Friday, October 13, 2006

The Holy Grail of Tortillas

I'm always in the mood for Mexican food, always ready for that perfect blend of cilantro-tomato-guacky goodness, ooh! I'm drooling on the keyboard again.

But the flour tortillas at the supermarket are stale, stiff and flavorless when compared to soft, tender creations you get at restaurants or straight from the home professionals.

Someone heard my moans because problem solved, Costco now carries refrigerated Tortilla Land bake-at-home tortillas that will change your quesadillas forever. Forever. At $5.39 they come in two air-packed packages of 18--which isn't a bad deal compared to the other brands that $2.29 for 12--and they keep well until you're ready to cook them.

To cook, heat a pan on medium-high heat and cook the tortillas for one-two minutes on either side until nicely browned. A little extra time involved but your fajitas will thank me.

And who knows, maybe you could get more than just a tortilla--when my husband lived in southern Texas he met an old woman whose home had been turned into a shrine for "La Santa Tortilla." As she told it, she was frying gorditas one dark and stormy night--a flash of lightning-- and *shazaam!* there on her gordita, in the brown patterns, was a reproduction of the face of Christ. A miracle!

Andrew was permitted to see the Holy Tortilla, nicely preserved behind a holy plexiglass container and surrounded by the candles of numerous pilgrims who'd come to pay respects to the local miracle. So you never know, you might get more than just fabulous tacos and enchiladas, for $5.29 you might get your very own manifestation.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh how I miss my Mexican food... when I lived in NYC I had it all the time (and I'm sure it wasn't the real deal there). Here in Australia it isn't so easy to come by... YUM!

Girlie said...

I think Mexican food will always be my favorite...but I found out it's not Mexican food. It's TexMex. Evidently, they don't use much cheese in Mexican food. I don't know for sure.

Darla said...

Oh, now you've really made me homesick for Texas! Our local grocery store made fresh tortillas--such a difference from the stale, bland things in packages.

Anonymous said...

Yum, I'll hafta look for those...I love, love, looooooooove Cilantro & Guacky.

Anonymous said...

I sometimes make tortillas (my grandmother was born in Mexico and taught me), but not that often, anymore, with the three kiddos. Gets too time consuming to do it often, but it's a world of difference from the storebought kind. I'd love the uncooked kind, if only we had a Costco nearby!!! Sometimes we'll run by Don Pablos restaurant just for a dozen fresh made tortillas (2 bucks, I think). Yum.

Anonymous said...

The area where I live has a large Hispanic population and my favorite grocery store makes flour and corn tortillas from scratch every day. They're awesome! I wonder if they'd survive in relatively fresh condition if I shipped some to you?

Anonymous said...

Oh for a Costco! What is wrong with PA? We have no Costcos here.

Good tip on the uncooked tortillas. I hate the stale, chewy ones in the store.

Anonymous said...

The whole "La Santa Tortilla" thing. Hilarious. Thanks for the giggle today.

J said...

I don't have a costco card, but I wonder if they sell these in other grocery stores? Sound heavenly. And guac...boy, I do love some guac. ;)

Diana said...

Oh I love my mexican food! I make my own corn tortillas from Masa, I've heard you can make your own flour too, but I've never tried it. Too bad we don't have a costco around here.

J Fife said...

My mom's homemade tortillas are heavenly, but in all her years, she never produced a "Santa Tortilla". Perhaps, a few more prayers to Saint Masa, the patron saint of tortillas, were needed.

Julie Q. said...

I must be a heretic 'cause I'm thinking if Jesus wanted to show his face, he'd think of a little more conducive vehicle than a flour tortilla. But I suppose you gotta admire the demonstration of faith here.

Oh and thanks for making the extra effort to keep coming back to my blog even after the vanishing URL thing. I'm sure it's my fault. Apparently I haven't been doing enough votive dances to the technology gods lately.

By the way, I posted this response to your post on my blog, but I'm still green on the whole protocol. Do people check back on comments to see the comments on their comments? Drat! now I'm going to have to check back to see if you answer this...

Bec said...

Em's right, it's not easy to come by Mexican food here in Australia and what there is, I suspect, is more like McMex than TexMex!

I have noticed 'fresh' tortillas that looked very soft in our supermarket lately. Maybe it's time to give them a try?

(I love Julie's comment above mine! So true!)

Anonymous said...

Oh, I have *so* got to get me some of those!!!

landismom said...

Mmm, tortillas & guac. I may need to make a Costco's run tomorrow...

Anonymous said...

What? Oh. My. God. Another reason to fuel my completely unreasonable addiction to Costco. Thank you. I will be looking for the tortillas tomorrow. Now, if only someone could come up with a decent grocery-store pita bread.

Amy said...

I miss Costco so much. They don't have any in our area. We are stuck with Sam's Club :( Booo!

Anonymous said...

I used to work in a restaurant and our pastry and sous chef's were from Mexico. After we stopped serving and the kitchen was closed they used to whip up some of the best dishes. I sure miss those guys, those were good times.