jan milliman

 

Another item crossed off the culinary to-do list.

Well, it finally happened — I made tortillas for the first time over the weekend! I was inspired to give this a go when I read Alana Chernila’s “The Homemeade Pantry” last spring.

I hustled to pick up a tortilla press, and … that press has been sitting in the cupboard since last May, still in its box waiting for the proper conditions. Earlier this month, I declared March 24 “Tortilla Day” and prepared to get to work.

The Mister had already hunted down a bag of masa harina, and the only other ingredient I needed was water. It turns out that I had already honed the skills required to give tortilla making a try during all those hours I spent with my Play-Doh Fun Factory as a kid. It’s basically some kneading and rolling and then the pressing and frying. (Well the frying isn’t really part of the Fun Factory experience, but the rest is pretty close.)

Although I am sure there are those who are much more graceful with their efforts and produce far more magical tortillas than mine, I am happy to report that both The Mister and The Kiddo appreciated my efforts.

To accompany my tortillas, The Mister brewed up some pork in the crockpot with a little Genesee beer and a little chinotto. We’ve had a chinotto stash in the garage fridge ever since we went on a tour of ethnic markets with my father and step-mother.

We’d never seen chinotto before, and figured we’d give it a try. It tastes sort of like tobacco-flavored soda, if you ask me. Wikipedia says it’s actually “produced from the juice of the fruit of the myrtle-leaved orange tree.” My folks claimed to like it, but we’ve only managed to reduce our inventory by sneaking it into various crockpot efforts. There has been some discussion of using it to make ice cream floats, but so far that’s only been a threat.

We had a lot better luck reducing the tortilla supply. Which means I’ll be making my second batch to go along with the leftovers tonight!