Sorry if this gets onto the list twice, but I sent it out on Friday and did
not see it in Saturday's (todays) digest.
*********************************
Kate Asks:
>Could you post your recipe, and any hints you've got for making it turn
>out right? I've tried a couple of recipes, and never got it to work - the
>dough didn't stick together properly.
The tricks are:
1. Use the right amount of water. This means you may have to leave a
bit out, or add a bit more in. I think that humidity has a lot to do with
this.
2. When you are mixing the masa, a piece of it it should form a nice
ball in your palm when you roll it. If you press it with your thumb, it
should get a small crack, but not crumble.
3. Use a large zip loc freezer bag for rolling or pressing the masa.
We just split the sides and cut off the zip loc (do not split the bottom).
Place a walnut sized to tangerine sized ball into the center of one side,
and then fold over the other side onto it. If you roll it, then turn it a
1/4 turn with each rolling. If you press it, turn it a half turn and press
once more. To remove the tortilla you must peel back the top layer of
plastic, then holding the plastic, place the tortilla side of it into your
palm and peel off the backside (leaves the tortilla in your palm). Now
simply flip the tortilla over onto the very hot skillet.
4. Keep bowl covered with a moist dishtowel while you are working to
prevent the remaining dough from drying out.
5. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART! Use a well seasoned cast iron
skillet, or a comal (looks like the cast iron skillet but it is flat and
has no sides). And, DON'T use oil. If the skillet or comal are relatively
new, then you will have to wipe the it with oil, but you should only see a
light sheen, not a heavy coating.
6. The recipes on the bag are very accurate, so you should be able to
use those proportions with no trouble. Like I said, the trick is in
getting the "feel" of how the dough should be.
I hope this helps you,
Lynda
\*/ Mailto:Pixilated@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx \*/ Southern California \*/\*/ _@v
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@-@--, In this world you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.
< For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.
~ James Stewart: "Harvey" 1950.
------------------------------