Camping, Princess Style

[rotuts]

Ive seen it said , from Texas A & M  professors  

 

discussing Beef on the Hoof w Aaron Franklin 

 

that Texans love feed lot beef.  for the ' corn finished ' flavor

 

therefore , wonder if Miller's has grass fed beef .

Edited December 27, 2022 by rotuts (log)

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

Cookie & Kate

This rang no bells with me, so I decided I needed to investigate. I found the blog, and then I found that I purchased the book in 2017!   So embarrassing! Amazon was kind enough to remind me that I owned it. I will have another look at it today. Thanks.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by Anna N
To remove photograph. (log)

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Friends of ours have a 10,000 acre ranch in New Mexico, between Gallup and Grants and adjacent to the Zuni reservation. They raise organic grass-fed beef that they sell through a co-op. Every time I eat their beef I'm reminded that this is what beef should taste like. We don't eat much beef, but when we do we want it to be good. Often people complain that grass-fed beef is tough and gamy, but that depends on how the cattle are handled on the range and in the rendering plant. A cow that's had a lot of exercise immediately before slaughter will be tough. The stress of being crammed into a cattle car also affects tenderness (or the lack thereof). There's a reason that the term "cattle car" has gotten such  a bad reputation--3 levels of cattle with no room to turn around plus the fear that accompanies the road trip.

 

Our friends harvest a few cows at a time and they transport them to the slaughterhouse in Moriarty in their own much smaller stock trailer. As happy as a cow can be, given that they ultimately end up on our plates, their cows are content. They also have carefully created their own genetic line, selecting for tenderness and fat content (which can be measured by ultrasound), so they're reluctant to leave the cattle business and therefore losing that valuable genetic profile. They're getting older and have a second home near us in Patzcuaro, so they're gradually selling off the herd to ranchers that they know will value that genetic line.

[Smithy]

56 minutes ago, Anna N said:

This rang no bells with me, so I decided I needed to investigate. I found the blog, and then I found that I purchased the book in 2017!   So embarrassing! Amazon was kind enough to remind me that I owned it. I will have another look at it today. Thanks.

 

 

Sorry for the shorthand! I've touted the Cookie & Kate Green Bean Salad with Feta and Almonds so many times that I just threw the reference out there with neither a link nor a care. My best friend and I discovered this particular recipe about a year ago and loved it. The technique for cooking the green beans, regardless of seasoning, works out well with other vegetables too -- including last night's brussels sprouts.

 

Let us know what you think about the cookbook, please!

[rotuts]

@Nancy in Pátzcuaro 

 

wonderful post .

 

I do like beef.  a lot  

 

indeed there is a history 

 

of 4 Bone , Standing ( really ) Prime 

 

the right 4 , BTW , Ive forgotten 

 

late '70's , at a butcher : Dewars 

 

you ordered this , in advance 

 

I could afford it , for New Years Eve 

 

So after all this 

 

if you use any of your grass fed meat 

 

pls consider taking a pic , before , and when Sooo delicious ?

 

many thanks.

 

 

[Smithy]

@rotuts, we used to make a tradition of Prime Rib for Christmas and/or New Year's, but this year we're on a ham kick. We got less expensive meats (sausages, stuffed peppers, etc.) from Miiller's this year. We do have a package of beef ribs from I-don't-remember-where-or-when, carefully cryovac'ed, that will make an appearance sometime this trip, but they didn't come from Miiller's. I think I bought them from one of our meat shops in Duluth.

 

I got answers via chat from Miiller's earlier today as to our questions.

 

1. The beef skirt is apparently the entire skirt, not separated into the thin and thick cuts. They use the same thing for pinwheels.

2. The beef comes by truckload, once a week, from Hereford, TX. The company's name is Caviness.

3. The Chat Man was apparently talking to The Boss to get these answers, and I quote my final question and their answer:

 -- "Any idea whether it's feedlot finished?"

 --"He says it is mostly grassfed."

