Indian Tacos
On the rez, when I was a little girl, everyone got commodities. From them, you can make a lot of different things, but one of my favorites is a powwow staple. Indian Tacos.
To make them the traditional rez way, you need everything to come out of the cans of food you get from commodities. The "gourmet" version, made with fresh veggies and meat, doesn't taste the same, though it is good in its own right.
First you need to make fry bread. In a mixing bowl, combine two cups of flour, a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of baking powder. Add about a cup of water to form a dough. Heat oil in either a fryer or a large pan, at least 1/2" deep. Break off a chunk of dough. If you're making these in a small fryer, a walnut sized chunk will flatten out to about as large as the small fryers can handle. In a large pan you can make them larger. Roll the dough into a ball, then smash it out with your hands into a flat, thin disk, You want to make it about 1/4" thick or so. Fry until golden brown on both sides, then drain on towels.
When the fry bread is all done, put it aside where it will stay warm.
Assemble your toppings.
Fry off ground beef with some salt and pepper OR heat up a can of commodities beef with salt and pepper.
Heat up some refried beans.
Grated cheese.
Shredded lettuce.
Drained canned tomatoes (stewed, chopped or whole, any of these works fine)
Sour cream.
Smear each fry bread with some of the beans, add the beef, cheese, lettuce and sour cream.
That's it. When my Godfather was broke, we left out the lettuce and sour cream, as those had to be bought at the store. The rest came from the commodities.
Another way to eat fry bread is to dip it in jalape, which is really nothing but berry stuff, like pie filling. my Godfather often just heated up a can of blueberry pie filling for it, but you could cook up your own with berries, sugar and a little water until it becomes a thick syrup.
Rez food. Cheap, plentiful and filling. I hadn't thought of rez food in years until a couple of years ago when Panthy and I met at powwow and had Indian tacos. I came home and relearned how to make fry bread. It has become a household fave. Tim loves it, especially as Indian tacos. He spent a lot of time as a child on the rez, too, so he also remembers well the commodities, and the great recipes that rez folk have come up with to use these foods.
To make them the traditional rez way, you need everything to come out of the cans of food you get from commodities. The "gourmet" version, made with fresh veggies and meat, doesn't taste the same, though it is good in its own right.
First you need to make fry bread. In a mixing bowl, combine two cups of flour, a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of baking powder. Add about a cup of water to form a dough. Heat oil in either a fryer or a large pan, at least 1/2" deep. Break off a chunk of dough. If you're making these in a small fryer, a walnut sized chunk will flatten out to about as large as the small fryers can handle. In a large pan you can make them larger. Roll the dough into a ball, then smash it out with your hands into a flat, thin disk, You want to make it about 1/4" thick or so. Fry until golden brown on both sides, then drain on towels.
When the fry bread is all done, put it aside where it will stay warm.
Assemble your toppings.
Fry off ground beef with some salt and pepper OR heat up a can of commodities beef with salt and pepper.
Heat up some refried beans.
Grated cheese.
Shredded lettuce.
Drained canned tomatoes (stewed, chopped or whole, any of these works fine)
Sour cream.
Smear each fry bread with some of the beans, add the beef, cheese, lettuce and sour cream.
That's it. When my Godfather was broke, we left out the lettuce and sour cream, as those had to be bought at the store. The rest came from the commodities.
Another way to eat fry bread is to dip it in jalape, which is really nothing but berry stuff, like pie filling. my Godfather often just heated up a can of blueberry pie filling for it, but you could cook up your own with berries, sugar and a little water until it becomes a thick syrup.
Rez food. Cheap, plentiful and filling. I hadn't thought of rez food in years until a couple of years ago when Panthy and I met at powwow and had Indian tacos. I came home and relearned how to make fry bread. It has become a household fave. Tim loves it, especially as Indian tacos. He spent a lot of time as a child on the rez, too, so he also remembers well the commodities, and the great recipes that rez folk have come up with to use these foods.