Baleadas

Pictured from left to right: Diana, JP, and Digna

Recently, I went to Honduras and was able to meet up with a few friends! I cannot thank them enough for spending the weekend with me exploring caves, taking nature walks, and showing me the foods to eat like a local.

Panorama view from one of the restaurants we visited

Since not too many places were open on a Sunday night after 9PM, we went to Baleadas Express. Typically a dish served for breakfast, a Baleada is composed of a flour tortilla folded in half and stuffed with refried black beans and a white queso. However, the fillings can be anywhere from scrambled eggs, chorizo, chicken, or anything your heart desires.

First Baleadas Express experience with JP and Liscien!

Since I was missing the warm weather in Honduras, my friends there, and the delicious food, I made Baleadas to temporarily bring me back.

Looking at various recipes for flour tortillas, I adapted the recipe from City Wife Country Life to what I needed:
http://www.citywifecountrylife.com/2010/11/5-tips-for-perfect-homemade-flour.html

Ingredients
Flour Tortillas:
3.5 cups of all purpose flour
2 tsp of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 cup of crisco
2 cups of boiling water
Unsalted Butter

Fillings:
15.5 oz can of black beans, drained
Guacamole (feel free to use your favorite recipe)
I used cheddar cheese but if you can use Honduran Cheese, such as queso duro, all the better!
Sliced medium rare steak (optional)

Instructions
1. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and crisco in a large bowl without mixing
2. Add 1/2 cup of water and mix the ingredients together with a wooden spoon to get the dry mixture to come together. Add more water as needed until the mixture combines into a ball
3. Knead the dough for 5 minutes (to work the gluten!)
4. Cover the dough with a damp towel and let rest for 15-30 minutes.

Now would be a good time to prepare whatever you wanted to fill the tortillas with. I fried up some steak and had help making guacamole (shout out to IG Koleridav for making the guac!).

No wine was harmed in the making of flour tortillas.

Once your dough has rested, divide the dough into golf sized balls and roll it out as thin as possible (no floured counter needed). In case you do not have a roller, I made an impromptu roller by wrapping a wine bottle in saran wrap (worked out decently).











In a pan on medium heat, butter the pan and place the tortilla on it. Fry for about 2 minutes (or until golden brown) and flip the tortilla. Fry for another minute or so. To keep them warm, place in a tortilla warmer or in a clean kitchen towel and place in oven set at Warm. Continue until all the dough has been cooked.

Assembly
Take one tortilla and on one half of it, add 1-2 tbsp of black beans, 2 tbsp of guacamole, 3 thin slices of steak, and top with shredded cheese. Fold over and enjoy!