Smithy

Lunch, using almost the last of the greens. More to the point, I want to show these labni balls that I picked up at the Babylon Market last fall in Tucson. The little cheeses are rolled in a bit of red pepper - enough for a little kick, but not enough to suggest a demolition crew - and then stored in vegetable oil. I hope we can buy more when we go back through Tucson.

I'm sure I had a specific reason in mind to buy this pork prime rib roast back in January. It's a little shy of 2 pounds, with a bit of marbling but nothing like a pork shoulder roast would have. I probably intended to pursue a citrus-marinated pork roast, for which many recipes abound. I probably intended it for company that has come and gone. I have forgotten the original plan, but the roast has been reproaching me from the freezer. It was never wrapped for long-term freezer storage. Was freezer burn setting in? It was time for action. We're nearing the end of our citrus. While it pains me to juice it and exhaust the supply more quickly, I know the fruit won't hold well much longer. Navel oranges, minneola tangelos and a satsuma or two gave their lives to the marinade. Olive oil, cumin, ground ancho chili and oregano augmented the mix. (The green juicer at the top of the picture is what jumped out at me from the shelves a couple of days ago. It makes a horrid clatter but doesn't hurt much if it lands on someone. Mostly it makes a mess if it lands in a cat food dish.) I decided to save roughly half the roast to try it as a roast; the other half was cut into chunks for the night's dinner. You can see in the top picture: the meat wasn't especially fatty, but it didn't look too dry either. All of the meat went into its bath. I wanted beans for dinner, and selected some of @rancho_gordo's Lila beans. These beans are beautiful. I bought them as a new product with my last shipment because I liked the description of the beans and of the Rancho Gordo - Xoxoc project, whence these come. The description sounded like something that would work well in this dish. Besides that, his notes indicate that they should probably be cooked fairly young, and I've had them a few months already. (Disclaimer: I do not have a commercial interest in Rancho Gordo products. I just like 'em, and I like the business mission.) I got the beans simmering on the stove with onions and celery greens, and we went for a ride. I've mentioned before that the flower blossoms are behind their usual schedule. Is that because it's been cooler than usual? We don't know, but we were finally rewarded by a prickly pear that's decided it's time. Back at home, the dinner plan was burritos: a refrigerator-clearing exercise of washing and chopping every pepper, every stalk of celery, and nearly every stray green I could find. Part of a tube of tomato paste made it into the pepper mix as well. We're going shopping in a couple of days; after 2 weeks of not shopping we actually have empty space on our refrigerator shelves, but I want the strays gone before I replenish. The pepper mix got cooked down while the pork chunks drained from their bath. I don't have any pictures of the beans cooking; it didn't look very photogenic. I simply kept adding water until they were nearly soft, then added salt to taste, mashed some and let them cook down. One of the interesting things about these beans was that they continued to thicken long after I'd turned the heat off. I added more water, stirred a bit, added yet more water and heat, and ended up with a fine, creamy texture. Was it the best use for these beans? I don't know, but I know we liked them. I also don't have pictures of the pork chunks cooking. Basically, I gave them a quick sear after everything else was ready. Too much marinade still clung to them to let them brown fully, and I didn't want to dry them out, so it was a quick cook in a hot pan. The last of our current batch of tortillas went into the burritos. We buy the large tortillas for burritos grandes and still, almost inevitably, overstuff them. The first ones we managed to get rolled up into Dagwoodesque parodies of the real deal, too big to be graceful hand food. We gave up for the second helpings, and used forks and spoons.

You can also find tamarind in blocks of the pulp (usually with seeds mixed in). Middle Eastern markets are another place to look. Here's a fairly extended discussion you may find useful: Tamarind

Thanks for this insider's perspective. I have ordered from web retailers and winced at the shipping, but not understood the ins and outs of it. One retailer for a cheese I adore has such prohibitively high shipping costs that I simply have to wait until I can buy from them in person, once or twice a year. In their case the need for insulated cold-pack packaging and 1- or 2-day delivery (I forget which, but they said it's dictated by Health Dept. regulations) makes out-of-state shipment prices astronomical.

Welcome, Dante! I take it your fast-paced kitchen environment work wasn't part of your military duty. Can you tell us more about it? Do you cook for yourself on Base, and if so, what?

Whenever I start seeing empty space in my refrigerator shelves, I start thinking about all the things I can't cook until I go shopping. This topic, and the Challenge: cook your way through your freezer topic, help me see just how many things I CAN cook without going to the store. The glass becomes half-full, thanks to your collective inspiration. Thanks, folks.

