Camping, Princess Style

[Smithy]

There is a principle in Quantum Mechanics that the very act of measuring or observing something changes it. I've been amazed, ever since I got my head wrapped around that idea, at how thoroughly it applies to the macroscopic world as well as the subatomic world. 

 

So it is with hash. I know I promised to quantify and document the hash-making process. I've been trying, believe me...and I've had a lot of opportunities to try. Now that I'm trying, and watching, and trying, and watching, his results have varied from crispy-nearly-black potatoes to too-much-oil to he-just-isn't-quite-satisfied. So I think the best I can do is show the latest and give the proportions.

 

The prep work is done well in advance: he chops an entire onion and uses about half; he chops enough potatoes to fill a 1-quart container and uses about half; he uses 2 to 2-1/2 oz oil; he uses 8" or so of hot sausage of some sort. If the sausages are "standard" (hot dog) length he uses two; if it's a ring kielbasa he uses half; if it's a long sausage like Zatarain's he uses one. I'll post photos if any of this is confusing.

 

The steps: put the oil in the 13" skillet; put the potatoes in; turn on the heat. He isn't in the habit of letting the oil heat first.  Turn the potatoes periodically until they brown. We discovered the other night that the timing is different on our camp stove than on our Princessmobile stove; of all things, the camp stove seems to be hotter! But it's been TOO DARNED COLD AND WINDY to want to cook outside.

 

Oh, he seasons the potatoes with Lawry's Seasoned Salt. He thinks it helps draw moisture out so the potatoes get more brown. What do you think - fact or fiction? 

 

When the potatoes are crisp and brown - however long that takes - add the sausage, which has been cut into coins. Stir that all until the sausage is adequately browned or the potatoes are starting to be overdone. At the very last moment, add the onions. We use sweet onions and want them barely warm but still crisp.

 

 

Enjoy.

 

 

Not only is it cold (by this desert's standards) and windy but it's also dry. We had a slight sprinking the other day - enough to give us a rainbow but only a few drops on the windshield. My photo program keeps teasing me with memories from last year, two years ago, and so on. There is no desert bloom this year. Still, the sunrises and sunsets are beautiful.

 

 

In other news: not only have you seen a great deal of hash, tube steaks and superburgers this trip -- believe me, you haven't seen as many as we've eaten -- but there have been several pork roasts. We found a good source of boneless pork shoulder: boned, then tied with string. The leftovers are great. Last night I got creative with broccoli, using my newfound technique of steaming in the skillet. The broccoli was almost, but not quite, overcooked. It still had a bit of crispness. The pine nuts, sauteed in a bit of butter, were a nice touch.

 

 

 

[Smithy]

I've been planning for far too long to make enchiladas. Chorizo and ground beef have been sitting in the refrigerator for weeks. Flour tortillas have been in the refrigerator for even longer. The red onion I bought for the purpose has been ignored, passed over in favor of sweet onions for his dishes. Day after day, week after week, when I've said I intended to make enchiladas that day he's said something along the lines that he'd been planning hash, or had his taste buds set for sausage and potato salad, or couldn't we have superburgers instead? It's gotten so easy for me to take the path of least resistance that yesterday, when I said I was really going to do it, he scoffed. We had plans for the afternoon, and got back late, so it would have been easy to let the project slide once again. Still, I persisted.

 

I discovered that the two sealed packages in the refrigerator weren't chorizo and ground beef; they were pork chorizo and beef chorizo! I chose the pork, and put the beef chorizo in the freezer. Out came the tortillas - at least they lie flat, but they still take up refrigerator space. Out came a can of refried beans and a can of enchilada sauce from the cupboard. The red onion got chopped, then sweated in a pan; then the chorizo went in to cook. Refried beans were warmed separately. I don't have any picture of the individual ingredients, but none of it was unusual. 

 

The finished enchiladas in the baking dish were much prettier than when served - dinner looked like something we'd hesitate to feed the dog - but it was good. 

