Club Food

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.

Hoe Cakes

The Algonquians call these Nokake.
The dough was spread on a
board and set beside the fire to bake.
When it was cooked on one
side, it was turned over and baked on the other side.
The blade of
a hoe was often used to prop up the board beside the fire for
baking and to lean baked loaves against a cooling rack.

2 cups water
2 cups cornmeal
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Bring water to boil in a saucepan.
Stir in cornmeal, salt,
butter and dill, if desired.
Place in a buttered 8-inch square pan
and bake for 25 minutes.

Cut into squares and serve.

Serves 6 to 8.

Huckleberry Fritters

2 cups huckleberries or blueberries
3 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs
1/2 cup water
Oil (for deep frying)

Wash berries and allow to drain well.
Sift dry ingredients
together into a mixing bowl.
Beat eggs with water until foamy.
Mix
quickly into dry ingredients.
Fold in berries.

Heat oil or shortening in deep heavy skillet to 350 degrees
F.

Drop batter by tablespoonsful into the hot oil.
Turn fritters
frequently so that they brown to a deep golden color on all sides.
Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

Makes 2 dozen.

Huckleberry-Honey Cake

This is a wonderful Cherokee recipe.
Blueberries may be
substituted for the huckleberries.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup honey
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh huckleberries or blueberries, or
frozen or canned berries, well drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar and honey.
Beat
in eggs and milk.
Sift in 1 1/2 cups of the flour, baking powder
and salt.
Combine thoroughly.

In a small bowl, toss berries with remaining flour.
Gently fold
berries into batter.
Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
Bake
for about 1 hour, until the cake is golden brown and a wooden pick
inserted in the center comes out clean.

Paper Bread (Piki)

5 tablespoons Masa HarinaÂ
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
Pour in the hot water and whisk
the batter for a few seconds until it is smooth.
Heat a nonstick
skillet over low heat until it is warm.
Remove the skillet from the
heat.
With a pastry brush, brush on a layer of batter, using broad
strokes all in one direction.
Immediately apply a second layer of
batter at right angles to the first layer.
Return the skillet to
the heat source and cook for about 1 minute.
The batter will sizzle
and evaporate all moisture before it is done.
As soon as the
hissing stops and the surface of the bread looks dry and crinkly,
peel it off with your fingers by starting up one edge with a table
knife, then grasping it by hand and pulling up gently.
The layer
will peel away easily.
Lay it on paper toweling or a baking rack to
dry completely and proceed to make 3 more pikis to lay on top.
Do
not place the piki on a plate once baked, since it will further
steam them and cause them to become sticky.
Once you have 4 layers,
roll them loosely into a scroll and set aside.
Serve slightly
re-warmed or at room temperature with salsa and a main course.

Blue Piki
Make batter from 3 tablespoons blue cornmeal, 2 tablespoons Masa
Harina and 3 tablespoons cornstarch plus the salt and
water in the basic recipe.

Pink or Yellow Piki
Add a few drops of food coloring to the basic batter as you whisk
it up.

Popped Corn

1 tablespoon corn oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup corn kernels
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 to 4 tablespoons butter
1/2 to 1 teaspoon pure ground chile

Use a heavy cast-iron skillet with a lid.
Fill the skillet with
a single layer of kernels, and heat the oil before you add the
corn.
Use the smaller ingredients for a 9-inch skillet, and use the
larger ingredients for a 14-inch skillet.

Heat oil in skillet over high heat until a test kernel pops.
Shake in the kernels, cover with a lid, and when you hear the
kernels begin to pop, turn down heat and shake pan gently back and
forth to keep the kernels moving.
When popping sounds cease, the
corn is done.

Pour corn into a large bowl and sprinkle with salt.
Melt butter
with the chile and pour over the corn.
Mix with your hands.

Makes 2 to 4 cups, depending on size of skillet used.

Native American Pudding

4 cups milk
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups raisins or dried currants

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Butter a 2-quart casserole.

In a saucepan, combine 3 cups of the milk and all the maple
syrup over medium heat.
Heat until just boiling and add
butter.

In a separate bowl, combine cornmeal, ginger and nutmeg.
Gradually stir cornmeal mixture into hot milk.
Reduce heat to low
and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Fold in raisins or currants.
Spoon mixture into the casserole.
Pour remaining milk over pudding; do not stir.
Bake pudding 2 1/2
hours or until all of the milk has been absorbed and top is golden
brown.
Serve warm, topped with ice cream, if desired.

Bannock

The Chippewa took these fried cakes along when the tribe was
moving or warriors were hunting.
They are, however, best eaten
hot.

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons melted butter or bacon drippings
4 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 to 4 tablespoons cooking oil (for frying)

In a bowl, combine cornmeal, water, butter or bacon drippings,
syrup and salt.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high
heat.
Drop batter by tablespoonsful into hot oil.
Flatten with
spatula and fry cakes until crisp and browned on both sides.
Add
more oil as needed.

