Naturally Healthy Mexican Cooking: Authentic Recipes for Dieters, Diabetics & All Food Lovers

CORN TORTILLAS arrived on the Mexican culinary scene around AD 500, which is when archeologists date the first clay comales used to cook them. When the Spanish arrived in warm and humid southern Mexico, they were unable to successfully grow wheat from the seeds they had brought, so they adopted tortillas as their basic bread. Later, when they found that wheat thrived in northern Mexico, instead of using it to make bread, they invented a new kind of tortilla. Today, chefs are experimenting with combining corn and flour to create new and interesting tortilla varieties.

Corn tortillas can be successfully reheated in a microwave when wrapped in a kitchen towel or placed in a tortilla warmer (see the instructions on page 16). If they are particularly dry, use a slightly dampened towel. On the other hand, a few seconds too long in a microwave will cause flour tortillas to become tough and rubbery. They are best reheated in a hot ungreased skillet or on a griddle.

Corn Tortillas

8 tortillas

Very good corn tortillas can be made at home, but not nearly as easily as flour tortillas. You might well ask, “Why would I want to make them when my supermarket sells them?” There are several reasons. First, a freshly made corn tortilla has a special taste and texture that lasts but a short time. Second, traditional tortillas contain only corn, traces of the lime used to remove the skin from the kernels, and water. Unfortunately, without loads of chemical preservatives, corn tortillas degrade quickly, and that does not suit supermarkets’ needs. Check the ingredients on a package of supermarket tortillas and you will see what I mean. If you cannot make your own, look for a tortilla factory that minimizes chemical preservatives.

If you can get freshly prepared nixtamal from a tortilla factory, by all means use it. However, most of us must use dried corn flour to make the masa. My favorite brand is Maseca, which lists the ingredients as “corn treated with lime.” Once you mix the water into the flour, knead it for at least 1 minute, then be sure to let it rest for a half hour, covered with plastic wrap so it will be completely hydrated. You should then knead it again, adding some cold water to get it to the perfect consistency, which is about the same as very smooth modeling clay. If there is too little liquid, the tortillas will fall apart; if there is too much, the dough will tend to stick, and the tortillas will be gummy. A little practice will give you a feel for the right balance.

Some cooks replace about 1 tablespoon of the corn flour with 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour per cup of corn flour in the recipe to better mimic the elasticity of tortillas made from fresh masa.

One of the biggest mistakes novices make is to cook corn tortillas over insufficient heat. Like flour tortillas, they are best cooked at between 425° and 450°F (yet another reason to have a laser thermometer).

You will need a hand-operated tortilla press and some plastic to keep the dough from sticking to it. I think plastic wrap is a little too thin, so I cut pieces from small garbage bags to be slightly larger than the surface of the press. If possible, cook the tortillas on an ungreased iron plancha (griddle) or skillet.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup corn flour for tortillas

2/3 cup warm water, plus a little cold water

DIRECTIONS

Make the masa. Put the corn flour in a bowl and stir the warm water into the flour with a wooden spoon. Work the dough with your hands and knead it for about 1 minute. Allow the dough to rest, covered with plastic wrap, for 30 minutes.

Finish the dough. Add about 1/2 tablespoon cold water to the bowl and work it into the dough with your hands. Knead the dough, adding only enough water to get a silky smooth, clay-like consistency. Separate the dough into 8 pieces and roll them into smooth little balls.

Preheat your skillet or griddle to 425°–450°F.

Press the dough. While the skillet is heating, lay a piece of plastic on the bottom of the tortilla press. Place a dough ball just off center, toward the press’s hinge, flatten the dough slightly with the palm of your hand, and put another piece of plastic on top of it. Press firmly on the handle to flatten the dough to about 5 inches in diameter.

Transfer the dough to the hot skillet. Once you get the masa’s consistency down, this is the most difficult part of the process. Carefully peel the top piece of plastic off the flattened dough. If you are right-handed, use it to put the dough, plastic side down, on your left hand. Hold your right hand palm up and spread your fingers slightly. With your left hand, carefully place the uncooked tortilla, dough side down, on the palm of your right hand. Carefully pull off the second piece of plastic.

With your knuckles facing down, pass your hand about an inch over the hot surface of the skillet, tilting your hand slightly so that the trailing edge of the dough touches the skillet’s surface. At that point, continue sweeping your right palm close to the surface and, as you do so, turn your right palm upward to allow gravity to release the dough onto the hot surface. This is a bit tricky to learn, but once mastered, it is quite easy. You may want to practice by cutting some paper to tortilla size and releasing it onto a table or another flat surface.

Cook the tortillas. Cook the tortilla for about a minute, at which time the bottom should be developing brown spots. Turn the tortilla and cook it another minute on the other side. The tortilla should begin to puff as the dough cooks through. You can facilitate this by “tickling it”: lightly stroking the dough with the sharp edge of your spatula. Wrap the cooked tortillas in a towel or put them into a tortilla warmer.

