Leftover Thanksgiving: Tacos with Corn Tortillas

We made these recipes with Thanksgiving especially in mind, and the leftovers that you might have and need to get rid of over the next week. Making interesting meals, instead of just turkey sandwich after turkey sandwich will get you through your leftovers without getting fed up with the massive amounts of boring turkey. Like we said in our previous post Thanksgiving Day Dinner, we made two chickens and therefore this recipe was made with chicken meat. Turkey works just as well, so don't let it fool you! Make a little Mexican out of your all-American Thanksgiving Dinner!

We felt that we needed a change from our regular flour tortillas and so we decided this time to try corn tortillas. What we found out is that it is much much much easier to mix up the dough and roll out than flour tortillas. We might just have a new favorite :)

For ~ 6 medium sized tortillas you need:
2 cups corn flour (or masa harina)
1 1/4 cup boiling water + 1-4 tsp more
1 tsp oil
1 tsp salt

Mix the salt and the flour (don't mix up cornmeal and corn flour, cornmeal will not work!) Add 1 1/4 cup boiling water and oil and mix with a fork. It will be hot so wait a few minutes before you try to knead it with your hands (he learned this lesson the hard way!)






Once the dough is cool enough knead it with your hands for  2 to 3 minutes. The dough should stick together but not be sticky. You will need to add more boiling water to get it to this state. Do this slowly, adding only 1 tsp at a time. We had to add 3 tsp to get our dough the perfect consistency.




Roll the dough into balls (we like medium sized tortillas so we made balls halfway between a golf ball and tennis ball in size). Use a tortilla press or roll out using a rolling pin. Best is to put plastic wrap or parchment paper over and under the dough while rolling so it is sure not to stick.





We rolled out our dough and then used a plate as a circle outline to cut our tortillas into proper tortilla shape.









Heat a pan (no oil) on high heat (best is a cast iron skillet but we do not own one) and wait to add the tortillas, one at a time, until it is very very hot. Cook on each side for about 1 minute. Put the tortillas in aluminum foil or wrap in a towel to keep warm.


 

For the taco insides we used:

1 1/2 cup chopped chicken (or turkey) leftover from Thanksgiving
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
Seasonings like pepper, salt, garlic powder, oregano and bail



 Heat a pan on medium with a small amount of oil. Add the chicken, mushrooms, onion, bell pepper and onion. Cook until hot and onions start to get soft. Add seasonings and tomatoes. Finish cooking through.








Serve on the corn tortilla with lettuce, sour cream, cheese, and hot sauce. We did not have any sour cream or cheese but our tacos were still delicious. Eat alone or with rice and beans.

Enjoy this different type of recipe to use up your turkey!