Fresh homemade corn tortillas

Work a little water into the masa until it is the consistency of soft cookie dough: very smooth, as soft as possible without sticking to the hands.

Roll a walnut-sized piece of masa into a ball, set it between two pieces of plastic in a tortilla press and press gently to five to six inches.

Peel off the top plastic, line the tortilla up on the hand and peel the other plastic off.

Lay it on the cooler (medium) side of an ungreased griddle, rolling the hand out from under it; cook about 30 seconds until it dries a little at the edges and releases.

Flip onto the hot (medium-high) side until lightly browned underneath, about a minute.

Flip back onto the first side; it should puff up like pita. Cook another minute or so.

Stack the tortillas as they come off, in a tightly closed basket or a styrofoam container, so they steam and finish cooking.