Dinner 24: Arizona

Menu

Navajo Fry Bread Tacos
Chilled Corn Soup
Prickly Pear Ice Cream

Review

I chose Arizona because it's close to New Mexico on the map, and I wanted to see if the food was the same kind of thing. I chose to have tacos made on fry bread instead of the regular kind of tacos because we hadn't had any tacos yet and they looked good. I chose corn soup because I've never had corn soup before. And I chose ice cream made from prickly pear, which is cactus fruit because I wanted to know if it tasted cactus-y.

Mommy ordered some prickly pear syrup on the computer and it came a few days later! On the day we were going to have our dinner, I got sick, so we waited another day, but Mommy made the ice cream that first day - it was really pink! Then we had the dinner the next day and it was really good!

I liked the tacos a lot - I even tried some tomato pieces on mine, but didn't really like those. The fry bread was delicious! I liked the corn soup, too. But the ice cream was the best part! Because it was really pink! I even think it was a bit prickly like a cactus. I'm really glad we had lots more to eat during the rest of the week, too.

Recipes

Navajo Fry Bread

(original recipe from Allrecipes.com)

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy milk
oil, for frying

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk and mix until the dough comes together. Add flour, if necessary, to form a soft bread dough. On a floured surface, knead the dough until smooth, at least 5 minutes. Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes.

Heat oil in a large, deep skillet to 365F. Oil should be about 1 1/2 inches deep. Divide the dough into 4 equal balls and shape into discs 1/4 inch thick, with a depression in the middle. Fry until golden on both sides, turning only once. Drain on paper towels.

Indian Tacos

(original recipe from What's Cooking America)

1/2 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 cup black beans
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 tomato, diced
1 cup shredded Cheddar soy cheese
4 cooked Navajo fry breads

In a large frying pan, over medium heat, brown beef and onions. Add beans and cook until heated through. Remove from heat.

To assemble tacos, layer beef mixture, lettuce, tomato and soy cheese on each fry bread.

Chilled Corn Soup

(original recipe from Local Farm Foodie)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 sweet onion, diced

1 leek, cleaned and minced

6 cups water

3 1/2 cups corn kernels

1/4 cup soy milk

2 sprigs thyme

salt and pepper, to taste

Sauté onion and leek in olive oil until golden brown.  Set aside.

Bring water to boil in a stock pot. Add corn kernels, onions and leeks and simmer for 30 minutes.  Purée until smooth and add soy milk, thyme and salt and pepper. Place in refrigerator until cool.

Prickly Pear Ice Cream

(recipe inspired by Back to the Kitchen)

3 cups soy milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups prickly pear syrup

Whisk together all ingredients until sugar is completely dissolved. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Put in ice cream maker and freeze following instructions.