Fresh Corn Muffins

The cooler temperatures of fall and winter call for soups, stews, and chilis, and when I have soup, stew, or chili I require some sort of bread product for dipping, be it crusty bread or rolls, crackers, or even a grilled cheese. When I made Three Sisters Stew, my thoughts immediately turned to cornbread, which I'd been craving for weeks. While even the simplest corn muffins make from Jiffy mix are delicious, I like to put extras into my corn muffins, like fresh corn, peppers, cheese, or bacon (or any combination of those ingredients). This corn muffin recipe is a great basic recipe, with just a bit of sweet fresh corn and spicy jalapeno pepper to punch up the flavor. The whole wheat pastry flour keeps the muffin light and airy and contributes just a touch of nutty flavor, instead of the traditional all-purpose flour that disappears completely behind the flavor of the cornmeal. These muffins take just a few minutes to whip up and any extras can be frozen and reheated quite successfully, so keep a batch in the freezer to make even a meager meal of canned soup a little bit special.

Fresh Corn Muffins
adapted from Food and Wine
makes 12 muffins

6 tablespoons canola oil 
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (from 1 ear)

2 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped 
Salt 
1 cup yellow cornmeal 
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour 
1/4 cup sugar 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1 cup buttermilk 
1 large egg, lightly beaten 

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a medium skillet. Add the corn and jalapeños, season with salt and cook over moderately high heat until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape onto a plate to cool slightly.

2. In a bowl, whisk the cornmeal with the flour, sugar, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add the buttermilk, egg and the remaining oil and stir until blended. Quickly stir in the corn mixture and pour the batter into the muffin cups.

3. Bake the muffins for about 16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Jim's Irish Brown Bread

I'm having some family over to watch the Packer game tomorrow and will be making reuben pizza. I'll have some corned beef and cabbage left over for reubens a bit later in the week, so I decided to make a loaf of Jim's Irish Brown Bread from My Bread to construct my reubens, as well as serve alongside some soup I plan on making this week. An added bonus is the fact that I'll get rid of the last, lonely Guinness that has been sitting in my refrigerator for months after purchasing a 6-pack for some cooking projects (I'm a local beer girl). Just like the rest of Jim Lahey's breads, this is incredibly simple and delicious. It's the last of his recipes I had bookmarked to try as soon as possible, but after all the wonderful breads I've made so easily from My Bread, you can be sure I'll be back to try more recipes sometime soon.

Jim's Irish Brown Bread
from My Bread by Jim Lahey

2.25 c. (300 grams) bread flour
3/4 c. (100 grams) whole wheat flour
1 t. (6 grams) table salt
1 T. (5 grams) wheat bran
1/4 t. (1 grams) instant or other active dry yeast
3/4 c. (175 grams) Guinness Stout, at room temperature (about 72 degrees)
3/4 c. (175 grams) well-shaken buttermilk, at room temperature
Additional wheat bran or flour for dusting

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, salt, wheat bran, and yeast. Add the beer and buttermilk and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

3. Place a tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with wheat bran or flour. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran or flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F, with a rack positioned in the lower third, and place a covered 4.5- to 5.5-quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution-the pot will be very hot). Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly.

Coconut-Chocolate Bread

This is about as close to a Mounds bar as bread is going to get. You're not going to be able to use this bread for sandwiches, but it does make an indulgent piece of toast when spread with Nutella. Not quite as indulgent as a pastry, but much easier to make, this bread is an excellent snack or sweet start to the day. There's just no excuse for not having homemade bread around with a method this easy that produces such a wide variety of types of bread!

Coconut-Chocolate Bread
from My Bread by Jim Lahey

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (280 grams) bread flour
2 cups loosely packed (100 grams) unsweetened large-flake coconut
1 cup (150 grams) semisweet chocolate chunks
3/4 teaspoon (4 grams) table salt
1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) instant or other active dry yeast
1.25 cups (280 grams) water
Wheat bran or additional flour for dusting

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, half of the coconut, the chocolate, salt, and yeast. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix until you have wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is puffy and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with bran or flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

3. Place a tea towel on your work surface, generously dust it with wheat bran or flour, and sprinkle it with 1/2 cup of the remaining coconut. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam side down. Lightly sprinkle the surface with the remaining 1/2 cup coconut. Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third, and place a covered 4.5- to 5.5-quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution-the pot will be very hot). Cover the pot and bake for 40 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 20 to 25 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly.

