FLOUR TORTILLAS ON THE BARBECUE

Homemade tortillas are easy to make, and they’re especially impressive if you do them right on the barbecue. Serve these fresh tortillas with fajitas, tacos or any other Mexican fare.

Yield: Makes 12.

FLOUR TORTILLAS ON THE BARBECUE

Ingredients

  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup lard or shortening, cubed
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 3/4 tsp salt

Directions

  1. Place flour in a bowl. Cut in lard with a pastry blender until mixture resembles fine meal. Combine water and salt, stirring to dissolve. Add two-thirds of water mixture to flour mixture, mixing lightly with a fork until clumps form. Mix in remaining water mixture, 1 tbsp at a time, just until dough starts to come together.
  2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough gently and shape into a ball. Wrap ball with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes.
  3. Preheat natural gas barbecue on medium heat for 10 - 15 minutes.
  4. Unwrap and transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each ball into a circle about 8 inches in diameter.
  5. Grill tortillas in batches until grill-marked, about 1 - 2 minutes per side.
Nutritional analysis per tortilla:

155 calories, 5.9 g fat, 3 g protein, 21.9 g carbohydrate, 0.8 g fibre, 148 mg sodium

Tip:

As an alternative to using the barbecue, tortillas may be cooked, one at a time, in an ungreased large non-stick frypan over medium heat until light golden, about 1 - 2 minutes per side.