 

Whether that means most of the beef is grassfed, or some of it is finished in a feedlot, or all of it gets a little time in a feedlot is unclear from that answer, but I didn't want to bug them further.

 

Here's the website of their supplier: Caviness Beef Packers. Looks like a pretty good outfit.

[Smithy]

Our aforementioned cases of Covid-19 seem to be mild. I'm pretty much over it, and my darling is a few days behind me but generally okay (except for being grumpy as a peacock caught showing when the sprinklers turned on). We're counting our blessings -- I, more than he, so far -- for getting off lightly, but neither of us has been terribly interested in cooking or eating.

 

This is where things like the massive Christmas ham shine. Last night it was (most, not all) of the stew of goop, potatoes, and carrots from the original roasting. Tonight it was grilled ham 'n' cheese sandwiches.

 

There's nothing special about these sandwiches from a culinary standpoint. However, they're easy and delicious, and require minimal effort and cleanup. Did I mention that they're delicious?

 

 

 

Earlier in the day, as the mood took us, we ate cereal, snippets of cole slaw, or the Christmas green beans. Lots of coffee. I'm past needing cold medicine, but he began today. *Sniffle Honk*

 

Rain last night, but the best part was the clouds yesterday afternoon presaging the rain to come. Much of the country is getting too much of the wet stuff. We got just a little.

 

 

 

[Smithy]

It's rained a little over the last couple of days, and last night the fog moved in. Fog! In the desert! The humidity right now is 45%! Not something we're used to out here.

 

 

My sister sent us a box of Harry & David Royal Riviera pears as a Christmas present. I tried the first one on Tuesday and was sorry for my misjudgment. I've been firmly leaving them alone except for checking. Today my patience paid off:

 

 

 

Perfection!

 

It's really brunch, though. We spent far too much time this morning trying to work out why the portable pump was so slow to transfer water from the pickup tank we'd refilled yesterday to the trailer tank. We have a few ideas, nothing conclusive. It may be that the pump is simply wearing out. Yet another thing to troubleshoot, and somehow fix!

 

That reminds me of a story I read in the New York Times earlier this week. I thought it was a real howler, and at least some of the commenters thought the same thing although others were far too shirty about it. (I stopped reading comments after about the 10th one.) I give you, as a gift from a NYT Subscriber, this great read from Caity Weaver:

 

I Lived the #VanLife. It Wasn't Pretty. (Link didn't work. Try this: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/20/magazine/van-life-dwelling.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuonUktbfqYhkTFUZAybQVNcuvByAiL_Rybp5gn7wIW2ZVjtGy-UTDM6A50LJL-JFVucE4g66FpVHIaN9A7t71PNeNEhgDFahrsrbwc4MZn8-94z2AzM_jtedUb01tGOyM2C3c-wvzeCz51jOKjW_ANyp2nMiJwZnqJtnZAvqjSROnvGZZ7Yzjtpu3v4hBYR5RiMBZUSJtvrvDRZ9OLaWf02Wq1l2C6wCB2alzZPL4KkAcQ5TFVvFUHt-hG42499ZM9sUV73tNLNDLHaNpsGWnlcgB-bZsw)

Edited December 30, 2022 by Smithy
Corrected Ms. Weaver's last name, and tried another link (log)

[heidih]

Sorry bout the mechanical problems - why I could never do it as I a, SO not m,echanical.  The link didnlt work for me so if someone has issues maybe this one  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/20/magazine/van-life-dwelling.html?

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

That reminds me of a story I read in the New York Times earlier this week. I thought it was a real howler, and at least some of the commenters thought the same thing although others were far too shirty about it. (I stopped reading comments after about the 10th one.) I give you, as a gift from a NYT Subscriber, this great read from Caity Witter:

 

I Lived the #VanLife. It Wasn't Pretty. 

 

My husband and I both thought it was a set-up. I mean, really? A reluctant, inexperienced, frightened driver with a lousy sense of direction and a mistaken idea of life on the road, prone to claustrophobia and and unable to park. What could go wrong? As someone who has traveled and lived in a van--admittedly larger and better equipped than the one in the story--for months, it's quite a bit better than this. But I'm sure it was deliberately contrived to be very humorous for its intended audience. I thought she sounded like a complete twit.

