Camping, Princess Style

[Shelby]

I've been wondering what state you were in now.  Your dinner party sounds fun!  And, I want a stuffed date, please  

[Smithy]

I'm reading comments in other topics that hint at cabin fever in the far north.  Believe it or not, it can also happen in the south.  We're out in the Southern California desert, in solitary splendor, and it's been too cool and much too windy to spend time outside cooking.  The only reason we haven't moved on is the knowledge that every other place along our route is worse.  A few days ago a ferocious storm system dropped rain to the east of us and snow to the west; the worst impact here was wind, and even that was worse only a few miles south, as we discovered when we went for propane:

 

 

The center photo is our usual view of some nearby hills; at the upper right is the same view the morning after the dust storm.  During the storm they couldn't be seen at all, but little of the dust came as far north as we're camped.

 

There have been a lot of skillet dinners, cooked dinner salads, and burritos.  This is the sort of thing we like to cook over the campfire, but of course they can be done inside instead.

 

 

 

Burritos are also popular right now.  When we left the Salton Sea we stocked up at a small grocery store with its own butcher counter.  I found the marinated meats irresistible: citrus and spices on beef and chicken.  I think this beef was labeled as 'flap meat' but there was a line behind me, so I didn't hold up the gang asking questions.

 

 

The elements (the Beck's beer was for the cook):

 

 

 

 

I've even tried breakfast burritos of my own making, having run out of crackers and been too lazy to make them.  This was more work than I usually put into breakfast, but a lovely way to eat avocado.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Porthos]

I live below a major pass here in southern California and we are having a good run of our famous Santa Ana winds. I am not going outside expect when need.

 

Are you still somewhere near the Salton Sea or have you moved on?

 

I haven't eaten lunch yet but your food pictures have really activated my appetite, going to fix lunch right now.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Porthos (log)

[Smithy]

On ‎12‎/‎19‎/‎2015 at 10:32 PM, Lisa Shock said:

I don't know how much room you have, but, at home when I make a hash, I will brown onions alone then transfer them to a separate pan or dish and hold them warm until the end, when I toss everything together just to mix. I have done this with several ingredients in various hashes, cooking each item on its own allows a lot more control. You don't need a separate holding container for each item, I usually use the serving bowl that everything will eventually wind up in anyway.

 

@Lisa Shock, I want you to know that I've adopted this method, and it's been working well.  Thank you for the tip!

[Smithy]

Readers may remember that last Thanksgiving I managed to break yet another baking stone.  I decided to try doing without one, in a slight nod to trailer weight; and in truth I haven't missed it - until yesterday.  It's warming up here, and if the wind ever stops trying to blow us into the next county we'll be doing more picnic lunches and hikes.  It was time to make pita bread.  I did a sourdough substitution, got the dough to the right flavor and consistency, and fired up the oven.  Then, and only then, did I realize how out of practice I am and how useful that baking stone is. I also, for the first time, regretted giving away both my bread paddle and a large folding bread spatula at Christmas.  I've been using bread screens and sheets instead of paddles, and decided I'd rather have the room. Well, a baking sheet was going to have to substitute for the baking stone, I thought.

 

"Out of practice" means I'd forgotten how large or small a ball to make.  By the time I had the first dough rolled out to the appropriate thickness, it was large.  Have you ever tried to flip a 1/8" thick floppy bit of dough, 11" in diameter, onto a hot baking sheet in a tiny oven?  It instantly flopped in on itself, making a charmingly folded bread item that never would be able to puff.  I rolled the next two dough balls out to a more sensible diameter, but they only puffed reluctantly in the oven.  The last two I did on stove top, in a cast-iron skillet.  They puffed, but controlling the heat was another matter.

 

Here it is: the naan-like object in the middle was the first of the batch, and the concentrically-charred pita at left spent a bit too much time on the stove top.

 

 

Still, they make pretty good sandwiches.  Today was tuna salad, with lettuce and a bit of the Bengali pickle I picked up in Tucson last fall.

 

[Shelby]

Those pitas look delicious!  The one on the right just has a little bit more "character" than his partners on the left lol.

