Camping, Princess Style

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

Oh well- assumptions rarely a good plan but more frequent than not.  So would you say the difference between the fire and the stove is more ambiance than taste or???

 

It's a bit of ambiance and a bit of control. I think when we did that we still hadn't cut and sorted the firewood, so it would have been difficult to pick and choose the size wood we needed.

 

Another reason is that the fire puts soot on the bottom of the pan and the camp stove doesn't. We've never cared about that before - I just do a final cleaning before we pack up - but he decided somehow that I don't like it and is trying to be careful of the cookware. I think I've just about got him convinced that it's really okay for the "outside" pans.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Smithy
Removed unnecessary word (log)

[Smithy]

I like eating jalapeño poppers, "armadillo eggs", "gator toes" and the like, but have only tried making them once - and that without a bacon wrapping. Last night I realized that the jalapeños I'd bought for the purpose were headed south fast. It was time to try making them.

 

First question: does the cheese matter? I decided to try two candidates side by side. The Egyptian feta cheese is saltier than cream cheese. One set of peppers had the stem on so we could tell after the fact which cheese was which.

 

 

Next question: how the heck does one get that bacon to stay wrapped? I think the bacon slices were too thick, for starters. This was thick-slice hickory smoked bacon from Cooper's in Llano, Texas. We may have more in the freezer, but I couldn't find it.

 

 

We don't have toothpicks in the trailer. i didn't want to dig out the step stool to dig out the box that has the butcher's twine. I opted for Papa's Pan instead. Given the messiness of the cheeses, containment seemed like a good idea anyway.

 

 

The dogs were delicious. The poppers - well, they weren't poppers. Too bad I didn't take a picture of the pan after cooking, when it was open. Everything had disintegrated into a cheesy, peppery, bacony mess. You could make out the peppers' carcasses. A couple had cheese inside them; all were coated in cheese. The flavor combination was delicious, but I need to do some research on how the heck those things are supposed to be made!

 

Comments and suggestions welcome. How do you make jalapeño poppers?

[Shelby]

18 minutes ago, Smithy said:

How do you make jalapeño poppers?

I use the really thin, cheap bacon--much easier to wrap around--and toothpicks.  I make sure that the slit that I cut in the pepper is as closed and wrapped shut with bacon as I can.

[Porthos]

When my DD and SIL make bacon candy they use thinner bacon and pre-cook it about 1/2 way done. I would do the same thing for your bacon-wrapped Dragon's eggs. Toothpicks make for the easiest containment of everything.

[FauxPas]

4 hours ago, Smithy said:

The poppers - well, they weren't poppers. Too bad I didn't take a picture of the pan after cooking, when it was open. Everything had disintegrated into a cheesy, peppery, bacony mess. You could make out the peppers' carcasses. A couple had cheese inside them; all were coated in cheese. The flavor combination was delicious, but I need to do some research on how the heck those things are supposed to be made!

 

Comments and suggestions welcome. How do you make jalapeño poppers?

 

How long did you cook them? They might be easier if warmed through rather than completely heated, since the peppers won't hold their shape after too much cooking. I've done a 'cheater' version before using filled half peppers, kind of like this:

https://www.spendwithpennies.com/jalapeno-poppers/

[Smithy]

3 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

 

How long did you cook them? They might be easier if warmed through rather than completely heated, since the peppers won't hold their shape after too much cooking. I've done a 'cheater' version before using filled half peppers, kind of like this:

https://www.spendwithpennies.com/jalapeno-poppers/

 

Thanks for that recipe! It looks like a keeper, well worth trying.

 

To answer your question, though: I cooked them long enough to cook that thick, raw bacon...half an hour over the fire? I didn't see a way around that. Porthos' suggestion of par-cooking, and Shelby's of using thinner bacon both would have helped. It looks like I'll have to buy some toothpicks, too. My BBQ skewers would be another option, but they're thicker and wouldn't allow individual turning of the peppers.

[blue_dolphin]

I just stopped by TJ's to pick up a bottle of inexpensive port to use in this Serious Eats short ribs recipe.   Look what else jumped into my cart:

Could this thread have had anything to do with it????