 

[Porthos]

On 12/28/2022 at 9:44 PM, Smithy said:

Our aforementioned cases of Covid-19 seem to be mild. I'm pretty much over it, and my darling is a few days behind me but generally okay (except for being grumpy as a peacock caught showing when the sprinklers turned on). We're counting our blessings -- I, more than he, so far -- for getting off lightly, but neither of us has been terribly interested in cooking or eating.

COVID-19 absolutely flatened me. Forget eating. So weak I had to use a walker to get the 10 feet to the bathroom.  I'm grateful that you are weathering it so much better.

 

[Smithy]

16 hours ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

That reminds me of a story I read in the New York Times earlier this week. I thought it was a real howler, and at least some of the commenters thought the same thing although others were far too shirty about it. (I stopped reading comments after about the 10th one.) I give you, as a gift from a NYT Subscriber, this great read from Caity Witter:

 

I Lived the #VanLife. It Wasn't Pretty. 

 

My husband and I both thought it was a set-up. I mean, really? A reluctant, inexperienced, frightened driver with a lousy sense of direction and a mistaken idea of life on the road, prone to claustrophobia and and unable to park. What could go wrong? As someone who has traveled and lived in a van--admittedly larger and better equipped than the one in the story--for months, it's quite a bit better than this. But I'm sure it was deliberately contrived to be very humorous for its intended audience. I thought she sounded like a complete twit.

 

I expect you're right that it was a setup, but I still thought it was funny. Part of my dark amusement at it is due to the explosion of people who took to the road during the pandemic, and who drastically changed the dynamic of parks and camping. If we hadn't been experienced boondockers already, we'd have been in a world of hurt for campsites in parks this year, given the new trend of many campers reserving in advance, then not using the campsite. More than one article this year has talked about "sold out" campgrounds being maybe half full, with campers who need sites being turned away. I also have a certain amount of disdain for "influencers" and their nonstop staged photos. Once in a while is fine, but are they living for themselves, or for other people's opinions? I think most of us here know the answer to that question.

[Smithy]

14 hours ago, Porthos said:

COVID-19 absolutely flatened me. Forget eating. So weak I had to use a walker to get the 10 feet to the bathroom.  I'm grateful that you are weathering it so much better.

 

 

Porthos, I'm so sorry it hit you so hard. Thank you for your well-wishes for us. I hope you're well on your way to recovery; I'm looking forward to reading about the great stuff you're cooking in your new kitchen!!

 

My darling is still a bit sniffly but generally feeing good. I'm generally feeling good. And...drum roll...my home test kit just came out negative! YESSSS!

[Smithy]

None of our meals recently has been very interesting; last night was leftovers again. At least we're working our way down through them!! As I go back through my photos, I see things I meant to talk about but haven't yet.

 

Ever seen an emu egg? I hadn't either, until our stop for propane a few weeks ago. 

 

 

I was sorely tempted. I asked about what the eggs are like, and was told that they taste a lot like chicken eggs. A lot of chicken eggs. One emu egg is roughly the equivalent of 8 chicken eggs.

 

I was curious, but wasn't sure I was $25 worth of curious. My hesitation saved me, because the place was closed every time we went by after that.

 

Much later, I wondered how I'd get one open anyway. I didn't get a picture, but a bin below this one held shells that had been blown out and then carved with decorative patterns. It looked like power tools had been involved. Those shells are tough!

[heidih]

how funny - I just buzzed thrugh a video of Sonny Side's and he was eating emu egg in India. The methoid of opening he showed was a hole on one end and aggressive directed blowing out the innards through a hold on other end. Taste wise he said with all the intricate spicing - hard to tell apart fom other eggs in a scramble. Just watchibng it made my jaw hinge ache as we used to blow out duck eggs as kids to decorate for Easter. I had a rhea amd hoped for an egg but Ethel turned out to be Ed.

