Smithy

You might be thinking about this post.

Interesting about the word for that. Yes, around here we usually call them tortillas, with a modifier as to what they're made from: "flour tortilla" or "corn tortilla" or "whole grain tortilla" or whatever. "Wrap" implies that it's wrapped or rolled around some contents. I think of it as meaning wrapped so securely that it can be eaten out of hand. What he showed you looked more like a tortilla cone, or bowl...needing a fork or spoon. I may take the term too literally, though. I can't speak for all Yanks. I guess we'll just have to wonder about "weird chicken pasta". 🙂 I am thoroughly entertained by this topic! Please tell him to keep 'em coming!

I'll give it a taste in the next day or two. I've never made sushi rolls and don't have any of the gear, but if it can make a nice snack then I think I can use it.

Thanks! It's cod from the last Wild Alaskan shipment we received before leaving. I used 2 filets and cut each in half along the spinal divide. The coating was a simple dusting of Hungry Jack pancake mix.

I had occasion to use the new blue pan to to hold fried Tater Tots as they drained on paper towels last night, but didn't get a picture of it. What happened was, we sat out admiring the gorgeous sunset far past the time I should have started cooking. I had already promised to do fried fish and Tots. The camp stove wasn't set up and I'd decided to cook inside, despite my usual kvetching about frying inside and the mess it makes. Well. "Mess" doesn't begin to address the mad spattering when the Tots hit the oil; the oil was probably too hot and the Tots definitely have crystallized ice in them. The upshot is that the kitchen is now the cleanest it's been since we left home on this trip. (Another consequence is that he says he never again wants to hear a complaint from me about his frying hash inside!) Tonight I've promised mac 'n' cheese 'n' ham. It can be prepped in the afternoon, then bunged into the oven while we sit outside and admire the view. Much more practical. In other news: I found this unopened package, lost in a ditch crevice, during our walk this morning. Assuming it's really as sealed as I think it is, what shall I do with the contents?

What's it wrapped in, do you think? And does he dislike all pasta, or just pasta in this particular mixture? I'm a bit puzzled by "weird chicken pasta" and must admit that chicken pasta might be a bit strange.

I used the Instant Pot last night to try out a new recipe, using some chicken thighs I picked up at that little market a couple of days ago. As noted before, the Miracle Whip was staggeringly expensive. Chicken, on the other hand, was not: $1.39 for chicken thighs is pretty darned good, I think. This Basque-style chicken piperade involved chicken thighs, canned diced tomatoes, slices of onion and red bell pepper, chicken broth, a touch of white wine, noodles and spices. I am a born beta-tester: if something can go wrong or break, I'll make the mistake or break it. I think my basic issue here was that I didn't cut the recipe down properly for the 3-quart IP mini we carry aboard the Princessmobile, with the result that there was a bit more sauce for the noodles than we'd have liked. Still, the flavors were good. I've discovered some streamlining tips that I'll use next time, and be more careful about the proportions. Definitely a keeper.

Do you have to take any special care to keep them from getting gunk baked onto them? I've never seen @ElsieD's Nordicware version, but I must admit that - like @heidih - the color was part of what drew me in. I'll be glad to get advance advice on how to take care of these. Heck, I might even go back and get a few more. 😁

I think you should be able to make a nice Panzanella with it, provided your tomatoes are juicy enough. The whole idea is to let the bread soak up the juices of the tomatoes and dressing.

...and in addition to wind, there are earthquakes. A day or two ago, while I was sitting at the table and typing, I felt a light jolt. Did the trailer suspension suddenly settle? Was my darling doing jumping jacks on the deck? I couldn't figure it out until I went to an earthquake tracking site. There had been a small one, right down the lake from us. We went for propane a couple of days ago and were delighted to see that the nearest little market has expanded and improved immensely since we were last here. Our last visit was pre-pandemic, and at that time the market seemed to be struggling with getting supplies - including propane, our main need. There were large gaps in the shelf stock, and what we saw there was nothing we'd be interested in buying. Now, we examined the well-stocked shelves. The spice rack was interesting. What do people do with horsetail? I'm sure that's the Cola de Caballo; it looks exactly like dried and cut versions of the little plant that grows by our streams. There are all kinds of interesting, relatively inexpensive kitchen utensils. If I'd wanted a tortilla press, I could have gotten one for about $17. I don't think that's a great price, but I've seen them for more money also. The meat counter had gaps in the product, but what they had looked very good. (The maiz rojo and maiz blanco were actually with the spices, but I needed to fill out this collage.) They never had an ice cream section when we were here before! Next door, in that complex, was a little ice cream shop we didn't visit, that advertised "hot dogs with bacon" as well as various ices and ice creams. A Mexican restaurant wasn't open but looked as though it would be soon. It's so nice to see the little desert town of North Shore start to revive; it's always looked a bit down-at-the-heels to us. At another store my sales resistance broke down. 😁 I used to have a pair of rectangular enameled baking dishes like this. They're perfect for a toaster oven or, in today's world, a Cuisinart Steam Oven. I got rid of mine -- perhaps because they were a pain to clean, perhaps because I thought I had enough other gadgets. Well, I've reaquired one. For $6, I'll probably get enough pleasure out of it even if only as a prep bowl.