 

That red chili pepper brie is the "Spotlight" cheese at my local TJ's.  It sounded so wrong that I had to try it and it's actually not bad.  I'm not sure I'd call it brie but it's nice and creamy and I think it will be a good cheese to stuff into those jalapeños. 

I think I'll try the panko-topped, baked version but clearly, I'm prepared for the bacon-wrapped, grilled version as well 🙃 

 

[Shelby]

YUM.

 

Smithy, I think you've started a trend  

[ElsieD]

Yeah, I've been googling recipes too.  I also now have a dozen or so jalapenos in the fridge.  I like the idea of topping them with panko crumbs, toasted, I think.  Then, I wonder about cooking up some bacon while they are baking and sprinkle some bacon bits over the finished product rather than fiddling with bacon slices.

[ElsieD]

I just had a thought.  I think I'll brown the panko in some bacon grease.

[Smithy]

19 hours ago, ElsieD said:

I just had a thought.  I think I'll brown the panko in some bacon grease.

 

How did that work, Elsie? I've been enjoying the stuffed pepper show over in the Cooking forum.  

[ElsieD]

I haven't made them yet but will post when I do.

[Smithy]

We're getting better at the burger timing. Last night he was in charge and I left him to it, once I got the camp stove running. (It's getting cranky.) We have finally emptied the squeeze bottles of mustard (coarse Dijon, and horseradish) from home so I pulled two jars out from storage and let my darling pick.

 

 

The jalapeño mustard is one of the things my DIL egged me into buying last September.The mustard in the stein is a Dusseldorfer mustard that I find once in a while at good grocery stores . It's sharp and delicious, one of my favorites. My darling flinched at the idea of jalapeño mustard on his spicy-hot burgers (half beef, half hot Italian sausage), so it went back into the cupboard.

 

In other news: spring is coming to the desert. We're seeing the first tiny flowers. We're also spotting fresh young mustard greens. 

 

 

A handful, foraged from a huge patch, made it into our salads.

[heidih]

Nice young mustard greens. We used to have a window sill collection of those mustard mugs...and back in the day when Trader Joes had those stone crocks of course mustard - red wax sealed - home decor at its finest  All the offices had them as pen/pencil holders when that was a thing. Nice memory.

[demiglace]

4 hours ago, Smithy said:

We're getting better at the burger timing. Last night he was in charge and I left him to it, once I got the camp stove running. (It's getting cranky.) We have finally emptied the squeeze bottles of mustard (coarse Dijon, and horseradish) from home so I pulled two jars out from storage and let my darling pick.

 

 

The jalapeño mustard is one of the things my DIL egged me into buying last September.The mustard in the stein is a Dusseldorfer mustard that I find once in a while at good grocery stores . It's sharp and delicious, one of my favorites. My darling flinched at the idea of jalapeño mustard on his spicy-hot burgers (half beef, half hot Italian sausage), so it went back into the cupboard.

 

In other news: spring is coming to the desert. We're seeing the first tiny flowers. We're also spotting fresh young mustard greens. 

 

 

A handful, foraged from a huge patch, made it into our salads.

 

Thank you for throwing in the photos of the desert flowers. It's all new to me. 

[lemniscate]

Cost Plus World Market has that Dusseldorfer mustard on the shelves consistently.   And their website is very good about telling stockage in the chosen store.

 

[Smithy]

Thanks for that information, @lemniscate. We aren't near a Cost Plus World Market, but I see from the store locator that I should be close to one in the next month or so.

 

Yesterday it was time, finally, to put our latest ham bone and scraps to final use. We kept forgetting and overlooking that little container in the fridge, hiding amongst the others. Before I went for my afternoon walk I diced the remaining meat, stripped the knuckle as best I could and put it in the freezer for bean or pea seasoning. I also grated the cheese I'd need for mac 'n' cheese 'n' ham. It seems that if I don't do much of the dinner prep before the sun goes down then I'll run out of energy and we'll end up eating dogs or burgers. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't keep the refrigerator and food stocks balanced.

 

I bet I'm not the only person here who is inundated with charitable-donation requests that include notepads, address labels and, for the holiday season, gift stickers. I finally realized this month that the gift stickers have a perfect use in the kitchen. Why did it take me so long to figure this out?

 

 

I went for a walk, and spotted these brown-eyed evening primroses. (@demiglace, this is especially for you. ) Each flower is about 1 cm across. 