[Smithy]

This narrative now goes back to Llano, perhaps for the last time this fall. We bought dinner from Cooper's several nights: beef ribs and brisket, and more ribs and brisket, and of course the sides that I wrote about before. My darling disliked the idea of buying more than we could eat in one evening because he thought the leftovers couldn't measure up to the original. I wanted to stock up! We settled the discussion early during the stay by buying more ribs than we could eat -- the first night, in fact -- and seeing what we could do about reheating the leftovers.

 

Remember these?

 

 

That was way more than the two of us could eat in one sitting. In fact, I think we each ate one rib for dinner. This meat is very rich, very fatty, very good, and each rib is huge. This isn't that particular dinner, but you get the idea. The side dish is curried cauliflower.

 

 

So there we were, he worried about all that meat going to waste and me determined that it would be fine so I could justify buying a lot more before we moved on from the area. We spent a lot of time researching how to reheat the ribs. We found a charming article that began, "If you're lucky enough to have leftover ribs,..." and knew we were on the right track. The method: put the ribs on a rack of some kind, cover, and reheat slowly in a low oven.

 

The covered dish in a low oven was easy.

 

 

The rack was a different story. What did we have that would fit in there? He hit on a simple expedient: flatware! A flatware rack!

 

 

Worked like a charm. Who needs fancy racks, anyway?

[Smithy]

9 minutes ago, heidih said:

how funny - I just buzzed thrugh a video of Sonny Side's and he was eating emu egg in India. The methoid of opening he showed was a hole on one end and aggressive directed blowing out the innards through a hold on other end. Taste wise he said with all the intricate spicing - hard to tell apart fom other eggs in a scramble. Just watchibng it made my jaw hinge ache as we used to blow out duck eggs as kids to decorate for Easter. I had a rhea amd hoped for an egg but Ethel turned out to be Ed.

 

It wouldn't have occurred to me to empty the eggshell that way for cooking purposes! We used to blow out chicken eggs for Easter decorating. Even that was a lot of work for us children.

[rotuts]

@Smithy 

 

Im betting that rejected Rib jus was tasty.

[Smithy]

30 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@Smithy 

 

Im betting that rejected Rib jus was tasty.

 

Oh, absolutely. There was also a light painting of (my preferred) barbecue sauce on the ribs and in that juice. None of it went to waste, believe me!

[Margaret Pilgrim]

 

I had an "aha" moment when a poster on another forum told another, "I'm not arguing with you.   I'm correcting you."    And I thought, "Over half of my life explained in 9 words."

[SLB]

I'm catching up in here after awhile away, I'm sorry to see you and yours had Christmas covid too.   But it's wonderful to reconnect with your road-life!

 

And I want ribs for dinner tomorrow, along with my peas and collards.  I wish I had thought of this before just now, though.

[Smithy]

It's good to see you back, @SLB!

 

It rained a little overnight, but we aren't getting the major gullywashers that are hitting farther to the west. The wind is supposed to get strong today, though, so we've closed the back deck for warmth and wind protection. At least it isn't foggy. Although I grew up with fog at Christmastime and have rather missed it, two days has been enough. Besides, fog-with-desert-brush just doesn't smell the same as fog-with-orange-groves. Can't have everything.

 

Last night's dinner was the essence of simplicity: scrambled eggs with cheese and some of the Christmas ham. We invoked the "it's New Year's somewhere in the world" principle and went to bed early. I made it to East Coast New Year's, at least, but didn't try watching the ball drop.

 

 

If I'd wanted to watch it, I probably wouldn't have had enough bandwidth anyway. The New Year's revelers have come out in force, some miles down the road, to party and ride their dune machines. They're having a grand time, and when we went for water yesterday we could see that much of the desert near the dunes was occupied with clusters of trailers.

 

 

 

I suspect that hundreds or thousands of us are all trying a use a communications tower designed for a few dozen. So much for high-speed internet!

