Meatballs and Frybread

Meatballs on Frybread

Makes 15 Meatballs

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 Lb Ground Beef

½ Lb Ground Pork

3 Stalks Parsley

2 Pinches Salt

5 Cloves Garlic

2/3 Cup of Mozzarella Cheese

¼ Cup Water

6 Tb Bread Crumbs

½ Ts Black Pepper

Olive Oil For Cooking

Frybread

½ Ts Baking Soda

¾ Cup Water

1 Tb Sugar

1 Tb + 1 Ts Melted Butter

2 Ts Yeast

2 Cup Flour

Pinch Salt

Olive Oil For Cooking

Sauce

4 Pounds Tomatoes, Stemmed, pureed

4 Tb Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tb Chopped Basil

1 Tb Sugar

1 Tb Lemon Juice

Salt to Taste

Directions

Sauce

Mix all of the ingredients for the sauce in a large mixing bowl and then place it in a large pot on low.  Allow the sauce to reduce by about ¼ to 1/3.  You should see the sauce go from a light red color to a richer, darker red color. 

Frybread

Bloom yeast by mixing it with the sugar and warm water.  Allow this mixture to sit for 5 minutes until it starts to foam at the top.

Place the other ingredients into a large mixing bowl and then mix in the water/sugar/yeast mixture. 

Knead this dough with your hands until all of the ingredients are mixed in.  You will probably need to knead for about 5 minutes.  The consistency of the dough should be slightly sticky.  The dough will also have a slight sheen due to the addition of the butter.  Once the dough has been mixed and kneaded, allow it to rise for 1 hour.

Separate the dough into about 10 pieces and roll them out into rounds with about a 6 inch diameter.

Then, place each piece of dough in a frying pan with about 2 Tb of Olive Oil on medium-low.  Cook on each side until it is golden brown.  Also, just be certain that the center is fully cooked.  This may take a little practice. 

Meatballs

Mix the garlic cloves and parsley with the water and blend them in a blender.  Take this mélange and mix it with the other ingredients for the meatballs. 

Use your hands to mix the ingredients until they are evenly spread and mixed together. 

Then, separate the meatball mixture into 15 separate spheres. 

Lastly, brown the meatballs on high in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil.  Do not cook the meat balls through.  They should just be brown on the outside.  Also, it is probably wise to brown the meatballs in batches of 5.  Otherwise, the skillet cools down and the meatballs will not be properly browned. 

After your meatballs are browned, place them in the pot with the tomato sauce.  Cook the sauce in meatballs on low for about a half hour until the meatballs are cooked through.

Serve the meatballs with the fry bread.  You can either eat this with a fork and knife or you can use the fry bread to make wraps with the meatballs.  

Baozi

(An American’s Take on Baozi)

Baozi are small Chinese steamed buns/ dumplings.  They can be filled with meat or vegetables.

This recipe makes 7 Baozi

Ingredients

Dough

3 Cups Flour

1 Tb Oil

1 Cup Warm Water

1 Tb Yeast

1 Tb Sugar

½ Tb Baking Soda

Pinch Salt

Filling

1 Small Tomato, Seeded, Chopped

½ Onion (Rough Cut)

½ Pound of Ground Pork

¼ Pound of Ground Beef

100 G Cheddar Cheese, Grated

Pinch Salt

1 Tb Basil, Chopped

1 Tb Olive Oil

1 Tb Soy Sauce

1 Tb Chili Paste

Directions

Dough

Bloom yeast by mixing it with the sugar and warm water.  Allow this mixture to sit for 5 minutes until it starts to foam at the top.

Place the other ingredients into a large mixing bowl and then mix in the water/sugar/yeast mixture. 

Knead this dough with your hands until all of the ingredients are mixed in.  You will probably need to knead for about 5 minutes.  The consistency of the dough should be slightly sticky.  Once the dough has been mixed and kneaded, allow it to rise for 1 hour.

After the dough has risen, separate it into 7 separate pieces.

Filling

In another large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the filling.  Stir all of the ingredients together until they are evenly spread out.

Filling the Baozi

Roll one of the pieces of dough on a floured surface to a 6 inch diameter.  Then, position your right hand, pretending to hold a glass.  Next, place the Baozi dough on top of your thumb and index fingers.  The middle of the dough will sag in the middle (where a glass normally would be if you were holding a glass).  Thus, the dough is resting in a concave fashion on your hand.

In the middle of the dough, place 1 Tb to 1 ½ Tb of filling.

Lastly, pinch the four “corners” to the top to seal the dumpling.

Before steaming your buns, allow them to rise again for about 15 minutes.  This will let them be fluffier.

Steaming

The buns should then be steamed in a steamer for about 6 to 7 minutes.  Make sure the dough and meat are cooked through.  Also, make sure to cook the dumpling on a piece of parchment or foil.  It is possible that they will stick without this.