Talos con Chocolat

Otherwise known as Corn Tortillas with Melted Chocolate. This is one item I haven't seen offered at any Latin-American restaurants or ethnic supermarkets in California, or the continental US for that matter. This recipe is adapted from an article on Basque country foods Saveur Magazine, issue #102. What I was able to make in my kitchen came comparably close to Saveur's photo of the dish.

Here are my ingredient ratio tweaks:

1 cup masa harina
1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.5 oz semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

The original recipe features salt in the corn flour dough, but I added sugar because this is a dessert. Per masa harina cup, the amount of water that I use is more because I live in an arid part of southern California where even the ice cubes in my freezer tend to evaporate.

Directions:

1. Stir together masa harina, sugar and water; but gradually add the water, stirring with each 1/8 cup. It is possible that all the water might not be used so don't add it all at once. When the dough comes together, you should be able to work it by hand. It will have the texture of playdoh.

2. Roll the dough into a large ball and cut into quarters. For each quarter of dough, roll it into a ball and flatten it with the palm of your hand on a sheet of wax paper (if you use wax paper, you won't need an offset spatula to remove it; just peel off the wax paper and you're set). Press out the dough until it is roughly 5 or 6 inches in diameter. Repeat with another quarter dough piece.

3. Roughly chop semisweet chocolate and set aside.

The next step for the tortillas and chocolate have two possible methods, 4a and 4b. I used 4a, but 4b seems more practical and less messy to deal with.

4a. Heat skillet (for tortillas, I use a round 8-inch cast iron pan), then add the oil and let the oil heat up. Turn stove to "low" because you want to slowcook the tortilla so that it cooks entirely through from one side. Add one tortilla, put the chocolate on top of that, and the second tortilla on top of the chocolate. You can gently lift one edge of the bottom tortilla to check its brownedness, about 3-5 mins. Flip the tortilla sandwich and cook the other side of the tortilla. When that has browned, remove from heat and serve.

4b. Add oil to skillet over medium heat. Lay a tortilla in the skillet and cook, flipping once until lightly browned. About 3-4 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the tortilla. Transfer tortilla to a plate and put some chopped chocolate along half of the tortilla. Fold in half and let the heat from the tortilla melt the chocolate. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and chocolate. Serve hot.

Photos:

Trial & Error: corn tortillas from "scratch"

The other day at Vallarta's I picked up a small 2 lb bag of Maseca 'instant' corn flour because I wanted to try making corn tortillas from scratch. Maseca is a brand name and their corn is treated with lime before the grinding process. The lime that is added to the corn isn't from the lime fruit, but rather calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) which helps to loosen hulls from the kernels and soften the corn.

There are a few reviews of this brand of masa harina out on the Net and I'd have to say that I agree with most of them, leaning towards tortillas made with this flour tasting rather bland and flavorless. Well, here's the thing. Any corn product made with simple ingredients (corn, water, pinch of salt, etc) is bound to taste flavorless; like polenta. With the first few tries, the tortillas were bland. It is probably because I didn't add enough salt.

I don't have a tortilla press nor plastic wrap, so I used two sheets of waxed paper and a rolling pin to form my tortillas. I must be doing something wrong with the oil I'm using for frying because they're not even getting lightly browned. Ahh, I also only use EVOO for cooking/eating so.. maybe that's my problem instead of using a cooking oil like canola or grapeseed oil.

I probably have to play with the water / corn flour ratios a bit because Maseca recommended this ingredient list to make 4 tortillas. It made four very small tortillas.

1/2 cup Maseca corn flour
1/3 cup water
pinch of salt

This mix was a bit on the dry side and the dough just barely clung together. I think it needs more water. I have pictures, but I'll wait until I make a normal looking tortilla.. at least to the quality of "homemade" from a fast food restaurant.

Maybe for my next attempt with masa harina, I could try to make chicken sopes.