Faceromance

Batter Bread

This is a staple of the Cheyenne Indians.

1 quart milk or water
2 cups yellow or white cornmeal
3 eggs, separated
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Bring milk to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Gradually stir in cornmeal and cook, stirring, for a few minutes
until thickened.
Beat in egg yolks, butter and seasonings.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they stand in stiff
peaks.
Fold whites into corn mixture and pour into a 2-quart baking
dish.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until puffed and golden brown on
top.

Serves 6.

Osage Bread

This is a recipe taken from the El Reno Tribune, El Reno,
Oklahoma.
Note that Native Americans dip the bread in “sop,” a
mixture of corn syrup and bacon drippings.

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon solid shortening, melted
2 cups lukewarm milk
Fat or oil (for deep-frying)

Sift flour, salt and baking powder into bowl.
Stir in shortening
and milk.
Knead lightly to gather dough into ball.
Roll out dough
on lightly floured board.
Cut into 2-inch squares.

Heat fat or oil in deep fryer to 370 degrees F.
Fry 2 or 3 at a
time until golden on both sides.
Drain on paper towels.

Pueblo Chile Balls

The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico have been making these for
centuries.
They serve them as a dessert for feasts and
weddings.

1 cup chopped green New Mexican chile,
roasted, peeled, stems and seeds removed
1 pound lean ground pork
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons salt
Flour
Vegetable oil

Brown pork; add onions, then sauté until onions are
soft.
Pour off fat as it accumulates.
Stir in chile, raisins and
sugar.
Beat egg whites until peaks form.

Combine flour and egg yolks and mix thoroughly.
Fold egg-yolk
mixture into whites until combined to form a batter.
Roll about 1
teaspoon of the meat mixture in the flour and shape into a 1-inch
ball.
When all the meat mixture has been shaped into balls, dip the
chile balls into the batter and deep fry at 350 degrees F until
golden.
Drain on paper towels.

Pueblo Pinon Cakes

1 cup piñon nuts
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
Vegetable oil

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until a dough is
formed, stopping once to scrape the bowl down.

Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet to 375 degrees F.

Shape 2 tablespoons of dough into a ball.
Flatten into a disk
between your palms, then fry until brown on both sides, turning
once.
Do not cook so quickly that they brown on the outside and are
uncooked on the inside.
The total cooking time should not be much
more than a minute.
Drain on paper towels.

Serve immediately with chile salsa for dunking.
Eat cakes plain
if you want to savor the unusual taste of the pine nuts.

Pueblo Pumpkin Candy

This is an old Pueblo treat.
Traditionally the strips of pumpkin
are soaked in a bath of water and wood ashes to soften.
Today many
Indian cooks substitute baking soda for the ashes.
If you prefer a
less sweet candy, add the lemon juice and thin strips of lemon zest
to the sugar syrup with cilantro.
If you have a sweet tooth, roll
the dried candy in coarse sugar.

1 (2- to 3-pound) pumpkin
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
Juice and zest of 1 small lemon
3 to 4 sprigs fresh cilantro (optional)

Peel and seed pumpkin and cut it into 2 x 4-inch strips.
Stir
baking soda into enough water to cover strips.
Add pumpkin strips
and let stand 12 hours.

Drain and rinse pumpkin in running water.
Drop strips into a pot
of boiling water and cook until tender but not soft.
Remove pumpkin
strips, crisp in ice cold water, and drain.

Combine sugar with 1/2 cup water, lemon juice and zest, and
cilantro in a saucepan.
Heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved,
then boil slowly without stirring for 10 minutes.
Add pumpkin
strips, cover the pot, and simmer for about 20 minutes until syrup
is thick and strips are brittle.
Spread candy out on a rack or on a
wax paper-covered tray to dry for at least 10 hours.

Roll in additional sugar if desired and store in an airtight
container.

Makes about 1 pound.

Sacaton Relish

Sacaton is a village on the Gila River Reservation near Sacaton,
Arizona (Pima Indians).
This is usually served as an accompaniment
to eggs or grilled meat.

2 tablespoons bacon drippings or vegetable oil
1 cup chopped fresh, mild, green
chiles, peeled and seeded
1 chopped fresh or canned jalapeño
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
Salt (optional)

Heat drippings in a skillet.
Add chiles and
jalapeño and sauté until translucent.
Ad tomatoes and sauté 5 minutes more.
Season with
salt, if desired.
Remove relish with a slotted spoon and serve with
eggs or meat.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Shuck Bread

This is traditional cornbread.
The Choctaws call it
Bu-Na-Ha.

8 dried or fresh corn shucks
2 cups white cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup partially cooked black-eyed peas
or frozen black-eyed peas
Butter (for serving)
Salt (for serving)

Boil shucks in water for about 10 minutes; drain, and
reserve.

In a mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, baking soda and water.
Stir
in black-eyed peas.
Form about 4 tablespoons of the mixture into a
ball and place on a corn shuck.
Fold end of shuck over filling.
Fold in sides and then other end to make a squared package.
Tie
securely with a strip of shuck.
Continue in this manner until all
filling is used.
Cook in boiling water for 45 to 50 minutes.

Remove shucks and serve with butter and salt, if desired.
If not
serving immediately, refrigerate bread without removing shucks.
Reheat for about 10 minutes in boiling water or in a steamer before
serving.

Makes 8 Shuck Breads.

Strawberries in Honey Syrup

1/3 cup honey
2/3 cup water
1 quart fresh strawberries, washed and hulled

Place honey and water in a saucepan and boil rapidly for 5
minutes over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat.
Drop in the whole
berries and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat and allow berries to cool in the
syrup.
Serve warm or cold, ladling syrup over each portion.

Serves 4 to 6.

Corn Cob Jelly

This is a Cherokee recipe which is light in texture and has a
flavor similar to apple jelly.

12 ears fresh corn
4 cups water
4 cups granulated sugar
1 (3 fl.
ounce) package liquid fruit pectin

Cut corn from the cobs and reserve for another use.
Place cobs
in water and bring to a boil.
Cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes.
Remove cobs and strain liquid through cheesecloth or another
filter.
If necessary, add enough water to make 3 cups.
Place liquid
in a saucepan and stir in sugar.
Bring to a boil and cook until
sugar is dissolved.
Stir in pectin and cook 1 minutes longer.
Remove from heat, skim, and spoon into sterilized jars.
Seal and
store.

Makes 3 cups.

Corn Griddle Cakes

2 cups cornmeal
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1 package active dry yeast
2 teaspoons granulated sugar (optional)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
1 pint milk
Maple syrup (optional)

In a mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, yeast, sugar and
salt.
Stir in milk until mixture is smooth.
Let sit for 15
minutes.

Drop mixture by large spoonsful onto a hot, greased griddle.
When bubbles form on the top, turn cakes and cook until golden
brown on the other side.

Serve with maple syrup, if desired.

Makes 10 to 12 cakes.