Homemade Corn Tortillas

After a fun afternoon at the park, I put the boys to work for our Cochinita Pibil dinner. They made the tortillas while I finished setting the table and plating our food. They did a great job!! And there's not much better than homemade tortillas.

Ingredients

6 C masa harina
4-1/2 C warm water
2 t freshly ground salt
2 T olive oil
corn meal for rolling
oil for cooking
Also needed: parchment paper, tortilla press

Procedure
Put masa flour in a large mixing bowl. Add water, salt, and olive oil. Mix in and let sit for 5 minutes or so. Begin working the masa with your hands to make the dough. Knead the dough for several minutes. If at any point through the tortilla making process the dough seems too dry or too wet, add a little more water or masa to the dough. Let stand for, at least, 30 minutes. This batch rested for over two hours while the boys played.

Take a piece of the masa dough and shape it into a ball the size of a plum, or slightly large golf ball.

Take two pieces of wax paper or parchment paper and lay one on the bottom of the tortilla press. Place the masa ball in the center. Place another piece of wax paper over the masa ball. Gently close the press and press down, until the dough has spread to a diameter of 4-6 inches.

Heat a griddle or a large skillet on high heat. Working one at a time, hold a tortilla in your hand, carefully removing the wax paper on each side. Allow the tortilla to rest half on your hand, and half hanging down, and gently lay the tortilla down on to the skillet. Start working on pressing the next tortilla. Cook the tortilla on the hot pan for 30 seconds to a minute on each side. The tortilla should be lightly toasted and little air pockets forming.

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