"Let's go to the Salton Sea!" we said. - "It won't be as windy there!" we said. - "It won't be as hot there!" we said. - "Things may be blooming there!" we said. - "The roads are better and a change of scenery for cycling will be good!" we said. Well, one of those four predictions was right. Two, if you squint. It's been blowing like crazy here most days, and hot. If it weren't blowing so hard it would be even hotter, so we're counting our blessings on that front. The Salton Sea provides a nice cooling effect when the wind is right. Its moodiness reminds me of why I fell in love with Lake Superior. We stopped for a few groceries in a little town along the way, and were hit with the sticker shock so many of you have talked about. A pint of Miracle Whip was $6.70! That didn't stop us from buying it, but I really hope it was more the small-town-grocer effect than the supply-chain price effect. We picked up pork steaks of the type he likes, and chicken for a dish I plan to do. Moving camp is always a big deal, especially when we've been set up for so long. The outdoor kitchen had been packed the day before, leaving the forlorn campfire setup I showed you before. Still...it was a chore to move even a couple hundred miles, and we were tired when we finished. When we got set up, we sat out and admired the new view and each had a beer. I promised someone - @lindag I think? - to show my favorite beer. Truth is, I've had very little beer this trip. That night, it tasted mighty good. Neither of us had interest in cooking, or for that matter eating. We noshed on chips and the remainder of our road-food sandwiches, and called it a night. The very next morning, the electrical failures began. (Have I mentioned that I know far more about the Princessmobile's electrical systems than I care to?) I think we have it all sorted, except that I used our last spare part and am having the Devil's Own Time getting a replacement delivered somewhere I can get to it.

Oh, sorry! No, that isn't a dumb question at all. It's "nus wa nus"...half and half, in Arabic. We haven't been to Egypt in years but old dialect dies hard.

I could claim that I put it out that way to see if anyone actually read it, but I'd be lying. Thanks for the question and comment.

I can never look at your cookery and think you a weirdo!

Much of the time. I'm partial to Amore Sun-Dried Tomato Paste (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) in squeeze tubes, both for the flavor and the compactness. The measurement refers to the length of the ribbon I squeezed into the sauce, not the length of tube that was emptied.

I've had pasta on the brain lately. Pillowy, luxurious lasagna. Baked ziti, maybe. Good sauces. I couldn't figure out the impulse until I realized that Doonesbury has been re-running a series from the 1990's featuring an iconic Italian restaurant in Atlantic City, NJ. I still haven't tried to make a lovely lasagna, although I know exactly which one I'd like to taste again (Bianchi's in Tucson, maybe we'll get there). However, I did use the last of the New York Style Calabrese sausage in one of my best dishes of the season. It's another of those wing-it-then-try-to-remember-what-I-did dishes. I wrote down the rough proportions after the fact, and hope I'll be able to reproduce it. We enjoyed a last sunset and moonrise in that place. The next day, we cleared out. It's been so windy that the campfire we'd laid days before was left waiting for the next people to arrive. Assuming we come back next season, it'll be interesting to see whether any of my pet rocks are still there!

I just showed him your picture, and he said we'll be glad to come up for dinner! Yours looks delicious, and of course corn is one of his favorite vegetables. We're glad you liked the the results. I should note that we've taken to adding a little bit of water to the bottom of the pot to ensure that the potatoes really get cooked even if the meat doesn't have enough fat. How much water depends on the size of the pot, and possibly the size of the potato pieces: 1 cup? Enough to cover the bottom of the pot to 1/2"? It makes for good gravy, and ensures that the potatoes cook properly. As to freezing: we often divvy the leftovers into containers and freeze them as complete dinners when we're at home. The usual rule is to mash the potatoes before freezing, because the texture of boiled / roasted potatoes suffers from being frozen unless they're mashed. (This is wisdom he picked up from the writings of Calvin Rutstrum.) That said, I don't think we've frozen such dinners since we adopted the diced potato approach. We suspect that the wisdom applies to larger chunks of cooked potato, not the diced potatoes we have taken to and you show in your picture.

