Home Made Corn Tortillas

It was pure coincidence - our decision to put together a Mexican feast just in time for Cinco de Mayo. A and I love Mexican food, but we had not been eating much of it lately because he had been spending so much time south of the border. The trips to Mexico have slowed, leading to a craving for some tacos, which was merely exacerbated by the gorgeous weather. It was like the grill was calling to us.

Our Mexican feast was also a great excuse to check out the farmer's market in Hackensack. It has super cheap produce and all sorts of latino specialties like chilies, queso blanco and parts of the cow that most Americans don't traditionally eat. Red ripe strawberries? Check. Perfect cantaloupe? Check. Pork butt... no... wait, no pork butt? The Latino market has goat intestine, but they don't have pork butt? There was something called pork "cushion" in the cooler, which the butcher swore was "definitely not" pork butt. Okay fine, but is there another part of the pig that resembles a "cushion"? Whatever. Looks like the carnitas just became skirt steak for some carne asada tacos. Yum.

Of course, it wasn't enough for me to just make tacos from scratch. It was time for me to learn how to make tortillas. I had seen ladies patting them out on the streets of Guatemala... it just didn't look that difficult. A little bit of internet research confirmed my hunch - corn tortillas from scratch are actually quite simple. Simple enough that A and I are not likely to ever purchase tortillas again. 

The tortilla dough requires just two ingredients - maza harina and water. Maza harina is a special type of ground corn meal that has been treated with limewater. Sometimes the bag says "tortilla mix" on it. A saw this and suggested that perhaps instead of "just using a mix", I should make my own maza. Yeah, if I want to spend the week drying, grinding and treating the corn. If you are a "from scratch only" cook, don't let the tortilla mix label scare you away. 

Mix them together, roll out the tortilla, through it on the griddle and about 2 minutes later you will have a tortilla. It couldn't be simpler. 

Recipe for corn tortillas and skirt steak marinade after the jump. 

Hooray for Breakfast in the Garden: Orange Nutmeg Muffins

This Saturday I am not sure what got into me, but I was on a productivity mission. In the summer, a push for productivity usually means tidying up the garden. Tidying up the garden means planting new flowers (and killing perfectly good ones that I have gotten sick of. A sometimes worries that I sound a little too gleeful when digging up an old shrub), starting the herb garden and getting everything set up for summer weekends of dining outside. 

All day Saturday was spent doing our best imitation of our parents - racing through the suburban sprawl to fight the crowds at Home Depot. When I was a child, these weekends were nothing short of pure torture. The only thing worse than having to schlep to Home Depot with my parents was having to go to Sam's. Now that I am all grown up (!), Home Depot is a place of joyous possibilities. I am not kidding. I could spend hours inspecting hoses and nozzles (and this weekend I did). Light bulbs - did you know how many different kinds there are? Every time I walk into one of those big box stores and realize that I am enjoying myself, I start to feel old. 

The best part about the Saturday clean up is that it meant Sunday breakfast would be the start of our summer meals outside. I had decided early on that muffins were in order and A made a request for his favorite - orange nutmeg - which also happens to be my go-to, no fail recipe for when I want something tasty and homemade that I don't have to think about. I would love to pretend that I created this recipe on my own, but alas, it was something I stumbled across on the internet. Molly from Orangette, I have never met you, or even commented on your blog, but I want to send you a huge thank you for inventing my go-to muffin recipe. 

The addition of cinnamon takes this recipe to the next level, yielding scrumptiously moist muffins. I like to serve them with a simple fruit salad of fresh cantaloupe and strawberries, and a glass of cold-brewed ice coffee. Paired with the FT Weekend, it makes a perfect Sunday morning meal. 

Recipe after the jump!