Smithy

I'll keep an eye out for another chance to rescue some unwanted leaves. If the chance doesn't come now, I'll look for them next summer. Thanks! It's warm and spring has sprung. It's subtle in the desert, but if you know where to look you can find color. The washes in the evening have a delicate floral perfume that I haven't managed to identify yet. Brittle bush, ocatillo, native trees and fairy dusters The campfire has come into its own, partly so we can enjoy the night sky and partly to keep the trailer cooler. We've been making heavy use of a burger basket, a wok-shaped double basket and Papa's Pan, with an occasional appearance by a cast-iron skillet. Papa's Pan - I've written about it before, here - has given us a new favorite way to cook brussels sprouts. Cut them in half, load them into Papa's Pan with 2 or 3 strips of bacon cut into 1" chunks, drizzle with enough olive oil to provide good pan searing and a hint of balsamic vinegar. Close the pan. Put it over high flame until you hear it sizzling, give a few shakes, flip and repeat, then set it over a warm flame until it's done and the rest of dinner is ready. This method would also work on stovetop, inside an oven or under a broiler - any source of high heat - but over an outdoor fire with an omelet pan there's no mess to clean up when juices drip from the pan, and there's no need to keep stirring with a spoon or spatula. The first night we tried it we added some stray asparagus spears. They didn't suffer from the treatment a bit. That, plus burgers from the basket, and a bit of green salad, were all we needed. My burger fell apart because it stuck to the basket. Guess I needed a bit of oil first. Other campfire dinners: Chicken thighs with a spicy rub, inspired by a recipe from Paula Disbrowe's charming book Cowgirl Cuisine. The beans here are fava beans - my first attempt, and none too impressive. The favas will need more work, but the chicken is always a hit. Numerous grilled-meat and -vegetable dinner salads, like this one: Tequila chicken dinner salad, not yet tossed (above), and served (below). I'll write about pecans and salmon another time.

It looks like a very good arrangement, but might you be placing a little too much faith in that CommandTM Hook? What is its stated load-bearing capacity? I have them all over the place but generally keep the weight lighter, for fear of breakage or at least a midnight awakening.

Thanks very much for this tour, Chris. It looks like a lot of fun. Two questions (at present): In this photo of yours it looks like the tortillas are mechanically cut - as in, stamped - but I don't see where or how. Where did that happen? Did the worker just reknead and reuse the dough cut out from the margins that he's gathering here? In other words - can you describe more of the process? Next question: are you now inspired to try making some new Mexican food at home that you hadn't tried before? If so, what?

@KennethT, photos of the process would be of great interest as you continue.

Thanks, folks, for letting me know the photos are interesting. @Thanks for the Crepes, you're right about broccoli and bugs. At home, the broccoli my organic-farmer friends give me frequently include, er, bonus protein. I don't know what the spray practice is in this area. Back in the Imperial Valley, near the Salton Sea, we noticed a number of fields labeled "Organic - no spray". Those fields also had stern "no trespassing" and "no walking your dog here" signs out of concern for contamination of the crops. It hadn't occurred to me to dash out into a harvested field and grab some of those leaves! On the other hand, they aren't really wasted: they're plowed back into the soil, and I would expect that to be a good supplement. How do you prepare broccoli leaves?

@huiray, I wouldn't have taken 'tossing' so literally if @blue_dolphin hadn't asked, so I'm glad the question came up. I'd love to see that. The colors are beautiful!

I've wondered how one controls the rise and volume, and what happens if there's too much for the pan. Now I know part of the answer.

It looks like a delightful and delicious experience. I echo rotuts' question: "Powdered duck breast?" Explain, please.

It will, but then there isn't enough clearance for me to flip the puffed pita without losing it behind the skillet into the depths of the oven. Nice idea, though. We made a trek to town for groceries, post office, and so on. A reversible griddle, or a comal for cooking tortillas, or a baking stone was on the list. My darling found one, I found the other, and we brought home both a reversible griddle AND a new baking stone. So much for saving weight. The griddle may have to ride in the bed of the pickup when we're rolling down the road. The baking stone, 15" diameter, fits inside the oven with 1/2" to spare. Here they are for size comparison; a performance comparison - bake-off, so to speak, will be coming along by-and-by. The bottom photo shows the griddle (Lodge, a bit less expensive than Batali) atop our stove. We took a side trip on the way back. The area near Yuma, Arizona is another major agricultural supplier of the winter greens that turn up in this country's grocery stores. I assume, without being sure, that the same is true in the summer. It must be brutal work, and I'm glad there are people to do it. We drove past fields with crops I could identify and crops I couldn't, crops that were freshly planted or being harvested, and fields that were being prepared for the next crop. I stopped to look more closely at one mystery crop - what were those leaves? Wrong color for onion, kale or chard; too sturdy for spinach or lettuce. I spotted a truck driver taking a break and asked him what the crop was. "No habla Inglés," he replied. "Oh, lo siento!" said I, "¿quál est esto?" "Oh, broccoli!" said he, and drove on after I laughed at myself and we said goodbye. I had just looked at and photographed other fields of broccoli being harvested. This was the young stuff. Above: a freshly-harvested field with red-leaf lettuce in the middle ground and green-leaf lettuce behind it, young broccoli, fields being prepared, and broccoli being harvested. Folks were loading the heads onto conveyor belts, I think, with others packing them and yet others loading the boxes into a truck. It was 87F. In February. Think about it, and be thankful. Of course, none of this happens without water. The Southwest gets much of its water by shuffling it from one location to another, and the presence or absence of water makes for stark contrasts. The next morning, as sunlight flooded our trailer I made the next batch of breakfast fruit salad and was grateful for people who had grown, harvested and provided our winter fruit. Bridges have one kind of geometric beauty, and pineapples another.

