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Mexitron
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3397
Registered: 9-21-2003
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
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Mood: Happy!
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajalera
Yes, tortillas can be made with only flour and water. The little dinky ones are called Communion Wafers. |
That's kind of what I was thinking they would taste like!
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RICHARDH
Junior Nomad
Posts: 84
Registered: 11-15-2006
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Mike Supino
| Quote: | Originally posted by Cypress
Form dough into balls about the size of a tennis ball, . 
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You may want to try them the size of a golf ball instead. |
Making (whole) wheat tortillas
I have finally tried the "golf-ball" approach to making whole wheat tortillas.
First, I spooned several tablespoons of whole wheat flour into a bowl. Then I added a heaping tablespoon of flaxseed meal (and dry-mixed the result),
simply because I happened to have some flaxseed meal handy, because there is (disputable?) opinion that it's a good source of nutrition, and because
the package says flaxseed meal can be substituted for butter (in the ratio of three for one volume-wise).
I then added water and mixed the result into a sticky glue, so I added and kneaded more flour into the dough until the outside was powdery and
non-sticky. Then I P-nched off golf-ball-size blobs and rolled them around in flour to restore their non-stickiness. Recalling someone -- probably
my grandmother -- I watched prepare cookie, pie, and/or biscuit dough, I quickly realized that I needed to sprinkle flour on the smooth Formica
counter surface to bathe the tortillas in as I flattened them -- I suppose much like some birds like to take dust baths to condition their feathers.
Then I sprayed the equivalent of Pam on a skillet and heated the tortillas. I had to experiment a bit with the heat level to get the tortillas to
quickly toast a little without burning.
My first tortilla looked rather irregular and erratic -- like flubbing the frying of pancakes. But I quickly got the process down to a low-level
production.
Result:
1. The taste is not bad -- probably as good as any flour tortilla I've tasted.
2. Clearly, at least for me, the making of tortillas like this, just as with cooking generally, seems only worthwhile when one is cooking in large
batches, and then developing especially efficient procedures seems a good idea.
3. Consequently, I think I will resort to buying corn tortillas in large batches to use as my source of whole grain, complimenting canned beans for a
combined, "complete" a source of protein while remote camping in Baja. Corn tortillas seems to be much more regular in shape than I get for whole
wheat tortillas and also seem to be rather convenient, but I think I'd prefer the whole wheat tortillas if I could get making them down to a very
efficient production.
So that's the result of my experiment, in a nutshell.
I'm guessing and hoping that corn tortillas will last a long time without refrigeration.
Could someone in the know confirm this or correct me on this?
Will corn tortillas last a long time without refrigeration?
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RICHARDH
Junior Nomad
Posts: 84
Registered: 11-15-2006
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| Quote: | Originally posted by RICHARDH
... Then I added ... flaxseed meal ... because there is (disputable?) opinion that it's a good source of nutrition ...
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Nutritional questions
Incidentally, the net nutritional benefit of flaxseed meal (and the flaxseed oil it contains) seems perhaps disputable because although flaxseed oil
contains a supposedly beneficial "alpha-linolenic acid", I seem to recall via reading content labels that flaxseed oil also contains a moderately high
concentration of saturated fat, which is definitely said to be hazardous to cardiovascular health. But there are evidently even some who dispute the
idea that saturated fat and cholesterol in one's diet are unhealthy. It seems to be a question of interpreting statistical data, and good empirical
tests are hard to come by. It seems many so-called professionals may be falling into the mental trap of confusing the relationships between
statistical prevalences and cause-and-effect. Such relationships are fundamental issues in scientific philosophy, and the issues can be complicated.
Fortunately, there are often good counterexamples to demonstrate that caution is appropriate in the interpretation of statistical prevalences in terms
of causes and effects. But good health is important, and so I am willing to stretch scientific interpretation of statistical data to their limits of
credibility, but I do insist that the interpretation be as "scientific" or "rationally correct" as possible.
An authoritative source of information seems to be
http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/nmdrugprofiles/nutsupdrug... ,
which discusses "polyunsaturated fatty acids" content and their effects, but does not mention any questions about "saturated fats" content as such.
This article seems to suggest that the questions of health benefits are a matter of ongoing research.
One web site that has links to articles questioning the "conventional wisdom" about the health hazards of saturated fats and cholesterol is found at
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/flaxoil.htm ,
but, as I mentioned, these issues of causes and effects are complicated, and I'm not sure whether some who are claiming professional expertise are
missing important subtleties in the issues. Also, I should mention that I have sometimes found it difficult to get medical doctors to comment on
nutritional issues in regards to health.
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