This article compliments and is the conclusion to the build & rebuild articles on the tortilla press.
Having spent, quite frankly, an inordinate amount of time on this so far, it is good to have something to put away in the cupboard. The initial build did get some road testing; which is what sparked the after-market mods to create the Mk II.
After using this iteration a few times now, I think it’s fine. I’m pretty happy with how the press looks, works and turned out in general. I ended up giving the second one to my neighbour so hopefully they get some good usage out of it.
Ultimately this thing is a food prep device and I promised some recipes. So how does it work and what can we throw in it?
To use the thing, it’s best to line the faces to avoid the dough sticking to the timber. For this, cut a plastic freezer bag along the edges, leaving the bottom attached, and place in the press. Roll the dough balls to between 40-50mm (1½” - 2”) diameter and place into the press on the plastic. Fold the top side of the bag over and squish the press down. The dough ball should now be flat and circular, though it may be a little thick or uneven. Leave the dough in the bag, rotate around then re-press until it’s perfect.
For wheat flour only recipes, I found the dough had more resistance and a little spring back. I imagine this is due to the gluten. They took a couple of extra presses to get down to thickness as opposed to just going full send.
Yeah mate, just flat out hey
So far, these are the recipes I have tried in the thing. I guess the press’ utility is really only limited by your imagination though;
For the below recipes, where I say warm water, I boil the jug and mix it 50/50 with room temp (20°C ish) tap water. I also keep the wheat flour in the freezer.
Tortillas
Because of course I had to make these. Traditionally corn tortillas are made from a specially processed corn flour called masa harina. This is made from dried corn, cooked in water and lime, ground and re-dried to create the flour. I can’t easily get a hold of that here but managed to find a recipe incorporating cornmeal (usually used for polenta) into the dough.
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups plain flour 2/3 cup cornmeal
4 tablespoons oil
½ cup warm water
½ teaspoon salt
Method
Combine the flour, cornmeal and salt in a bowl. Add oil and use your fingertips to combine the oil into the dry ingredients; it will lightly clump together and can be pressed into a ball. Add the warm water to the mix and knead just enough to fully combine into a large dough ball. Cover and let sit for 20 mins; the resting will help soften the mix. Once rested, begin to separate the dough to form balls for pressing. Cook on medium/high in a heavy dry pan until dark spots begin to appear then flip; this will be under a minute per side depending on how hot the pan is. Rest them in a towel and stack each successive tortilla to keep warm. They will feel hard and stiff out of the pan but will soften up while resting in the toweled stack. Enjoy warm with fresh fillings.
Naan Bread
There’s not a lot to this one;
Ingredients
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup Greek/natural yoghurt
Optional (to taste);
Minced garlic
Cheese
Salt
Pepper
Method
Sift the flour into a bowl and add the yoghurt. Mix in the bowl then knead until fully combined into a dough. Cut off pieces and roll into a ball to be pressed flat. Fry on medium/hot heat in butter or oil until golden brown flipping once. Serve with your favourite curry.
Notes
This mix is really sticky, so keep the flour handy. I used baking paper in the press instead of the bag and found it worked best to press down by hand until sticky, sprinkle some more flour top and bottom, then press flat in the press. Without the extra flouring, it sticks to the baking paper/plastic bag.
The recipe volume makes quite a bit of naan bread but it’s really tasty so there’s not usually a lot left over. It keeps ok in the fridge for a little while and seems ok frozen and reheated with leftovers.
Simple dough
This is a quick & easy recipe I use for pizza dough and small dinner rolls.
Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
1x 7g sachet of dry yeast
1 teaspoon of caster sugar
½ teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
¾ cup warm water
Method
Combine the dry ingredients into a bowl, add oil and water then mix into a soft dough. On a floured surface, knead the dough until soft and pliable. Return to bowl, cover with cling wrap and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. The dough should double in size. After rising, punch it once to remove air bubbles and gently knead the dough for upto a minute. Roll/press/shape the dough to suit, and add favourite toppings.
Notes
The plastic bag works well in the press for this mix, however, there is some resistance in the dough; from the gluten I guess. I found it easiest to press it until firm then rotate the bag and press. Repeat a couple of times to get to the desired flatness. After a few you form a bit of a rhythm. Dough will peel easily off the bag once finished.
Dinner rolls
When making rolls, I normally add a little bit of miced garlic, pepper and herbs to the dough.
For this piece, I used the press to squash out some circles to make some stuffed scroll rolls. Once pressed, add filling to dough circle, fold the sides in, then roll the remainder up. Bake and eat. Shown in the photo are garlic and cheese & caramelised onion ones; anything dryish works pretty well. The little cavity you end up with in the centre is perfect for dipping and scooping in soups.
Pizzas
The ingredients make one 12” pizza with a reasonably thick base; I normally double it. In the mini pizza case, the doubled amount made 11x 6” pizzas plus a calzone. So you could safely say the normal recipe would do 5-6x 6” pizzas. Add your sauce & toppings then bake.
Eat as is or cut up to share with a friend. Mini pizzas are also great for mini fingers
Enjoy trying out some of those recipes as they are really tasty and are reasonably simple. They also work just fine with a rolling pin. In case you noticed, yes I am one of those sickos who prefers wholemeal flour and pineapple on pizza. You’ll just have to accept me for who I am.
Thanks for reading.
Kind Regards,
Walker
July 2021
If you liked this article why not stay up to date with all the latest from Timber Tone. Click here to subscribe so you never miss a post or video.
Comentarios