[lesliec]

I feel your pain, Smithy, having also broken a baking stone some time ago (then finding my oven manufacturer no longer sells them).

 

I looked around for alternatives, but I've now got used to using a baking tray (sheet, in your part of the world).  I've been making some of my best-ever bread over the past few months, so I guess I'm not missing it.

 

Haven't tried pizza recently, though ...

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Smithy,

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences with baking pita. I would certainly love to partake.

 

Something that I have found very useful for baking breads like pizza, naan  and your pitas is not only more durable than a pizza stone, cheaper than a specialty baking steel, but also multi tasking. It's the enameled cast iron reversible flat griddle/ribbed grill that came with my gas grill. You could use it in the oven for breads or on the grill or campfire for eggs, bacon or pancakes. It could be flipped to the ribbed grill side for shrimp or other small items if you don't have room for a long/handled fish basket. It is quite heavy, so it has that drawback.

[Smithy]

6 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

Smithy,

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences with baking pita. I would certainly love to partake.

 

Something that I have found very useful for baking breads like pizza, naan  and your pitas is not only more durable than a pizza stone, cheaper than a specialty baking steel, but also multi tasking. It's the enameled cast iron reversible flat griddle/ribbed grill that came with my gas grill. You could use it in the oven for breads or on the grill or campfire for eggs, bacon or pancakes. It could be flipped to the ribbed grill side for shrimp or other small items if you don't have room for a long/handled fish basket. It is quite heavy, so it has that drawback.

 

Thank you for that suggestion.  We'll be driving into town in the next few days, and I'll look for something along those lines.  I had one a few years ago that I'd picked up at, oh, Kohl's I think? using a special discount coupon.  It was a good-sized heavy Bobby Flay reversible griddle.  Very practical for trailer use!  It turned out to be too big to fit in our trailer oven and too large for the two of us.  In the end I gave it to my step-daughter, an ace cook who routinely entertains several families at once with her outdoor cookery. Maybe I can find a smaller version of that.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Smithy
Changed the smiley (log)

[Deryn]

Smithy - You may be able to find one like this one - Mario Batali 10.5" Reversible Grill Pan and Griddle (without handles and oven-safe). Would that size fit in your trailer oven?

 

Edited to add that I think your pita bread looks absolutely wonderful and that sandwich makes me very hungry! That kind of cooking/baking is the sort of thing I used to attempt years ago while camping but the outcomes were not always as successful as yours usually are. You inspire me.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Deryn (log)

[Smithy]

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.

[huiray]

15 hours ago, Smithy said:

Here it is: the naan-like object in the middle was the first of the batch, and the concentrically-charred pita at left spent a bit too much time on the stove top.

 

 

I'd like the "naan-like object" on the right very much. That seems the most eatingess thing there.

[Smithy]

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

[HungryChris]

Smithy,

Will the cast iron skillet fit in the oven to be used like a stone?

[Smithy]

On 2/10/2016 at 0:41 PM, HungryChris said:

Smithy,

Will the cast iron skillet fit in the oven to be used like a stone?

 

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.

 

Edited February 15, 2016 by Smithy
Speling...er, spelling (log)

[Shelby]

Thanks for all of the farming pictures.  I love seeing that.  I'm sure it is back-breaking work and I am also grateful to those that do it.

 

 I wish our garden broccoli would grow like that. 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I love the farming pictures too! Also the rest of Smithy's adventures while chasing the sun. I'm glad you finally found some. 

 

It's astounding to me that they have so much agricultural success in such an arid region, but they seem to have elevated irrigation to almost an art form.

 

@ShelbyThat broccoli field may be inundated with pesticides. Bugs love broccoli. It sure does look prolific, though. It's a shame most of the very beautiful, delicious and nutritious leaves are wasted in commercial broccoli production. I love to eat them.

[blue_dolphin]

Thanks from me, too, for the farm photos.  For years, my commute to work took me past farms on the Oxnard plain.  I did stop from time to time to see what was growing and to watch the various harvest processes.  So interesting!  And every single day, I thanked my lucky stars that I was driving to a different sort of job, one that didn't require me to spend the day stooped over those long rows of plants like the hardworking farmworkers who help feed us.