 

 

Note that there was no toast! Tortilla chips did the trick.

[Dave the Cook]

On 2/24/2022 at 6:02 PM, Smithy said:

 

 

Gorgeous tots.

[heidih]

I jumped a bit when I read that ground beef had beenin the fridge for weeks. Weeks Fridge. ???

[Smithy]

5 minutes ago, heidih said:

I jumped a bit when I read that ground beef had beenin the fridge for weeks. Weeks Fridge. ???

 

I feared that wouldn't come out right! But yes, I thought I had a sealed (vac-sealed) package of ground beef in the fridge. Its color had been good all that time, but I did want to use it before it went off. Now of course, having looked more carefully at the package, I realize it was chorizo all along -- not ground beef. No wonder it kept!

[heidih]

OK I missed the vac-sealed

[Porthos]

Does your darling eat casserole meals?

[Smithy]

8 hours ago, Porthos said:

Does your darling eat casserole meals?

 

We do the occasional "hot dish" (the Minnesota name for casseroles) but except for tuna noodle, or macaroni and cheese, it's rare. Nothing wrong with the idea, but it just doesn't come up on our radar as often as a one-pot stovetop dinner or else the separate elements.

 

Coincidentally, I have a recipe for a chicken casserole that I'd intended to try, but I keep forgetting about it. As you'll see, I used what little chicken we had for a different dinner last night.

[Smithy]

It's dry, dry, dry here. My photo programs keep showing me memories from last year, the year before, and so on...and even in "dry" years there have been more flowers and greenery. I hope the dried brush is simply dormant. The wolfberry shrubs at the base of these trees look dead, but I know that's a desert survival trick. Still, when we look carefully we find the odd mallow blossom.

 

 

Yesterday he tripped one time too many over bags under a dinette bench and insisted that I find a better storage location. One bag contained treasures I'd bought at Trader Joe's last December. Some I know I've showed before, because they're regular stock items whenever I get to a TJ's: two kinds of mustard; grilled marinated artichoke hearts; sun-dried tomato salsa; pesto.

 

I'd forgotten about my exploratory purchases! It was like Christmas all over again.

 

 

 

I generally prefer to make my own spice blends, but the two in the middle looked appealing. Chicken was on the menu last night, so I decided the Georgian seasoning blend would go on it in place of my usual rub. The plan was to rub the chicken thoroughly and cook it in a basket over the campfire.

 

Then the wind came up. And up. And up. Our campsite is sheltered from the prevailing winds, but this wind was from the wrong direction. I trimmed green beans while waiting to see whether the wind would die. Nope. Time to change plans, and cook inside.

 

I chopped "baby" Yukon Gold potatoes, tossed them in olive oil and maybe a bit of salt, and set them in a very hot oven to roast in the bottom of an enameled cast iron pan. When they were starting to brown, I added the chicken. I'd thought, incorrectly, that I had a lot of chicken thighs in the freezer. Nope! There were 3 thighs and 1 breast. Everything else in that freezer is...well, there's still a lot, but there's no chicken.

 

 

In the "I should have known better" category: I should have known that even in a 450F oven the chicken wouldn't brown properly. i needed to sear it first. 

 

In fact, I needed to have seared it to brown the skin, then set it atop the roasted potatoes and cooked it all at a lower temperature. The chicken wasn't overcooked, but it was tough from rapid cooking.

 

While the chicken was not cooking properly in the oven, I was using the stovetop for the Green Bean Salad with Toasted Almonds and Feta that I've raved about before. I used pine nuts this time around. I think that part of the recipe is quite forgiving: toasted nuts provide flavor and crunch, but many different nuts will do.

 

 

The green beans were the star of the show! He is "meh" about green beans as a rule, but thought these were excellent. He even went so far as to say I could feed him these any time! They would have been excellent even if the rest of the dinner had lived up to them. It didn't. The potatoes were runners-up: nice flavor, good texture, nothing to be ashamed about. The chicken...well, I've already told you where I went wrong. It deserved better.

