One of my friends gave me a tortilla press for my birthday a few months ago, and I finally got around to trying it out. I thought it was going to be more of a hassle than it actually is, but it turns out to be very quick and easy to do. The dough comes in a premade mix, and all you have to do is add water, salt, and lime. The dough is easy to work with, it’s not messy, and it’s very easy to clean up. Above all that, the taste of these tortillas is far above any store bought ones.
The mix I have is called Maseca, and it can be used for tortillas, empenadas, tamales, and gorditas. Its super easy. Just follow the instructions on the bag. I added lime and a touch of olive oil. Make little dough balls, and use a tortilla press to flatten them. Tortilla presses are relatively inexpensive and worth buying if you are going to make tortillas often. I cut a plastic ziplock bag and used that to press the dough in between. Then you just pan fry each side for about a minute.
Here is a recipe for delicious stewed chicken that can be used for tacos and tamales.
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 10 yellow peppers
- 3 sweet peppers (or Pasilla peppers)
- 4 tablespoons of smoked paprika
- 1 onion
- 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
- juice of 2 limes
- Remove seeds from chilies and rough chop. Chop onion. Put in pot and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
- Strain most of the water, but leave about a cup, and blend chilies and onion.
- Cut chicken into chunks and add to pepper mix. Add smoked paprika.
- Add apple cider vinegar and bring to boil, and simmer on low for about 2 hours. The chicken will cook, then be tough, then will break down and become soft. If it is tough, keep cooking on low until it turns very soft and tender. Cooking it long and low will make it tender. Just make sure it has some slight bubbling action.
- When the chicken is soft, shred it with two forks.
- Add lime juice when it is done cooking. Add salt and pepper to taste.
