Native American recipes but not all that traditional

this first one is called Tanshpashofa or fish and cattailsfish... but this version is made with Pork Loin Roast
and comes from the Chickasaw Nation...

Notes:
1. Avoid ham, bacon or other cured meats that will put flavors in the ‘Pashofa that do not belong.
2. Use the higher amt of corn and lower amt of meat if you like the corn in ‘Pashofa best and just want the meat to mainly flavor the dish.
3. Use the lower amt of corn and higher amt of meat if you must have meat in every bowl.

You will need a large sauce pan or pot, large skillet, and a large crock pot (if you are taking it somewhere) or you can use a large cooking pot if you are just doing it at home.

Directions

Pick through your dry cracked corn to get out miscellaneous bits and yellow kernels. Rinse off all powdery substance and floating hulls in a strainer or the sauce pan with cold water. Soak the corn in cold water, rinsing every two hours or as often as you can get to it. Soak the corn at least 4 hours. Rinse it one more time and add water 3 times the volume of corn. DO NOT ADD SALT TO THE CORN! That makes it stick to your pan badly.

Bring the corn to a boil with the lid on the pan, turn the heat to a low simmer and tip the lid to let steam escape for the first 15 minutes. Simmer the corn at least 8 hours. Stir about every 2 hours to see if it is sticking.

After you have simmered the corn about 2 hours, start the pork. Let the pork sit out until the chill is off. Cut palm-sized meat portions away from the bone until you have one large bone piece and all the rest is cut up. Salt and pepper the meat.

Heat a large skillet on “High,” add oil. Place bone piece in center of pan with all other pork around it. Put the lid on as best you can. I use a lid and a spatter guard kind of tilted across the big bone in the center of my pan. Brown the pork on high, turning all pieces to get all sides brown, then turn the heat to “Medium” to cook until the juices are no longer red. You can salt and pepper it all again at this point.

Place the browned pork in either the crock pot or the large cooking pot (not in the corn). Put 2 cups water in the skillet and work the leavings and juices up off the bottom. Pour this juice over the pork. Do this twice or until the juice in the pot comes almost to the top of the pork pieces. Cover the pork and simmer for at least 6 hours, until it is falling apart and you can pick the clean bones out with tongs.

At least 2 hours before serving, combine the cooked corn and pork in either your crock pot or cooking pot. Stir and simmer together until serving time.

It is best served with fry bread.
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Corn soup/three sisters a staple of all tribes

Ingredients

5 cups prepared white corn
3 cups prepared kidney beans
1 cup cooked pumpkin/squash
1 smoked turkey thigh
3 quarts/litres water
several fresh sage leaves
1 tbsp/ 15 ml salt add tsp at a time to taste
1 small onion


Directions

Healthier and tastier
Corn soup/three sisters soup!
Boil gently a smoked turkey thigh in 3 quarts/litres water for about 1 hour until the meat comes away from the bone. Leave the bone in take the meat out to cool. Add 5 cups prepared white corn, 3 cups prepared kidney beans rinsed and small onion minced. Boil gently for 15 minutes and then add chopped sage leaves,salt and squash for another 15 minutes. Add more water and or vegetable stock if it is too stew like rather than soup.
White corn is sold prepared at many Haudenosaunee reserves in corner stores in 4-6 cup bags. Don't worry about exact measurements.

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Pemmican and Wild Rice Cheyenne

Ingredients

1-2 lbs pemmican
4 cups or more Wild Rice
vegies to vary-cattail shoots.stems, prairie turnips


Directions

cut pemmican into half inch pcs, put in pot with salt and other spices and water to cover, bring to simmer, add more water once simmering, enough to cook amount of rice using,(wild rice doesnt swell as much as white rice), simmer, when rice is done add any veggies and cook til done,
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Bean & Corn Soup/Stew Cheyenne

Ingredients

Dried Pinto Beans(others as taste says)
Shelled Corn (sweet, dried, homegrown)
salt,tablspoon or more
1-2 dried red chilles deseeded
bunch of fresh green onions, large bunch
smoked/dried pemmican , other meats diced


Directions

Soak beans and corn overnight separately. In large pot add beans and cover with water and begin to slow cook, add salt and chilles, dice the chilles, chilles vary in bite, taste a piece first to find which you have, I grow my own to my taste, after a couple hours of simmering add the corn, this is my own sweet corn that I also save and dry for cooking this way. Add the pemmican or diced jerky or other meats after the corn, allow all to simmer, I usually use twice as much pintos by volume as the corn, corn wants more salt then beans alone so you will probably want to add more when you eat. I prefer pintos for this, works with white beans too,

At the end just before serving chop the green oinions on top, leeks and other onion family can be used also.

