Smithy

FlyingChopstik, that's a great idea! In fact, it reminds me that one of my favorite ways to make clay-pot chicken involves seasoning the chicken with generous amounts of paprika, cumin, saffron, garlic, sometimes preserved lemon, with (at the end) parsley and (if I'm the only one eating it) cilantro. Hmm, it's been a while since I made that. Maybe I'll have to rectify that.

I'm pretty sure I've seen a recipe among her stuff for cumin-scented beef tagine; if there isn't one, there should be. Along those lines I would try dusting chunks of beef with cumin, salt and a bit of pepper. I'd start in the tagine with a little oil and some onions, then add the beef until it was warming, then add garlic and, oh, maybe some water if necessary. Two ways I can think to finish it are tomatoes, cooked down at the end, or perhaps tomato paste; or - going in another direction altogether - a light touch of orange juice, cooked down. (I have cumin, beef and orange on the brain but may have made the whole thing up). I'm not too sure about preserved lemon with beef, but since the lemon goes well with lamb, chicken and fish, why not? I don't have any of Paula's books with me but I do have another with some interesting-sounding recipes: The North African Kitchen: Regional Recipes and Stories, by Fiona Dunlop. It was a Christmas present and I haven't had a chance yet to try any recipes. Two that might be of interest to you are Beef and Okra Stew, and Lamb (tagine) with Pumpkin and Apricots. If either of those sounds tempting, PM me for more information. There may be a delay, however; my internet connection is exasperatingly unreliable at present.

I'll bet those cherries pop with intense cherry flavor! That's brilliant: coating them with cherry powder. Did you simply split a batch of freeze-dried cherries and powder some?

The internet connection here is tenuous - i.e. very good considering what it was 2 years ago and where we're actually located, but not great for blogging. :-) My photos are suffering. rotuts and FauxPas: our trailer is about 40' long. Our coterie comprises 3 very attached (to us) cats and 1 very sociable (to anyone) dog. In past years we've constrained ourselves to 2 cats, but this year we took the leap and brought along a third who is very sociable and (by all past years' reports) lonely when left to the wiles of the sitters. The travelling cats all seem to have worked out the idea that the trailer is home even though its surroundings change after it shakes for several hours. The rain blessed the desert for much of the day, and it's a much-needed blessing. We stepped out late in the day for a walk, and drank in the smells and sights. Later, I pulled together the fixings for this evening's meal: enchiladas filled with a blend of sweated onions and red bell peppers, lightly browned ground beef and chorizo...all wrapped in tortillas and topped by Hatch green enchilada sauce (from a can of indeterminate age), baked, and served with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese to our tastes. Now, just before signing off and doing dishes, I have this report: the sky is dark, the stars are bright, and the air smells like rain and creosote-bush...a magical desert smell. Crappy photos, best I can do until the computer and modem decide to 'play nice' with each other.

That's a good question, gfweb. Probably Weinoo's, but judging by 'typical' NYC apartments it may not be by much. ;-) When we stepped up from a pickup camper to a trailer and I realized we were looking at weeks to months on the road, the kitchen was my main criterion. By the time we'd found one that suited me we were up to a 40' trailer. Still, I have things squirreled away in unlikely corners and cabinets. Spaces that for most families would be devoted to board games are occupied by extra storage containers, large aluminum mixing bowls and small appliances.

Thank you, caroled! This travelogue begins in the San Joaquin Valley of California, where I grew up. We spent the New Year week there visiting friends, family and old stomping grounds, gorging on navel and mandarin oranges, and getting various trailer repairs completed. Our friends allowed us to park near their shops in the orange groves. There we wandered freely, our dog and their dog visited each other and wandered freely, our cats pointedly did not visit their dog but otherwise roamed freely, and we celebrated a lovely variety of ripe fruit. A cold snap arrived when we did, and the wind machines that pull air from aloft to protect the groves and crops ran nearly every night. I grew up with that thrum of large propellers during the coldest winter nights and find it very soothing; nonetheless it's an expensive lullaby. This lullaby is almost inevitable when what I like to call "Chamber of Commerce" weather comes around and the view looks like this: The obvious motivation for our travels is looking for milder winter weather than we'd have in northern Minnesota, while we see various parts of the country and learn a thing or three. Two other, less obvious driving (heh) forces are in direct conflict with each other: discovering and celebrating local foods and cuisine, and my tendency to stock up whenever I find something interesting that can't be found at home. Consequently we left with a well-stocked trailer, and it will be a challenge to work my way through most of these goods before we arrive home in the spring. Dry goods can stay in the pantry if necessary, but it's really a pain to unload the refrigerator and freezer. This will not stop me from stocking up on more goods as we work our way back! In the fridge: as many good local cheeses as I could lay my hands on, a surfeit of cured meats and hot sausages, the usual stock of (grocery store) green vegetables and commercially grown fruits for my darling's morning salads, and a selection of condiments, milk and other beverages. Nothing interesting, but one must be careful - despite the restraining bars - opening the door after travel, lest things jump out as from Fibber McGee's closet. (One might think we're going for weeks without a decent grocery store. It's usually once a week, and at most 10 days, although some places' stores don't qualify as 'decent' unless one squints. ) In the freezer: chicken, various ground meats, fish, and - oh, bless our friends - many packages of salmon from their trip to Alaska. They prefer the halibut. If I'd known that they had it and wanted to unload it before my shopping expedition, I'd have gotten much less of the other meats and left more room for the salmon. There's also a fair amount of persimmon puree in there, from some of the fruits I stocked up on from friends and family. I have some sourdough starter in there too, preserved from home in case I killed my active starter. This all normally sits on the counter, but I took the photo as we were getting ready to travel: potatoes, onions, pomegranates, a couple of intact persimmons, avocados, garlic, salamis that were Christmas presents, and assorted dog and cat treats. I can't pass up interesting beans, canned goods, boxed goods or spices, and I keep a variety of flours on hand for baking lessons. This pantry is completely out of control, with cans and bottles and spices to allow food from almost any cuisine that strikes our fancy: curry mixes, enchilada sauces, quick rice dishes for when we're too tired to cook (Zatarain's is a favorite). There are jellies given us by friends, our stock of coffee and tea, and pastas..as well as some "00" pasta flour. How I'll get through this before we arrive home is anyone's guess. That won't keep me from stocking up on more mystery ingredients as we travel, and I'm hoping some reader(s) will be able to offer ideas.

