A Week Of Beans challenge - recipe 3

Tonight we had homemade bean burritos. These were really, really good even though I about ripped my hair out with the tortillas. Although they were quite easy to make they just weren't turning out right. However, they ended up tasting so good that I decided to keep the recipe and will definitely use it again.

Burrito mix

• 2 cups dry large bean mix. I used kidney, pinto, and navy beans.
• 1/2 medium sized onion diced
• salt
• 2 lbs shortening (or olive oil if you prefer)
• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 packets taco seasoning
• 1 cup shredded cheese - your favorite blend

Soften the beans by soaking them overnight. You may want to slow cook them in a crock pot the day you plan to use them, too, to soften them up nicely. I tossed mine into the blender with about 1/4 cup water to help mash them but this isn't necessary - I just like them mashed up well.
Cook onions in the shortening until they are clear in color then add your beans, mashing and mixing as they cook. Add a generous sprinkling of salt. After the bean/onion mix is heated well put them back in your blender (again, not necessary - just the way I do it). Return them to the pan and add the browned ground beef and taco seasoning. Stir until combined and heated through then add your cheese and stir until melted. Turn the stove burner off and put a lid on the mix while you fry your tortillas.

imperfect-perfect tortillas (or Made Mama Completely Crazy So Everybody Had To Walk On Egg Shells If They Came Into The Kitchen tortillas)

• 8 cups flour. I used 6 cups bread machine flour and 2 cups wheat flour.
• 2 TBS baking powder (I found out this isn't needed if you use bread machine flour but my tortillas were so good I am not changing the recipe at all)
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 TBS shortening
• not quite 3 cups warm water
• olive oil (or veggie oil)

In my mixer with the dough attachment I mixed the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Then I added the shortening and let it mix until it was cut into the flour well. I added the water a little at a time until I had a soft dough that was not yet sticky. You can also mix this on the dough setting in your bread maker - just remember not to let it cook or you will have tortilla bread instead of tortillas.

Take bits of dough and gently roll them into balls a little bigger than a golf ball. Then roll them with a rolling pin to flatten them out very thin using flour to keep them from sticking to the counter and the rolling pin. You don't need to make them a perfect circle but you will want them to be round-ish. When you are finished you'll want to fry them in a non-stick pan on medium heat with enough olive oil (or veggie oil) to almost cover the top of the tortilla. They will plump up while you cook them giving them a non-tortilla look but don't worry. This recipe makes the best tasting flour tortillas I have ever had.
Be careful not to let your tortilla brown too much. You want just a light brown color so pay attention as they will start to cook faster after the first one is done. Flip the tortilla and wait a minute or so for the other side to brown then put it on a plate with a paper towel. Do this until you have enough tortillas to satisfy your family, making sure to separate each tortilla on the plate with a paper towel. Put any remaining dough in a covered dish or baggy and into the refrigerator for later.

These tortillas turned out very soft and easy to fold up but still had that freshly fried taste. They were perfect. We filled them with our burrito mix, salsa, sour cream, and lettuce. It was such a good dinner - all my kids had seconds!

We are going to use some of the left over dough and burrito mix to make burrito pizza tomorrow or Sunday night - I haven't decided which yet. I'll post that recipe after we make it. Maybe this time I will remember to take a picture.