Serve with fry bread or corn meal discs fried on a griddle.

Adjust ingrediants to suit your tastes

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Fish and Cattails also Cheyenne

Ingredients

2 quarts Cattail shoots or young stems
3-4 fish fillets-bass or trout or your choiced
salt and pepper to taste


Directions

In the spring dig the cattail shootss or into late spring or summer pick the green new stems, wash and set aside,

fillet several trout or bass,

lay them in a skillet, cover with the cattails then add a couple cups of water and cover,

steam 5-10 mins, depending on the mass of the contents, salt and sprinkle with crushed red peppers and serve.

Can vary it by replacing the water with oil and frying.

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Chocolate Tortillas/ Fry bread From the Laguna Pueblo

Ingredients

2 Cup All Purpose flour
• You may add ¼ t pure vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 Cup sugar
4-6 Tablespoon cocoa powder
1 ½ Tablespoon shortening
1 teaspoon instant coffee crystals
3/4 -1 Cup water, warm or milk, warm


Directions

1. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cocoa powder
2. Add instant coffee and mix well
3. Cut in shortening with hands or a fork until it resembles crumbs
4. Make a well in the middle and add water
5. Mix until soft dough is formed you may add a little more flour if needed
6. Kneed for 3 minutes then cover with a cloth
7. Let sit for 15 minutes
8. With a little shortening on hands make 5-6 dough balls
9. On a lightly floured surface roll out each dough ball and fry or cook on griddle

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Navajo Tacos, "Dine" is the proper name for Navajo
Ingredients:
• For Navajo Fry Bread:
• 4-5 Cups flour
• 1/2 Cup instant milk
• 3-1/2 tsp Baking powder
• 2 Cups water
• 1 tsp Salt

Filling:
• 1-1/2 lbs Ground beef
• 1 Can pinto beans
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 3/4 tsp Garlic salt

For Toppings:
• Grated cheese
• Onions
• Salsa
• Lettuce
•
• Oil for frying


How to make Navajo Tacos:
• Take a bowl and mix ingredients to make fry bread.
• Pour water and stir well.
• Knead the dough lightly, cover and keep aside for about 15 minutes.
• Heat one inch vegetable oil in a 10 inches skillet.
• Pinch off dough in small amounts and pat the dough into thin 8 inches circles.
• Fry them in the hot oil until brown on both sides.
• Now drain on paper towels.
• To make filling heat oil and fry ground beef and onion until brown, drain.
• Add beans and garlic salt with it.
• Simmer for about 10 to15 minutes.
• To serve, spoon filling onto the fry bread.
• Top with grated cheeses, lettuce, onion and salsa.

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Apache Acorn Soup from yours truly
3 lb Stew beef 2 qt Water
1 ts Pepper 1 ts Salt
1 c Ground acorn meal

Cover beef with water and bring to boil in a heavy pot. Simmer until
done; add salt and pepper as meat cooks tender. Remove beef and chop on a
flat stone until split in shreds. The meat broth continues to cook
vigorously while meat and acorn flour (meal) are mixed together. Apaches
stress that their food is always well done; no instant cooking. Broth,
meat and meal simmer together until the broth bubbles creamy white with
yellow flecks, pleasantly acorn scented and flavored.

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Apache Bread Guess who...

1 c White cornmeal 1 ts Salt
1/2 ts Red pepper 1/2 c Bacon drippings
1 c Yellow cornmeal Green cornhusks
1 c Boiling water

Mix dry ingredients; add boiling water and bacon drippings. Form into
small rolls and wrap in green cornhusks. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Makes 12 individual breads

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Blue Bread (Frying Pan Bread)

1 1/2 c flour 1 1/2 c blue cornmeal (yellow may be substituted)
6 t baking powder 1 t salt
6 tb grated cheese 1/4 c sugar
1/4 c chopped onion 1/4 c chopped sweet green pepper
6 tb shortening or cooking oil 4 t chile powder
2 eggs, slightly beaten 1 1/2 c milk

Sift dry ingredients, except chile powder, in large bowl. Add green pepper,
onion and cheese. In heavy skillet, melt shortening or heat cooking oil, mix in
chile powder. Cool chile oil and add to milk and eggs in separate bowl.
Mix well, then stir into dry ingredients until well blended. Return to skillet and
bake in 400 degree oven for 35 minutes. Cut in wedges and serve hot.

