The Vodka Tonic that Saved Dinner (Millet Flour Pork Tostadas)

I had so much success making the flaxmeal tortillas that the next time we had tostadas, I decided to experiment with my own tortillas.

Ben was working in the garage and Tommy was happily playing in the living room. I thought, ok, I already have cooked shredded pork, so I’ll just whip up some tortillas and we’ll have an easy and delicious dinner. Well, it wasn't quite that simple or pain free.

Our tortilla press came with an instruction booklet that contained a recipe for corn tortillas. It was a simple combination of masa and water. I thought, ok, millet flour has a corn-like flavor and masa is pretty dry and crumbly, so figured I could do a combination of millet flour with some flaxmeal goop and presto, we’d have corn-like tortillas! I combined ¼ cup flaxmeal with 6 tablespoons of hot water and let that sit to form a gel. Then I added ½ tsp salt, 1 ¾ cups of millet flour and 1 cup of water. The batter was really runny. Obviously the millet flour didn't absorb as much water as the masa would have. So I added another 1 ¼ cups of millet flour.

The dough looked pretty good and I was ready to press out my first tortilla. I thought I had developed a pretty good technique when I made the flaxmeal tortillas, so I went about the same method this time. I lined the tortilla press with parchment paper and placed a 1 inch ball of dough in the middle. I pressed down the lever, and voila! It looked like a beautiful round corn tortilla. However, the tortilla dough had fused with the parchment paper and I could not get the tortilla off. 

So then I tried spraying the parchment paper with canola oil spray and pressed out another tortilla. This one stuck too. So then I decided to use the silicone pan liners I have and sprayed those with the canola oil spray. The tortillas even stuck to that! At this point my frustration was getting pretty bad. The tortillas looked so perfect, but I just could not get them to come off the liners.

So then I added 2 tablespoons of tapioca starch. Finally, I had a dough that would actually separate and make it to the pan! I cooked up the first tortilla and it was super dry and flavorless.

At this point, I was almost ready to cry. I was tired and hungry and defeated. I felt like I had wasted a lot of ingredients and time and I still wasn’t close to having anything for dinner. Right then Ben came in from the garage and provided some much needed emotional support. I wasn’t looking for any help with my hopeless tortilla situation; I just needed a hug and reassurance that not every recipe we make will be an instant success and that’s ok.

I decided then that I really wanted a vodka tonic. Ben made us cocktails and that gave me the time I needed to take a step back and reassess our situation.

I really didn't want to waste all the ingredients. I figured if I couldn't get the tortillas to come off of the tortilla press, maybe I could make the dough more like a pancake batter and just pour the batter into the pan. So I added another 2 tablespoons of canola oil and somewhere around ½ cup of coconut milk. 

I poured the batter into the pan, and it worked!

They were moist, flavorful and super delicious! Dinner was saved!

Sometimes you just need a little moral support. And a vodka tonic.

Millet Tortilla Pancakes

¼ cup ground flaxmeal

6 Tbsp hot water

3 cups millet flour

1 cup water

3 Tbsp canola oil

½ cup coconut milk

2 Tbsp tapioca starch

½ tsp salt

Combine ground flaxmeal and hot water in a large bowl. Let sit for five minutes to gel. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Add more coconut milk if needed to make the batter into the consistency of a pancake batter.  Heat a large nonstick skillet to medium heat and spray with nonstick spray. Use a ¼ cup measure to pour the batter into the skillet. Cook each pancake for a couple minutes until the bottom browns and then flip. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Pork Tostada Filling

3 cups cooked, shredded pork

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 Tbsp canola oil

Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bell pepper and sauté until soft. Add the shredded pork and stir to combine.

Simple Guacamole

1 avocado

¼ of an onion, finely diced

1 tsp lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

Mash the avocado with a fork and stir in the onion, lemon juice and salt.

Millet Flour Pork Tostadas

To assemble the tostadas, top a millet pancake tortilla with the simple guacamole, pork tostada filling, shredded lettuce and salsa. Enjoy!