 

Oh, and as to the Ajika Georgian seasoning blend? Meh. The description says "Spicy, garlicky, & deeply aromatic & savory". About all I got from it was bitterness and some heat from the crushed red peppers. I tasted nothing else to alleviate that flavor. I'll give the blend another test on something. If I still don't like it, out it goes.

 

 

[DesertTinker]

The wind this year has been awful! It’s put a major damper on lots of our plans for patio cooking. Get something planned and figured out then it’s hellaciously windy for days…

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 hours ago, Smithy said:

It's dry, dry, dry here. My photo programs keep showing me memories from last year, the year before, and so on...and even in "dry" years there have been more flowers and greenery. I hope the dried brush is simply dormant. The wolfberry shrubs at the base of these trees look dead, but I know that's a desert survival trick. Still, when we look carefully we find the odd mallow blossom.

 

 

Yesterday he tripped one time too many over bags under a dinette bench and insisted that I find a better storage location. One bag contained treasures I'd bought at Trader Joe's last December. Some I know I've showed before, because they're regular stock items whenever I get to a TJ's: two kinds of mustard; grilled marinated artichoke hearts; sun-dried tomato salsa; pesto.

 

I'd forgotten about my exploratory purchases! It was like Christmas all over again.

 

 

 

I generally prefer to make my own spice blends, but the two in the middle looked appealing. Chicken was on the menu last night, so I decided the Georgian seasoning blend would go on it in place of my usual rub. The plan was to rub the chicken thoroughly and cook it in a basket over the campfire.

 

Then the wind came up. And up. And up. Our campsite is sheltered from the prevailing winds, but this wind was from the wrong direction. I trimmed green beans while waiting to see whether the wind would die. Nope. Time to change plans, and cook inside.

 

I chopped "baby" Yukon Gold potatoes, tossed them in olive oil and maybe a bit of salt, and set them in a very hot oven to roast in the bottom of an enameled cast iron pan. When they were starting to brown, I added the chicken. I'd thought, incorrectly, that I had a lot of chicken thighs in the freezer. Nope! There were 3 thighs and 1 breast. Everything else in that freezer is...well, there's still a lot, but there's no chicken.

 

 

In the "I should have known better" category: I should have known that even in a 450F oven the chicken wouldn't brown properly. i needed to sear it first. 

 

In fact, I needed to have seared it to brown the skin, then set it atop the roasted potatoes and cooked it all at a lower temperature. The chicken wasn't overcooked, but it was tough from rapid cooking.

 

While the chicken was not cooking properly in the oven, I was using the stovetop for the Green Bean Salad with Toasted Almonds and Feta that I've raved about before. I used pine nuts this time around. I think that part of the recipe is quite forgiving: toasted nuts provide flavor and crunch, but many different nuts will do.

 

 

The green beans were the star of the show! He is "meh" about green beans as a rule, but thought these were excellent. He even went so far as to say I could feed him these any time! They would have been excellent even if the rest of the dinner had lived up to them. It didn't. The potatoes were runners-up: nice flavor, good texture, nothing to be ashamed about. The chicken...well, I've already told you where I went wrong. It deserved better.

 

Oh, and as to the Ajika Georgian seasoning blend? Meh. The description says "Spicy, garlicky, & deeply aromatic & savory". About all I got from it was bitterness and some heat from the crushed red peppers. I tasted nothing else to alleviate that flavor. I'll give the blend another test on something. If I still don't like it, out it goes.

 

 

 

I've had good results with Ajika when necessary.  I've read that Georgian women typically purchase preferred spice blends for their cookery rather than relying on individual spices.  I cannot confirm the truth of this.

 

Which was the Ajika blend you used?