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Pumpkin Candy

1 five-pound pumpkin
5 c sugar
1 tb baking soda
Water

Peel and seed pumpkin. Cut pumpkin into 2" x 4" strips. Stir baking soda
into enough water to cover strips and let stand 12 hours, then drain and wash
strips in running water. Drop pumpkin into pot of boiling water, and cook until
tender but not soft. Remove and crisp in ice water; drain. Mix sugar with one cup
water and boil 10 minutes. Add pumpkin and simmer in covered pot until syrup is
thick and strips are brittle. Spread strips to dry. May be stored when cold.
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I'll end with this last one
Squash Blossom Stew

5 lg squash blossoms 3 summer squash, cubed
1 c sliced green beans 1 1/2 lb. lamb or beef, cubed small
3 ears fresh corn 3 spring onions with tops
1 clove garlic, mashed 2 t salt
1/2 t oregano (or 3 mint leaves) 8 c water

Boil meat until tender, remove from stock. Cut corn from cob, chop spring
onions and add all vegetables to stock and simmer until tender. Add meat,
seasonings, and squash blossoms; simmer 15 minutes.

Thank you.

I love this.

Thank you very much

I'll bite and give you one my cherokee grandfather gave my mom (who gave me)

Take two sumac berry heads *edit: dark red is best* , do not rinse *edit: the flavoring will come off*. Place them in cheesecloth (make a little sack and tie it off), beat them up a little *edit: bruise the berries* , and put them into a pitcher of ice water overnight. You will have sumac 'lemonade'
I think it's called Qua Lo Ga.

Going to try some of these

Thanks Daddybear...you should write a book !!
S&F

Got any thing for cactus ?
Esp. the red fruit ?

Originally posted by rlnochance
Thank you very much

I'll bite and give you one my cherokee grandfather gave my mom (who gave me)

Take two sumac berry heads *edit: dark red is best* , do not rinse *edit: the flavoring will come off*. Place them in cheesecloth (make a little sack and tie it off), beat them up a little *edit: bruise the berries* , and put them into a pitcher of ice water overnight. You will have sumac 'lemonade'

I think it's called Qua Lo Ga.

edit on 21-7-2011 by rlnochance because: additional info

thanks for that...
don't know if we got any sumac growing here in Southeast Kansas but I'm sure going to try and find some

Originally posted by granpabobby
Going to try some of these

Thanks Daddybear...you should write a book !!
S&F

Got any thing for cactus ?
Esp. the red fruit ?

edit on 21-7-2011 by granpabobby because: add to content

you mean like this
1 lb Pork
2 Cloves garlic, minced
2 cn (8 oz) tomato sauce
Salt
1 lg Can stewed tomatoes
1 lb Green or red cactus fruts, peeled & diced
1 cn (6 oz) tomato paste
Pepper
1 lg Onion, diced
Cumin
Seasoning salt
3 c Water

Cube the pork; fry in a skillet with onion and garlic. In a large Dutch
oven, add all ingredients, salt and pepper to taste and 1/4 tsp. cumin and
seasoned salt. Heat for one hour. Serve with crusty bread.
Cactus (fresh, small, thick pads): Remove spines with knife and peel or
purchase at market in a jar, diced and packed in its own juices. You can
usually find it at Mexican markets; the cactus referred to is generally
prickly-pear cactus.

The juice from the prickly pear cactus is also
useful in Native American craftwork, specifically painting with earth
paints.

BTW Years ago I started collecting ... off the beaten path recipes to make a book...
Talked to a publisher even... never went anywhere so mostly I post them on quirky websites

This is fantastic. These are difficult to find. I concur: write a book!

We lived in near the Navajo for three years - a difficult culture to understand, but it prepared us for living in the middle east in many ways! Fry bread was king there, and was also blamed for the soaring diabetes and health decline on the reservations.

