The Kokopelli Recipe Box: 'Ghetto' Navajo Tacos

This is the first in a couple of entries for The Kokopelli Recipe Box, which includes all sorts of recipes from frybread to red beans. I hope others will like my recipes and use them.




Mmm...Navajo tacos. I made this for Mr. Salt's dinner last week. You can find these for sall back on the Navajo Reservation. The Cheesecake Factory has a version called The Navajo, but it isn't the same. I call my version 'ghetto' because a true Navajo taco uses beans. I replaced the beans with ground beef in my version:

'Ghetto' Navajo Tacos
Recipe by DineBoo

A few pieces of frybread (check my Frybread Power! post for recipe)
A pound of ground round beef
Diced tomatoes
Shredded lettuce
Grated cheddar cheese
Seasonings (salt, pepper, Accent, etc) for taste

Prepare your frybread recipe. You can cook the frybread before or after you cook your meat. I perfer after, so the frybread is warm.

Crumble the ground round in a pan. Season the ground beef the way you like it. I like it a little plain, so I add a little Accent to it, or maybe some salt. Cook until brown, and be sure to not let it cook until it's dry. You want the meat to be cooked, but a little juicy. Drain away excess grease.

Take a piece of warm frybread and sit it on a plate. Spoon some ground beef on top of it, as much as you like.

Add some shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and cheddar cheese, so it looks like a taco. Viola! Ghetto Navajo Taco. Aside from making the frybread, this is very easy to make and filling. Serve with a Coke.

You can eat it with a knife and fork like I do, or you can do what Mr. Salt does and fold the frybread in half like a taco and eat it that way. It kind of looks like a Taco Bell Chalupa if you do it like that.

If you have any frybead leftover, treat it as dessert and drizzle it with honey. Yum!

Happy Eating!
-DineBoo

Frybread Power!

Diamond in the blog post below this asked about frybread, so I decided to post about this since I finally uploaded my pictures.

Frybread is dough fried in shortening or lard until it's crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The Dine like their frybread just a tad bit more salty than other tribes, so the recipe I use for Mr. Salt adds just a bit more salt.

The recipe for frybread I use calls for:

2 Cups of flour. I use Bluebird Flour from the Rez when I can get it. If not,
use King Author All purpose flour. This is the brand I've found that is closest to BlueBird.

1/2 Tablespoon of Baking Powder. Make sure it's fresh!

1/2 teaspoon plus a little more of salt. This varies a bit since I eyeball it. I can use up to 3/4 of a teaspoon. If you don't like salty food, use a little less than half .

Enough warm water to make a dough ball, about a 1 cup.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Add enough water to form a ball of dough. Note the spoon in the bowl. SaltMama uses her hands to mix the flour and water together. I have long nails, so I use the spoon.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface, and kneed the dough until it's soft, but not sticky. Separate the dough into smaller pieces, about 6 or 7.

Now here's the tricky part: You need to flatten a piece a dough to a uniform thickness. I press the dough ball between the palms of my hands to flatten it out, forming a shape like a miniature pizza. You can use a small rolling pin for this if it's easier for you. SaltMama(and others) can do this really fast by tossing the dough between their hands like a pizza. I'm not up to that level yet. Google some frybread making on YouTube to get a better picture.

Melt enough shortening in a large skillet so that the oil comes halfway up the side. Gently place one of the flattened pieces of dough into the skillet. The dough will cook quickly...and watch out for spatter. When it puffs up, floats and turns brown around the edges, flip the piece of dough with a pair of tongs. Let cook for about two minutes more, then remove when browned. Place frybread onto paper towels towels to drain.

While the dough is cooking, I'm usually flattening another piece of dough. You can do this advance, because if you're not fast enough, the bread can burn. Continue frying the dough, and stacking the frybread on a paper towel.

Voila! You get the frybread pictured at the beginning of the post. You can eat the frybread as is, or drizzle it with some honey. Eat it while it's hot!

The batch pictured here was called my best batch I've ever made by Mr. Salt. Yum!

-DineBoo

P.S. Oh yeah...make sure you have some sort of vent and close the doors to your kitchen when you make frybread. Or open a window.The smell of frybread gets everywhere, so if you don't want to smell like a fried bread at state fair the next day, make sure the vent is on. ;)