PER SERVING

Flour Tortillas

12 tortillas

Unlike corn tortillas, flour tortillas are very easy to make at home. The only problem is that they are often made with over-processed white flour. You can always use some whole wheat flour combined with unbleached white flour, but most people find that changes the nature of what they wanted in the first place. However, using unbleached white all-purpose flour with a butter substitute or a small amount of extra-virgin olive oil instead of the usual lard, butter, or shortening does improve the nutrition profile without significantly affecting the result.

Most flour in Mexico is softer than ours, which means it has a lower protein content, which in turn means that the dough is less elastic and thus easier to shape. It also produces tortillas that are softer and less rubbery. To make up for the difference in protein, I substitute up to half low-protein unbleached cake flour to the recipe, but you can certainly make them entirely with all-purpose flour or vary the proportions to suit yourself. The recipe can be made with as little as 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, canola oil, or coconut oil, but my favorite option is to use 4 tablespoons of butter substitute. The extra butter substitute adds a lot of flavor and only about 10 calories per tortilla.

The recipe makes 12 medium-thick tortillas about 6–7 inches in diameter. To make thicker Tex-Mex-style tortillas, add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder to the flour and salt, divide the dough into 10 pieces, and roll them to a diameter of 6–7 inches. To make very thin tortillas, such as those found in Arizona and California, divide the dough into 16 pieces and roll them to 7–7-1/2 inches.

To make tortillas for burritos, divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll to a diameter of about 9 inches. This makes a fairly small burrito, but that is about the maximum size for home griddles and skillets. If your equipment permits larger sizes, divide the dough into 6 pieces and roll out to about 12 inches.

To make a quick version of Pan Árabe to serve with Tacos Árabes (page 130), replace 1/4 cup all-purpose flour with 1/4 cup whole wheat flour in the basic Flour Tortilla recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup hot tap water

1/4 cup Smart Balance with extra-virgin olive oil, or 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive, canola, or coconut oil

DIRECTIONS

Make the dough. The easiest way to make the dough is in a food processor, but it can also be mixed by hand in a bowl, preferably with a wooden spoon. Put the flours and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Heat the hot water and butter substitute or oil in a microwave-safe container until the butter is just melted or, if using oil, for about 30 seconds. Turn on the processor and slowly pour the liquid through the feed tube into the flour until the dough just comes together.

Remove the dough and knead it by hand until it is very smooth. Divide the dough into 12 equal balls (or whatever number you decide on; see above) and roll them in your hands until they are smooth. Place them on a plate or countertop, cover with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This allows the gluten to relax and makes them easier to roll.

Form the tortillas. Except for burrito-sized tortillas, it is easiest to roll the dough with a shorter-than-usual rolling pin. A French-style rolling pin (one piece of shaped wood) about 12–14 inches long is ideal.

Dust your work surface with a little flour, place one of the dough balls on it, and flatten it with your hand. Starting at the bottom of the dough, roll straight up and then back. Give the dough a quarter turn and again roll straight up and down. After four turns, flip the dough over and repeat the process, adding more flour to the work surface if necessary, until the tortilla is 6–7 inches in diameter.

Cook the tortillas. When making tortillas, temperature matters. The ideal is between 425° and 450°F, and the best way to check the temperature is with a laser thermometer, but be aware that they are accurate only on dark surfaces. I use an iron griddle over medium heat.

Place a formed piece of dough on the preheated surface and leave it until it begins to puff and get brown spots on the bottom, 20–30 seconds. Turn the tortilla and continue cooking until it is just cooked through, 10–15 seconds. Wrap the cooked tortillas in a towel or put them into a tortilla warmer.

PER SERVING

Hybrid Tortillas

12 tortillas

Chefs like to experiment, and the results can be rewarding. In this case, the outcome is a combination of corn and flour tortillas with a blend of tastes and textures that is quite interesting. They are definitely worth trying and very easy to make.

INGREDIENTS

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup corn flour for tortillas, such as Maseca

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup hot tap water

1/4 cup Smart Balance with extra-virgin olive oil, or 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive, canola, or coconut oil

DIRECTIONS

Make the dough. The easiest way to make the dough is in a food processor, but it can also be mixed by hand in a bowl, preferably with a wooden spoon. Put the flours and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Heat the hot water and butter substitute or oil in a microwave-safe container until the butter is just melted or, if using oil, about 30 seconds. Turn on the processor and slowly pour the liquid through the feed tube into the flour until the dough just comes together, 10–15 seconds.

Remove the dough and knead it by hand until it is very smooth. Divide the dough into 12 equal balls and roll them in your hands until they are smooth. Place them on a plate or countertop, cover with a damp towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This allows the gluten to relax and makes them easier to roll.

Form the tortillas. Dust your work surface with a little flour, place one of the dough balls on it, and flatten it with your hand. Starting at the bottom of the dough, roll straight up and then back. Give the dough a quarter turn and again roll straight up and down. After four turns, flip the dough over and repeat the process, adding more flour to the work surface if necessary, until the tortilla is 6–7 inches in diameter.

PER SERVING