Carrot Bread

Another weekend, another opportunity to try an easy homemade bread recipe. These recipes are so unbelievably easy, I can't resist trying a new one each week. If I had more people to feed, I'd try two new recipes a week!

Although raisins aren't exactly the same as currants, you could substitute them in a pinch. The dusting of cumin seeds definitely makes this a savory bread, so leave them off if you don't like the smoky cumin flavor or want your bread more of the sweet variety. I can't enough of this savory, smoky bread, which I happily dunked into a bowl of butternut squash soup. It should make excellent toast alongside some eggs, or wonderful turkey or roast beef sandwiches. I look forward to exploring myriad possibilities for this delicious bread.

Carrot Bread
from My Bread by Jim Lahey

3 cups (400 grams) bread flour
1.25 teaspoons (8 grams) table salt
1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) instant or other active dry yeast
1.5 cups (350 grams) carrot juice
3/4 cup currants
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Additional flour for dusting

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast.. Add the carrot juice and, using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix until you have wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. If it's not really sticky to the touch, add another tablespoon or two of water. Add the currants and walnuts and mix until incorporated.Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

3. Place a tea towel on your work surface. Generously dust it with flour and sprinkle on the cumin seeds. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third, and place a covered 4.5- to 5.5-quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution-the pot will be very hot). Cover the pot and bake for 25 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 20 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly.

Pan Co' Santi

I'm been on a roll with recipes from My Bread, having great success with Pane Integrale and Rye Bread, so I thought I'd try out something a little more special (I'm working my way towards more treat-like bread), Pan co' Santi. Pan co' Santi is a special occasion bread served in Tuscany on All Saints' Day, November 1st. I'm not patient enough to wait for All Saints' Day to come around to try out the recipe, but I'll be making it again in just a couple of months, substituting some of the bread flour for whole wheat. It's essentially cinnamon-raisin bread with walnuts, so if you're like me and can't resist a piece of cinnamon-raisin toast with peanut butter, you'll love this rustic (and ridiculously simple to prepare) version.

Pan co' Santi
from My Bread by Jim Lahey

3 cups (400 grams) bread flour
1/2 cup (85 grams) raisins
1/2 cup (50 grams) walnuts
1.25 teaspoons (8 grams) table salt
3/4 teaspoon (2 grams) cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) instant or other active dry yeast
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
1.5 cups (350 grams) cool (55 to 65 degrees F) water
Wheat bran, cornmeal, or additional flour for dusting

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, raisins, walnuts, salt, cinnamon,  yeast and pepper, mixing thoroughly. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. If it's not really sticky to the touch, mix in another tablespoon or two of water. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

3. Place a tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third, and place a covered 4.5- to 5.5-quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution-the pot will be very hot). Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly.

Rye Bread

After being pretty satisfied with the whole wheat bread I made from Jim Lahey's book My Bread, I decided to try out making rye bread. As with the last loaf, with minimal effort I got a wonderfully crusty loaf with a soft and airy interior and tender crumb, perfumed with the delicious scent of fermentation. This bread made both delicious grilled cheese and was the perfect vehicle for a heap of Stoddard's smoked chicken breast, topped with Spirit Valley maple mustard and lettuce.

Rye Bread
from My Bread by Jim Lahey
makes one 10-inch round loaf, 1.25 pounds

2.25 cups/300 grams bread flour
3/4 cup/100 grams rye flour
1.25 teaspoons/8 grams table salt
1/2 teaspoon/2 grams instant or other active dry yeast
1 1/3 cups/300 grams cool (55 to 65 degrees F) water
Rye flour for dusting



1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, salt, and yeast. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

3. Place a tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with rye flour. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with rye flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third, and place a covered 4.5- to 5.5-quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution-the pot will be very hot). Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly.

Pane Integrale

There are few better smells in the world than freshly baked bread. I don't make it as often as I should, mostly because it is hard to fit in multiple risings on a weeknight or coordinate my weekend schedule around them. For a while there was a trend towards no-knead breads, and Jim Lahey's book My Bread is one of the best to come out of that fleeting culinary obsession. With very little effort and just a bit of scheduling, almost anyone can make fresh homemade bread. While I actually do enjoying kneading bread dough (it's a great stress reliever), this simple technique makes it possible for me to make bread more frequently. The original recipe is below, but I used half whole-wheat and half bread flour and will probably use an even greater proportion of whole wheat flour next time. More whole wheat flour does mean a bit denser loaf, but it also means more flavorful and healthy bread.

