Tortilla Chips

Cha Cha Cha! Look What I made!

Howard and Debbie sent us a MAMAJAMA sized jar of salsa that has been sitting on the shelf just teasing us. We kept saying "We'll get chips next time we go out of town to the import store" but who can wait that long to eat salsa??

So I made chili one night and included the salsa in my recipe. That was yumm-o. But we seriously have about a years worth of salsa left over. What to do, what to do... I finally slapped myself on the head and said "Duh, just make tortilla chips!" So I searched the internet. The only 'homemade tortilla chips' recipe I could find required me to already have corn tortillas. THAT'S NOT HOMEMADE! So, I made my own corn tortillas and then cut them up to fry as tortilla chips!

Here is the recipe for tortillas (I make these when we have tacos)

2 c flour (or 1 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c corn meal)

2-3 spoonfuls oil

1 Tablespoon salt

1 Cup hot water

Mix it all up and then roll out small sections at a time into circles (use a bowl like a cookie cutter to make it a perfect circle if you like) and then put them on an ungreased baking pan in the oven at 350 F until they are cooked to your liking. I like them soft :-)

Then cut the tortilla in half, and then into triangles. Drop them in hot oil for about 10 seconds-- you'll have to adjust the cooking time according to how how your oil is and also how crispy you like them. They'll continue to crisp up even after they are our of the oil.

Some of these are crunchy just like real chips, but some were a little chewy- I couldn't figure out what was making some crispy/ chewy. I was salivating too much to experiment.

These tortillas here I experimented with some spices- before I rolled this section out into a tortilla to bake, I added cayenne pepper, cracked pepper, season salt, garlic powder and paprika. I was hoping for a 'fritos' taste but no dice... they were still great for eating up all that salsa! Better luck to other expats who miss their Frito Lays.