Rushing Pie

1 head of cabbage
1 pound ground buffalo or beef
1/2 cup of water
1 pie crust
1 batch of white sauce
1 oven preheated at 375 and able to reduce temp. to 350 and the memory to reduce the heat after 5 minutes pie is in the oven, or pie crust will be black and uneatable for sure.

Use pie crust on top only, if you put any on bottom it won't taste good, trust me voice of experience speaking here. Dice cabbage into bit size bits set aside. Cook ground buffalo (or Beef if you must). Mix ground buffalo and cabbage salty to taste, put in a baking dish, cover with crust. put in oven bake 5 minutes at 375 then turn oven temp. down to 350 bake about 1 hour or until the crust is a golden brown.

Make a white sauce: Cream 6 tbs. flour 4 tbs. butter or margarine. Then add 4c. milk. Cook it like you would gravy. When pie and white sauce is done cut the pie in serving size pieces smother with white sauce and dig in!

Mesquite Cakes

1/2 cup mesquite meal (fine grind, mesquite bean pods)
1 cup whole wheat flour or corn meal
Some salt, maybe about 1/4 tsp.
Some water, varies, enough to make a dough

Mix the mesquite meal, flour or corn meal, and salt together Add water till you have a nice soft bread dough consistency. Cover the bowl and let sit overnight. Next day heat up a heavy cast iron griddle or skillet put in a bit of oil and spread it around. Take a ball of dough (walnut size to tennis ball size depending on how big a cake you want) and roll it out on a corn-meal-dusted board to the thickness you like. Cook till golden brown on both sides. You can serve spread with honey, or you can roll it up with beans inside and call it a burrito.

Note: If you don't have any mesquite trees handy, you can get the meal online from Cocinadevega.com or desertusa.com. Serves two.

Bean Bread

1 cup of cornmeal
½ cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
2 cups milk
1/4 cup melted shortening
1 beaten egg
2 tbsp honey
4 cups drained brown beans

Mix all of these ingredients, except beans, thoroughly, and then fold in the beans. Pour into greased, heated pan. Bake at 450 until brown (usually 30 minutes or so)

Fried Hominy

2 strips of good bacon
2 cups of hominy
2 or 3 green onion

Fry bacon while cutting green onions into small pieces. Crumble bacon, and add onions. When the onions start appearing to be frying, add hominy and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes first on high heat, then on low.

Grape Dumplings

1 cup flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
2 rsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp shortening
1/2 cup grape juice

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and shortening. Add juice and mix into stiff dough. Roll dough very thin on floured board and cut into strips ½" wide (or roll dough in hands and break off pea-sized bits). Drop into boiling grape juice and cook for 10 - 12 minutes.

KANUCHI

Kanuchi is a real delicacy to the Cherokees in Oklahoma. A heavy log is hollowed out a few inches in depth. The long heavy stick is used for the pounding, and not that the large end is at the top. This is used as a weight. Kanuchi making takes a lot of effort, but sure is worth it. The instructions for the making of kanuchi follows:

Hickory nuts, gathered in the fall are allowed to dry for a few weeks prior to preparation. The hickory nuts are cracked and the largest pieces of the shells are taken out. You can pick them out by hand or shake the pieces through a loosely woven basket. Usually, both. The nuts (don't worry if there are some small pieces of shell) are put in the 'bowl' of the log, and are pounded until they reach a consistency that can be formed into balls that will hold there shape, about three inches in diameter. They must be kept in a cool place; today, most people freeze them. When you are ready to prepare the kanuchi for serving, put one of the balls in a sauce pan with a quart or so of water. Bring it to a boil, and the ball should dissolve into the water. Simmer about ten minutes, then strain through a sieve. This separates any of the shell that is left. It should simmer until it is about as thick as a light cream. Add two cups of hominy to each quart of kanuchi. Most cooks add some sugar or honey. It should be served hot as a soup.

