I’ve been craving Mexican food for quite awhile, but have not found much available in South of the Border kosher cuisine, especially in Israel (my Israeli husband looked at tortilla and asked if that was used to wrap falafel in!). I was craving all of my favorite Mexican treats from long ago, like burritos, tacos and enchiladas.
I found a Mexican cookbook which is not kosher, but that’s no problem, since I can change the recipe. One reason I think Mexican food is not so popular as a choice for kosher restaurants is that dishes often combine meat and dairy. But this problem can be avoided: you can either make “cheesy” Mexican food or “meaty” Mexican food. One can also use soy meat with real cheese or soy cheese with real meat, or use beans as a replacement for meat. The combinations are endless.
The staple of Mexican food is the tortilla. Here is the recipe:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tps salt
3 tbs shortening or canola oil
3/4 cups water (or apple juice if you’d prefer to make the blessing mezonot rather than hamotzi on the tortillas).
Mix the flour with the oil until it has a cornmeal texture. Add baking powder and salt. Stir 20 times. Let it sit 20 minutes. Roll the flour very thin and cook 30 seconds on each side in a cast iron skillet (you don’t really need cast iron, but otherwise it may make you skillet black).
And that’s it! From this you can make burritos, soft tacos, chimichangas, flautas, quesadillas and other favorites. Take the raw dough, stuff with the filling of your choice and roll like burritos. Cook in an oven for 20 minutes at 250. Add cheese and salsa and cook for another 3-10 minutes. Serve with guacamole, sour cream and black olives. Yes, you guessed it…enchiladas.