 

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I've had good results with Ajika when necessary.  I've read that Georgian women typically purchase preferred spice blends for their cookery rather than relying on individual spices.  I cannot confirm the truth of this.

 

Which was the Ajika blend you used?

 

 

I picked it up at Trader Joe's, and it's listed under the TJ's brand name.

 

The label description says "Spicy, garlicky, & deeply aromatic & savory". 

The ingredients listed are "crushed chili peppers, coriander, fenugreek, dried minced garlic, salt, marigold"

[Smithy]

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.

 

 

 

[rotuts]

@Smithy  

 

thank so much !

 

Here and There !

 

and the Menu's 

 

cheers!

[Smithy]

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.

[Kim Shook]

On 3/12/2022 at 2:05 PM, Smithy said:

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.

 

 

 

We lost the Dave's we used to have.  We went fairly often for ribs, beans, and corn muffins mostly.  Jessica's best high school buddy used to only order two portions of beans and two muffins when she went with us.  

[lindag]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

We lost the Dave's we used to have.  We went fairly often for ribs, beans, and corn muffins mostly.  Jessica's best high school buddy used to only order two portions of beans and two muffins when she went with us.  

Love their beans, spicy coleslaw, brisket, spicy pickles and just about everything else they make.  It's used to be must-stop for out-of-towners from the Seattle area (before they got their own).

[Smithy]

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.

 

 

[FauxPas]

@Smithy, I decided to try your travel partner's one true roast pork shoulder recipe.  🙂

 

For some reason, I never did any cooking with onion soup mixes before, but did try rubbing some on to a pork loin roast recently and it was pretty good. So this time, I followed the suggestion to use the diced potatoes underneath a pork shoulder roast. It was good! Though my roast may not have had enough of a fat layer on it, as some of the potatoes were a tad dry. It was all still very good though and we enjoyed it. So thanks to you two! 

 

 

We had a fair amount of leftovers from this meal and since we are renovating our kitchen early next month, I froze some for a quick microwave dinner later on. I have some prep containers with 3 compartments, so did roast, potates and corn in each one. It's the kind of meal my husband loves and I hope it will reheat well, but I wish I had added a bit of gravy to the meat. I guess I can do that before reheating but the whole idea is to avoid cooking and cleaning while we have no countertops and no sink, D/W, etc. 

 

Anyway, it was a pretty easy meal to cook and I hope it reheats well from frozen, have you any experience with that? 

 

 

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, FauxPas said:

@Smithy, I decided to try your travel partner's one true roast pork shoulder recipe.  🙂

 

For some reason, I never did any cooking with onion soup mixes before, but did try rubbing some on to a pork loin roast recently and it was pretty good. So this time, I followed the suggestion to use the diced potatoes underneath a pork shoulder roast. It was good! Though my roast may not have had enough of a fat layer on it, as some of the potatoes were a tad dry. It was all still very good though and we enjoyed it. So thanks to you two! 

 

 

We had a fair amount of leftovers from this meal and since we are renovating our kitchen early next month, I froze some for a quick microwave dinner later on. I have some prep containers with 3 compartments, so did roast, potates and corn in each one. It's the kind of meal my husband loves and I hope it will reheat well, but I wish I had added a bit of gravy to the meat. I guess I can do that before reheating but the whole idea is to avoid cooking and cleaning while we have no countertops and no sink, D/W, etc. 

 

Anyway, it was a pretty easy meal to cook and I hope it reheats well from frozen, have you any experience with that? 

 

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.

[FauxPas]

13 hours ago, Smithy said:

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.

 

I'll let you know how it turns out!  🙂

 

[Smithy]

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!

[Dave the Cook]

You measure tomato paste in inches?

[Smithy]

31 minutes ago, Dave the Cook said:

You measure tomato paste in inches?

 

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.

[Shelby]

31 minutes ago, Dave the Cook said:

You measure tomato paste in inches?

I do the same....take an inch out of the can.  Saves washing a TBS or whatever 😁