@robirdstx, we still haven't managed to put San Antonio on our route when we travel through Texas. You're giving me extra incentive to change that.

We aren't quite ready to leave the desert yet - actually, we can't, due to scheduled warranty repair on the pickup - but the holding tanks were nearing capacity and the generator was getting low on fuel. We packed the trailer enough to move it without broken crockery, and made the trip to a trailer dump and fueling station. This process isn't as arduous as breaking camp entirely; the camp stove, campfire cooking gear, coolers and so on stay at camp. Even this simple packing-up takes a bit over an hour. Away we went to take care of business. 3 hours later we were back and had re-established ourselves with a slightly different orientation than before. (The theory was that it would give better wind protection, but at the moment I'm not so sure.) Only one object jumped out at me when I opened a cupboard incautiously. It was my citrus juicer: light plastic, and not easily breakable, although it startled the 4-footed occupants and brought an exclamation from me. I should have learned the drill by now! All that done, we eschewed the customary midday green salad for tuna salad sandwiches. I like to mix water-packed and oil-packed tuna. Hard-steamed eggs, lemon, and the last of the Duke's mayonnaise that I picked up in Texas went into the mix, then onto slices of sourdough. My darling is a Miracle Whip guy (nobody's perfect); his sandwich is on the left. Pickles from home. I'm not sure yet what dinner will be. It will probably be leftover Thai turkey meatballs and vegetables from the eG Cook-Off 75: Meatballs topic, discussed in more detail here.

I like the Flying Monkey glass.

We celebrated Fat Tuesday, sort of, thanks to this topic. I had made sourdough bread earlier in the day, and we had rolls from that batch with a supper of dirty rice (Zatarain's) with chopped chard (don't tell my darling) disguised in it and Farmer John's Hot Louisiana Brand (made in California!) sausage. It's been raining off and on, and the desert is unusually green, although the flowers seem to be behind schedule. Yesterday the sky cleared enough for a good view of the moon and Venus, just after sunset. It's hardly the same as going to a Mardi Gras celebration, but we enjoyed it. The coyotes did too, judging by their yips and yelps later in the evening.

We settled for Zatarain's Dirty Rice (dinner in a box!), augmented by chopped greens and Farmer John's Hot Louisiana Brand (made in California!) sausage. Lazy, but satisfying.

Please post pictures of it when you get it. I know of other people who have homemade pits...it should be possible, with the right inspiration and place to dig a hole, for us to make something.

The frost load got out of hand in our freezer, and between grocery store visits I decided to defrost. I've been following the Challenge: cook your way through your freezer topic with great interest and some inspiration, without making a serious attempt to participate yet. (I would like to have an almost-empty freezer by the time we get home this spring.) At least, I thought, the freezer had more empty space than when we started, which looked like this: I emptied, and thawed, and cleaned, and started reorganizing. "Hey", I thought in triumph, "I'm making progress!" Then I stepped backward and almost tripped over another small cooler that was still full. I groaned, and rearranged, and got everything put away. Not as much progress as I'd thought, but at least the refrigerator and freezer are clean.

I'm not sure I'd ever had peperoncini on a pizza before. The next time we hit a grocery store, I bought a jar of 'em. Now I just have to make pizza! Or put them in pasta. Or a salad. Or...

We spent time in Death Valley, as we have for several years running. It was rainy, and when it didn't actually rain at the Valley floor it still was windy and overcast much of the time. We did not worry about overheating. When the weather allowed, we cycled or walked, but we also hunkered down and read, or played music, or (in my case) worked on kitchen projects. The World Market is one of my favorite places to shop in Visalia, largely because we don't have one near our home and I never know what treats I will find. I picked up a pretty rice mix that became dinner with some of our holdover-from-the-Gulf shrimp. Can't say the rice really lived up to the purple hype, but it was tasty enough. Another dinner took care of the Boudin left over from Louisiana. It too was easy to eat, what with eggs and homemade sourdough bread, but the finished dinner belonged in the Gallery of Regrettable Foods. I'm not showing it here; the in-process pic is bad enough. The National Park Service had tree specialists working on the local palm trees while we were there, giving them a severe trim. The sound of the chain saws, cut fans falling, and equipment working added to the noise of the nearby highway. This was the final result: It was pretty enough, but hardly traditional. For reference, here is what the California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera) looks like in the wild: It must be trimmed in order to get passage; the dead fans and stalks are quite rigid. A more traditional trim looks like this: But hey, they didn't ask me. Incidentally, you can see the fruit clusters of this type of palm, hanging from the center tree. They're edible, but apparently a lot of work. The Timbisha Shoshone know what to do with them, but I don't. More changes are afoot as well. The historic Furnace Creek Ranch, with its collection of restaurants, shop, motel and cabins, is scheduled for demolition and replacement beginning this year, right after Easter. It will be utterly gone by our next visit, and we've heard conflicting stories about its replacement. I was dismayed at the news until a shop worker told me that the buildings, which date back to the 1930's, are infested with rats and insects, miserable in the summer heat, and have air quality problems (did she say they had mold? hard to believe there) that were likely health hazards for the employees. We took the opportunity to eat at one of the restaurants two last times. We'd wanted to eat at the more upscale cafe, where they do fabulous things with seafood (in the deep desert - yes, I know) but it was always packed. Instead we ate at the bar and grill next door, where we could admire the memorabilia from movies filmed in the area and have beer delivered to our table. We liked their pizza so much on the first night that we ordered the same thing again on our final night there. Roasted peppers, sausage, pepperoni, onions, jalapeños, cheese, with peperoncini as a garnish. The crust was excellent. Good thing it wasn't far back to our campground.

