Yesterday, Moon and I were having the craving for Mexican food. So I went out and splurged a little on supplies, and then made tacos and chicken fajitas.
…and of course, they were gooooooood. 
I’ve noticed that the pre-mixed Mexican seasoning is phenomenally expensive…something like maybe 50 grams for 22 shekels. Prices are insane here in some things, especially in the supermarkets.
You can make your own Mexican seasoning, or rather Tex-Mex seasoning. It’s basically just cumin, garlic crystals, minced onion, cayenne pepper, black pepper, a bit of ginger, citric acid/lemon powder, and some dry tomato soup powder. Proportions depend on your own tastes.
One thing that I don’t have that I’d like to get is an electric tortilla maker. It’s basically a flat press grill that locks shut so that the tortillas can be nice and thin without your having to risk burns holding the thing down with your hands. They’re also great when you want to make quesadillas without having to flip them or use the amount of oil that’s generally needed to do it in a pan.
My birthday’s coming soon, so maybe I can convince someone to at least chip in for one. They’d definitely benefit from it if they do because I’ll keep them supplied with tortillas for as long as the machine lasts. Incidentally, my birthday is on the eve of Shavu’ot this year. Although I’m not religious, it is nice to recognize the positive aspects of the culture.
Even though my current home made tortillas aren’t the prettiest or the thinnest, they do the job, and they’re tastier in my opinion, than the mass produced version. They also have less fat since I’m not really adding much to them.
Simple tortillas are basically flour, lemon water, and a little baking soda. You put lemon or lime juice in the water because the acid activates the sodium bicarbonate. Make a pliable dough that isn’t extremely wet, but also isn’t so dry that it’s making separated pieces. Knead it well, and then wrap it in some plastic wrap or a tightly covered bowl for 15 minutes or so. Then you take bits of the dough, roll them out thin, and cook them on a very hot cast iron pan. No oil is needed for that.
You can make a more rich version by using buttermilk or powdered milk instead of water, and adding a little oil to the dough, but at least when you make them at home, you control what kind of oil and whatever else is in it. You also don’t need to add preservatives because the shelf life doesn’t need to be in the weeks or months.
Another neat thing about making tortillas at home is that the same dough is a great basis for dumplings. Tortilla soup is really supposed to be soup with tortilla dough dumplings, not soup with soggy tortillas. The same dough can also be fried to make sopapillas. Those are a nice indulgence that I only have during Channukah.
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