Sopapillas

This was a super quick recipe, so it will be a super quick blog post!

Recipe 10:  Sopapillas

Taking pictures from below an object is pretty much my only trick to make an "artistic" shot. Note the use of the hood light to add an angelic glow...

Does this really count as trying a new recipe if I just used store-bought raw tortillas instead of making them myself? I'm saying it does. This was definitely a skin-of-my-teeth situation, but since I recently had a double recipe week I'm saying it balances out.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to share my mom's recipe for tortillas, which is much simpler than the Food Network recipe above, and I cannot vouch for its deliciousness.

Basic plain tortillas

2 c flour

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp oil

Stir together the flour and salt, then drizzle the oil over and stir it in. It should break up into little balls/chunks.

Stir in about 3/4 cup of warm water -- the amount depends on your flour -- and knead until a stiff dough forms.

Cut into 8 pieces (I use a bench scraper), and keep the pieces under the inverted bowl while you work.

Roll out one piece at a time and cook in a hot, dry frying pan. Flip when there are bubbles all over one side.

Let rest in a plastic bag.

The main thing to know about mom's recipe is that it is very difficult to roll out. Expect to have your tortillas tear, especially if you are trying to make them very large. I don't know specifically how this recipe would translate into sopapillas, but I would guess quite well.

Now, on to the Food Network recipe. Like I said, I just used raw tortillas from the HEB. They were the smaller palm sized ones, and not very thick. This ended up making them much quicker to cook than the instructions indicated. The instructions say to roll your tortillas out to a 1/4" thickness, which is incredibly thick. They gave their sopapillas 2 minuted on each side, but if mine were in the pan for a minute total, I would be surprised.

Look at em go!

I also wanted to mention that I used coconut oil instead of peanut oil. I really like having coconut oil around. It stays stable in the cupboard, it is supposed to be good for you, and I haven't run into anything I can't make with it. I've made brownies, cookies, and pie crusts with coconut oil, all with good results. The one big difference is that it doesn't taste like anything, but if you want a butter flavor in your baking I've found using half coconut oil half butter works well.

Anyway! Back to the recipe at hand. I thought the sopapillas turned out really well. They were relatively crispy even the next day, not too greasy, and fun to eat. The one thing I should have done is sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar as they came out of the oil, because once they cooled the sugar just rolled right off.

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