Sunday, March 28, 2010

Navajo Tacos

These taco and scone/fry bread creations are really delicious. Navajo tacos are standard dinner fare in Utah where I grew up and maybe in the Western United States generally? I don't know. But I know they're good! There is even a fast food chain in Utah called Scone Cutters where they serve scones and Navajo tacos (scones = fry bread to Utahans, not the English muffiny things). You can use any bread recipe you like to make the scones, but I like to use my pizza dough recipe because it's so fast to put together.


Navajo Tacos


Scones:
5 1/4 cups white bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 rounded tablespoons SAF yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons liquid lecithin (you can buy at health food stores - I buy it from Sprouts)
2 1/4 cups hot tap water
oil for frying

Toppings for Navajo Tacos:
refried beans
prepared taco meat
salsa
shredded cheese
shredded lettuce
tomatoes
sour cream
olives
corn
avocado or guacamole
chopped red onion or sliced green onions


Start oil heating in a large pot (about 2-3 inches of oil) to fry the scones. Heat until oil reaches 365 degrees.

While oil is heating, mix dry ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer (flour, sugar, salt, and yeast). Add lecithin and water. Mix for 1 minute with dough hook. Check consistency - it should be like a stiff cookie dough - if it's too dry add more water, if it's too moist add more flour. Mix for 5 minutes. Do not add any water or flour to dough after it has finished mixing.

Spray a counter or flat surface with cooking spray, also spray your hands so you can handle dough easily. Knead dough into a nice smooth ball. Cut in half (if you have a large counter space to roll out dough you don't need to cut the dough in half). With a rolling pin, roll out each half to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into rectangle or diamond shaped pieces with a pizza cutter. Fry in hot oil until browned on both sides. Remove scones to a cookie sheet that has been lined with paper towels.

To serve (best when scones are hot) spread refried beans over scones, top with meat, cheese, salsa and choice of other toppings.

*You can also serve the scones with butter and honey on top for a treat. SO good!

4 comments:

Julia said...

Oh! I can't wait to try these! I haven't had Navajo Tacos since... since... since I left Utah!!

Cami said...

We had these just the other day. In other news, we actually made Beingets the other day instead of my regular scone recipe--quite yummy.

Jenni said...

Ooh beingets!! My sister makes those lots (she came home from New Orleans with a years supply of boxed beinget mixes). I am all for fried dough creations of all types!:)

Jenni said...

Oh Cami, could you email me your beinget recipe??