Tortilla Reform

Does anyone know where I can get any good flour tortillas around here? Because it seems like every tortilla I try has no flavor and the consistency of rubber.

As a Texan, I am required by law to enjoy Tex-Mex food (read your state constitutions people!) - okay, not really. But Tex-Mex is so prevalent around here, that you can't help but dabble in it every once in awhile. I suppose for me it doesn't necessarily come from living in Texas so long, but rather because my family had "Taco and Burrito night" regularly. I don't have the big family to sit and eat burritos with, but I can still cook up some burritos myself and look back with fond memories.

Problem is, good burritos require good tortillas. Those tortillas can be bought or made.

I can go to the grocery store and take my pick from literally dozens of varieties of tortillas. Size-wise, I can get "regular" tortillas, soft taco size, fajita size, wrap size, and burrito size. As far as ingredients, they offer "plain 'ol" tortillas, multi-grain, low-fat. You can get flavored burritos now, such as herbs, sun-dried tomato, and others.

All these on top of the fact that there are several brands of tortillas - each brand claiming its more "authentic" than the next one, some throwing a lot of Spanish onto the packaging to draw you in and say "Hey, there's Spanish on this package, therefore it's really authentic."

But the odd thing is, no matter how different they claim they are from other brands, I can scarcely tell a difference from one tortilla to the next. They're all pretty bland, and most begin to tear and crumble as you start to roll your burrito.

Several restaurants tout "fresh" tortillas. I've had some good ones at Taco Bueno, but strangely, the quality of the tortillas varies from store to store. Taco Cabana has some good ones, and they give you some even in a meal that doesn't even really require tortillas. But I don't want to go to a restaurant for good tortillas.

One of my local grocery stores actually makes pretty good tortillas which are made fresh and are relatively inexpensive - though the size is more suited for fajitas. Then there is a brand of tortillas which you store in your refrigerator and then heat "fresh" on a skillet or griddle. As far as store-bought goes, these seem to be the best.

Then there's making homemade tortillas - which for me, hasn't been as easy as it should be. There seem to be just as many recipes for tortillas out there as there are brands in the stores. Butter, lard, with baking soda, without baking soda - there are many subtle variations. And quite frankly, the last few recipes I've tried didn't turn out very well.

So what's someone to do in this sitation? Anyone out there got a "can't miss" recipe for flour tortillas? I'm dying for a good burrito.