Will you be surprised to read that we bought and he cooked another ham? You shouldn't be. He is getting it down to a science. The only thing I have to do is set up the Thermoworks Smoke set for the desired oven and meat temperatures. In addition to its being one of his favorite things to cook and eat, with minimal participation from me, its beauty is that it provides a dinner or two, scraps for ham 'n' mac 'n' cheese, and plenty of slices for sandwiches. I had occasion to make road-trip sandwiches a few days ago, and in the process finally broke into the Kewpie mayonnaise that I bought several months ago. I was intrigued by the "2-way chef cap" and took a special picture of how it works. The bottle opening has a star shape for garnishes. If you leave the cap on then the mayo squirts out of a round hole instead. As for the taste: well, this isn't as cloying as Miracle Whip, but it's still sweeter than I prefer. He thinks it's fine. We were out of Miracle Whip at the time and this proved a decent substitute. I've been advised privately that it's a good garnish or topping rather than a full-fledged mayo or MW substitute, and will be playing with it until it's used up. Our road-food sandwiches involved opening a package of cheese that I purchased early in the trip also - back in Iowa, maybe? It's pretty good. Not too terribly hot, just enough of a kick to remind you of Buffalo Wings. The cheese itself tastes more like American cheese than true cheddar.

When you do, I hope you'll post it on RecipeGullet, or here in this topic!

I think you're probably right. My grandmother's green beans were of the slow-cooked-to-death, army drab, meltingly tender and utterly delicious variety. She used a little bacon, no sugar. The women in our family tried and tried to duplicate that recipe. Nobody managed it, despite taking careful notes while Nana was cooking. I requested and inherited her Wear-ever aluminum pan set, acquired in 1929. <smug> My beans are like hers, when I go that route with green beans! </smug>

I wonder how difficult it would be to make something like this, and how one would go about it. Make the filling, freeze, then wrap good stiff mashed potatoes around it, roll in crumbs and freeze? What do you think?

As I noted a few posts ago, I unearthed some spice blends I'd bought at Trader Joe's and then forgotten. I'm still not sure what to do with the Ajika to give it a fair shake, but the Green Goddess spice blend is nice. I used a little bit in a buttermilk/yogurt/mayonnaise dressing, per the jar instructions, and quite like the result. It's helping to salvage the overcooked chicken breast I wrote about in that same post. As a rule I go with vinaigrettes for salad dressing, but this makes a nice change - and helps to use up the buttermilk that's been skulking in the refrigerator since a chicken frying experiment.

Have you used the Ajika on anything yet? If so, what? Or are these just your initial tasting notes?

We ran errands in town yesterday, and decided to treat ourselves to lunch at Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que. Some interior shots: They were doing a reasonably good business for the time of day. I was amused at their pandemic-era nod to separation: various signs said "Stay 6 slabs away". Nobody wore masks, in case you're wondering, but ventilation and separation were good and they seemed to be doing a good job of cleaning between customers. Here's a bit of their menu; of course you can go online to see more if you wish. I love barbecued beef brisket, and debated ordering a brisket sandwich, but also wanted some of their pork ribs. I chose the 2-meat platter so I could get both, knowing there would be too much food and counting on bringing some home. My darling ordered the "Dave's Favorite" burger. I don't seem to have snapped that part of the menu, but as I recall it had Monterey Jack cheese, bacon and some sort of sauce, with tomatoes, pickles and lettuce on the side. He had fries; I ordered garlic red mashed potatoes as my side. My order came with a corn muffin. I am very glad I ordered the ribs, although my darling got one of mine. The brisket was...well, peculiar. It was quite tender, but had a flavor that reminded me of corned beef without being so good. He was unimpressed with his burger. I liked it; he thought the brisket fine, so we traded. The ribs were the best of the meats. His fries were good and crisp. My garlic mashed potatoes were the stuff of dreams. I'd like to figure out how to make them like that. The corn muffin came home with me and was breakfast this morning. I'm not a huge corn fan but this was very good: not quite too sweet; very tender, with a lovely open crumb.

Don't forget @Dave the Cook.