Common mistakes making tortillas at home

Posted on September 10, 2026 by Burnt My Fingers
Tortillas

Finished product, after correcting a few common mistakes making tortillas at home.

What’s your definition of a fun project? Perhaps failing miserably through common mistakes in making tortillas on your first try, then succeeding gloriously on your second? That’s what happened when I finally made tortillas using the Masienda masa I got for Christmas.

Masa Balls

Prepping masa dough.

To begin with, preparing masa dough is literally a tactile experience because you mix it with your hands. The mix is roughly 1:1 masa to water by volume and you add the water a little at a time. You want dough that easily holds its shape when rolled into golf ball size pieces but is not at all sticky. I felt pretty confident about my results then took a piece, placed it in the tortilla press* between two sheets of wax paper and pushed down hard.

Result? I got myself a handsome raw tortilla that fell apart as soon as I peeled off the top sheet. Turns out wax paper is a terrible medium for making tortillas. I turned to the internet and found this video which advises using parchment paper or plastic (I got some nice tortilla press liners in my Masienda gift but wanted to try something already available in most kitchens) and also demonstrates a press-just-hard-enough technique that reminded me of the delicate touch required when rolling baguettes. Apply gentle pressure on the first press, then flip the tortilla over and apply even gentler pressure on a second.

Tortilla Assembly Line

My assembly line. Note proximity of press to open flame. Yes, the parchment paper did catch fire at one point…

These tortillas peeled off nicely from the top layer, then I peeled off the bottom layer and flipped it into a preheated nonstick skillet. The instructions on the Masienda package said to turn it after 20 seconds but I found this was too soon: the dough wasn’t set and a flap would get stuck on the top or a section would break off. I learned to leave the tortilla un-flipped until the surface changed to the fine pebbly texture you expect in a tortilla. This took maybe a minute. I flipped it without problems, cooked the other side 30 seconds or so, flipped it again and decided I was done when the tortilla showed a bit of browning.

So those are some common mistakes in tortilla making and how I corrected them: make sure the dough is the proper texture. Line the press with plastic or parchment paper, not wax paper. Don’t press too hard when pressing with the press. Wait till the dough has set in the skillet before flipping the tortilla.

After this learning process, I ended up with perhaps the best tortillas I have ever tasted and served them for dinner with carnitas and some chopped onion, cilantro, jalapeño and cotija cheese for garnish with a squeeze of lime juice. Now that’s my idea of fun.

*affiliate alert! This is the best selling cast iron tortilla press on Amazon and it’s just 20 bucks.

Carnitas Tacos

Carnitas tacos with home made tortillas.

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The American Diner Breakfast

Posted on September 4, 2026 by Burnt My Fingers
Compton's Breakfast Special

Compton’s American diner breakfast with recommended condiments.

I help run an Airbnb and guests frequently ask for restaurant recommendations. I live in a tourist town and we have exquisite bakeries and frou-frou brunches, but a surprising number of people want a good old fashioned American diner breakfast. I always send them to Compton’s, a hole in the wall on Broadway with a step up to the dining area that keeps the snow out in winter but trips up unwary tourists in summer.

Comptons Interior

The American diner experience at Comptons: vinyl booths, plywood paneling on the walls, ads for local businesses on the table mat.

My personal choice every time is the house special which comes with coffee, two eggs, home fries, toast and choice of protein. My customizations: sunny side up, rye toast, bacon. I ask for tabasco and A-1 sauce on the side. I eat the bacon first, then I get to work. The potatoes and eggs get mashed together with the yolk blending with the A-1. As the plate empties I use the toast to sop up the remains. Finally I spread the remaining toast with jam from the supply on the table (orange marmalade if they have it) as a kind of dessert.

This currently costs $11.75 and I can’t think of a better American diner experience. What do you order in a diner and how do you mod it?

Breakfast Finished

I cleaned my plate.

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Recipe: Cold Soba Noodle Salad

Posted on August 30, 2026 by Burnt My Fingers
Cold Soba Noodle Salad

Cold Soba Noodle Salad with furikake.

Cold Soba Noodle Salad is a refreshing alternative to Tabbouleh, which we’ve been making on repeat all summer. Both salads work well as a side or a main dish for a light lunch on a hot day. Makes 4 appetizer or 2 main dish servings.

Ingredients:
6 oz soba noodles
2 T white miso
2 T sesame oil
2 T rice vinegar
2 T tamari or 1 T soy sauce
3 green onions, sliced on the bias, including some green parts
½ c shelled edamame (optional)
Furikake for garnish (optional)

Method: bring a generous pot of water to the boil and add soba noodles. Cook to al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain into a colander and shock immediately with cold water to stop the cooking process.

Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well to incorporate miso paste. Mix with noodles in a serving bowl. Stir in green onions and optional edamame (or other vegetable, like snow peas or strips of cucumber) and refrigerate 2 hours to blend the flavors. Serve with a garnish of furikake (Japanese seaweed flakes) if you like.

