Industrious Me: Bean and Cheese Burritos

Today was a snow day, no school, no work. All in all a perfect day to catch up on my laundry and replenish my frozen burrito stash. I'll be honest, I really like those 50 cent burritos you can buy in ten packs at the grocery store, but I know they're not so good for me. Last summer I decided to try and make my own frozen burritos and found that the ones at the grocery store can't hold a candle to home cooking. I've been making my own tortillas for several years now and haven't bought tortillas in a long time. If you want to try your own burritos but don't feel ambitious enough for tortillas, I'm sure that store bought ones work too.

First off, the filing:
I wanted to make quite a few burritos because I don't get a chance to do this very often, so I used two cans of black beans. To actually make this as a meal one is probably sufficient, unless you are eating with teenage boys or something.
so, filling ingredients:
black beans

1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
approximately 2 cups of corn
about two tablespoons of Penzey's salsa seasoning (can be replaced with real salsa, though quantities would differ and you should really just season to your taste)
about 3 tablespoons of lime juice, but that was because I was using mine up. If you're not a fan of lime you can reduce it, or skip it altogether.

Shredded cheddar cheese ( I tend to shred as I go so I don't have too much or too little)

My personal favorite burrito flavor is bean and cheese, but if your's is something else don't hesitate to change or add to the filling.

So, dump everything but the cheese into a pot and let it simmer for about an hour to let the flavors really mix together.

On to the tortillas. Homemade tortillas are not exactly for the beginner cook. There's mixing and kneading and rising time and then you actually have to roll them out and cook them. I've taken a lot of flack over the years because I've made some pretty weird tortilla shapes, I've mostly got the rolling process down now, but sometimes the dough just wants to do something weird.
Ingredients:

tortilla mix, I like to use the wheat tortilla mix that comes with the fat already mixed into the flour. The only place I've been able to find it is Super Walmart. If you can't find it, there are recipes online that will tell you how much lard or shortening to cut into your flour.
flour, I've found that when I thin the mix with flour I get a softer, more supple tortilla that rolls out easier. I usually do 2 cups mix to one cup flour and that makes the right amount of tortillas for four to have tacos.
water I add enough water to make a nice dough (see pic) it's usually somewhere between one and two cups
a large frying pan
if you're lucky, a flipper a flipper is a person who will man the spatula and flip the tortillas while you roll the next one out. It is difficult to do both jobs at once, especially the first time.

First you mix the flours and add the water to make dough.

Then you tip the dough out onto a clean surface and knead while adding flour until it is no longer sticky.

Roll the dough into balls, if you're going for tacos a 1 inch diameter is good, but if you want burrito size you want the diameter to be closer to two inches.

Cover the dough balls and let them rise for 15 minutes. Before you begin rolling out begin heating your frying pan. To cook tortillas correctly your frying pan must be very hot and it should not take more than 15 seconds to cook both side of the tortilla. To roll out the tortillas dip the ball of dough in some flour and flatten it on your work surface.