BAKED CUCUMBERS

Ingredients:
4 cucumbers, peeled and quartered, lengthwise
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 teaspoon dill seed, crushed
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Place a layer of cucumbers in the bottom of an 8" x 8" x 2" baking dish and dot with half of the butter or margarine. Mix together the seasonings, and sprinkle half over the layer of cucumbers. Add a second layer of cucumbers, dot with butter, and sprinkle with remaining seasonings. Bake, uncovered, in a hot oven (400º F) for 1 hour. Stir cucumbers lightly once, pushing the top layers to the bottom and lifting the bottom cucumbers to the top. Serve hot.

CHEROKEE STYLE SQUIRREL OR RABBIT STEW

Ingredients:
5 Rabbits or 4 Squirrels (disjointed)
1 can of corn
½ lb. Salt pork
1 Can or jar of canned tomatoes
2 lb. Onions chopped
1 lb. Lima Beans (optional)
3 Medium Potatoes, cut in pieces
Salt
Pepper
Flour

Directions:
Put meat in big kettle with water, do not fill to the top. Boil until meat is tender. Remove meat from kettle, remove meat from bones. Put all other ingredients back in with the stock. Cook for 1 1/2 hours, thicken with flour if desired. Will serve a large family.

Good with fry bread and honey (but then... everything is!)

ANASZAI BEANS
Offered by Dawn Conner... who learned this from Adobe Milling Co., Dove Creek, Colorado. Where they grow the 'ancient' bean.

Ingredients:
2 Cups Dry Beans And Water For Cooking
1 Large Onion
Ham (We Cook The Bone After Having Baked Ham, But You Can Use A Ham Hock Or Two)
LOTS Of Garlic (To Taste In Other Words)
Salt And Pepper

Preparation:
Cook bend till nearly done keeping them covered with water the whole time. Add ham and the coarsely chopped onion and all the garlic your significant other can stand to smell on you. Continue to cook till the beans are done. The bone cooked till the meat falls off is the best, cause you get all that broth too.

Note: we can never know how the Anasazi prepared this. but this is the best beans I have ever tasted in my life! not much gas either, which is a plus!

Servings: Five-Ten

SLAMMIN' FRYBREAD!
Offered by A Friend - originated at Nooksack grandma's house on Friday nights! ~

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
4 tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup oil(vegetable)
1 cup warm water (add as needed)
1 egg
1 1/2 spoonfuls sugar
Oil deep enough for frybread to float, eh!

Preparation:
Okay, I find being prayerful and full of love the first ingredient you need, so get some of that... In a good size bowl mix flour, bakin' powder, and salt real good add all ingredients in the middle of bowl (seems to work better). In a good size cup get warm water, sugar and egg; mix together. It really has to be beaten really good so the mixture looks bubbly (full of some air) - then let it settle. Add that to flour and start to knead, adding more warm water as necessary. You want the cooking oil @ 350 degrees, start heating it up. when dough is just done getting kneading. So dough is kneaded real good, right! of course right... Pull fist size balls of dough and roll into balls (dough should be sticky yet doesn't stick to hands...). put them in bowl, let stand for ten minutes (that's when I start making wojapi, or cutting up what I need for tacos!! *smile*). When oil starts talking and ten minutes have passed, get a ball and flatten it reeeeeal good, take your time, some say this is where it all happens, put hole into dough and drop into oil, it should float right away, and flip it over until both sides are golden brown. Finish all the breads up and when they're done cooking put em' in a towel or something to keep them warm, and drain excess oil... and there it is, some slammin' frybread! uuuuuweeeeee!

Note: Note: If bread isn't cooked right it is too doughy, if it is cooked right it is fluffy and tasty, and just right for the whole families bellies... so take your time and realize it takes time to get a good frybread recipe down... no worries - eh!

Oh yeah, the reason we added an egg was this, my father tells me it is so funny the way people make white bread, it has no substance, so put the egg in it so some goodness goes in, some protein, so it isn't empty bread... this I believe to be true.

