Sunday, July 8, 2007

Wraps

Chicken Wraps and Knitted Wraps. Not a good idea to get them mixed up either. Not sure my knitted wrap would taste all that great and I try hard not to wear my chicken wrap (although they do have a reputation for being a tad messy lol).

I'll start with the knitted kind first. Here's a few photo's of my completed project. I'm trialling them in a small size this time. If you want to see the photo up close, just click on it and you'll get a full page view.



This is the wrap I've just finished making. I used 1 strand of 8 ply black wool and 1 strand of black feathers yarn (held together as if they were a single strand). The loom used was the yellow loom (largest one) and used in a back and forward motion (as opposed to going around and around the loom) using all pegs. I wrapped using an "e" stitch (the only stitch I know how to do so far LOL) - wrapping 2 pegs and then skipping 1, wrapping 2, skipping 1 and so on. I just stitched until it was as long as I wanted then finished it off with the most basic method for finishing a flat item. A very simple project (which is what I wanted given I've just started).





Here is me modelling the wrap. I wore it to church this morning and it was beautiful and warm (we have a very cold church building). DD has decided she wants me to make her one as well. :-)




You can wear it any number of ways. I'm getting the giggles here as I'm not used to being a model. LOL.



Now I've just gone silly. But what I was trying to show here was that it can be folded in half and worn as a regular scarf as well.

So there you have it. If you have any questions about the method for making one of these wraps, just let me know.


Now, onto CHICKEN WRAPS. :-) Which we had for tea last night once I had the tortillas made. They turned out very yummy. I used a cut up chicken breast coated in a bought chicken coating called "Southern Fried Chicken". One of these days I'll hopefully figure out how to make it from scratch but for now it's just babysteps, babysteps...one thing at a time. We added grated cheese, grated carrot and shredded lettuce (plus whatever dressings were desired - I don't have any) simply as that's what we happened to have available. Sorry, I couldn't take a photo for you - they didn't last long enough! LOL.

As I was making the Tortillas, I wondered to myself whether or not I'd bother doing them again. It was a bit time consuming. Mind you, I wasn't in any hurry so I did enjoy just rolling them out quite slowly. The mixing them up and the cooking are both quick and simple. Rolling them out was the more time consuming and tiring task.

However, once I'd tasted one, I knew I wasn't going to be able to go back to bought Tortillas. I think I've grown up with preservatives in all my food and it's not until you start to eat more "real" food without them that you realise how much of a taste they really have (the preservatives that is). As I was eating my first wrap, it was quite a strange sensation. It was like all of a sudden I could taste the preservatives in the bought ones (in my memory that is) by the contrast in taste with the freshly made ones. So, it's looking like I'll need to do a few more push-ups to build my upper arm strength ready for the next time chicken wraps are on the menu. LOL. Mind you, rolling them out wasn't a bad upper arms workout in itself.

Here is the recipe, with my own adaptations made:

TORTILLAS

1.5 cups wholemeal flour
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup warm water

Combine dry ingredients into a food processor or electric mixer with dough attachment. Add oil then gradually add water until it forms a dough (I used an electric mixer with dough attachment and found I mixed the last of the dough together with my hands while kneeding - not sure if a food processor would be different to this or not).

Kneed for 5 minutes and then leave the dough to rest (for how long I'm not sure, I think I allowed about half an hour or so).

Divide into 10 pieces and roll into a thin round shape.

Cook quickly in a hot, lightly oiled frypan until they bubble and start to brown (takes less than a minute most times) then turn and brown on the other side.

If you're not using them straight away - wrap in a damp teatowel to keep them soft. You can rewarm them wrapped in alfoil (as you'd warm bought ones) but I just cooked them straight before we ate them (DH made them into wraps as they came out of the pan - can't get much fresher than that! :-) ).

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! Your shawl looks great on you and you will soon be selling them to the neighbours and ladies at church!
The tortillas sound great and I was pleased to see they don't have copha in them like one recipe I was given. (I reheat the bought ones in the microwave for a few seconds and they are fine.) Do you think they could be frozen if I made them in large quantities? I think that you need DH around when rolling time is near, just like when making cream puffs, the mixture gets difficult to beat by oneself!
Am off to finish the pumpkin soup for tea! Feeling lazy today! LS

Kez said...

Love the shawl :)

ITA about the tortillas - they are so yummy there is no way I could go back to eating bought ones. They're a bit fiddly to make though so I keep putting them off!

LS - I've frozen them before ok.

lightening said...

Thanks Kez for your input on freezing tortillas. I wasn't sure on that one. I was thinking you could possibly roll them and freeze them before you cooked them but wasn't sure about after cooking.

We're more likely to have them again now I have a recipe as I rarely think to buy the bought ones. LOL. Well, we'll see if I get around to making them again anyway...