What Some Native Chefs Are Cooking

The Mitsitam Cafe’s Mexican Hot Chocolate
1 gallon milk
1/2 stick mexican or regular cinnamon
3 pcs arbol chilies
1 pc pasilla pepper, or dried poblano
1 cup sugar
3 pieces mexican chocolate
1 cup cocoa powder
Heat milk with cinnamon and dried peppers. Once milk has scalded, remove
cinnamon and dried peppers, and remove from heat. Break up Mexican
chocolate into small pieces. Whisk in sugar, cocoa powder and Mexican
chocolate pieces. Place the combined chocolate milk on heat, and whisk
until it simmers. Serve immediately. Yield: serves 4-5

The Mitsitam Cafe’s Chocolate And Coconut Soup,
1 pc medium white onion, diced
2 pcs medium shallots, diced
3 pcs dried pasilla negro chile peppers
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups heavy cream
1 14 oz. can of coconut milk
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (74 percent)
for garnish:
1 pc green plantain
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
garnished with cocoa-dusted plantains
For the soup, sauté onions, shallots and the dried chiles until
translucent. Add cream and half-and-half; bring to a boil. Remove from heat
and add chocolate. Whisk until blended. Add coconut milk. Puree in
blender. Season lightly with salt.
For garnish, peel a green plantain and slice fruit into thin discs. Lightly
deep fry until crispy. Stir together cocoa and sugar, and use the mixture
to lightly coat the fried plantain chips. Scatter the cocoa-coated chips
atop each serving of soup. Yield: serves 3-4

Pinetines
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 pc egg
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted, finely chopped
In a small bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in
a egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, and cardamom. Add to the creamed
mixture . Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Shape into 1-inch
balls. Roll in the chopped nuts. Place 2 inches apart onto greased baking
sheets. Bake at 350 F for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to
wire rack to cool. Yield: makes 3 dozen

Pine Nut Rice Dressing
1 cup wild rice cooked
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tblsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 pc egg, beaten
paprika
The actual time and temperature required for roasting depend on how much
moisture is still in the nuts. The more moisture, the longer the nuts take
to roast. The pinenut meat is very sweet and tastes every so slightly of
the forest. Once roasted they are a light butterscotch color. However,
there are lots of different tastes and methods for roasting pine nuts. A
few roasting methods

Pine Nut Brittle
nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons pine nuts
Spray heavy large baking sheet with vegetable oil spray. Stir sugar and
water in heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves.
Increase heat and boil without stirring until syrup turns deep golden,
occasionally brushing down sides of pan with pastry brush dipped into water
and swirling pan, about 7 minutes. Immediately pour out mixture onto
prepared baking sheet, sprinkle with pine nuts. Working quickly and
carefully (mixture is very hot and hardens fast), press tip of knife into
edges of caramel sheet and gently stretch in all directions until caramel
becomes thin and transparent. Cool completely. Break brittle into irregular
large pieces. (Brittle can be prepared 3 days ahead. Store in airtight
container at room temperature.)

Native Tea Biscuits
1 cup butter
1 cup milk
4 pcs eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tarter
Mix all ingredients together. Make into a thin loaf and bake in flat,
greased pan. Break into chunks. Serve warm with butter and honey.
Oven: 350 F
Time: 30 minutes (check after 20 min.)

Native Salmon Pinion Patties
14.75 ounce can salmon OR
11/2 cups cooked salmon pieces,firmly packed)
1 teaspoon olive or canola oil
1 pc medium onion, chopped
2/3 cup crumbled corn chips*
2 pcs large egg, beaten
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or
11/2 tablespoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts chopped**
2 teaspoons olive or canola oil
*Add corn chips to a small food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form
**(toast by heating in nonstick frying pan over medium heat until lightly
brown—about 2 minutes)
1. Drain salmon, picking out any pieces of bones or skin, and flake
what is left. Add the salmon flakes to a large mixing bowl.
2. Add 1 teaspoon oil to a small nonstick frying pan and heat over
medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, turning often, until golden and
tender.
3. Add onions to the salmon in mixing bowl, along with half of the
corn chip crumbs (1/3 cup), beaten egg, egg substitute, parsley, and
spices and beat on low speed to blend. Add chopped pine nuts and briefly
beat on low speed until mixed in.
4. Shape the mixture into 6 patties (about 1/2-inch thick). Press
both sides of each patty into the remaining corn chip crumbs to lightly
coat.
5. Begin to heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 2
teaspoons of oil and spread evenly in the pan. Cook the patties until
nicely browned on both sides.
Yield: 3 servings