Servings: Three - Four

FRIED SAGE AND MUSHROOM SAUCE FOR PASTA
Offered by Laura Grabhorn ~ Haida, Tlingit - Mom, Pearl is from Klawock, Alaska Mink Clan... who made it up

Ingredients:
About 25 Sage Leaves (Wash, Pat Dry, Set Aside)
1 Pound Sliced Mushrooms (Chantrelle, Shitake, Or Button)
1/4 Cup Butter
1/4 Cup Flour
Salt And Pepper To Taste
1 Head Garlic (Or Less To Taste, Peeled And Sliced)
Angel Hair Pasta Or Thin Spaghetti. 12 Oz Dry For 3-4 People

Preparation:
Place 4 quarts of water in a large kettle, add a bit of canola oil. Heat the water to boiling for pasta while you prepare the sauce.Melt 1/8 cup of the butter. Add sage leaves and fry until they are crisp. Remove and place on clean paper towel. Melt the rest of the butter. Add sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. When mushrooms are slightly toasty around the edges add the sliced garlic. Stir mixture and cook just until garlic is fragrant. Remove and put in a bowl.Throw your pasta into the kettle of boiling water.Mix enough water with the flour to form a smooth paste. Set aside.Add about 1/2 cup water to hot pan and use a wooden spatula or spoon to scrape mushroom bits from bottom of the pan. Heat the water to boiling. Gradually add flour paste and stir until you have a smooth sauce. Add the mushroom mixture to reheat.Reduce heat to simmer.Drain pasta. Place pasta on plates. Spoon up the mushroom sauce. Scatter fried sage on top. Serve.

Note: This recipe would easily accommodate bits of smoked salmon or other smoked fish (what wouldn't be good with smoked fish?

Servings: Three - Four

SQUASH OR PUMPKIN BLOSSOM FRITTERS (Pueblo style) serves 4 - 6

Rinse and pat blossoms dry. In a shallow bowl, beat eggs with milk, chili, salt, cumin. Dip blossoms in egg mix, then roll gentle in cornmeal. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to set coating. Heat 2 " of oil in a deep saucepan to hot but not smoking (375°). Fry blossoms a few at a time until golden, drain on paper towels. Keep warm in 250° oven until ready to serve.

Only in the southwest are the blossoms of squash and pumpkin important as a regligious symbol, as well as food. They appear as sacred symbols in many Pueblo ceremonies, and gave rise to a popular design worked in silver. There is a Hopi Squash Kachina (Patung). He is Chief Kachina (wuya) for the Hopi Pumpkin Clan. He runs with men of a village in spring ceremonial dances to attract rain clouds. The Hopis and Pueblo farmers gather large quantities of squash and pumpkin flowers at the end of the growing season, when these flowers cannot make fruit; that's the time white farmers harvest their curcurbitae and pull up or plow under the still-flowering vines.

ROOT BEER CRANBERRIES

Ingredients:

Hint: For 4 portions of mousse...whip 2 pints heavy whipping cream ( the heavier the better ) until cream is stiff. Fold in 1 cup root beer/cranberries. In 4 tall glasses, layer the cream mixture with the root beer/cranberries to the desired fullness.

SWEET POTATO CAKES - Servings: 10-12
Classification: Traditional / Nation/Tribe: Unknown

Ingredients
4 large sweet potatoes
3 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon cooking oil

Directions
Parboil the potatoes until tender; peel and mash them. Mix in the eggs, salt and pepper. Heat the oil on a large griddle until a drop of water sizzles; drop the potato "batter" from a large spoon, and brown on both sides. As you turn the pancakes, flatten them out with a spatula slightly. Add more oil to the griddle as needed. This recipe will make about 15 cakes 3" in diameter. Serve hot with butter and, if you like, honey.

THREE SISTERS CASSEROLE

1 pound frozen whole kernel corn
1 pound frozen green beans
4 cups summer squash, diced (about 1 pound)
1 pint fat free sour cream
1/2 Cup egg substitute, beaten
4 tablespoons margarine, melted
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup Jalapeno peppers, diced
1/2 cup reduced fat Montery Jack cheese, diced
Vegetable oil spray

In a large mixing bowl, mix sour cream and egg substitute together. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Coat a baking pan or casserole dish with vegetable oil spray and fill with mixture. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes until golden brown.

Yield: l0 (1 cup) servings