe!


Anita's Peanut Butter Fudge

8 oz. white almond bark (4 squares)
1/4 c. butter
2/3 c. crunchy peanut butter
3/4 c. evaporated milk
2 cups granulated sugar
1 heaping cup of mini-marshmallows

In a glass or metal mixing bowl, place almond bark, butter, and peanut butter.  I used the bowl from my stand mixer.

In a large saucepan, combine milk, sugar, and marshmallows.  Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture reaches about 225 to 240 degrees.  Be careful near the end, because it will scald really easily.  Just make sure you are stirring constantly and you don't have the heat up too high.  If it browns a little, it's not a big deal, just lower the heat and make sure it doesn't burn.

Once it has reached the proper temperature, pour the mix and sugar mixture into the bowl on top of the other ingredients.  Beat with a mixer or stand mixer until thoroughly combined.  The heat from the milk mixture will melt the ingredients in the bowl, so just make sure you've got everything melted before stopping.  It's probably a good idea to scrape the bowl at least once before you're done, too.

The heat from the milk mixture will melt the ingredients in the bowl, so just make sure you've got everything melted before stopping.  It's probably a good idea to scrape the bowl at least once before you're done, too.  When it's ready it should look something like this.

Pour into an 8x8 or 9x9 pan lined with foil.  For good measure, I sprayed my foil with non-stick cooking spray, too. 

Let it set then cut into small 1-inch squares.  Store in the fridge.

I think I've gained 5 pounds just thinking about this fudge, so be sure to give it away fast!