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Show ! j y if' I f , ' I I 1 f f I I 1 Flo Huber and her crew do fry bread at a family gathering. Navajo tacos is one of the favorite meals they cook when the family gets together for special occasions. i Navajo tacos can be a quick, inexpensive treat By CHERIE HUBER Navajo tacos! When you buy them at a fair, they are expensive but usually one of the most popular menu selections. Just look for the longest line to locate the Navajo taco stand. Made at home, however, they can be a quick and relatively inexpensive treat When the Palmers, Navajos from New Mexico, and the Hubers, residents of Centerville, got together to celebrate the first birthday of Gavin Huber, Navajo tacos were the main course. Gavin's mother, Flo, and aunts, Valeria and Sandra, quickly mixed up and cooked 40 plate-sized pieces of fry bread for the crowd of Navajos and the ' 'Biligana. ' The fry bread was topped with a chili, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, chopped onions, grated cheese and olives. A mild and a hot salsa were also served. The Navajo women, experts at fry bread, just fill a ( bowl with flour and then add a handful of salt and another an-other handful of baking powder. They add water and stir until the mixture comes away from the sides of the bowl. Then pieces are shaped and stretched into the traditional tra-ditional round fry bread and fried in hot oil. For the rest of us who would like to try oui hand at this, here's a recipe for fry bread. NAVAJO FRY BREAD i 3 cups flour 1 Tbs. baking powder Vi tsp. salt Va cup warm water Lard or oil for frying Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add warm water in small amounts and knead dough until soft but not sticky. Cover bowl and let stand for about 15 minutes. Pull off balls of dough about the size of a golf ball and roll or pat into rounds about V inch thick. Punch a small hole in the center of each round to allow dough to puff. In a heavy frying pan, fry each round in hot lard of ; oil until bubbles appear on dough. Turn over and fry until golden brown. (This recipe was taken from Cherie Hubers book, "Navajo Cooking,' which will soon be for sale.) Fry bread can be topped with homemade chili. If canned chili is used, blend it with equal parts canned refried beans for extra thickness and flavor. To serve, sprinkle the hot fry bread with cheese, then spoon on the chili. Add other toppings to taste. If you are lucky enough to have any pieces of fry bread left, they can be reheated in the microwave and served with butter and honey. |