 

 

When I got home and we'd finished admiring the sunset, then I started what turned out to be a late dinner anyway. I balked at the idea of a pot for the pasta, a pot for the cream sauce, and a dish to bake it all in. I know it can be done in fewer pots, but after some stalling decided that sequencing was more of a pain than dishwashing. My last two cracks at mac 'n' cheese 'n' ham involved the melty cheese calculator and sodium citrate. Last night's was the classic white sauce-based version.

 

 

We loved it. It was worth dirtying up that many dishes.

 

[demiglace]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

Thanks for that information, @lemniscate. We aren't near a Cost Plus World Market, but I see from the store locator that I should be close to one in the next month or so.

 

Yesterday it was time, finally, to put our latest ham bone and scraps to final use. We kept forgetting and overlooking that little container in the fridge, hiding amongst the others. Before I went for my afternoon walk I diced the remaining meat, stripped the knuckle as best I could and put it in the freezer for bean or pea seasoning. I also grated the cheese I'd need for mac 'n' cheese 'n' ham. It seems that if I don't do much of the dinner prep before the sun goes down then I'll run out of energy and we'll end up eating dogs or burgers. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't keep the refrigerator and food stocks balanced.

 

I bet I'm not the only person here who is inundated with charitable-donation requests that include notepads, address labels and, for the holiday season, gift stickers. I finally realized this month that the gift stickers have a perfect use in the kitchen. Why did it take me so long to figure this out?

 

 

I went for a walk, and spotted these brown-eyed evening primroses. (@demiglace, this is especially for you. ) Each flower is about 1 cm across. 

 

 

When I got home and we'd finished admiring the sunset, then I started what turned out to be a late dinner anyway. I balked at the idea of a pot for the pasta, a pot for the cream sauce, and a dish to bake it all in. I know it can be done in fewer pots, but after some stalling decided that sequencing was more of a pain than dishwashing. My last two cracks at mac 'n' cheese 'n' ham involved the melty cheese calculator and sodium citrate. Last night's was the classic white sauce-based version.

 

 

We loved it. It was worth dirtying up that many dishes.

 

 

The flowers are beautiful, thank you. Mac and cheese not too shabby either. lol (delish!)

[blue_dolphin]

On 1/24/2020 at 4:32 PM, ElsieD said:

I just had a thought.  I think I'll brown the panko in some bacon grease.

 

On 1/25/2020 at 12:04 PM, ElsieD said:

I haven't made them yet but will post when I do.

 

Not @ElsieD, but I did a little test run with her idea. With my first batch, I followed the recipe that @FauxPas linked to: https://www.spendwithpennies.com/jalapeno-poppers/ except that I used some red chili pepper brie instead of the cream cheese/cheddar mix specified. 

 

In that recipe the panko gets mixed with some melted butter but not pre-browned.  They did nicely brown up in the oven:

 

For that reason, I thought that pre-browned crumbs might get too dark in the oven so when I tried using the bacon grease, I made one as above and browned the crumbs for the other one.  

Both were fine.  Sorry, I forgot to take an "after" photo.  I pulled out the one with the pre-browned crumbs after 15 minutes and let the other one go for closer to 20 min.  The pre-toasted crumbs were a bit more uniformly crunchy but not a big difference. 

WRT to the bacon grease, it added a little flavor, but with the red chili cheese and jalapeños, it wasn't striking.   

Either way, this was certainly an easy to make some quick snacks.  

 

On 1/24/2020 at 3:53 PM, ElsieD said:

Then, I wonder about cooking up some bacon while they are baking and sprinkle some bacon bits over the finished product rather than fiddling with bacon slices.

I'll try this next! 

[Smithy]

I am itching to try those pepper recipes! Right now there's still too much stuff in the fridge to justify buying them until I've used up other fresh stock. Keep those photos coming, please, so I can enjoy them vicariously!

 

Last night was his turn to cook, and apparently we didn't take any pictures. It was tube steaks in the grill basket and sweet corn (from frozen) with butter in Papa's pan, all done over the fire. He was skeptical of doing corn that way, but I thought the corn might pick up some good flavor from the previous use of the pan, which had left a hard-cooked layer that I hadn't properly cleaned. (I also suspected that the corn juices and butter would loosen some of that hard layer, but he doesn't need to know that.) The corn was good that way.

