It's FRYday! - Indian Fry Bread

Indian Fry Bread

Aaah, it's that wonderful time of the month - FRYday! Woo! Now that we're all settled into our new place I was able to have FRYday on its normal day.

Today I really wanted to make Indian Fry Bread. I was introduced to this when I lived in Utah - it seems to be a very popular local food out there. I've seen it at the county fair, festivals, and other community events. To specify, "Indian" refers to Native American. I've also heard it called Navajo Fry Bead. It's eaten as the base for "Indian Tacos" or slathered in honey and butter. Yum! Unfortunately, I never got around to trying it until a short time ago during an internship at the American West Heritage Center. A Native American woman (I don't remember the tribe) showed me how her mother taught her to make it and described how they made it on the reservation. That was a pretty cool folkloric experience. But then I got to taste it. WOW! So, so mouth-wateringly good! It just melted in my mouth. This recipe brings back that wonderful tasty memory.

Indian Fry Bread
Yield: 6

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. shortening
3/4 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients and shortening together in a medium-sized bowl. Rub mixture with fingers until coarse crumbs form. Push mixture to one side of the bowl and add the water. Mix in a circular motion with your fingers, then knead in an upward motion, stretching it upward with one hand. This should make a soft dough. (Or just stir it with a spoon until the water is absorbed. The other method is just really messy.)

Knead on a floured board for 2 minutes. (You might need to add a little extra flour.) Divide into 6 portions and shape into balls. Flatten one ball of dough with your fingers from the center outward until it's 6-7 inches around. Pat it firmly back and forth with your hands to help make it smooth and even. Thin out the edges so it's all the same thickness. Do the same with the rest of the dough balls.

Fry in hot oil until the edges are golden brown. Turn over and continue frying until a deep golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Serve hot, slathered with butter and drenched in honey. Oooooooh, yeaaaaaahhhh......

It's FRYday Once Again!

So, yes, I'm a bit late for FRYday. The past week has been crazy and the next two weeks don't look any less crazy, so I cheated. I fried something in the middle of last month. I know, I know! I told myself I wouldn't, but considering the recipe, I just had to! To compensate I didn't fry anything last Friday, so that makes me even. :-) And it worked out because I'm way too busy (and it's way too hot!) to be frying up a storm in my kitchen right now anyway.

I got this recipe from a good friend. It involves tofu, and if that totally freaks you out - don't panic! If you're going to try tofu for the first time, this is the recipe to do it with. So, go get your box of extra-firm and get cooking!

Sweet & Sour Tofu

Canola oil (for frying)
Two boxes extra-firm tofu (found in the refrigerated produce section of your grocery store)

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn starch
2 eggs
Garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To prepare the tofu:

Heat oil about 1/2" - 1" deep in a deep skillet. While oil is heating, remove the tofu from its package, and place on a plate lined with a few paper towels. With a few more paper towels, gently press the tofu, patting it on all sides with the paper towels, to squeeze out as much water as possible. Be careful not to press too hard or the block will break. Next, cut tofu into approx. 1"x1" cubes. Sprinkle tofu with the garlic powder.

Mix corn starch and flour in a small bowl. Place the tofu in the flour mixture and gently toss until the tofu is coated. Place tofu into egg and toss gently. Then place the tofu into the oil. Fry until golden brown on all sides. Set aside to drain on paper towels.

Sauce:
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar

Mix all these ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Boil for a
couple minutes until it reduces a bit. Watch it, because it could boil
over creating a huge mess.

Place the tofu into an oven safe dish and pour the sauce over the
tofu. Put this into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or so stirring
occasionally.

(You might want to double the sauce recipe, as it doesn’t make very much of it. And you'll want a lot more of it because it is good.)

It's FRYday!

Fried biscuits with apple butter with a side
of scrambled fresh duck and chicken eggs. Yum!

Hooray! My second FRYday has arrived and I have been waiting to do this one for some time. Today I made: fried biscuits with apple butter. The first time I had these babies was at a Civil War reenactment (back in the day when I did that sort of thing.) It was breakfast time before any of the spectators arrived and a very kind soul invited me to their breakfast. Over an open fire in a cast iron pot, they fried canned biscuits to hot, golden perfection and then served them up with a generous helping of cool apple butter. Oh. My. They were amazing!

