Phry Bread, a Philleo Phamily Phavorite

To give proper credit, this recipe was stolen from my best friend Fawn during her visit with us a couple of years ago.  I had been following recipes of Indian friends of mine back home for years and had always ended up with what could best be described as fried pucks.  Not that their recipes are lacking, but apparently my native cooking skills leave something to be desired.  Anyway, I have had many summer dinners with Fawn at her Grandma Swanee's cabin on the back of Lake Roosevelt and her Indian tacos are a staple there.  I knew she could rescue our family from a life of pasty pucks.

Fawn's Fry Bread

4 Tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups hot water

1 Tablespoon fast acting yeast

1 teaspoon baking powder

4-6 cups flour

Place the honey and salt in a bowl.  Pour the hot water over them and mix until dissolved.  Next, sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water/honey/salt mixture and let stand, covered, for about ten minutes, until the yeast become bubbly.  Then add 2 cups flour and the baking powder and mix them well with the wet ingredients.  Add 2-4 more cups of flour (my mom used to always say, "till right", whatever that means.  If I knew what "right" was, I wouldn't need a stinking recipe.) until a, not too sticky, dough forms. Spray the top and bottom of the dough with cooking spray so it doesn't stick to the bowl and become dry.

Let the dough rise for 1 1/2 -2 hours, then punch, then let it rise for another 15 minutes or so.

Tear off small balls of dough and stretch until thin but careful not to have any holes in the bread.  Fry them in a pan of deep canola or vegetable oil.  Make sure there is enough oil for the bread to float and not touch the bottom.  Carefully turn the bread in the pan using tongs until both sides are a light golden brown.

We use this recipe to make Indian tacos which are wonderful at almost any time of the year.  They are really easy to feed a large group and kids like them too.  Last night though, I made the bread to go along with a hearty beef stew.  Slathered in butter, it is great for dipping into soups, stews and sauces.  A dab (or gob) of honey butter makes fried bread a delicious breakfast treat.  Can you tell I like butter?  Its a staple around here.  I think margarine should be outlawed. And Miracle Whip, while I'm on the subject of outlawing pathetic substitutes.  The only Miracle there, is that I survived childhood having to use this on my sandwiches.  Sorry mom.  I'm a big girl now and I also got to switch to 1% milk.  Haa!  Living on the edge!