Do Not Try This At Home

Let's talk about ambition...

Not to be confused with insanity.

Which happens to be the exact behavior that bubbled to the service of my brain two days ago.

Who in their right mind would attempt to create tacos (tortillas, sour cream, salsa, and all) from scratch?

Hi, that's me!

I cannot deny the fact that they turned out amazingly well and tasted far better than tacos containing store-bought ingredients. However, the next time I want to make such an involved dinner, will someone please talk some sense into me? I kid you not, I was in the kitchen for the better part of 3 hours! It is a very good thing I had nothing better to do with my time. Besides, the best part of my day is cooking a wonderful meal for my hard-working hubby. 

 None of the recipes I used where overly difficult, I just had to be prepared for the time-consuming process, which began with tortillas. 

Pioneer Woman kindly allowed me to use her recipe for homemade tortillas. And don't they look scrumptious? My meat-loving man was even enjoying them wrapped around thin air. I don't blame him though, just look at that perfect doughy goodness!

I know what I would do if processed, grocery store tortillas didn't exist!

Next, I endeavored to create the underappreciated and undervalued ingredient in tacos that is sour cream. Did you know you can make sour cream in your own home? I didn't until a couple of days ago. The recipe does require a previously purchased cheese product, unless you make this from scratch too, but I highly discourage anyone from being that crazy all in the span of one day! Three simple ingredients blitzed in the blender till you reach sour cream heaven. One cup of cottage cheese, followed by two tablespoons each of lemon juice and milk; it doesn't get much easier than that.

Homemade salsa is a frequent undertaking among American families each year, but I was not about to break out the canning equipment. I got some ideas from various websites and ultimately decided to throw some ingredients together and hope for the best. 

Guess what?! It worked!

It seems that all my hardwork paid off in the end, because all that remained was the tiniest fluff of parsley, a bit of red bell pepper, and a squirt of spiced oil that dripped vicariously from the end of the tortilla.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman

  2-½ cups self-raising flour
½ cups lard
2 tbsp. additional lard
1 cup hot water
 
In a large bowl, add spoonfuls of lard to the flour. Use a pastry cutter or fork to combine the ingredients. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.
Slowly pour in the hot water, stirring to bring the mixture together. Lightly knead the dough 30 to 40 times, or until it becomes a cohesive ball of dough and is less sticky. Cover with a tea towel and allow the dough to rest for at least an hour. 
Roll into ping pong size balls, place on a tray, cover with a tea towel, and allow to rest for another 20-30 minutes.
When you’re ready to make the tortillas, heat a dark or cast iron griddle to medium/medium-high heat. One by one, roll out the balls of dough until very, very thin. Throw the tortillas (one by one) onto the griddle. 
Cook on each side for 20 to 30 seconds, removing while the tortillas are still soft but slightly brown in spots. Remove and stack the tortillas, and cover with a towel to keep warm. Serve immediately or allow to cool before storing the tortillas in a container. To warm, nuke the tortillas in the microwave, or wrap in foil and warm in the oven.

 
Please contact me if you would like any of the other recipes from this post.