Elegant Home-Made Tortilla Chips

MAKE YOUR OWN ELEGANT TORTILLA CHIPS  Posted at 12:16 PM on November 27, 2009

MAKE YOUR OWN ELEGANT TORTILLA CHIPS You don’t have to throw out your tortillas if they are past their prime. Make them into tortilla chips, which will be very popular with your family and guests, as they are pleasingly different from those bought in the store. Take a stack of tortillas and dust between the layers with salt, pressing it into them. Then, pressing into it with a large knife, cut the stack of tortillas into quarters. Lower a handful-at-a-time of the uncooked chips into bubbling hot oil. For this light and crispy batch, I used a combination of soy oil, which is now sold as “vegetable oil”, and lard. Peanut or corn oil are also good for deep-frying tortillas.

When the chips themselves have developed bubbles and are slightly brown, it’s time to remove them from the pot with a runsible or slotted spoon. Drain them on paper towels, and dust with more salt if desired. The cooking oil may be strained, refrigerated and re-used for French fries, yams or potato chips. My recipe for Elegant Guacamole goes very well with these tortilla chips. So do sour cream or crème fraîche, and a mixture of sliced jalapeños with melted Cheddar cheese, baked on top of the chips for a few minutes in a hot oven.

 ©M-J de Mesterton 2009

 M-J de Mesterton’s Elegant Guacamole Dip: Find the Recipe on Elegant Cuisine and Elegant Cook.

Hamburger Buns

Hamburger Buns Ready for Outdoor Barbecue, Photo Copyright M-J de Mesterton 2009

Hamburger Buns
Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons of active dry yeast
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of warm water (110° to 115°)—hotter water will kill the yeast
• 1/3 cup of vegetable oil (do not use canola oil, which tastes fishy in baked goods; peanut, corn or pure vegetable oils are preferred)
• 1/4 cup of sugar, any variety
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 3 to 3-1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Then, add the egg, salt, and flour.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead for about four minutes, until smooth and elastic, adding flour as needed. Form the dough into a ball, cover, and let it rise for ten minutes. Divide the dough into 12 flat, round pieces. Place 3 inches apart on buttered baking sheets.
Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake on top oven rack at 400° for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Monitor closely to prevent burning. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. This recipe makes twelve hamburger buns. For dinner rolls, do not flatten but shape your twelve dough pieces into balls.

~~Copyright M-J de Mesterton, Elegant Survival 2008

Buttermilk Biscuits, a Surprisingly Good Accompaniment to Dinner

M-J’s Buttermilk Biscuits

3 cups of white or unbleached white flour

3 teaspoons of baking powder

One teaspoon of salt (I use Himalayan salt)

1 and 1/4 cups of buttermilk

One stick of butter (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup of lard (manteca)

1/2 cup of flour for working dough on the counter

¼ cup of melted butter and lard for brushing layers—composed of equal parts of each

Arrange bits of butter and lard over the 3 cups of flour in a large bowl. Toss butter and lard with flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the fats into the dry ingredients, and add a tablespoon of cold water, mixing until the dough looks like a bunch of small peas. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Put into refrigerator for about ten minutes. Remove to counter again and incorporate the buttermilk, mixing gently. 2. Turn dough out onto your counter, which has been dusted with flour. Gently knead the biscuit dough 3 or 4 times, adding a bit of extra flour if necessary. With floured hands, form dough into a rectangular shape, about ½ inch thick. Brush dough with a bit of your melted fat mixture, and dust it with flour. Fold dough over onto itself. Roll it out into a new rectangle, brush again with melted fat and dust with flour. Repeat the last two steps once more. Cut 3/4 inch high dough into biscuits with a small glass or my favorite, an empty, clean  tomato paste can. If you are using the biscuits for canapes, roll the dough 1/2 inch thick. Brush tops with melted fat. These layered biscuits are easy to crack open and fill with marmalade or, if one uses them as canapes, various meats. To make a croissant biscuit, cut the dough, which has been flattened to 1/8 inch, four inches wide and brush with melted fat as above. Roll and pinch ends together.

Bake biscuits in a pre-heated 450° oven until they are lightly browned.

Serve with chicken dishes of all kinds; these biscuits also complement beef and pork. If you have company for breakfast, making these fresh biscuits is sure to be appreciated, especially if served with a selection of jams, jellies and marmalade.

M-J's Buttermilk Biscuits

M-J de Mesterton, 2009

M-J's Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Patties

Recipe and Photo Copyright M-J de Mesterton 2009