Greetings from Death Valley! Those of you suffering in the cold may wish to stop reading Right Now... unless you'd like a diversion. Once again we're mobile snowbirds, having left northern Minnesota in the late fall, going somewhere - anywhere - south and generally west to stay warm. In past years we've left the trailer in California and gone home for January. This year we're staying away: we have house-sitters, and by all reports the snow and ice have not been severe enough to need our personal attention. We'll come home when the snow melts or 4th of July, whichever comes first. At present we're in Death Valley, the lowest point of the United States at 282 feet (86m) below sea level at the deepest. My darling thinks it's still too cool, with temperatures ranging from the mid-40's to the mid-60's Fahrenheit. The highest mountains around us have a dusting of snow, which is no surprise for elevations as high as 11,049' (3368m). The desert is being blessed with a light sprinkling of rain as I type, and radar shows that outside this valley the rain may amount to enough to measure. When we came to Death Valley we'd planned a lot of campfire cooking, and we came loaded with appropriate supplies. (I'll write about our supplies in a later post.) The campground with fire rings was full, and we wound up at a campground with hundreds of sites but no fire rings: outdoor fires aren't allowed here. Campfire cooking will have to wait until another stop. In the meantime we've had such culinary delights as hot "Louisiana style" sausages (made in California and unavailable in Arizona) with homemade pita, our version of tuna noodle hot dish, citrus marinaded chicken, and grilled cheese sandwiches. The sandwiches were the result of my serious jonesing for this flavor combination, since I can't get the bread where we live and haven't yet learned to make it myself: I like these sandwiches so much that I had one for brunch this morning. Most mornings, I've been indulging in fresh avocado on that toast. The bread won't keep anyway, though I wish it would. We've also enjoyed a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables: green beans with bacon, brussels sprouts, green salads, and lots of fresh citrus. I'll write more about that later too. Last night we "splurged" on dinner at one of the local restaurants. This place is not the highest-end restaurant in the area, but looked good. They bill their burgers as a special blend of ground chuck, brisket and rib meat from certified Black Angus, on a grilled pretzel bun with their own "Dante's sauce" (named for an overlook here), fried onions, other accompaniments. Mine arrived with a not-grilled, cold-from-the-refrigerator bun; by the time they'd heated it my "medium rare" burger was well done. I didn't bother with pictures. Ah well, the decor was a lot of fun; there are photos of the area from the early to mid 1900's (including a long-gone grove of date palms) and posters from movies shot in Death Valley. There's also a wonderful painting of a 20-mule team hauling its load of Borax out of the Valley. The beer was good. Over the next few months I'll post as time and connectivity permit about life on the road for people like us who love to cook (and eat). Glamping is a great way to see different parts of the country, learn something about local specialty foods, and escape the winter cold. If anyone else is doing this sort of trailer touring and cooking or eating out (winter escape in my hemisphere, summer adventures in the Antipodes), I hope you'll chime in with your own travels and meals.

It looks like fun. We won't be going, but a report will be nice. :-)

Andie, that's very interesting: instead of a replacement for plastic wrap, this is the precursor! Do you remember how long it lasted, whether (and how) the beeswax-permeated muslin had to be cleaned?

I think the answer, based on what I've read (including Norm's post) is somewhere between "more than you care to spend" and "infinite". As Norm and his linked article point out, you need a higher 'low' temperature. gfweb, thanks for confirming my reading. I suspect an early morning typo. :-)

Norm, that's a great site. Thanks for the link. I have a question about what you wrote below, however: Did you mean that more gelatin is formed at higher temperatures because collagen doesn't melt much at lower temperatures? Collagen isn't formed at higher temperatures, is it?