I think that is a huge simplification, since there are many other things at play, but I have wondered if fry bread is traditional in these cultures. Or is it a (relatively) modern invention?

This is awesome - thanks for posting these recipes!

I agree - a few recipes for Prickly Pear would be wonderful. It is a pain to prepare because of the spines BUT there is so much that can be done with it.

The "leaves" or pads are a veggie
The red fruit is a fruit.

Making this a Very Useful plant.

Originally posted by Schkeptick
This is fantastic. These are difficult to find. I concur: write a book!

We lived in near the Navajo for three years - a difficult culture to understand, but it prepared us for living in the middle east in many ways! Fry bread was king there, and was also blamed for the soaring diabetes and health decline on the reservations.

I think that is a huge simplification, since there are many other things at play, but I have wondered if fry bread is traditional in these cultures. Or is it a (relatively) modern invention?

Wheat, thus white flour... was introduced to the new world
so is fry bread is traditional... maybe not at first but it is now...
our diabetes and other health problems stem from poverty and lack of proper nutrition programs... something we are only now addressing in my own tribe...

Originally posted by mappam
This is awesome - thanks for posting these recipes!

I agree - a few recipes for Prickly Pear would be wonderful. It is a pain to prepare because of the spines BUT there is so much that can be done with it.

The "leaves" or pads are a veggie
The red fruit is a fruit.

Making this a Very Useful plant.

you know why you guys have so much trouble finding Cactus recipes???
because in most cases that indredant is listed by it's mexican word for Prickly Pear... Nopales

when I thow that word into a google search box I got a ton of stuff
Like this one for Nopalitos with Tomatoes and Onions Recipe

Great recipes, thanks!

These will do well with my outdoor breads. This is indeed sopping food. (love that word)

I also like to take stews like this and pour them into a loaf of crusty bread that I empty out. Cut off the tip of one end. Take all the bread out from the inside (leave for bread crumbs or bread puddings) so you have an empty shell of a loaf. Like a pocket . Pour the stew into it and eat away! You can hold your stew in your hand with a bite of the crusty outside loaf anytime you want.

My style of cooking.

around here we cook hominy. is this the same as the corn you use?







very hard to find dry hominy. can you just buy cracked corn for this?

reply to post by works4dhs


Same corn yeah...Only from where I come from we call that 'posole"
but when I think hominy I think of the cans you buy at the store...

for can hominy I got a real fast and easy way to make a spicy side...
dump the contents of that can in a pan... season with powdered chicken bouillon and chili powder... to taste and tasted often cause it's real easy to go from yummy to Ewww...

simmer and your done

Edit to add... sure cracked corn works just fine...

Originally posted by DaddyBare
reply to post by works4dhs

 

Same corn yeah...Only from where I come from we call that 'posole"
but when I think hominy I think of the cans you buy at the store...

for can hominy I got a real fast and easy way to make a spicy side...
dump the contents of that can in a pan... season with powdered chicken bouillon and chili powder... to taste and tasted often cause it's real easy to go from yummy to Ewww...

simmer and your done

Edit to add... sure cracked corn works just fine...

edit on 21-7-2011 by DaddyBare because: (no reason given)

well that simplifies things. hard to get bagged dry hominy/posole but bags of cracked corn are all over (farm supply stores sell as bird feed!) I guess it's safe for humanoids.
we have canned hominy all over but very little dry.

OP: have you thought about making an E-book out of this? You can self-publish pretty easily on amazon/smashwords and while you won't get rich, it's one way to get yourself out there.

reply to post by rlnochance


I might add it to another big project I'm working on right now...
to early in the planning stages but look for my announcement on Project Clean Slate next month sometime...

Thanks for all those great recipes. I'm looking forward to trying that pumpkin candy recipe in the fall. My kids should LOVe that one since they love Pumpkin. Thanks!

reply to post by blue_fish


Great gald you liked it...
just one word of advice... some of the worse burns I've gotten while cooking came from making candy...
so careful with the little ones hands when this is just comming out of the pot

I'm going to try some of these recipes because I'm looking for new stuff for dinner on my family.

Wow those all sound so good and I am starving! I havent eaten dinner yet

I will have to try this. It's something different I like new things...


You also added a chocolate recipe, thank you!