Homemade Corn Tortillas #ShelterinPlaceCooking

One thing I will say about this shelter-in-place order: I sure am digging deep into my cabinets and using up ingredients that I didn't even remember that I had!

In any case, Jake requested fish tacos for our 20th anniversary dinner last night. So, I went to a local fish market - we are allowed to go out for groceries! - and picked up petrale sole and rockfish. Then I had the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf make a fresh salsa; and the Precise Kitchen Elf cranked out some homemade corn tortillas with a bag of masa that I had in the cupboard and the rabbit stock I had simmering on the stove from when I made Kouneli Stifado (Greek Rabbit Stew).

 Ingredients makes about twenty 4" tortillas

• 3 C masa harina
• 2-1/4 C warm liquid (you can use water or stock)
• 1 t freshly ground salt
• 1 T olive oil
• corn meal for rolling
• oil for cooking
• Also needed: waxed paper or parchment paper, tortilla press (if you don't have a press, you can use a rolling pin...it just won't be as uniform)

Procedure

Put masa flour in a large mixing bowl. Add warm liquid, salt, and olive oil. Use a wooden spoon to mix all of the ingredients together. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Knead the dough to form a smooth ball. If the dough seems too dry, add more liquid; if the dough seems too wet, add more masa. Once the dough is ready, cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

Pinch off 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 to 6".

To Cook
Heat a griddle or a large skillet on high heat. Grease your pan. 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.

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.

These were delicious as a base for our petrale sole soft tacos.