My sister gave me this beautiful ladle for Christmas: She found it at some interesting gift shop/used stuff store and has no idea of its provenance, except that it seems to have been scribed by Lettie in '93. The steel is good stainless, so this is as useful as it is beautiful! Does anyone know what kind of horn/antler comprises the handle? Our best guess is mountain goat, or possibly some variety of antelope.

Welcome!

That needs to become someone's tag line, Porthos.

Very impressive! Looking at that schedule, I can't think why you'd need housing; it looks like you'll be spending all your spare time driving. The menu looks delicious and interesting in the best creative sense of the word. Thanks for keeping us posted, and good luck!

Do you know how to make that tamarind sauce, gulfporter? I haven't worked out a reliable recipe yet.

That is some fine, fine writing: thought-provoking and funny as well. I particularly love this bit from that article: "After hanging out in your mouth for a minute, though, a lard-fried crust becomes soft and creamy, as voluptuous as a Rubens nude but not as heavy."

That's an interesting point about the pH. You might be able to get some good rise in baked goods with tamarind and a discreet amount of baking soda. (I've not heard of anything like it, but it might be worth playing around a bit.) The tamarind drinks I've had were simply tamarind sweetened to taste with sugar, and the lot diluted with hot or iced water. Both of my cookbooks that talk about tamarind drinks begin with the pulp, instead of the puree, so the proportions of sugar to tamarind might be a bit off. From "Flavors of Egypt from City and Country Kitchens" (Susan Torgerson, 1992, ISBN 977-00-3954-3, possibly out of print): 500g (12 oz) tamarind pulp 8 cups water 450g (1 lb, 2 cups) sugar or to taste Her instructions include a lot of information about how, and how long, to soak and strain the tamarind pulp to get it soft and extract the most flavor from it (I'll post more if anyone wishes) but the final result, according to her, is a heavy syrup that can be used in sweet-and-sour type dishes (think pomegranate molasses) or diluted for drinks. In A Gringo's Guide to Authentic Mexican Cooking, Mad Coyote Joe goes to considerably less fuss with the pulp, but it comes down to the same thing: simmer the pulp until it's soft enough to break up; strain and sweeten it; enjoy. His proportions are: 3 cups boiling water 1/2 pound tamarind pods, shells removed 2/3/ cup sugar Tamarind is a great cold drink, but I enjoy it as a hot beverage as well. Edited to add Amazon link.

Welcome, Joy. You're illustrating by example the difficulty of writing recipes, and the need to have multiple readers. :-) Robert Jueneman, who wrote that post, hasn't been around for a while and may not answer your question. However, I think I can answer a couple of your questions based on this excerpt from his post: I think he's pretty clear that he does not start the dish on the stove top. I also think the second paragraph implies that he meant to say to put butter in the bottom of the pan first. I can't find that bit either, but his parenthetical comment makes me think he intended it. Good luck with getting the rest of your answers...and better still, try it and tell us how it goes!

Host's note: this post and the next three posts were moved from the December Holidays Around the World: What Do You Celebrate, and What Do You Eat? topic; this post responds to a post in that topic. Tamarind puree! Do you like tamarind drinks? I've usually had it cold, but I seem to recall that hot tamarind is wonderfully warming drink - almost but not quite entirely unlike tea. I also like tamarind as part of a chicken glaze. Haven't tried it with shrimp, but I bet it would be good. ...and yes, we have a serious need to clean out our pantry, but it will be a months-long project, not just a couple of weeks' worth.

That's a nice find, Anna. Thanks for the link.

The sugar structures they produced are very cool. If it's a precursor to a Star Trek-style food replicator, well and good. On the other hand, it might lead instead to a Nutri-Matic Machine... Share and Enjoy!

Welcome! Since you've been lurking a while you already know there are a lot of engineers and gear-heads here, as well as more traditional cooks..and bourbon enthusiasts:-). If you have any questions about where to find or post something, feel free to ask a host by the PM system. We're glad to have you here!

I have a flat electric (call it glass, call it ceramic) stovetop at home. The user's manual says not to drag or shake heavy cookware across it, for fear of scratching the surface. As I recall the manual is especially alarming about shaking/scraping heavy and abrasive items like cast iron across the cooktop. I'm sure that a rough surface of sufficient hardness could score that cooktop and make it more subject to breakage. I pick up my pans before shaking them when I'm flipping or sauteeing things. If your daughter or son-in-law are willing to take the same precautions they should have no problem. All that said...if they think it's too much trouble, then you should peddle the excess and keep your lip zipped. :-)

Toliver, you should see if your mother's neighbor would give you a few oranges. Zest from oranges that haven't seen the inside of a packing house is better, and now is the time to find out. Tangerines or minneolas would also give that a nice twist; thanks for the suggestion!