These are a nice change from regular tacos, and come in really handy when you plan on having tacos and then realize you are out of tortilla shells. Not that I actually did that, I always have dinner planned at least a week in advance, of course. I have never had to borrow eggs from the neighbors or run to the store at the last minute. My house is also always spotless, I never yell, and my kids never have runny noses either. OK, so none of that is true. Except the first part about how these Navajo tacos are a nice change from regular tacos. They really are. You should try them.
Navajo Tacos
Fry Bread Dough:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2-2 cups more flour
Toppings:
Chili (I usually just use a couple of cans)
Grated Cheese
Tomatoes
Sour Cream
Olives, green onions, guacamole (optional)
Mix first four ingredients till smooth. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll thin. Cook in oil on both sides. You can deep fat fry them, or you can use my low fat method, described below.
–Serves 4 to 6, depending on how hungry everyone is.
**My friend Julie taught me this amazing fry bread cooking trick a few years ago. She keeps her oil in a regular spray bottle. Then she just sprays a little bit of oil in the pan and cooks the dough till golden brown. Then she lifts the scone up with a pancake turner, sprays a little more oil, and flips it over to cook on the other side. I was amazed that it worked.
-I don’t have a spray bottle filled with oil, so I just spread a little bit of oil around using a pastry brush. It works every time. I set the heat to medium so they don’t burn. The thinner you roll them the faster they cook. I start with 3-4 Tbsp of oil in a small bowl, just dipping my brush in as I need it. I usually have some oil leftover that I just discard. So, since the dough has no fat, the entire recipe has only 3-4 tablespoons of oil in it. That is much healthier than deep fat frying, and it really does taste amazing. And you don’t have to deal with the mess of all that splattering grease. Double bonus!
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