In addition to filling my kitchen with comforting aromas as it was baking, the unbaked dough releases the delicious scent of fermentation, one of my other favorite smells in the world, as it usually means fresh bread or beer. This bread is tender and moist on the inside with a wonderfully crusty outside, due in large part to preheating the Dutch oven for half an hour before putting the bread dough in the pot. You may end up with a few crumbs on your shirt, but each crunchy, chewy bite of this rustic bread is worth it.

Pane Integrale (Whole Wheat Bread)
from My Bread by Jim Lahey

2.25 c. (300 grams) bread flour
3/4 c. (100 grams) whole wheat flour
1.25 t. (8 grams) table salt
1/2 t. (2 grams) instant or other active dry yeast
1 1/3 c. (300 grams) cool (55 to 65 degrees F) water
Wheat bran, cornmeal, or additional flour for dusting

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, salt, and yeast. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

3. Place a tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F, with a rack positioned in the lower third, and place a covered 4.5- to 5.5-quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution-the pot will be very hot). Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly.

Brown Soda Bread

Soda bread is simply bread where bread soda (more commonly known as baking soda or sodium bicarbonate) is used in lieu of yeast as a leavening agent. Traditional soda bread is made from flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. The lactic acid in buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to form bubbles of carbon dioxide and cause the bread to rise.

With St. Patrick's Day only a few weeks away, many people will be making Irish soda bread as part of their celebration. Cooking Light has a wonderful bunch of St. Patrick's Day themed recipes in the March issue, and this recipe comes from there. This recipe is much more complex than traditional soda bread, but is also much healthier.

This recipe calls specifically for steel-cut oats (also called Irish oatmeal)-do not substitute quick oats or old-fashioned rolled oats. Steel-cut oats are processed much less than rolled oats, the groat only being cut into 2 or 3 pieces instead of being rolled, and thus take longer to prepare for oatmeal. They are chewier and nuttier than rolled oats and have a lower glycemic index. Unfortunately, at least at the grocery store I went to, they are also significantly more expensive.

For once I actually weighed my flour instead of just using measuring cups. I know that weighing is more accurate, but I rarely do it. I didn't own a kitchen scale until just a few years ago, so I was always in the habit of measuring instead of weighing.

Note: If you try and find this recipe on the Cooking Light website, a different brown soda bread recipe comes up. The Bacon and Butternut Squash Pasta recipe was not available either (it's called bacon and butternut pasta in the magazine), so it seems the current issue's recipes are not available online yet.

Despite being mostly whole-wheat flour, this bread is moist and delicious and has a wonderful nutty flavor from the steel-cut oats. And, even better, it's extremely healthy!

Brown Soda Bread
Cooking Light, March 2010

Cooking spray
11.25 oz. (about 2.5 c.) whole-wheat flour
2.25 oz. (about 1/2 c.) all-purpose flour
1/2 c. steel cut-oats
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. wheat germ
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/ 2 t. salt
2 c. low-fat buttermilk (I used powdered)
1 large egg, beaten slightly

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Coat a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper and coat with cooking spray.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flours and next 6 ingredients (though salt). Combine buttermilk and egg; add to flour mixture. Stir until just combined.

 

4. Spoon the mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert bread onto a wire rack; cool completely. Remove parchment; slice bread into 12 slices.

 

 

Whole Wheat Tortillas

About a month ago, I tried making my own flour tortillas for the first time and was very happy with the results. After I find a white bread recipe that I like my next move is usually to start substituting whole wheat flour to make the recipe more healthy. I only swapped out 3/4 cup of the all-purpose flour but I'll probably try substituting more in future as well as adding a small amount of flax seeds for omega-3s.
 

Whole Wheat Tortillas
adapted from Rick Bayless' Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico
makes 12 tortillas

2 c. all-purpose flour, plus a little extra for rolling the tortillas

3/4 c. whole wheat flour
5 T. lard or vegetable shortening, or a mixture of the two
3/4 t. salt
about 3/4 c. very warm tap water

1. Make the dough.  Combine the two flours in a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine. Add the fat to the flour mixture and work the fat in with your fingers until completely incorporated. Dissolve the salt in the water, pour about 2/3 cup of it over the dry ingredients and immediately work it in with a fork; the dough will be in large clumps rather than a homogeneous mass. If all the dry ingredients haven't been dampened, add the rest of the liquid (plus a little more, if necessary). Scoop the dough onto your work surface and knead until smooth. It should be medium-stiff consistency -- definitely not firm, but not quite as soft as most bread dough either.