That boudin king cake looks like a fun idea! I've been noodling around, trying to think what to make, and whether it should be New Orleans flavors or simply the Mardi Gras colors. Whatever it is will need to come out of the freezer soon. I have shrimp that I can do in an a yellow curry sauce (think turmeric); I have a few tomatoes; alas, I can't think of anything for the purple color since I've used up eggplant. Would I violate the spirit of the game if I didn't do Cajun or Creole flavors? Edit: whoops, got the colors wrong. I need something green, not red. Hmm.

chefmd, how did you shave the sprouts? The one time I tried a mandoline it took forever. I don't have a food processory in my current location, and I'm hoping for a "magic bullet" solution - that is, something less labor intensive than hand-slicing with a knife.

This looks gorgeous. I wish I could think of flavor combinations like this when I'm at a loss for dinner and my darling is advocating Polish Sausage and potato salad. Thanks for the inspiration, C!

I may never manage to build/dig/cook over a pit, but I can dream. Where was the temperature measured: at the meat height, or just above the coals?

Thank you, ElsieD! I took the burger recipe above and made it into meatballs, with a couple of adjustments: no lemongrass here, and no Thai bird chilis. I used Mexican lime for the zest, and added a small amount of juice in an attempt to replace the lemongrass. I used Aleppo pepper in place of the chilis. The stuff was very sticky, but I got the meatballs made and set them to chill. I didn't have most of the ingredients you listed for the salad, and wanted something more along the lines of a stir fry to cook these little devils. I sliced/chopped eggplant, red bell pepper, green onion, and the stems and leaves of Swiss chard (don't tell my darling) and some fresh tomato, along with the aromatics of garlic and chopped ginger. I browned the meatballs in vegetable oil, then removed them from the pan while the rest of the items went in: first the eggplant, then the peppers and chard stems, then the onions and chard leaves. The aromatics went in, the meatballs were returned to the pan, and a stir fry sauce (soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, a touch of sugar, and a touch of cornstarch) went in to simmer and thicken for a few minutes. The sauce was too thick, and there wasn't enough, so water was added as needed. Chopped cashews were added for some crunch. Meanwhile, rice was cooking. (Jasmine would have been nice, but I only had basmati.) Dinner was served. The cilantro garnish was optional, and we both opted for a lot of it. We thought this was delicious. The meatballs were slightly overcooked, I think: they could have done with less time in the final simmer, but I'd make this again. He'd eat it again.

We spent time back at the Salton Sea again, and made our semiannual pilgrimage to the Oasis Date Gardens. They've rearranged the store somewhat, and I'd say it was an improvement. Their mascot, Raul Medjool, has been released from exile in the video viewing room. He now greets the visitor who comes in by the main entrance. The tasting table, with varieties of dates to sample, has new signs. One or two date varieties that I bought last year weren't on display, and a couple of new varieties were there. Most of my favorites were still my favorites, but one variety (Khadrawy) didn't seem as good as in past years, and I didn't buy any. The Medjools seemed unusually plump and delicious even for that variety. I bought a pound or two of each of these: The daily special (listed in the sign next to Raul Medjool) looked enticing, but neither of us could pass up their bacon cheeseburger. We like to stock up on dates when we come through, but we had an additional, special reason to get them this time: visitors! @Porthos and his bride drove out to see us while we were camped at the Salton Sea. Intrepid Southern Californians that they are, they thought nothing of driving the couple of hours (each way) rather than our trying to meet halfway somewhere. We had a lovely time. I don't have any actual photos of the appetizers; we were too busy chatting for me to take photos. However, I had set up hummus (store-bought) and crackers, pita chips, and stuffed dates that looked like this: Those on the left are Medjools; those on the right are Honey dates. The Medjools are more conducive to stuffing due to their size. Bless them, Porthos and his DW brought us a host gift: 4 bottles of assorted beer from favorite local breweries. I can't think why I didn't get a picture of the last beer: a stout that was quite nice. I'm not much of a wheat beer fan (that's my darling's favorite) but I love the Hangar 24 label. We visited a few hours, and then they, intrepid drivers that they are, headed back to the L.A. Basin to visit her father. I'll bet that was 8 hours' worth of driving, given where they needed to go next. We were honored to be put into their long route.