Serves 4 to 6.

Native American Tacos

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground beef
4 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
2 to 3 tablespoons New Mexico chile powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
3 cups Frijoles de Olla, drained
4 Navajo Tacos*
2 cups mild Cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups shredded lettuce
2 tomatoes, chopped

In a Dutch oven heat olive oil over medium heat; add ground beef
and cook until just browned.

Meanwhile, grind garlic, cumin and oregano to a paste in a
molcajete or mortar and pestle.
Add chile powder, garlic paste and
salt to the meat and cook about 1 minute.
Next, add 1 cup water and
stir to make certain the meat is well broken up.
Add beans, bring
the chile mixture to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, until most but
not all the moisture has evaporated.

Place the fry breads on serving plates and ladle the chile
mixture over them.
Top with the cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.

Kneel Down Bread (Navajo Tamales)

7 ears fresh corn
2 tablespoons lard or shortening
1 cup water
Salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Scrape corn kernels from cob with a sharp knife, reserving
husks.

Grind kernels in a blender and transfer to a bowl.
Add lard or
shortening and water to make a paste.
Divide the mixture equally
into seven husks.
Tie husks at both ends, then gently bend husks in
half and tie again.
Wrap husks in aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour
or until firm to the touch.

Leaf Bread

The Iroquois make this from green corn.
It is really more of a
vegetable than a bread.

6 ears fresh sweet corn
1 to 3 tablespoons cornmeal (optional)
Salt and ground pepper
Melted butter

Shuck corn, reserving husks.
Holding corn cobs upright on end,
use a sharp knife to make a shallow cut down the middle of each row
of kernels.
Use the blade in a scraping downward motion to remove
corn from cobs.
In a blender or food processor, process corn into a
paste.
If corn seems very liquid, stir in enough cornmeal to make
it easier to handle.
Season with salt and pepper and reserve.

Rinse reserved husks under cold running water and pat dry.
Spoon
3 to 4 tablespoons of corn paste into a large corn husk.
Wrap in
more husks to completely envelop paste.
Tie ends with strips of
husk.
Continue until all paste is used.
Six ears of corn should
make 12 to 15 small, tamale-like packages.
Steam leaf bread over
boiling water for about 45 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly before removing husks.
Serve brushed with
melted butter.

Serves 4 to 6.

Maple Popcorn Balls

This is an old Algonquian treat — the
original Cracker Jack.

1/4 cup popping corn
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons butter

Pop corn according to package directions.
Season with salt, if
desired.

Heat syrup and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat,
stirring constantly until temperature reaches 250 degrees F on a
candy thermometer or until a few drops form soft balls when dropped
in cold water.

Remove pan from heat and pour mixture over popcorn.
When mixture
is cool enough, toss popcorn with syrup and mold into balls, and
cool on a buttered baking sheet.
Store cooled popcorn balls in an
airtight container.

Makes about 8.

Maple Sugar Smoked Fish

To smoke fish, Native Americans constructed a tepee made of
crossed sticks covered with birch bark.
Fish were hung, head down,
from the top of the tepee over a smoky wood fire built in a bucket
or kettle below.
Canvas can be substituted for the birch bark.

4 small brook trout or chubs,
about 1/2 pound each
1/2 cup kosher or sea salt
1 cup maple sugar or brown sugar
1 teaspoon coarsely-ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed bay leaf
2 to 3 cups maple, pecan or hickory wood chips

Clean fish and rinse well under cold water; mix salt, maple
sugar, pepper and bay leaf.
Pat fish dry and rub inside and out
with seasoning mixture.
Place fish in a cool, dry place for about 1
hour.

Rinse fish and hang from the gills in a cool, dry, breezy place
to air-dry for about 30 minutes.
Place wood chips in water to
soak.

If you do not have a smoker or wish to build the traditional
Indian one, build a charcoal fire in a large covered grill with all
vents open.
While the fire is burning down, loop a piece of kitchen
string under the gills of each trout.
Bring ends of string through
the vent holes of the grill cover and tie together so that fish are
suspended from lid and their tails remain at least 6 inches above
coals.
When coals have burned down and are covered with white ash,
sprinkle a third of the damp wood chips over the fire and place lid
on grill.
Smoke trout for about 1 hour, adding more damp wood chips
every 15 to 20 minutes to keep up smoke.
Remove fish and serve hot
or at room temperature.
If refrigerated, the smoked fish will last
about one week.

Maple Syrup Candy

This is called maple “snow candy” in Vermont.
It is an early
Eastern Woodland Native American treat.
After the syrup had been
boiled to the proper consistency, it was drizzled onto the snow and
left to harden.

1 1/2 teaspoons butter
1 cup maple syrup

Line a jellyroll pan with aluminum foil.

