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The well company came today. The verdict: drill a new well. The company will start the process that needs to happen before they can actually drill. Until then, we have minimal water use and hope the pump can get us to the time the new well goes in. I will need to plan carefully on cooking and baking projects for the next month to minimize clean-up.
On the positive side, the old well was 2 inches in diameter, which is very small, and one reason such wells go bad. The new one will be 4 inches. It may not solve the iron issue, since there is no way of knowing what the water quality will be.
Our well water does not have a great taste, in part due to the iron content, which requires a water softener system. So, we have large bottles that we fill up at the local grocery store where there is a filtering system. I think it is 39 cents per gallon. So, we are set on drinking water and can easily get more if necessary. There is still some water in the tank and enough pressure that we can do light washing of hands and dishes, but I have pulled out our collection of paper plates to stretch it. We live on a lake, so we can use water from there, brought up by the bucket, for flushing. It could be worse, but I am hoping it will not get worse.
I find it the same as rolling out a pie crust.
The King Arthur recipe called for lukewarm water. The Bittman recipe called for boiling water. I note that Italian Cook's mother-in-law's recipe calls for HOT water. I know, due to a King Arthur flatbread recipe that boiling water has an effect on flour. That might be key.
A Mexican restaurant chain, Rosa's, that I often visited with friends when I lived in Lubbock, had a tortilla making machine that patrons could watch while standing in line to order. It did indeed have puffed up tortillas. Those tortillas were thick and good.
I noted last Friday that our water pump for the well was having issues. It has now quit completely. (Major appliances and systems only break going into weekends.) We have a company coming late Monday morning to troubleshoot and repair. The scenarios range from simple to complex. The well dates back to 1976. We bought the house in 2011.
As a result, water is in limited use here. I bought a cold rotisserie chicken this morning that we can eat for dinner with the last of the tortillas I made. I'm not sure when regular cooking and baking will resume here.
Thank you for typing in the directions and recipe for your mother-in-law's tortillas, Italian Cook. The recipe I followed said to cook on both sides, which may be part of the issue. I am not ready to try over the open flame. I also wanted to avoid using lard, which is probably one reason mine got hard. The King Arthur recipe, and another one from How to Cook Anything (Mark Bittman, I think) do not call for baking powder, but I think an old one I once used does, and that it uses Crisco. More experimentation is needed!
I seem to recall a discussion about tortilla back on the Baking Circle. Mrs. Cindy was adamant that tortilla should be rolled out by hand.
I rolled mine with a small rolling pin that came with a ravioli form (a form that I have yet to use, but hey, what is retirement for?). That little rolling pin is my go-to for making tart crusts as well as various small flat breads.
Congratulations on the grilled pizza, Mike. It looks delicious.
Chocomouse--Thanks for the insight about the tortilla press. I will continue without one. Good tortillas for a reasonable price are not to be found in our town's single grocery store. I will look around when we do the big grocery run in a week or so and see what is available in the larger town to the northeast.
We liked the flavor of the rye tortilla, even though they stayed hard or quickly returned to hard after microwaving when spritzed with water. Perhaps steaming would work? I also saw Mike's suggestion in the cooking thread about layering them with wet paper towels.
I rolled them out on parchment with saran over the top, flipped them over, peeled off the parchment, turned it over, and carefully peeled off the saran. This recipe held its shape fairly well.
I think these would make good individual "pizzas.? I also think they would be good "chips" for dips or my beloved salsa.
On Friday, I made the Rye Tortillas recipe from the King Arthur site. I followed their recipe except for reducing the salt by a third. I chose to use avocado oil. The recipe is simple, although it is a bit of work rolling them out. I rolled on parchment with saran on the top, then flipped over, peeled off the parchment, peeled the tortilla off the plastic then put it on the iron griddle. I cooked them for 2 minutes 40 seconds per side. The taste is good, but they harden quickly, and I was not able to soften them much in the microwave. I am not sure whether to cook them a little less next time or perhaps add another tablespoon of oil. Any suggestions?
Does anyone here use a tortilla press? The rolling is a lot of work, but I have not justified in my mind spending the money on a press.
I used the volume measurements. I was going to weigh, but when I weighed the flour, it came out heavier--and yes, I did fluff it up first and spoon it into the measuring cups. I find that is typical with King Arthur's recipes. I think they develop them in volume, then convert into grams, and I think something gets lost in the conversion.
I cooked a pot of black beans on Friday. We had fill-your-own rye tortilla wraps for dinner. I put ground beef, black beans, tomato (the first one from our garden!), onion, Penzeys Salsa and Pico, and grated mozzarella in mine. My husband omitted the black beans and onion and the seasoning. The tortillas did not soften in the microwave very much. My husband ate his like tostadas. I managed to get mine folded around the filling.
My first chocolate for breakfast was a chocolate cinnamon roll recipe. I think longingly of it, but I can only bake it now if I have enough people to eat almost all of it after I have a single roll.
Friday's baking plans were derailed at the crack of dawn when my husband awoke me with the words: "We have problems. The pump won't shut off." In our area, the houses have wells. We have a call into the plumber to diagnose the problem, which could range from the simple to the very expensive. For now, my husband has shut it off, so activity that generates a pile of dirty dishes is not viable.
That's my husband's tomato philosophy as well. I never heard the end of it the year I bought a plant which featured tomatoes with green shoulders.
Congratulations on a splendid tomato crop, Len. We have now harvested three tomatoes from the plant I got at the farmers' market. The two Gurney's tomato plants are disappointing. One finally has some fruit, the other nothing. These were the two that started life under the grow lights that appear to have stunted them badly. Our cherry tomato plant has fruit, so I look forward to their ripening.
Bob's keep sending me emails proclaiming how it is now easier to get their products. They include a "store finder." Of course, no one store has all the products, and they cost more. The marketing spin seems to be that they are supporting local stores and making it easier for us. I'm surprised that BRM did not also present a bridge for sale....
Pie is always better when there are people with whom we can share it!
I tried a new recipe for dinner on Tuesday: Turkey Sausage and Spinach Lasagna, which was posted online at My Recipes. It uses no-boil lasagna noodles. I replaced the turkey sausage with ground turkey and deleted the garlic. I used 12 oz. frozen spinach in place of fresh. I deleted the shallots and used ý tsp. dried onion. To thicken the milk sauce, I used whole wheat flour, and I used olive oil rather than canola oil. I used ý tsp. poultry seasoning and a bit of sweet curry in the sauce. I baked in a 13x9 lasagna pan because with no-boil noodles, they should not touch the side of the pan or each other, and I used three per layer. I used 15 oz. of low-fat ricotta rather than 12 oz. because I did not want it left over. My husband and I thought it a delicious meal, certainly something different to do with ground turkey, so I will probably make it again. We had it with some fresh green beans from the garden.
I also made yogurt today.
Here's the original recipe: https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/turkey-sausage-spinach-lasagna
We had leftover roasted chicken thighs, potato salad, and some of the fresh crop of green beans from our garden.
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