2. Rest the dough. Divide the dough into 12 portions and roll each into a ball. Set them on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and let rest at least 30 minutes (to make the dough less springy, easier to roll).

3. Roll and griddle-bake the tortillas. Heat an ungreased griddle or heavy skillet over medium to medium-high heat.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough into an even 7-inch circle: Flatten a ball of dough, flour it, then roll forward and back across it; rotate a sixth of a turn and roll forward and back again; continue rotating and rolling until you reach a 7-inch circle, lightly flouring the tortilla and work surface from time to time.

Lay the tortilla on the hot griddle (you should hear a faint sizzle and see an almost immediate bubbling across the surface). After 30 to 45 seconds, when there are browned splotches underneath, flip it over. Bake 30 to 45 seconds more, until the other side is browned; don't overbake the tortilla or it will become crisp. Remove and wrap in a cloth napkin placed in a tortilla warmer. Roll and griddle-bake the remaining tortillas in the same manner and stacking them one on top of the other.

Corn Tortillas

As promised in my Flour Tortillas post, I made corn tortillas the next time we had tacos (this time they were chorizo and onion). Corn tortillas are either made from fresh masa, if you're lucky enough to have a tortilleria nearby, or masa harina, which is what I used. The only kind I found was Maseca, which I found at multiple grocery stores in the Mexican food section.

Like the flour tortillas, the homemade version is better than store-bought, but in this case the difference was much more dramatic. These actually taste like corn, instead of the tasteless corn-colored cardboard found in grocery stores (although there are more authentic brands that are decent). But these are more difficult to make than flour tortillas if you roll them out by hand like I did, since I don't have a tortilla press which every recipe recommends. Corn flour does not contain gluten as wheat flour does (gluten gives the dough structure), so the dough is much more likely to crack or tear as you roll it out, which is why recipes says to use a tortilla press. Although it was more work than the flour tortillas, I think it was worth it.

When reconstituting the masa harina to make the dough, I found it necessary to add more water than initially specified in the recipe (no surprise in this dry winter weather). You want your dough to be softer than Play-Doh, similar to a soft cookie dough, but not sticky. This dough dries out easily and it may be necessary to add water from time to time.


Corn Tortillas
from Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico by Rick Bayless

yield 15 tortillas

1 pound fresh masa for tortillas, store-bought or homemade OR
1 3/4 c. masa harina mixed with 1 c. plus 2 T. hot tap water

1. The dough. If using masa harina, mix it with the hot water, then knead until smooth, adding more water or more masa harina to achieve a very soft (but not sticky) consistency; cover with plastic and let rest 30 minutes. When you're ready to bake the tortillas, readjust the consistency of the fresh or reconstituted masa, then divide into 15 balls and cover with plastic.

2. Heating the griddle. Heat a large, ungreased, heave griddle or 2 heavy skillets: one end of the griddle (or one skillet) over medium-low, the other end (or other skillet) over medium to medium-high.

3. Pressing. Cut 2 squares of heavy plastic to fit the plates of your tortilla press. With the press open, place a square of plastic over the bottom plate, set a ball of dough in the center, cover with the second square of plastic, and gently flatten the dough between. Close the top plate and press down gently but firmly with the handle. Open, turn the tortilla 180 degrees, close and gently press again, to an even 1/16-inch thickness.

4. Unmolding. Open the press and peel off the top sheet of plastic. Flip the tortilla onto one hand, dough-side down, then, starting at one corner, gently peel off the remaining sheet of plastic.

5. Griddle-baking. Lay the tortilla onto the cooler end of the griddle (or cooler skillet). In about 20 seconds, when the tortilla loosens itself from the griddle (but the edges have not yet dried or curled), flip it over onto the hotter end of the griddle (or onto the hotter skillet). When lightly browned in spots underneath, 20 to 30 seconds more, flip a second time, back onto the side that was originally down. If the fire is properly hot, the tortilla will balloon up like pita bread. When lightly browned, another 20 to 30 seconds, remove from the griddle (it will completely deflate) and wrap in a towel. Press, unmold and bake the remaining balls of masa, placing each hot tortilla on top of the last and keeping the stack well wrapped.

6. Resting. Let the wrapped stack of tortillas rest for about 15 minutes to finish their cooking, soften, and become pliable.

Enjoy!