Native Potato Pudding
3 pcs large potatoes
3 pcs eggs (separated)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup cream
1/2 pc fresh lemon (juice squeezed, and ri; nd grated)
4-5 slices of buttered bread
1 can sweetened apple sauce
2 pcs eggs
1 pint milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
Boil, mash and cool the potatoes. Mix with egg yolks. When well blended,
add egg whites, (which have been well beaten and combined with sugar)
flour, salt, cream, and lemon, juice and grated rind. Bake in a buttered
dish until firm. Serve with sugar and cream. Also, they are good when they
are topped with fresh berries, sweetened and crushed.
Oven: 350 F
Time: 30 minutes (or until firm)
Line the bottom of a pudding dish with buttered bread and cover with apple
sauce. Repeat until dish is half-full, finishing the layering with the
bread on top. Mix eggs, milk, sugar, and salt. Pour this mixture over bread
and sauce. Bake until set. Serve cold with cream, sugar, and nutmeg
gratings or cinnamon.

Native Cranberry-Nut Muffins
1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup honey
2 pcs beaten eggs
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. grated orange rind
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chopped cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Cream margarine and honey. Add the eggs, orange juice, and rind. Mix in the
flour, baking powder, and salt. Then, add the cranberries and the walnuts.
Bake in oiled muffin tin. Oven: 350 F Time: 35 minutes

Native Apple Snow
10 pcs apples
1 cup water
grated rind of 1 lemon
10 pcs eggs (separated)
1 cup granulated sugar
Peel and core apples. Simmer in water with lemon rind until tender. Put
through colander and cool. Take egg whites, beat to a stiff froth, and fold
into apples. Add sugar, and continue beating until stiff. Serve in a glass
dish with either custard sauce made with the egg yolks, or whipped cream.
This is good enough for a party when served with ladyfingers, snow cake, or
sponge cake.

Maple Apple Buffalo Sausage
1 T. canola oil
1/2 yellow onion, minced
1/2 pound mild pork sausage
1/2 pound buffalo ground
1 granny smith apple, peeled and finely chop; ped
2 T. maple syrup
1 T. minced fresh sage
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the canola oil in small sauté pan over medium heat an add onion.
Sauté for 5 to 6 minutes or until tender. Remove onion to a bowl using
a slotted spoon, reserving pan drippings. Mix sausage. buffalo, apple,
syrup, sage, sautéed onion, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Divide
sausage mixture into twelve equal portions and shape each portion into
a patty. Cook patties in reserved pan drippings until cooked through
and brown. Drain. Yield: makes 11/2 doze

Corn Chip Cookies
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c shortening
1 ea egg
1 c flour
1/2 ts soda
1/2 ts vanilla
1/2 c crushed corn chips
1/2 c chopped pine nuts
Cream sugar, shortening and egg. Stir in flour, soda and vanilla. Mix
well. Add chips and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie
sheet. Bake 10 minutes.

Cactus Fruit Jelly
6-10 pcs red-ripe prickly pear cactus fruits; (tuna)
1/2 cup lemon juice
4 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 package liquid fruit pectin (3 fluid ounce)
The Tohono O'Odham in southern Arizona harvest this fruit every year.
You should have enough fruit to make 3 1/2 cups of juice. Carefully remove
thorns from fruit by wiping with a paper towel and then brushing with a
vegetable brush under water. Put fruit in a saucepan with enough water to
cover. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Pour off water and discard. Mash or pur e
fruit through a strainer lined with doubled cheesecloth. Strain juice into
a large measuring cup. Let juice sit for at least 30 minutes to allow
sediment to settle to the bottom. Pour off juice carefully. You should have
3 1/2 cups. In a saucepan combine fruit juice, lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. Stir in pectin and boil for 1 minute longer. Remove from heat. Stir and skim foam off the top. Spoon into sterilized jelly jars and
seal.