Homemade Tortillas

This is from Robert Rodriguez 10 Minute Cooking School!

I love these tortillas! 

They are pretty quick and easy to make, and let me tell you, you won't want to eat the store bought rubbery ones again... 

Sin City Tortillas
2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C lard
3/4 C warm water


Mix flour, baking powder and salt together.
Cut in lard to form a coarse meal.

Slowly add water and mix together gently.

Turn out dough and knead for 2 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add a little flour if necessary. The dough shouldn't be too sticky.


Pinch off 8 golf ball-sized balls. Let dough rest for 20 minutes. 

Cover with damp cloth or paper towels.

Flatten ball by hand and then roll out fairly thin.
I like to roll out all the dough and place them between wax paper sheets.


Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
Cook until bubbles start to form and flip, about 1 minute per side.

Don't overcook, or the tortilla won't stay soft and pliable.

Place in a tortilla warmer or plate with towel!

Swedish Meatballs

Swedish Meatballs

2 slices bread
1/4 C milk
3 T butter
1/2 C onion, diced
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 lb ground beef
3/4 lb ground pork
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 C flour
3 C beef broth
1/4 C heavy cream


Tear bread into chunks in a bowl and cover with milk.

Heat 1T butter over medium heat - saute onion with a pinch salt until soft. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine spices. In a mixer, combine ground beef, ground pork, egg yolks, bread mixture, sauted onions, 1 tsp salt and spices.

On med-high speed, mix for almost 10 min. until fluffy and light in color. Form 1 inch balls on cookie sheet.

Heat 1T butter in a cast iron skillet (or heavy bottom pan).
Brown meatballs in 2 batches. Set meatballs aside.

Stir in 1/4C flour in pan. Heat until lightly browned. 

Slowly add beef broth and simmer.

Add cream and a little Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce.

Add meatballs back into pan and simmer for 5 minutes.

PIzza V2.0

Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough
(I didn't have enough bread flour so I used a bit of all-purpose flour as well)

I wanted to test out another pizza dough recipe - this one takes a bit of patience, as the dough needs to proof and rest overnight. So, if you want pizza right away, make a different recipe. ;-)

3 C bread flour
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp of salt
I package active dry yeast
1/4 C of olive oil
1 3/4 C cold water
1 T sugar


Mix together flour, yeast and salt.

Slowly add the oil, sugar and water. Mix well until a sticky ball.

Turn out and knead for 6 minutes.
Cut into 4 pieces, and form into tight balls.
Place onto pan coated with cooking spray & generously spray dough balls. 

Cover with saran wrap and place in fridge to rest overnight or up to 3 days.


Next Day:
Remove dough from fridge.
Place on surface and flour lightly.
Press into disks and mist with oil.
Loosely cover dough with plastic wrap and rest for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 500F.
(heat at least an hour before baking)

Toss dough into the air!!! Dev helped me take these pictures!

Let dough rest for another 15 minutes. Brush with olive oil.

Top with favorite toppings...

Bake for 9 minutes! 

(bake at the lowest rack setting.)

Flavor and texture was good!

UPDATE: Letting this dough sit longer make for a crisper crust! Day 2: GOOD, Day 3: GREAT!

Eggnog Pound Cake with Butter Rum Glaze

Around the holidays I usually have a hankering for my mom's Rum Cake! Its so delicious.

I was about to bake one, but I came across an eggnog pound cake recipe that sounded interesting as well, so I decided to meld the 2 recipes together! In the end, it was tasty, but I prefer my mom's rum cake.

There are a few things I'd change with this recipe:

- more rum in the cake batter

- full box of vanilla pudding mix

- chopped pecans mom puts on top. I think it does help the glaze to soak into the cake more.

Eggnog Pound Cake
Preheat oven to 350 F

2 sticks unsalted butter
3 eggs
2 C sugar
1 C eggnog
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 rum

3 cups flour
3 T instant vanilla pudding mix
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg


Mix dry ingredients together.
Grease Bundt pan and dust with flour.


Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.


Add flour in 3 additions, alternating with eggnog and ending with flour. Add vanilla and rum.

Bake for about 55 minutes - or until cake is done.

Butter Rum Glaze
1/4C water
1/4C butter
1/2C sugar
2T dark rum



Melt butter, add sugar and water bring to a boil for 5 min.
Take off the heat and add rum.

Let cake cool for 5-10 minutes and remove from pan.

Poke holes on the top of the cake and pour glaze over while cake is still warm.