Help me fancy up my homemade corn tortillas!

June 30, 2009 3:54 PM

Help me fancy up my homemade corn tortillas!

I've read some previous questions about perfecting homemade tortillas, but I'm not interested in technique/tips (that's well covered here) so much as adding ingredients. At my local farmers' market (Berkeley, CA) there's a place that sells these amazing tortillas that have beans and cheese cooked right in - this is the type of thing I'm looking for. Is it as simple as just adding whatever sounds delicious to the dough, or does it depend on the ingredients? What can I add? I have a tortilla press, and lots of time on my hands (the perfect combo for experimenting!).

posted by ORthey to food & drink (7 answers total)

Do you mean gorditas, or are the beans and cheese mixed in to the masa and then cooked?
posted by lysdexic at 4:30 PM on June 30, 2009

Yeah, the beans and cheese are mixed into the dough before cooking... the final product is dark (made with black beans).
posted by ORthey at 4:38 PM on June 30, 2009

Try adding chopped greek and kalamata olives to the dough. I tried these and they were AMAZING! Maybe you could use olive tortillas for a mid-eastern taco with marinated meats or fava beans, feta, etc.
posted by necessitas at 4:41 PM on June 30, 2009

I went to a restaurant last week where they pressed edible flowers into the tortillas. Didn't add much to the taste, but the presentation was quite striking.
posted by mr_roboto at 4:45 PM on June 30, 2009

You basically want to do as much as you can to make your ingredients a liquid, and then to use that liquid as a substitute for as much of the water as you can (then add as much water as you need to in order to get the right consistency in the dough).

Roasted, pureed green chiles, for example, or pureed black beans.

It's easier with corn tortillas than with flour. The gluten in flour tortillas means you can make some really tough, cracker-like tortillas if you get too creative.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:46 PM on June 30, 2009

Similar to the edible flowers, whole fresh herb leaves can be very pretty, too -- cilantro could be perfect here.
posted by Ladybug Parade at 7:15 PM on June 30, 2009

There are also pupusas, which you might like (stuffed masa tortillas from El Salvador).
posted by apartment dweller at 8:38 AM on July 1, 2009