I haven't had them in years, so I thought they'd be great for this month's FRYday. I did try making these last FRYday using my own homemade biscuit dough, but they did not work. My biscuits were too flaky (imagine that!) and soaked up the oil like a sponge until they were falling apart. It was a dismal failure... thus the hush puppies instead to cheer me up. So, I cannot stress enough that you have to use the refrigerated canned biscuits for this very simple recipe. For once, something store bought is the only route. (Don't tell anyone I said that.)

Fried Biscuits with Apple Butter


-1 can regular refrigerated biscuits (Don't get the flaky layers kind or anything fancy. Plain Jane is all we need.)
-Enough canola oil for 2" in your pan/pot
-Apple butter - homemade if you've got it.

1. Pop open the can of refrigerator biscuits and separate. If desired, cut each biscuit in half. (This makes for more biscuits, faster cooking time, and they'll have a better chance of cooking through.) Line a plate with a couple of paper towels.
2. Heat oil on medium in a medium-sized pan until a tiny piece of dough sizzles, but doesn't brown too quickly.
3. Gently place the biscuit dough into the oil until the pan is full. Cook on one side to a deep golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side until done. Remove the biscuits with tongs or a slotted spoon and allow to drain on the paper towels. (Cut one biscuit in half to make sure it's not raw in the middle.) Cook the rest of the biscuits.
4. Serve hot, slathered with chilled apple butter - anything less than slathered isn't enough. Enjoy!

Golden fried biscuits draining on a paper towel. I've got my apple butter all ready to go!
Unfortunately, these biscuits were completely raw in the middle. So I had to chop them in half...

...and fry them again.
They look burnt, but they're not. They were done this time.

First Official FRYday

After having my baby, I am now in the throes of losing the baby weight. I've already lost over 6 lbs (hooray!), so I'm on my way. When I was losing weight from my last baby I was trying to eat all fat-free food, I'd given up butter and even switched to low-fat cheese. For someone that loves cheese, let me tell you - that was agony! This time around I'm determined to make my weight loss work with foods that I enjoy eating - like butter and cheese. I realize that making life-time food commitments is part of keeping the weight off, but what's the point if I can't eat foods I like? We have to be practical now, don't we?

As part of my weight-loss and sanity I've decided to dedicate one day a month to frying something. *gasp!* (I can't have fried food for the rest of the month, though.) So, I've initiated my very own FRYday to be held the first Friday of every month. It gives me something to look forward to while I'm dipping my carrots in low-fat ranch and telling myself I should be switching to skim as I drink my 1%. Okay, so I have to have some fat in my life every day. It's all about moderation, people.

Anyway, for my first official FRYday I picked one of my absolutely favorite things on the face of this planet: the good ol' Southern delight of little balls of cornbread fried in oil - a.k.a. Hush Puppies. I've never had a restaurant-fried hush puppy in my life. I only have this one amazing recipe. And really, that's all it takes. Shall I share it with you? Hmm? I think I will!

War Eagle Hush Puppies
(adapted from some book I don't remember the title of)

2 cups stone ground cornmeal (the fresher the better)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1 large egg
1 cup milk

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the onion, garlic*, egg and milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Stir to combine well. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate all of the dry cornmeal. You should have a fairly stiff batter. If it's too loose, add a little more flour to thicken it.

Heat 1/4 to 1/2 inch of corn oil (I just used canola) in a heavy skillet until quite hot. Drop a tiny piece of batter into the oil and if it sizzles, the heat is correct. Dip into the batter with a tablespoon -- make it heaping -- and drop the batter into the hot oil. If the hush puppies brown too quickly, turn the heat down. Fry until crispy brown on one side; turn it over and brown on the other. Lift the hush puppies out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Serve hot. And maybe with a bowl of chili.

Makes about 24 hush puppies.

*Feel free to add more onion and garlic

Oh, heavenly YUM!