Emerils Corn Tortillas Recipes

EMERIL'S FAVORITE TORTILLA SOUP

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven or large heavy pot, heat the oil on medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, peppers, salt, cumin, and coriander for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the cilantro and lime juice, and stir well. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.
• Heat the oil in a heavy pot or electric fryer to 350 degrees F. Add the tortilla strips in batches and fry until golden and crisp, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Season with the Essence.
• Ladle the soup into 4 or 6 serving bowls. Garnish each serving with the diced avocado, the fried tortilla strips, and Chipotle Crema.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.
• In the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients. Process on high speed until smooth. Serve with the soup.

GRANNY'S CORN FLOUR TORTILLAS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour and cornmeal. Add baking powder and salt, and mix together well. Stir in water to form a crumbly dough. Work dough with your hands until it holds together.
• On a floured surface, knead dough until smooth. Divide dough into 10 to 12 pieces. Roll each into the shape of a ball. Cover lightly with saran wrap and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Flatten each piece of dough by hand, then roll into a 8 to 9 inch round.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Lightly grease the hot pan, and place one tortilla in the pan. Cook tortilla until light brown, turning to ensure equal browning. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

CHEF JOHN'S CORN TORTILLAS

Steps:

• Add masa harina to a large bowl. Sprinkle in salt and add hot tap water. Stir mixture with your fingers until dough starts to pull together.
• Knead for a few minutes to smooth it out until texture resembles modeling clay or putty. Add more water if dough is too dry and more flour if too wet.
• Place a damp towel and over the dough to keep it from drying out. Let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Cut a zip-top bag into 2 rounds the same size as your tortilla press. Place 1 round on the bottom of the press.
• Place a clean kitchen towel over a pie dish for holding the cooked tortillas later.
• Pull off a little piece of the dough, enough to roll into a 1 1/2-inch or 1-ounce ball. Remove the top round of plastic, place dough ball in the center of the bottom round, and press down lightly. Cover dough with the top piece of plastic.
• Fold the tortilla press over, apply pressure to the lever arm until tortilla flattens to your desired thinness.
• Peel off the top piece of plastic. Line up the index finger of your dominant hand with the edge of the tortilla; flip it over into your other hand. Carefully peel off the plastic.
• Gently slide tortilla, palm-up, into a hot, dry pan over medium- to medium-high heat. Cook first side for 30 to 45 seconds. Turn over and cook second side for 1 minute. Flip and press once or twice with a spatula until tortilla puffs up slightly. Cook for 30 seconds more. Flip one last time and cook for 5 to 10 seconds.
• Quickly transfer tortilla to the pie dish and fold the towel over to wrap it up. Repeat pressing and cooking the rest of the tortilla dough, stacking and wrapping as you go.
• Leave the stack of tortillas wrapped until soft and supple, at least 15 minutes.

CORN TORTILLAS ENCHILADAS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Brown ground beef and drain.
• Mix in 1 cup salsa.
• Mix in 1/2 can of enchilada sauce.
• Season with salt, pepper, onion salt and paprika.
• In a 9x12-inch pan spray bottom with cooking spray.
• Pour 1/2 can of enchilada sauce on bottom of pan. Make sure bottom is covered in sauce.
• Layer 6 corn tortillas to cover bottom.
• Spoon beef mixture over tortillas.
• Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheddar cheese or enough to cover beef.
• Layer with tortillas to cover beef.
• Pour remaining enchilada sauce over tortillas.
• Cover with rest of cheese.
• Bake for 30 minutes.

EMERIL'S CORN CAKES WITH CAVIAR AND TRADITIONAL GARNISHES

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a medium-size saute pan over medium heat. Add the corn, shallots 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and the black pepper, and cook, stirring, until the corn and shallots are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Combine the eggs and cream in a large mixing bowl and whisk to blend well. Add the cornmeal, flour, masa harina, baking powder, cayenne, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the water. Mix well. Fold in the corn and shallot mixture. Heat 1/2 teaspoon of the oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, gently drop the batter, a tablespoon at a time, into the pan. You can cook about eight cakes at a time. Cook until the cakes are lightly golden on both sides, about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Repeat until all of the oil and batter are used up. Drain the cakes on paper towels. Sprinkle with the Creole seasoning and serve warm with caviar sauce, accompanied by a tray of garnishes. These can be prepared in advance and passed around on trays.