Once upon a time, I made flour tortillas to use as wraps for a meal I made for myself and Anders. I never posted them because when I rolled them out they turned out to be more pointy and mishapen than circular. But they were tasty. Now, the other day I bought a bag of avocadoes. I don't really like avocado that much, but they're full of healthy fat and nutrients so I decided to just get them and maybe make myself like them. Instead I just went ahead and made guacamole a few days after buying them because that's really the only way I like to eat them. And to eat guacamole you need some chips. But have you ever noticed how much crap is in tortilla chips? Ugh. I have. So I decided to take that recipe for soft tortillas I had made before and make them into chips! That's right, folks. This post is a twofer! Guacamole and tortilla chips ho!
I started with some flour, baking powder, salt and canola oil.
I added some warm milk.
And that's it. Five ingredients, minimal mixing and I got this pleasant lump of dough, which I kneaded until it was well combined and smooth.
I threw the dough into the bowl I mixed it in and put a damp dish cloth over top. I let it rest for about 20 minutes.
Now, this next part is a lie, because I was multi-tasking the whole time and while the dough was resting I started on the guacamole, but to keep things simple, I'll continue with the tortilla chips.
After 20 minutes, I split the dough into four more or less equal parts.
And let them rest again. This dough needs a lot of rest, or it will be tough and gross.
After the second rest, I split each ball of dough in half and I rolled each one out very very thin. They do shrink back up a bit though. I didn't worry to much about how circular they were, because I was just going to butcher them anyway to make the chips.
Using my (dry, unoiled) cast iron pan, I...fried, baked?... each tortilla for about 30 seconds per side. They start to puff up a bit and turn brown in spots, so it's easy to tell when they're done.
When they were all done, I cut each tortilla into 8 triangular(ish) pieces.
I put those on a baking sheet, which I had first sprayed very lightly with canola oil. I also gave the soon-to-be-chips a light spray. This is what they looked like after baking for about 12 or 13 minutes.
Next, I worked on my guacamole!
Naturally enough, I started with avocadoes! What a lovely colour!
Next, I Chopped up some tomato.
And some green onion.
I threw those two things into my bowl with my avocadoes along with some lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.
Now look. I know you're supposed to put cilantro in guacamole. And no, I haven't done that. I have a confession. I hate cilantro. And I know very few people who DO like it so I don't feel bad about it! It makes me feel like my throat is closing up. That isn't a good feeling when you're eating! So I avoid it. I hope you understand.
Anyway... I don't like to mash my avocado before adding the other ingredients. I find that it just turns into paste when you do that and I don't like it. Guacamole should be think and rustic, not smooth and pasty.
So instead I just take a metal spoon to it and stir, breaking up the avocado as I see fit. And I also add some garlic because I realise I forgot it... and then I don't add enough. Whoops!
There we go. Oooh, look at it. Tastyyy.
Ooh, both together. Don't you want to just dive into the photo?
Delicious!
Okay. So I love guacamole. But it's nothing too new or exciting, so let's talk about the tortilla chips. They were good! They weren't WAY too salty like the store-bought ones, they had a nice light flavour and they were just... tasty. My only complaint is that some of them were a bit too crunchy but that was my fault. The only ones that were too crunchy were the darker ones, so they were obviously a bit over-baked. Next time I do this, and I definitely will do this again, I would decrease the baking time slightly. Other than that, they were great! I was pleased to be able to just sort of make it up. I spent a lot of time looking online for a recipe for tortilla chips, but I came up with nothing. Luckily it was easy to simply decide to make these into chips.
Recipes
Flour Tortilla Chips
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2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
¾ cups of warm milk
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Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil. Slowly add the warm milk. Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed. Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft. Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the centre until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. They should start to puff a bit when they're done.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the cooked tortillas into eighths and arrange a few pieces on a very lightly oiled baking sheet (canola oil spray works well). Spray the tops of the tortilla pieces very lightly with canola oil. Place in the over for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the chips are brown and crispy. Cool slightly before eating.
Guacamole
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4 small or 3 medium avocadoes
2 small or 1 large tomato(es), chopped
6-8 green onions, chopped
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
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Cut avocadoes in half and scrap fruit into a bowl. Add chopped tomato and green onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt and pepper. Stir and break up avocado. Serve with tortilla chips or pita bread or something equally delicious.
Guten Appetit! Continue reading...