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Recipe: Nigella Lawson Banana Bread

Posted on August 25, 2026 by Burnt My Fingers
Nigella Lawson Banana Bread

Nigella Lawson Banana Bread.

Nigella Lawson Banana Bread is even better than Upside Down Banana Bread, thanks to the addition of bourbon-soaked raisins. The web offers many variations of this recipe but this is the one I prefer though I’ve done some tinkering and provided rough volume equivalents for those who don’t have a kitchen scale. Makes 1 loaf, approximately 10 slices.

Ingredients:
100 grams raisins (I used currants, about ½ c)
75 ml bourbon (1/3 c)
175 grams all purpose flour (1 ¼ c)
2 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
½ t Kosher salt
125 grams unsalted butter (melted), a stick plus 2T
150 grams sugar (¾ c)
2 large eggs
4 very ripe bananas mashed (approx. 400g total weight with skins on) (use as many as you want)
60 grams chopped walnuts (½ c)
1 t vanilla extract

Method: soak raisins in bourbon until they plump up somewhat, about 2 hours. (You can speed this up by heating the liquor/raisin mixture in the microwave till hot but not boiling.) Cream sugar with melted butter then beat in eggs one at a time, then the bananas, nuts and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add gradually to banana mixture, stirring until well incorporated. Turn batter into a well greased loaf pan and bake in a 325 degree oven till an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about an hour. Cool to room temperature then slice and serve. Nigella Lawson Banana Bread is a luxury on its own but toasting and spreading with butter or cream cheese makes it even more decadent.

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Recipe: Tuscan Tomato Bean Salad

Posted on August 20, 2026 by Burnt My Fingers
Tuscan Tomato Bean Salad

Tuscan Tomato Bean Salad.

Tuscan tomato bean salad is a summertime treat when you have ripe cherry tomatoes and fresh basil in your back yard (or at your farmers’ market). Just add beans and a bit of dressing for a refreshing one dish meal or side. Makes 2 main dish or 4 side dish servings.

Ingredients:
15-oz can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 c cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
¼ c red onion or shallot, diced
2 T fresh basil, chopped or torn
2 T fresh parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar or lemon juice
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Method: add the dressing ingredients to a serving bowl and whisk until well blended. Add other ingredients and toss. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. This salad holds up well in the fridge and will keep for a day or two.

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Costco food court hacks

Posted on August 14, 2026 by Burnt My Fingers
Costco Kimchi

Costco Kimchi, from our friends at The Daily Meal.

Last week Costco opened in Albany, with fawning media coverage worthy of that wedding at Madison Square Garden. We did not brave the crowds (there were long lines and a full parking lot) but are very familiar with Costco from our years in San Francisco. We love the food court hot dogs for weighing in at a fat ¼ lb but we’ll bring our own sauerkraut and crushed red pepper relish because those aren’t among the condiments offered.

That’s a very minor Costco food court hack compared to some you can read about here, like the jochizza which is a mashup of a hot dog, chicken roll and cheese pizza. And the forbidden glizzie, a weiner inserted in the chicken roll which is already stuffed with chunks of grilled chicken breast, creamy Caesar dressing, green onions and three types of cheese, wrapped in a crust made from pizza dough.

Aside from being gut busters in terms of fat and calories, these Costco food court hacks are also a poor value which defeats the purpose of getting a $1.50 hot dog with a bonus soft drink and feeling like you’ve put one over on the house. A smarter buy (because it’s free) is Costco kimchi, combining ketchup, relish and mustard from the condiment machine and chopped onions and pepper flakes which are available on request.

Costco Food Court Hot Dog

This photo is from 2010, but the Costco food court hot dog is still $1.50 with a refillable soda.

Will we try it? Quite possibly. We believe ketchup has no place on hot dogs but Korean cooking is another story; we use ketchup as a stand-in for gochujang in our Easy Korean Fried Chicken. Too bad we can’t wash it down with a shot of Kirkland Scotch or vodka, since New York’s arcane liquor laws forbid the sale of most alcohol products except in state-licensed liquor stores.

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Recipe: Amish Slaw II

Posted on August 9, 2026 by Burnt My Fingers
Amish Slaw 2

Amish Slaw II.

Amish Slaw II is sweet-and-sour with a vinegar base. You’ll instantly recognize the flavor profile if you’ve eaten at Dienner’s or another PA Dutch buffet. Premixing with sugar seemed a strange idea since it’s not going to react with the cabbage like salt, but all the recipes I found seem to do it. Perhaps it’s a practical step to make sure the sugar is well distributed vs adding it to the dressing where it might be too much to dissolve easily. Makes 8 cups to serve 8-12.

Ingredients:
Small head of cabbage, grated or shredded
½ green bell pepper, finely chopped
½ medium onion, finely chopped
¼ c white sugar*
For the sauce:
½ c white vinegar
½ t white sugar
½ t kosher salt
½ t celery seed
½ t prepared (yellow) mustard
3/8 c neutral oil

Method: toss the vegetables with the sugar and set aside while you make the sauce. In a small saucepan, mix sugar, salt, mustard and celery seed and stir until the mustard is incorporated and the salt and sugar are dissolved. Add oil and heat to boiling. Cool to room temperature and toss with cabbage mix. Chill at least 8 hours before serving.

