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South Side San Antonio Flour Tortillas


Growing up on the South Side of San Antonio, being raised by my Tia Maria and preferring South Side Tex-Mex to any other food group, flour tortillas are not something one can "just accept".  They are either good or not good, there is no middle ground.  No tortilla bought at any grocery store can compare to homemade Abuelita tortillas.  Unless of course you are buying fresh from the local Tex-Mex restaurant to take home to immediately eat.  Leftover tortillas do not save well.  Besides, why should there ever be leftovers. Fresh flour tortillas can be eaten morning, noon, and night with savory dishes, as deserts with cinnamon and sugar,  with melted butter or cheeses, or best yet, all by themselves warm straight from the griddle.  They are best served to perfection in their non circle forms!

Ingredients:
2 Cups All Purpose Baking Flour
1.5 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoon Vegetable Oil/Lard
3/4 cup lukewarm milk

Instructions:
Stir together flour and baking powder.  Add salt and vegetable oil to milk, whisk until fully incorporated.  Gradually add milk mixture to flour.  Stir to combine.  Dough will be sticky.

Turn dough onto heavily floured surface and knead using the press and fold method.  Add more flour if needed.  Knead until surface is smooth and elastic, about two - five minutes.  Return dough to bowl, cover with damp cloth, and let rest for 15 minutes.  Dough will not rise. 

Divide dough into 8 balls.  Return to bowl and let rest for another 15 minutes.  Keep dough balls separated during rest period otherwise they will stick.

Place one ball onto floured work station.  Roll dough ball from center out turning 1/4 turn with every roll of pin.  Add more flour dusting if needed between turns.  Final tortilla size should be between 7-8" inches with a thickness of less than 1/4".

Transfer tortilla to dry, hot griddle. Tortilla should immediately start to bubble blister.  Cook one side 30 seconds, flip and cook second side for another 30 seconds.  Flip again if needed.  Transfer to napkin lined basket.

Modifications:
If griddle is not fully seasoned, the tortilla will start to burn.  To reduce burning, I spray the cast iron skillet with vegetable oil.  Just a slight spritz.  When rolling the tortilla, the thinner, the better.  Too thick and the tortilla becomes chewy.  

Scaled for Likability: Great
Always wanting to credit where credit is due, when it comes to this recipe, I can only say it is not mine.  I have had this recipe since long before the days of the internet.  A day way back in college when recipes were found in books.  Its true, recipes used to be in books, on index cards, napkin pieces.  As with every grandmas recipe, this is just one of the many versions of flour tortillas.  I happen to like this one because of its simplicity.  It is the perfect tortilla.
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