Member @weinoo gives some good advice about getting good Hass avocados in this blog post of his. In addition, this topic discusses ways of ripening the lovely fruits..

@Shelby, that isn't a derailment at all! I hope you do try it again, and report on it. I just added a bunch of bulk foods to the trailer for baking experiments, and rice flour is not among them, so my attempts will have to wait a while. As much as I love the ocean and my extended family, it was a relief to move away from the coast, into less populated land. I had a photo sequence of the changing scenery: from the very green (this winter) hills to the drier, more brown interior hills, then over very dry brown hills, until we came into the San Joaquin Valley with its irrigated fields. Somehow those photos have been purged. It never fails to thrill me, though, when we get close enough to see the Sierra Nevada on the eastern side of that valley. This winter, the snowpack made them stand out more clearly than they have for several years. We stayed again with the friends who are buying my parents' ranch. I was concerned that this new trailer would not fit into the usual space, but there was space after all. That allowed time to visit them (and other friends) and take care of some business in the area. We also had time for bicycling when the weather was warm enough to do so. Look! Roses in winter! Once upon a time I took that in stride; now, after many years of living in Minnesota, I think it's extraordinary. Our first night's just-the-two-of-us dinner was a celebration of not being hemmed in, and of being able to putter in the kitchen without any particular schedule. Nonetheless it was a simple dinner: skillet-fry of sausages and vegetables we'd picked up at the grocery store. We wandered the groves freely and ate our fill of oranges. I went on a baking binge and made sourdough rosemary loaves for all of our friends, as a Christmas/thank you present. Then I made a batch of pita. It's such fun, watching that stuff puff up, and we love to eat it. Still, this is a lot of bread for 2 people: The problem with freezing it is that it dries out. Why hadn't I made a half-batch? Lack of foresight, I suppose. I decided to seal half of it using the Foodsaver, then freeze it. That was fun too, but I don't recommend it as a way to save pita bread. I finally opened that package last week; some of the bread bits were permanently stuck together. It became pita chips. Our friends gave us olives that will make an appearance later, and a 5-pound box of walnuts! Those will also appear later. We filled two coolers with oranges, minneolas, satsumas, lemons and Mexican limes, all carefully cleaned to eliminate bugs: enough to last us for a while, but never seeming enough, given how much I love to cook with and eat citrus. We're nearing the end and I'll miss it when it's gone. It's never as good coming from the grocery store.

That is indeed the Beach Burger we visited, and I recommend it. I'm ashamed to say that I don't remember analyzing the bun or registering anything unusual about it (there go my eG credentials ) except that it was a tender and delicious compliment to the rest of the burger. Based on your links, however, I think it probably was a Dutch crunch bun. Thanks for those links. I may try to make something like that. I like the British take on it: never mind calling it a tiger bread; call it a giraffe bread instead!

Since you know the freeways there so well, and may be wondering about the rail line, I should clarify that the semi flipped onto the rails in the San Fernando Valley, farther east than this photo. You have much more experience with the expansion of freeways there than I, but even I have seen changes: for instance, the Foothill Freeway was nonexistent when I lived in the area. Pismo is indeed popular! The parks are fairly crowded around Christmas, but they really start to jam up between Christmas and New Year's Day. My sister and I went for a long beach walk one afternoon. When we left, our trailer had been well-separated from the rest, with half a dozen empty slots to either side. When we came back, we were surrounded: a family reunion, 4 generations' worth, had come over from Tulare, a couple of hundred miles away and very close to our next stop. They were very nice, invited us over for food and drinks, and made sure we knew to tell them if they got too noisy. They never gave us cause for complaint; even their boisterous and playful children were polite and considerate of us. It was startling, however, to hear a trailer door slam just outside and realize it wasn't ours. It was amusing to look out another window and see little heads bobbing up and down as children jumped on their beds. When my father was a toddler, his family and friends camped at Pismo fairly often, when it was considerably less developed than it is now. The tents are long gone, but I still have some of that cookware.