@Thanks for the Crepes wrote: It may be my California provincialism showing, but I have yet to find an off-season stone fruit worth eating. Yes, I know it's the right season in Chile, but getting one of those delicate beauties, if it's truly ripe, up to our hemisphere just doesn't seem possible. Even for Trader Joe's. Sorry you had to give that one to the raccoons. I've had pretty good luck with roasting or, weather permitting, grilling stone fruits to intensify their flavor when they weren't up to par. Maybe you could try that? A quick broil or sear, possibly augmented with balsamic vinegar, for another of those plums? Sorry to read that the burritos were a disappointment, too. Still, I'll be you have a LOT of winners in that haul you brought home. We're nowhere near a TJ's but it's a shopping treat when we are.

Great topic, shain. How did you treat the pine needles? Toast slightly, dry, crush? I see the whole pine needles used as a garnish on top, but get the idea that you built them into the dish as well. I've heard about smoking , and possibly roasting, with pine needles to provide some aroma. I'd never heard of incorporating the needles into an entire dish.

Welcome, Bakerchic! You're lucky to be up in the wine country, and so close to good food being grown year-round. It's a beautiful area. You've come to a good place to get answers and learn from pros as well as enthusiastic amateurs. C'mon in and make yourself at home. If you have questions about the forums, feel free to ask a host.

Nice find, @Porthos. What size pot does it fit? It reminds me of my Revere double boiler set, a 3-quart pot with insert and lid. I'd never heard of a steamer for it.

You know how to live, @rarerollingobject!

I grew up in central California thinking that chicken pot pies had a top and bottom crust, but (confession time here) our chicken pot pies came from Swanson and were a luxury treat.

@mgaretz, I'm fortunate enough to be lactose-tolerant, and generally avoid non-dairy products on the assumption that I wouldn't want them. Your cherry/chocolate/almond ice cream puts paid to that idea. I want that ice cream. NOW. Please keep sharing your progress!

I love being able to try and buy local cheeses at farmers' markets. Two of my favorites are produced in the San Joaquin Valley, and I discovered them during an extended summer visit to Visalia. One I can get when i visit the area in the winter, but the other - well, it was a lovely sheep cheese with a delightful vendor, but I'll never see it again unless I manage another summer visit.

Here's the topic I think you meant. It was an eye-opener for me as well. Adulterated Olive Oil Fraud

I love that closing paragraph! Now that you mention it, I have some dried - and shamefully old - fava beans I've been planning to use, finally. They were an impulse buy, I don't remember when. The plan has been to make Egyptian ful madames with them, but the first question is how to get them basically cooked. I figured on a good long soak followed by some hours of simmering. I don't have a pressure cooker at the moment. Do you have a feel for how long to soak and how long to cook at normal pressure?

That's a very funny writeup. I especially liked his take on what the witches in "Macbeth" were really up to at that cauldon.:-D

Welcome! There's a lot of interest in the same topics around here, and you're bound to find someone who can help you out. Take a look around the forums, and if you have any questions about where to find things, feel free to ask a host. You may find these particular topics of interest: Molecular Gastronomy in Pastry Adventures with sodium alginate

Thanks, huiray. It does look more apt for scooping up loose food, doesn't it? I'll try to perfect that technique also.

Ah, leipäjuusto (bread cheese)! There is now a brand of cheese sold in northern Minnesota by the name of Juusto. It's a small flat brick that you bake before slathering over bread. So far we've tried the smoked and the un-smoked version and liked both. I hadn't realized the source of the name. Darienne, I know that border makes a difference in what's available, but since it's in our neck of the continent it may also be in yours. @EsaK, thank you also for that description of and recipe for pulla/nisu/korvapuusti.

@ChocoMom, do you have a recipe for Nisu/Pulla that you'd care to share? Question: if "Pulla" is the Finnish word (I've heard that one) then what language is "Nisu"? I'd have picked that out as the Finnish.

Thanks, Deryn! Yes, that size would fit my oven and that's a better configuration for us. I'll keep an eye out. Thanks also for reading along, and for the compliments.