I don’t suppose my own frybread is fucking amazing, but I find it palatable enough. I don’t do anything special, really. Just use good dough raised with either yeast or baking powder, make sure the oil is hot enough before putting the dough in, and it should be OK. If you find out from your sister how to make it fucking amazing, do let me know. I hope her secret isn’t a NM flour that’s only locally available where she lives, or the local NM water, or something inimitable like that. Neapolitan pizza snobs will insist a true pizza cannot be made outside Naples, because of the water. Here is a collection of NDN frybread recipe variations sorted by tribe/nation, and there’ve got to be some that will work well for you. BTW Hungarian lángos is essentially the same thing, except served with a kiss of raw garlic.
I too had been baffled by corn tortillas for many years, but I finally hit upon a foolproof homemade method that uses no special equipment and doesn’t require mad pat-a-cake skills. And are they ever scrumptious! OMG. They would be incomparably better still if I could make my own nixtamal dough, but so far I just use storebought masa harina. However, the pat-a-cake technique for pupusas (thick, stuffed tortillas) is still something I need to improve.
You make good brioche? Now that’s fucking awesome and I’m envious of you, because I’ve never done that.
Yea, my mother has been making noodles like that as long as I can remember. She showed our daughter how to make them, and now she (our daughter) is doing it.
Brownies. My Aunt Ede’s recipe. Butter, flour, sugar, eggs, cocoa powder. Dry stuff first, add in wet, mix gently, top with pecans or hickory nuts and bake. Absolute heaven and a million times better than any storebought mix.
I have been making basic white bread for so long it is automatic and I couldn’t tell you the exact amounts of anything [though you can stop snickering, I use an ancient Flintstones McDonalds mug as the basic measure.] I think my main differences are - about a tablespoon of olive oil, milk not water, and it only gets kneaded once then popped into the tin to raise for baking. It was originally based on the italian bread recipe from Beard on Bread - my mom decided that was her favorite recipe. I also use sourdough, though I don’t do the whole overnight cold thang, I just grab a cup of sourdough goop and dump it into the bowl - then I add back the cup of water and some flour to replace what I took out of my jar. I also add only enough milk to the sourdough goop and flour to make the dough of the right texture - which is all by feel from 35+ years of experience making the stuff.
I get a good medium fine crumb, a nice crust [it get a spritz of water into the oven when I put it in for steam to get that first oven spring going] and it can make a nice sandwich or slice of toast.
Hmmm, I’ve never had it be that wet. Possibly a difference in preparation? I just cook it and puree it, no straining or squeezing. I usually have a lot of squash on hand because it’s so cheap at the farm and I’m poor.
I will try the corn tortillas this week. I’m making chicken enchiladas and I use our tortillas because I can’t find corn tortillas in the store that make me happy.
All this talk of noodles…does anything beat fresh fettucini drizzled with olive oil and a healthy grate of parmesan?
It’s a common complaint. I have to squeeze it to hell through a cheesecloth (or a tee shirt), otherwise, it’s much too watery. I roast it, puree it, then squeeze it. You can also boil the water off or modify the recipe taking into account the extra moisture, but it just doesn’t taste “pumpkiny” enough for me, then. I like to get my puree as near the thickness of Libby’s as possible.
To make a long story short, you press the tortillas between sheets of oiled plastic wrap using the bottom of your heaviest pot. That’s the gist of it. For the rest, you just need nimble hands and finesse in handling, and it takes some practice.
Now I gotta try this frybread. I go to Phoenix for Thanksgiving every year, and I always forget to try it. I love lángos (though perhaps my arteries don’t) and the pictures I see of frybread do look a heck of a lot like it. Don’t know why I never made the connection. Damn. Now I have to wait at least another year to try one and see how it compares. Lángos always reminded me of a savory version of elephant ears, and the first few times I had it, I had to recalibrate my expectations, as I wanted to put cinnamon and sugar on it instead of garlic water and salt (and/or cheese and/or sour cream and/or ham, etc.)