 

What I did photograph, repeatedly, without ever getting the exposure I wanted, was the sight of the moon forming a delicate bowl with Venus dangling directly above it. 

 

 

They'll be closer together tonight, but the bowl will be fatter.

 

Yesterday I started soaking the remainder of a bag of way-old Rancho Gordo Corona beans. Shame on me. I like beans, but somehow - as with pomegranates - I delay using them because of the anticipated workload until they're past their prime.

 

 

I'm going to sweat some onion and carrot, then throw the beans in and give them a good, long cook with some bay and sage. This would be the time to bring out the Instant Pot, but we don't have any other reason to run the generator until this evening. Once they're cooked, they'll either be kept whole and tossed with, oh, a vinaigrette? or mashed into a dip. Suggestions welcome!

 

And keep those peppers coming!  

[chileheadmike]

We used to do them by the hundreds for barbecue competitions. They were always know as ABTs.

Cut the chile in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and pithy stuff.

Fill with cream cheese and top with a little smokie and then wrap with a half slice of bacon a 1/3 slice if it is stretch-y. Secure with a toothpick.

Put them on the smoker for a couple of hours. I have used my Weber kettle with indirect heat for 30 to 40 minutes with good results as well. It's hotter than a smoker and crisps the bacon more. 

 

A teammate once brought a turkey fryer to a competition, we ended up dipping the already smoked ABTs in beer batter and fried them. Pretty good stuff. 

[Smithy]

@chileheadmike, I'm pretty sure you explained / translated ABT before, but perhaps you'd do it again? I think the A stands for Atomic, but my memory may be off.

 

The Corona beans were a mixed success. I sweated onions and carrots, then threw in a couple of smoked turkey tails and heated them slightly because they were still frozen. Then I added the well-soaked beans and water to cover. Brought it all to the boil, reduced the heat and let it bubble all day at a simmer, covered. I didn't add the aforementioned sage or bay leaves, out of negligence.

 

 

 

 

After hours...realio, trulio hours...when those old and tired beans were finally starting to soften, I took a wand blender to them to hasten the thickening.

 

In another pot I had steamed some green beans, then treated them to olive oil, garlic, salt and lemon following a recipe from Linda Dalal Sawaya's cookbook, Alice's Kitchen. I have had this cookbook...part family album, part cookbook...for well over a decade. It's a favorite. If you want an easy introduction to Lebanese cookery, I recommend it. If you don't intend to cook Lebanese food but you like family stories, I recommend it.

 

There's no photo of the meal as we sat down to it. We spent a fair amount of time dissecting the results. The green beans were a smashing success! My darling wanted to make sure that I had written down what I'd done this time, because they were SO good. I assured him that I'd been following a recipe (with only one small refinement) so notes weren't necessary. If he was disappointed that I hadn't invented the recipe, he was too tactful to say so.

 

The Corona beans and accompaniment ... well, neither of us was impressed but we didn't agree on the reasons. He thought the smoked turkey tails were bad news. I thought the beans were too old. We both thought the dish needed more seasoning, and our attempts to improve it were comical. Anyway, here are the leftovers. I suspect I'll be finishing off the Corona beans and turkey, and he'll sneak the green beans when I'm not looking. Fortunately for our marriage, they're easy to do again.

 

 

Meanwhile, here was tonight's sky show.

 

[chileheadmike]

I was in polite company so I refrained.  Atomic buffalo turds. Here is a picture of some ready to go on.

[kayb]

I ran across this link this morning on Facebook and thought of this thread. Interesting take on stuff jalapenos, maybe a cross with that and chicken enchiladas. I won't be trying it because I don't like jalapenos. They taste too green for me. Now, you let that pepper get ripe, smoke it and call it a chipotle, and I'm all about it. (They ARE the same pepper, aren't they?) In any event, I like jalapenos fine if they're left on the plant long enough to turn red.

 

There are a tremendous amount of ads and links on this site, but the recipe sounds at least reasonable.

 

[ElsieD]

@Smithy  Smoked turkey tails?  I need to get out more.

@kayb  I had a look at that recipe.  Looks good.  I need to cook mine up.