[Smithy]

Thanks, folks, for letting me know the photos are interesting.

 

14 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I love the farming pictures too! Also the rest of Smithy's adventures while chasing the sun. I'm glad you finally found some. 

 

It's astounding to me that they have so much agricultural success in such an arid region, but they seem to have elevated irrigation to almost an art form.

 

@ShelbyThat broccoli field may be inundated with pesticides. Bugs love broccoli. It sure does look prolific, though. It's a shame most of the very beautiful, delicious and nutritious leaves are wasted in commercial broccoli production. I love to eat them.

 

@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?

[Thanks for the Crepes]

5 hours ago, Smithy said:

How do you prepare broccoli leaves?

 

I just boil them right along with the florets. I like to go 4 minutes on the cook time.

 

I nibbled on some leaves raw from my garden once, and decided to use them. I use the stalks too, but peel them on Marcella Hazan's advice. She thought the stalks are the best part, and recommended them blanched for bagna cauda dippers.

[SLB]

On 2/9/2016 at 11:30 AM, Deryn said:

Smithy . . . You inspire me.

 

Me too! 

 

Meanwhile, I'm going to pay more attention to the broccoli leaves.  I definitely prefer the stalk to the florets.  

[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.  

 

Edited February 18, 2016 by Smithy
Minor wording and punctuation changes (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

4 hours ago, Smithy said:

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.

 

Very nice campfire meals, Smithy. Food always tastes better to me cooked outdoors, especially over a campfire. The chicken thighs look especially tasty, and the brussels sprout dish too. Thanks too, for the local flora photos. I'm sure I'm not the only member stuck in the deep freeze that appreciates them. 

 

I wonder if the evening perfume could be night-blooming jasmine? I still remember that fragrance from Southern CA as a kid. It has very humble flowers, but some gardeners grow it for the intoxicatingly beautiful aroma. It is quite invasive, and the scent is amazingly pervasive. I like it a lot. Here's a quote from the linked Wikipedia article:

"Night-blooming jasmine has become widely naturalised in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, southern China and the southernmost United States, and is difficult to eradicate. It is classed as a weed in some countries.

In Auckland, New Zealand, it has been reported as a seriously invasive weed to the Auckland Regional Council and is under investigation."

 

Happy sun chasing!

 

 

 

[Porthos]

Smithy, I am ejoying the photos also, sitting here in my family room listening to the rain. Much needed rain.

[Smithy]

 

On 2/18/2016 at 9:45 AM, Porthos said:

Smithy, I am ejoying the photos also, sitting here in my family room listening to the rain. Much needed rain.

 

The rain, the blessed and much-needed rain!  It didn't get all the way to us, but we saw it to the west and north of us on radar images.  We got clouds and slightly cooler temperatures.  This area could do with a good gullywasher, but we're enjoying the sunshine and (mostly) clear skies.

 

I spent an afternoon's hour cracking and shelling some of last year's pecans.  It's nice idiot work: sit and listen to the radio in a shady spot, crack and pick.  Pecans aren't as easy to shell as walnuts because they're smaller and more tightly knit, but they're worth the work.  If anyone has a preferred method for shelling these guys I'd love to hear it, since I still have several pounds' worth.  This is what I bought last fall for the purpose when my older straight-pincer nutcracker proved an utter bust at busting pecans:

 

 

I toasted the pecans, chopped them, then used an egg wash to help them stick to salmon filets.  

 

 

The crusted salmon went into a very hot cast iron skillet, with a bit of oil, over the campfire.  Into Papa's Pan went asparagus, a bit of bacon and oil and the leftover pecans from dredging the fish.  From a 'presentation' perspective there were too many pecans for the amount of asparagus, but the flavor was great.

 

 

The fish was tender inside, with a crunchy coat.

 

Like most of my campfire cookery, this could be done over a hot stove, but we needed no exhaust fan.