Great tortillas

I've been put on a budget. Hardest. Thing. Ever.  It's the end of the month. With having had visitors most of the month, I am counting the days till the first (C'mon..hurry up!) Anyway...I wanted to make tacos, but Taco Shells and Tortillas both are way more expensive than I would like (have everything else).  Flash back to one day this summer when Coop was having a sale....

Coop website: Flour...4 1kg packages for 2 chf
me: I use flour
website: Thank you ...we will deliver tomorrow
me: WTF...what am I going to do with 8 bags of flour.... never shop online at 3am while you're feeding the baby..

Normally this wouldn't be a problem.  However living here is severely taxing my organizational skills and it's more of a Jenga game with a lot of things (working on it though!)

So today, my oldest son helped me make tortillas.  It was lots of fun. (He slept through the hard part so probably had more fun than me).  It was nice.  I remember long ago to when I was little and I would help my mom make tortillas.  They were wonderful! (This was back when she fried them afterwards...drool.....She's stopped now - which is good and sad at the same time).  I remember waiting for those tortillas to come off the stove and hoping they wouldn't be nice and round.  Those odd square shaped ones had to be eaten right away.  And if they were all round, well then, mom would give us one to try to make sure they were ok :-)  I miss living near my mom, but the visits we share are all the more special now that we don't get to spend a lot of time together.  And having my own kids and baking what my mom and I used to make is great as well!

What you need: (makes about 18 tortillas)

4 cups of flour
1 heaping tsp of salt
1 tsp baking powder
4 even Tbsp shortening (I used butter)
1 1/4 cups very warm water

Mix the flour, salt and baking powder.  Add the shortening/butter and mix well. Make a hole for the water and then add it as well. Not sure if you can see it very well - but push the flour mixture to the sides of the bowl.

Knead (I use my hands) for a couple minutes until a soft dough forms and everything is mixed together well.  Let stand for 20 minutes. Cover with a towel.  Form as many balls as you would like tortillas.  I usually start out with 15-20 and then slowly add bits to other dough balls as I get on since I don't like rolling them out. I end up with 12-15

When rolling, try to make a circle...unless you need an excuse to try one to make sure they're ok for other people (they're wonderful right off the stove with a little butter on top).  Next, it's kind of like making pancakes.  When the tortilla begins to bubble, it's time to flip it (cast-iron skillets are great for this, but I used my 7 chf Ikea pan - dry)

I usually will roll a tortilla when I put the first one in, and when I'm done rolling I flip it - seems to be about the right time.

If you leave the tortilla in longer, the brown spots get bigger. Don't worry about it - they all taste great!





Here is my finished stack...now to see if they will last to taco night!

Viadukt finds

The Viadukt  The Viadukt has been open for a while now, but I hadn't had a chance to go visit.  It made for a nice afternoon as we walked back down Josefstrasse to Zurich and were able to hit some of the ethnic stores on the way.  

The Viadukt has a lot of fresh fruits and veggies.  The British cheese shop is also there, next to a very good  looking bagel place. yum. We bought Quinces.  I had never seen these before - they are kind of like a cross between pears and yellow apples.  They are very hard to de-core as well, so please be careful when you do.  

What you need:

Quince - I used 4

Sugar - an amount equal to what your pureed quince turns into

water

First, wash the quinces, peel, and cut them into quarters.  Carefully remove the core.  Chop them into small chunks.  Put them in a large pot and cover with water (think making mashed potatoes).  Let cook for about 30 minutes after boiling, covered.  If a fork goes in easily, they are done. 

Put in a blender (I have a small one so did this in batches) and blend until smooth.  I ended up with about 2 cups of pureed quince, so I added 2 cups of sugar and the quince to the same pan.  Stir continuously until the sugar is dissolved, at a low heat.  Let the mixture cook for about 90 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

You may need to put a lid on it as it spits at about 45 minutes in, but put it at an angle so it is not completely covered.  You will know when it is done. It starts to get a few specks of dark orange and then about 5 minutes after, the entire mixture turns the deep orange color and it is a lot thicker than when you started. 

Spread the mixture on a baking pan (the smaller the pan, the thicker your paste will be - think brownies), on top of some parchment paper.  Put in an oven at 50 C for an hour. If you have the option of putting the oven fan on, do that as well.  Any part you are not eating, wrap in foil and keep in the fridge.  We waited until then next day to eat it.  It is very sweet (2 cups of sugar), but you are supposed to have it with cheese. We used Manchego (Coop) but Iberico may be good as well.