The Kitchen Door

What’s a sopapilla? What?! You have never had a delicious New Mexican fried bread called a sopapilla?! Oh my word… you must vow never to eat another morsel of food until you have. VOW IT! You’ll be glad you did because well… we’re talking sopapillas here. I was raised on these things (man oh man, chubby kid mystery totally solved). Oh well, painful 6th grade memories aside (ooo that Scott Johnson, name caller!), you’ve gotta eat these for dinner, with dinner and as dessert after dinner. And if someone calls you a name… so what… that’s nothing that a sopapilla with honey can’t solve.

Served with beans, potatoes, cheese, red or green chile and meat of your choosing they are also known as Navajo Tacos and make the yummiest dinner.

Drizzle some honey on them and experience the traditional New Mexican way of eating them after dinner.  YUM!

Sopapillas

This will make about 4 dozen medium sized sopas.

The Ingredients

• 4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons shortening
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• Oil for deep fat frying

The Instructions

1. Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and cut in shortening (I use my hands, for more instruction see tortilla tutorial in photo section of the group page). Making sopapilla masa (dough) is just like making tortilla masa.
2. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Add water to dry ingredients and work into dough. Use a little water at a time. Somedays you will need more and somedays you will need less. That's just the nature of masa. As you get some practice you'll be able to get a feel for it.
3.  Knead dough until smooth, cover, and set aside for 20 minutes. While dough is resting, start heating your oil.
4. Heat 3 or so inches of canola oil in a heavy pan (with high sides... like a dutch oven) at medium-high heat.
5. Roll dough to a about 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured board.
6. Cut dough... I usually roll the dough in a circle (like a tortilla) and then cut the circle into fourths... ending up with 4 triangle shaped pieces. Fry until golden on both sides, turning once. Test to see if the oil is hot enough with a little scrap of dough. It should rapidly sizzle, puff and turn brown. If it just lays there... the oil is not hot enough. If oil is sufficiently hot, the sopapillas will puff and become hollow shortly after being placed in the shortening. To aide the "puffing" (and I always do), using a metal spoon, gently but quickly baste the hot oil onto the tops of the frying sopas. This will make them puff nicely. Fry only one or two at a time.
7. Drain sopapillas on paper towels to blot up oils.
8. Stuff them with beans and fried potatoes, cheese and red chile. Then for dessert stuff them with honey. Sopapillas are all about stuffing... or so it would seem because whenever I make them we stuff our faces with them.

Enjoy! :)  PS. Keep dogs, kids, and crazies out of the kitchen when working with hot oil. :)

By: The Kitchen Door

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