My Food Fantasia
  • Welcome!
  • Air Frying
  • Main Dishes - Menu
  • Appetizers & Beverages
  • Desserts & Sweets
  • Grill Time!
  • Seafood and Fish
  • Side Dishes
  • Soups & Stews
  • Pressure Cooking
  • Contact
  • Welcome!
  • Air Frying
  • Main Dishes - Menu
  • Appetizers & Beverages
  • Desserts & Sweets
  • Grill Time!
  • Seafood and Fish
  • Side Dishes
  • Soups & Stews
  • Pressure Cooking
  • Contact
My Food Fantasia

Air Frying

Air Fryer Indian Fry Bread

4/17/2017

5 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
I’ve always loved Indian fry bread! Growing up in the upper Midwest, Navajo tacos made with this delicious bread are a common meal in homes and restaurants. The bread is a simple dough that is rolled out, stretched thinly into a teardrop or oval shape, and then deep-fat fried to golden-brown perfection. When the bread is fried, it puffs up with fluffy air pockets. To serve it in its most popular form as a taco, top it with your favorite ingredients — seasoned meat, cheese, lettuce, pinto beans, tomatoes, or whatever your tastebuds desire. It can also be served as a dessert bread — with powdered sugar, honey, jelly/jam, fruit preserves, etc.

I wondered if there was a way to make this healthier, skipping "frying in oil" and instead using my air fryer. After a lot of research, I finally found ONE recipe that was a good starting point. However, the ingredients, directions, and the cooking time weren't quite right. I was determined to figure out how to make this work in my air fryer...and I love the end results!

For this recipe, I used my KitchenAid stand mixer to make the bread dough, but you could also hand-mix and knead. Note that I’ve listed using 4 cups of flour in the recipe…but if the dough is still too sticky, you may need to add a bit more flour (a tablespoon at a time) so the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl, which is the perfect consistency.

A quick note about proofing the yeast... “Proofing” is a term used for “proving” that the yeast is alive and active by adding warm water to activate it. Proofed/alive yeast will form a froth that looks like bubbling sludge. I add a pinch or two of granulated sugar to the yeast/warm water, which helps "feed" the yeast to jumpstart the proofing/bubbling. If the yeast doesn’t respond after 15 minutes, the yeast is likely “dead” and shouldn’t be used.

This is seriously one of the easiest doughs that I've ever worked with. I love the elasticity and ease of rolling/shaping. Just a little brushing of olive oil when placing the dough into the air fryer made it brown beautifully…and no other use of oil was involved (yippee for no deep-fat frying!!). I hope you’ll love this recipe and have great success making Indian fry bread in your air fryer!

Air Fryer Indian Fry Bread
I package active dry yeast
2 big pinches granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2/3 cup milk
1-1/2 tablespoons butter-flavored Crisco shortening
1 egg, beaten
4 cups all-purpose flour (possibly a bit, more if needed)
Extra virgin olive oil (for brushing on dough)

In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and salt; set aside. Combine milk and shortening in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until shortening just begins to melt and bubbles form around the edges (do not boil). Remove from heat, and cool to about 105°F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the dough/bread hook, combine yeast mixture and milk mixture. Let stand for for 10 minutes. Add egg and 1-1/2 cups of flour. Mix until combined. Continue adding flour, stopping mixer and scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the dough forms into a ball and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. (Add additional flour if needed, one tablespoon at a time, until consistency is reached.) Place dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover with a towel. Allow dough to rest for 1 to 2 hours (depending on the temperature of the location where it's rising) until it has doubled in size.

Lightly coat bottom of air fryer basket with olive oil. Set air fryer to 360°F and allow it to preheat for about 3 minutes. Break off a golfball-sized ball of dough and roll flat on a lightly floured surface. Brush top of rolled out pieces of dough with olive oil. Place dough pieces (2 or 3 at a time, so they aren't overlapping) into the basket of the air fryer (oiled side down) and brush top of dough with oil. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes; then flip and cook about another 3 to 4 minutes (until puffy and browned). Repeat with remaining dough. Enjoy!

Note: The cooked fry bread can also be frozen and then simply reheated in the microwave.
​

{Adapted from recipe posted by the Idaho Potato Commission}
5 Comments

Air Fryer 101

4/7/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Air fryers (AFs) have been around for more than a decade, but their popularity has soared in the past few years — in part due to the health benefit of being able to cook amazing food with little to no oil. Yup...that's right...little to no oil! Pretty much anything you can grill, bake, or fry, you can also cook it in an AF.

There are many, MANY different AF brand names on the market, as well as different sizes. The larger the AF, the more food you can cook at one time. Regardless of the brand name, they all function the same: they are basically countertop “mini convection ovens.” They have a heating element at the top, a fan, an outer basket holder that holds a nonstick inner food basket, a temperature selection button (or knob), and a timer.

Picture
​When the basket of food is inserted into the AF, rapid hot air technology circulates air inside the AF. This allows cooking at a lower temperature than would be needed using other cooking methods (about 25 to 30 degrees lower temperature is used for an AF), and the cook time is significantly reduced (sometimes by half). Foods cooked in the AF will brown and crisp up beautifully. Some foods can be cooked without adding any oils (including frozen items like egg rolls, french fries & tater tots, onion rings, breaded chicken & fish fillets, etc.). Some foods need to be simply brushed or spritzed with an oil of your choice, or lightly misted with cooking spray (including uncooked chicken, homemade fries & hash browns, homemade breaded fried chicken or fish, homemade egg rolls, roasted vegetables, etc.). Ovenproof dishes or pans (including silicone) that fit inside the AF can be used to cook things like meatloaf, scampi, frittatas, or even cake or brownies!

One question I hear often is, “Can I fry wet-battered food [tempura] in the AF?” Well, sadly that is one of the few things doesn’t work well in an AF. However, anything with a dry breading will “fry up” beautifully!

​Some AFs have pre-programmed buttons for cooking various foods such as french fries, fish, chicken, steak, and cakes. The highest temperature setting for many AFs is 400 degrees, but the overall temperature range is perfectly suitable for almost anything you would like to cook. The AF also has a very short preheating time — I typically allow mine to preheat for about 3 minutes before loading the basket with food. Most (but not all) foods will need to be flipped/turned halfway through the cooking time (or by removing and shaking the basket, in the case of foods like french fries or tater tots). After cooking, the food basket and basket holder clean up easily — the baskets of many different AF models are rated as “dishwasher safe.”


I bought my first AF in October 2016 — a black 3.2-quart Farberware (1,300 watts) from Walmart ($79.99 plus tax). I jumped right into using it and was immediately in awe of this kitchen gem! As the love for my AF and my confidence grew, I decided that I wanted another AF…a bigger one! In early March 2017, I ordered a white 5.3-quart Farberware XL Digital (1,700 watts) online from Walmart ($99.99 plus tax, free S&H). I know…seems excessive, right?! Hahaha! Well, it was a brilliant decision on my part, because now I can use both AFs at the same time to prepare meals. Also, the larger AF has a divider that can be placed into the basket so two different foods can be cooked at the same time. 
I can honestly say that I am over the moon about my AFs, and I highly recommend this handy gadget (regardless of what brand name it is). The health benefit is real (in regard to little to no oil needed), they are super easy to use/easy cleanup, cooking time is quicker, and the quality of the food is amazing.

I’ll be sharing various recipes from my AF adventures, as well as pictures that will make your mouth water. If you see blog posts that pique your interest and/or if you have comments or questions, please feel free to ask! ​​
0 Comments

    Archives

    April 2017

    Categories

    All

© COPYRIGHT 2016. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.