Flour Tortillas

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE tortillas. I'm a flour girl (yeah, they're worse for you, whatever - they're GOOD!), & I like 'em thick. I cannot stand Mission tortillas. Heaven help the Mexican restaurant that dares to bring me Mission brand (yes, I hate them enough that I can tell!). I can taste the preservatives in them. blech.

So, now I just whip up my own tortillas when I'm in the mood. It really doesn't take long at all, I promise.

You need:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp shortening (or lard, if you keep it handy)

3/4 cup of HOT water

Dump everything but the water in a bowl.

Mix it up (just use you hands, you can always wash them), until the shortening is well incorporated. You'll have a coarse meal.
Add the HOT water. If you can't handle the heat, use a fork to mix it in, until it cools, then dig your hands in.
Once you've got the water fully mixed in, split the dough into 8 equally sized balls. (If you like thinner tortillas you can probably get 12-15 tortillas out of this dough.)
Call me a cheater... or a tortilla junkie, but I use a tortilla press. They're actually really cheap if you become a tortilla junkie like me. Since I'll assume most of you don't have a tortilla press, you can either use 2 plates & set the dough on the first & use the second to smoosh it (similar to a tortilla press), or you can roll the tortillas out with a rolling pin. If I want big tortillas, I still use a rolling pin. By the way, who cares if they aren't perfectly round (trust me, when I roll them mine aren't), it just adds to the home-cooked-ness.

(If you use a press, putting Saran Wrap on the press can help with the sticking, but it's not something you "have" to do. I do it about the half the time.)

From dough ball to tortilla, just like that. Best $15 I ever spent. ;)

I actually press all the balls, let each rest, then press them a second time. After the second press, I let them rest again, until they feel slightly dry to the touch.

Then, I throw them on a flat skillet that I pre-heated over medium-high heat.

(Sometimes I mix shortening & butter (half & half, the shortening helps keep the butter from burning), sometimes I just cook 'em straight on the pan. Depends on whether or not I want a butter flavor.) If your heat is right, it takes about 30 second - 1 minute per side to cook the tortillas (depending on how thick you make them).

Once you've cooked them all, dig in! Yum!

When you make your own tortillas, the sky is the limit on flavors. You can add some garlic powder to the mix, or some chili powder/taco seasoning, or go the other way & add cinnamon sugar.

How to Roast a Chicken

I know plenty of people are scared of whole birds. I don't, however, know why. They are simple & easy to roast. Let me show you the most simple roasting plan I can...

Take 1 whole bird, chopped celery, chopped carrots, 1/2 a chopped onion, 1 tbs salt, 1 tbsp pepper, 1 tbsp onion salt, 1.5 tbsp fresh garlic, & 1/2 cup of butter (I used non-dairy butter, you could use margarine, but butter is always better).

I like to put the chicken on a plate, in the sink, for ease of clean up. This can get messy.

Clean out the cavity of the bird. If you're buying from a grocery store, there's usually just a little bag to pull out, they've done the work for you. Most non-store bought birds (ie local farm birds or organic birds from your grocery/specialty store) you'll have to feel around & remove the giblets & kidneys.

*If you bought a yellow-ish bird (most grocery store birds are yellow-ish, with a really thick skin), I recommend soaking it in a salt water bath for about 10 minutes, then scrubbing it inside & out with salt & thoroughly rinsing it.

Once you have a clean bird, run your hand under the skin on the breast & thighs. Try not to rip the skin (as I did on this one), but try to loosen as much of it as possible. Then, rub the garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder & half of the butter under the skin, everywhere you can reach (todl you this would get messy!). Next, rub all the remaining seasonings & butter all over the cavity & outside of the bird (top, bottom, & sides!). Then, completely stuff the cavity with the carrots, celery, & onion.

Some people truss (tie) the bird, some people don't. If the cavity is stuffed full & you have something to tie it off with, go ahead & truss it. I didn't have any twine, so I used cheesecloth to improvise. It worked really well, so there's an idea if you need one. (Just make sure you using something heat & food safe to truss the bird with if you're improvising, please.)

Put the bird on a rack, breast side up, in a roasting pan & stick it in a pre-heated oven.

Bake at 350* until done. A 3 lb bird takes about 1 hour 15 minutes to cook completely. ((NOTE: your roasting time is going to depend on the weight of the bird - cook to an internal temp of 165, the heat will produce carry-over cooking that will get you past 170 before it's all said & done)).

Every 20 minutes, take a baster or a brush (or, a spoon if it's all you got!), and pour the juices back over the bird.

Here's my super secret trick, it helps add the moisture & keeps from over-browning the skin: after the 2nd basting, I flip the bird upside down for 15 minutes & then flip it back over & baste again.

Now, look at this GOLDEN bird.

To finish it off, take this pan of juices...

add flour, a little chicken stock, & some milk. I couldn't tell you the measurements, I truly just guess. Just add enough flour that it's as thick as you like it & enough milk that it's as creamy as you like.

You'll have this when you're done:

How's this for a perfect lazy-day lunch (or dinner)? Mashed 'taters, corn, green beans, carrots, roast chicken & pan gravy. Dig in! -But give the bird at least 15 min to rest before you carve it, please.