flour tortillas

it's so exciting to be in my own kitchen again, to put on my local cbc, to move at my own pace to get covered in flour, to be able to use my baking stone....and to just be home!

we got back night before last, 154 days since we left at the beginning of may, to a food free house. a blank canvas. so i picked up some flour yesterday morning and started bread last night, "large batch whole wheat loaves". its a recipe from jeffery alford and naomi duguid's "home baking" book. its a three day bread, so i made the poolish last night, i'll add more water and flour this afternoon, let it sit again over night and then finish off thes loaves tomorrow. in the mean time we needed some sort of bread to get us through. i had fully intended to make pitas, i'm going to make a hearty bean soup for dinner and thought pitas would be the perfect companion. but, for some reason i opened my cookbook and made tortillas! i was listening to the morning news on cbc, having a great conversation over a hot coffee while mixing my ingredients. i guess i was just too excited about being home! maybe i'll have to make burritos in the next few days!

flour tortillas

 

6 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup vegetable shortening cut into small pieces

2 1/2 cups warm water

mix dry. add shortening. turn mixer on low and add the water slowly, mix for 90 seconds. cut in 2 and let set for 20 minutes. cut each piece into 8 equal portions. roll into 8-inch rounds. stack with plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes. heat cast iron pan over medium heat and coat with vegetable oil. cook for 1 minute each or until light brown spots appear.