Navaho Tacos

Have you ever seen  a recipe which made you want to run into the kitchen and immediately make it?  That is how it was for me the other day when I saw this recipe for Navaho Tacos on a site called Cooking Classy.  Actually I have seen several versions of this through the years, but for some reason her's just made me want to make them NOW.



I actually didn't make her filling.  I had some ground turkey which needed using and so I made my own ground turkey filling, but I did use her recipe for the Navaho Fry Bread.   My first couple of breads were a bit haphazard and oddly shaped, but I had it sorted by the time I had done a few and the rest were perfect.



The trick it to use a lightly floured rolling pin, a lightly floured surface and to turn the dough a quarter turn with each roll.   They turned out perfect once I got into my stride.  I was cooking one and rolling another one as I went along.



If you want to make a beef filling you can substitute ground beef for the turkey in mine, or you can go over to Cooking Classy and make hers.   We don't have things like fire roasted tomatoes or canned green chilies here in the UK.   I adapt and make my own substitutions for these things.  I love my homemade taco filling, beef or turkey.  It's nice.



I like to use black beans in mine.  They're smaller and I like their colour.   I topped them with grated cheddar, shredded lettuce, sliced black olives, chopped tomatoes and spring onions.  They were delicious.  I don't know why I waited so long to make these.  They were easy to make and quite, quite scrumptious!  I can see me making these the next time we have the missionaries over for their tea.  I think they would LOVE them!

*Navaho Tacos*

Makes 8 tacos

Printable Recipe  

A recipe I adapted from Cooking Classy.   I used the exact recipe for the Fry bread, but I made my own Taco mix, using Turkey instead of beef.  

For the Navaho Fry Bread:

280g of plain flour (2 cups)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp dry yeast (I used bread machine yeast)

1/2 tsp of salt

3/4 to 1 cup of warm milk (6 to 8 fluid ounces)

1 TBS butter, melted

Oil for frying

For the filling:

1 TBS olive oil

1 pound of ground turkey

1 (400g) tin of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice (14 1/2 oz tin)

1 (400g) tin of black beans, drained and rinsed (14 1/2 oz tin)

1 medium brown onion, peeled and chopped

1 green chilli, trimmed, seeds discarded and finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

2 tsp mild chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp oregano flakes

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

a splash of hot sauce

To serve:

Your favorite taco toppings.  I used
chopped black olives, chopped spring onions, shredded lettuce,
grated cheddar cheese, chopped ripe tomatoes  and dairy sour cream 

  

Make the dough for the fry bread first.  Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Whisk the melted butter into the warm milk and then stir this mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring until the mixture comes together to form a soft, elastic dough.   Cover and set aside for 10 minutes.  

To make the filling, heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Add the onions and green chilies.   Cook, stirring,  until softened without browning.   Add the ground turkey.  Cook and stir until the turkey is no longer pink.  Add the garlic and seasonings, along with the tomatoes.  I like to mash it all together with a potato masher to help break down the meat and tomatoes.   Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.   Stir in the black beans.  Simmer, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes while you cook the fry bread.

To cook the fry bread, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces.  Roll each into a ball.   Using a lightly floured rolling pin and surface, roll each ball out into a 6 inch circle.  It will be quite thin.  Do this one at a time.  Heat about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a small skillet.  Add the fry bread dough circles one at a time and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes per side.  Drain on some paper toweling.   Keep warm while you fry the rest.

To serve top the fried bread rounds with your taco filling and allow people to add toppings as desired.  Serve hot.  

Note -  It took me a few tries to get the bread right.  The mistakes were lovely spread with butter and drizzled with golden syrup in the British way!  Sooooo good!!