*This is less sugar than the original recipe called for but still pretty sweet. Feel free to cut back further.

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Durkee’s Famous Sauce recipes

Posted on August 4, 2026 by Burnt My Fingers
Durkees Famous Sauce Recipes

Durkee’s Famous Sauce recipes from a brochure at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. You can download the complete document here.

Durkee’s dressing may be discontinued, but we can comfort ourselves with the many Durkee’s Famous Sauce recipes we can make using our copycat version. Our Durkee’s posts are among the most popular on Burnt My Fingers, with readers often sharing ideas for using Durkee’s in the comments. Here are a few favorites… please add your own.

Chris Stevens 2021
I am 68 years old. My father’s family moved from Montana to Arizona during WW2, so this is old information.
As far as I know, Durkee’s Dressing was for:
Turkey sandwiches*,
Bacon Lettuce and Tomato (BTL) sandwiches
Turkey sandwiches
Deviled eggs**
Turkey sandwiches
Fried Egg sandwiches
Turkey sandwiches
Potato salad***
Turkey sandwiches
*Yes, you need sturdy bread to accommodate cranberry, mashed potato/gravy and stuffing/dressing
** Recipe: Mashed yolks and Durkee’s. Optional: white pepper or a few grains of cayenne pepper. You can use black pepper if it is just family.
*** Mayonnaise + Durkee’s. I sprinkle the cut potatoes with cider vinegar and/or dill pickle juice, and included finely diced dill pickles so the ‘dressing’ does not need to be especially tart.

Eva 2025
My Grandmother had this unique recipe of equal parts sweet pickles, peanuts, and peas with Durkee’s. She called it 3P salad. I know it sounds strange, but I’m telling you… it’s amazing!

Kate Downing 2026
More than 60 years ago, my grandfather created a summer side or appetizer that consisted of a round thick slice of a summer tomato (preferably a ripe Jersey Tomato), topped with a thin slice of sweet or purple onion, a spread of Durkees Famous Sauce, then a pile of crumbled bleu cheese, salt & pepper. Serve on a plate with knife and fork. Colorful and Amazing! I have made it as a side salad with the same ingredients in a bowl. Delicious. A must for summer tomato season. He wrote to them and they sent him a thank you note and a box of bottles. Legend.

In my family, using Durkees is the only way to make devilled eggs or egg salad, tuna salad, grilled swiss cheese and onion sandwich (another grandfather special), chicken or turkey salad, and post T-day sandwiches, etc.

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Recipe: Southern Style Greens

Posted on July 30, 2026 by Burnt My Fingers
Southern Style Greens

Southern Style Greens.

Southern Style Greens are a classic accompaniment on a platter of barbecue or fried southern goodness. Today I cooked mustard greens, but the same process works for collards and turnip greens as well. (If there are small young turnips with the turnip greens I’ll peel and dice and add to the pot.) Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:
2 T bacon grease
½ medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large bunch greens, stems removed and chopped into 1 inch or larger pieces
1 c chicken stock (or ham juice if you have it)
1 T cider vinegar
1 t sugar
1 t kosher salt

Method: sauté garlic and onion in bacon grease till translucent; add mustard greens and stir to braise all sides. (They will barely fit in a 2 quart pot initially but will cook down quite a bit.) Add stock, vinegar, salt sugar and cook over low heat until well done, 30 minutes or so. Taste for seasoning; might need salt, more vinegar or sugar, some heat. Southern Style Greens are traditionally served with a shaker of pepper sauce.

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Recipe: Southern Style Cheese Grits

Posted on July 25, 2026 by Burnt My Fingers
Southern Style Cheese Grits

Southern Style Cheese Grits.

Southern Style Cheese Grits comes from a recipe card in my mother’s collection and is attributed to J. Ross. It’s tasty but very rich; feel free to cut back on the butter or cheese to your preference. The final step of baking is something I have not seen elsewhere and it is optional but makes for a nice presentation.

Ingredients:
1 c grits*
4 c water
2/3 stick butter
8 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
1 ½ t “Savory” (can sub a BBQ rub)**
1 t Kosher salt
Few drops of tabasco
2 eggs, well beaten

Cheese Grits Casserole

If you were serving at your canasta club, the extra baking step makes for a more formal presentation.

Method: add grits to water in a pan with deep sides. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens. This might take 5-15 minutes depending on the grits you are using. Remove from the heat and stir in butter, cheese and seasonings. Stir in eggs after temperature has reduced so they won’t curdle immediately. Serve immediately, or transfer to a greased pie plate and cook 1 hour at 250 degrees.

*I used Anson Mills Quick Grits which required the additional steps of skimming chaff off soaking liquid and soaking overnight.

**J.Ross’ recipe calls for “Savory”, not the herb but a spice mixture which was popular at the time. Ingredients include salt, sugar, paprika and cayenne so a typical BBQ rub would be a good substitute.

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