Mexican Tortilla Shells

You may recall that I posted a tortilla shell recipe a while ago that uses a few simple ingredients, including butter. I do enjoy this recipe and will certainly make those ones again, however, I found a new recipe that gets M's vote as his favourite. I came across this on bluebonnetsandbrownies.com (linked there from pinterest!). The recipe has one ingredient that I was VERY hestitant on purchasing - LARD. I've never bought this from the grocery store, but after reading a few points the author made about the alternatives, and the rave reviews on how these taste, I decided to give these a chance. "Cooking with lard is actually much better for you than say, margarine. It has absolutely no trans fats, and stacks up gram for gram equally on total fat to vegetable oil. And Crisco? It’s got genetically modified soy bean oil in it. No thank you!". So if you can bring yourself to actually buy a pound of lard, whip these bad boys up. You will NOT be disappointed. They are far superior than any pre-packaged wrap/shell you can purchase. Here's my version of the recipe. Enjoy!

Mexican Tortilla Shells

• 3 1/2 cup AP flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup lard, cut into 4 pcs
• 3/4 - 1 1/4 cups cold water

1. Place flour and salt in bowl of food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add lard, and process until mixture is crumbly. Stream water into bowl, while processing, and combine until dough just comes together (similar process to making pie crust). Dough should be pliable, but not sticky. If you pour too much water, add a little more flour.
2. Pour contents of bowl onto counter and form dough into a ball. Divide ball into 12 pcs, and form each pc into a smaller ball. Cover all 12 balls with a damp tea towel and let rest for about 30 minutes.
3. Heat 8-10" cast iron pan on stove over high heat. On a generously floured surface, roll each ball out to fit bottom of cast iron pan. Place in hot pan and cook on each side until lightly browned (about 60-90 seconds). Immediately remove each one and place stacked in a clean, dry tea towel. Once all shells are cooked, serve with fillings and ENJOY!