In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat.
Add
syrup and cook, stirring constantly, until 290 degrees F on a candy
thermometer or until a few drops of syrup harden if placed in cold
water.
Place saucepan in a pan of cold water to stop cooking.
Quickly pour hot syrup onto aluminum foil in jellyroll pan and
allow to cool.
Crack into bite-size pieces.
Place cooled candy in
an airtight container and store in a cool, dry place.

Makes about 1/3 pound.

Navajo Peach Pudding

1/2 cup honey
1 pound fresh peaches, pitted and peeled
1 package unflavored gelatine
1 cup water
1 cup whipping cream

In a food processor, purée the honey and peaches
together.
Set aside.

In a small saucepan, mix together the water and gelatine and let
stand 1 minute.
Over medium-low heat, stir mixture until the
gelatine has completely dissolved, about 5 minutes.
Remove from
heat, slowly add the gelatine mixture to the peach honey, and blend
thoroughly.
Allow to cool to room temperature, about 5 minutes.

While the peach mixture is cooling, beat the cream until firm
peaks form, about 2 minutes.
Fold the whipped cream into the peach
pudding mixture in a circular motion, leaving swirls of white cream
in the peach pudding.
Do not mix together completely.
Place the
pudding in the refrigerator and chill until firm.

Navajo Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour, not sifted
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Lard and water

Mix dry ingredients and add 1/2 cup warm water.
Make soft dough
consistency.
Work and knead out air bubbles.
Slap to make flat
pancake-shaped patties about 8 inches in diameter.
Using skillet
half full of melted lard or shortening, drop patties into very hot
fat.
When golden brown, drain on paper.
Good cooked in one-half
bacon drippings and one-half shortening.

Navajo Tacos

2 cups unbleached flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup evaporated milk
About 3/4 cup water

Mix dry ingredients with fingers.
Stir in water with a fork.
Knead and divide into 6 parts.
Pat into 4 (8-inch) circles 1/4 inch
thick.
Fry in oil heated to 365 degrees F until brown.
Spread each
taco with refried beans, lettuce, tomato, scallion, cheese,
avocado, sour cream and taco sauce or salsa.

Makes 4.

To use for a dessert, spread with butter and honey or
confectioners’ sugar.

Apache Corn Soup

Peel the acorns and grind them.
The outer part of the acorn is
not used.

1 (2 1/2 pound) beef roast
2 quarts water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup ground acorn meal

Cover beef with water and bring to boil in a heavy pot.
Simmer
several hours until beef is very tender, adding salt and pepper.
Remove the beef, while letting the pot continue to boil.
Shred the
beef, then mix it with the acorn meal.
Add this mixture to the
broth and simmer together until the broth bubbles creamy-white with
yellow flecks.

Cranberry Fritters

3/4 cup fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
Oil (for deep frying)
Confectioners’ sugar (optional)

Wash cranberries and dry on paper towels.
Sift dry ingredients
together and mix in milk gradually to form a stiff dough.
With
well-floured hands, pinch off 1 teaspoon of dough and make an
indentation.
Sprinkle a little brown sugar in the indentation and
place a cranberry in the center.
Roll dough around the berry.
balls
should be about the size of a large marble.

Heat oil in a deep, heavy kettle until the temperature reaches
375 degrees F.

Drop fritter balls into the hot fat and fry, turning, until they
are deep golden brown on all sides.
Drain on paper towels.
If
desired, shake confectioners’ sugar over the fritters just before
serving.
SERVE HOT.

Makes 3 dozen.

Cranberry Jelly

4 cups cranberries
4 cups water
5 cups granulated sugar

Combine berries and water in a heavy saucepan.
Bring cranberries
to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat to low and simmer until all
the berries are soft, 10 to 15 minutes.

Line a large colander with 2 thicknesses of cheesecloth and
suspend over a large pot.
Pour cranberries and cooking water into
the cheesecloth-lined colander.
Allow to drain without mashing the
berries or squeezing the cheesecloth for 10 to 12 hours.

Discard berries and cheesecloth.
Add sugar to the cranberry
juice and cook over medium-high heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
Pour
into sterilized jelly jars and seal with paraffin, if desired.

Makes 3 to 3 1/2 cups.

Feast Day Cookies

The Pueblo Indians make these for kiva parties, Kachina or Corn
Dances, weddings, the pueblo’s Saint’s Day, and field parties for
planting or harvesting crops.

2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup lard or vegetable shortening
1 egg
2 cups unbleached flour, sifted
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon aniseed
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup piñon (pignoli), chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, cream 2/3 cup sugar and lard.
Add egg and
blend thoroughly.
Stir in flour, baking powder, vanilla extract and
aniseed, blending thoroughly.
Gradually add milk until a stiff
dough is formed.
Mix in the piñon nuts.

Roll dough out on a lightly floured board to 1/2-inch thickness.
Cut into 2-inch cookies with a cookie cutter.
Sprinkle tops with
mixture of the remaining sugar and cinnamon.
Bake cookies on a
well-greased baking sheet for about 15 minutes, or until golden.
Cool on a rack.

Makes 2 dozen 2-inch cookies.