Hot Off the Tortilla Press
Make your own tortillas and you'll never buy them again.
The kitchen is my workshop. As in any well-equipped workplace, I've gathered around me the power tools and gadgets that make preparation and cooking more efficient and more fun.

At the center of my shop is the stand mixer with attachments for grinding meats and rolling pasta sheets. Next is the food processor with discs for chopping, shredding and kneading. Finally, there are the more eccentric electric appliances that add special panache to my cooking repertoire. In this category I'd put the tortilla press and griddle.

People have become fascinated with wraps and quesadillas and other treats from South of the Border. Many of these dishes are based on the humble tortilla, a simple flatbread that is a principal starch of the Mexican diet. The trick to making tortillas is to get them round, very flat and even - a skill with a rolling pin but child's play when you're using a tortilla press. Once you've sampled the pleasures of freshly cooked, soft tortillas, it's hard to go back to those limp sheets that come wrapped in plastic at the market.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons shortening
1 1/4 cups warm water

Instructions:
Put flour, salt and baking powder into bowl of food processor. Pulse to mix. Add shortening and pulse again until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, pour in water until dough forms and rolls around sides of bowl. Remove dough from bowl; knead a few times by hand on lightly floured board to form a ball. Divide dough into 12 pieces; keep covered while you form tortillas. To form tortillas manually, roll each ball of dough into circle, about 7 or 8 inches in diameter, and cook briefly in a preheated iron skillet (no oil necessary). If you are using a tortilla maker, place a ball into the center and press gently. (Some tortilla makers shape and bake the tortillas; others just press the shell to prepare for a hot skillet. Both methods give delicious results.) Keep tortillas warm in a damp towel.

Tomatillo Salsa
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
3 tomatillos, husked and quartered
4 tablespoons fresh cilantro
1 green jalapeño, seeded and chopped
Salt and pepper

Instructions:
Place all ingredients into food processor. Pulse until ingredients are coarsely mixed. Season with salt and pepper.

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