Every year around Christmas I buy fresh masa at the Mexican market for making tamales. I also buy a bag of Masa Harina flour as a kind of insurance policy in case I run out of fresh masa. I end up not using it, and it sits in the cabinet all year. I always figured I could use it to make corn tortillas. This year, after the bag sat in the cabinet for 9 months, I finally decided to give it a try.
Corn tortillas are another one of my inconvenient struggles. I like them, but the market down the street sells two kinds: small bags of ultra thin corn tortillas by the dozen – too thin for most things, and large 2 lb bags of the regular corn tortillas I grew up with, the ones that are just under an 1/8 inch thick, and good for making enchiladas, or tostadas, or Mexican hot dogs, or anything. However, a 2 lb bag is more than I can use, and I inevitably end up throwing some out. Although I did purchase a vacuum sealer just after making tamales this year, so I could store them better, and have been using that to freeze batches of corn tortillas in usable size bunches.
However, my tortilla problems are now solved! A little masa harina flour, a little water, a little rolling some dough, and voila! Fresh tortillas that are actually good!
My test batch was small:
3/4 cup Masa Harina Flour
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 tsp salt
the dough came together very easily. I needed it for a minute or two, divided it into six pieces, rolled out little disks with a rolling pin, and put them on hot griddle for minute or two until they started to form brown spots, then stored them in a cloth towel before using them to make 3 quesadillas. They were fantastic and easy and quick to make.