Edited January 4, 2023 by Smithy
spelling (log)

[heidih]

Ha! I was at the only open register stuck behind a high with a mile high piled cart. 

Me:"Getting ready for apocalypse?  Guy" "no camping, desert out by Salton Sea, gets real windy""  Me: vehicle? Guy: "trailer, 5th wheel  Me: "hauling the toys along"  Guy: "yup" We had beautiful fog yesterday among the pines and eucalyptus. Taxi driver even  commented on loveliness! Now windy as heck...

 

Scrambled eggs with add ins - always satisfying to me. No truffle shaved in or champagne? 

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

Ha! I was at the only open register stuck behind a high with a mile high piled cart. 

Me:"Getting ready for apocalypse?  Guy" "no camping, desert out by Salton Sea, gets real windy""  Me: vehicle? Guy: "trailer, 5th wheel  Me: "hauling the toys along"  Guy: "yup" We had beautiful fog yesterday among the pines and eucalyptus. Taxi driver even  commented on loveliness! Now windy as heck...

 

Scrambled eggs with add ins - always satisfying to me. No truffle shaved in or champagne? 

 

Yep, that wind is picking up here, but the sun has come out and we've put the deck furniture back upright (we tip it over to avoid the seat cushions being soaked by the rain.) What I love about fog is the way it amplifies vegetative smells. Back when we spent Christmas near Pismo Beach, a hundred or two miles north of you, I got the pine-and-eucalyptus smell.

 

No champagne last night. He isn't really into it, and I wasn't in the mood for alcohol. How stodgy of us! Go figure! (You know you're getting old when 9 hours of sleep sounds like a good way to see in the New Year....)

[Smithy]

The wind blew and blew and blew today, making us glad we'd kept the back gate of the Princessmobile closed up. It stays warm that way, but gets a bit too cozy -- make that close -- in here after a while, so we also made a point of going outside some. (The dog insisted on that, anyway.) It was a good day for puttering around inside and doing a lot of non-culinary things, as well as low and slow culinary things. We now have a lot of cooked Rancho Gordo beans and some cooked pintos. He wants to put those gorgeous Rancho Gordo beans into a carton of baked beans purchased at the grocery store deli. Over my dead body, I say. He can have some, to cut the sweetness of that nasty deli stuff. I get the rest for a savory bean dish. Not sure yet what it will be.

 

Dinner was a set-it-and-walk-away experiment, and I'm glad I tried it. I can't be sure who gets the most credit for this potato treatment, but it was a mashup of recipes for Crispy Parmesan Roasted Potatoes from AZCentral (Arizona Republic) and Ali Slagle's I Dream of Dinner (so You Don't Have To) (eG-friendly Amazon.com link): see her Lemon-Pepper Chicken & Potatoes, p. 267. 

 

The AZ Central recipe said that grated parmesan, not shredded, was required for its recipe. I didn't want to bother hand-grating, so went for the finest shredding disk available on my Moulinex. To the fine strands of parmesan I added lemon zest, ground coriander (seed), paprika, and white pepper. I cut russet potatoes into largish chunks (roughly eighths). Lined a baking pan with parchment paper, poured enough olive oil on it to make a small pool, rolled the potato chunks in it, then coated and tossed them (on the parchment paper) with the cheese mixture. Into the oven they went, 450F for an hour. 

 

I was curious to see whether fish would take to the same treatment, and didn't want to be bothered pan-frying. Some rockfish filets and one sockeye salmon filet joined the experiment: same coating, put into an enameled cast iron pan that had 1/4" of hot oil in it, for the last 10 minutes or so. As fish finished, it came out of the hot pan and went into the pie pan that held the remains of the cheese mixture.

 

It was generally good, and definitely low-effort. The fish wasn't at all crisp, and although the flavors were good I don't think I'd do this exact thing again. For one thing, it made a sticky mess in the ECI pan and I just finished scrubbing! For another thing, some sort of bread crumbs added to the mix would benefit the texture. 

 

 

The potatoes, on the other hand, were glorious: crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, with a filigree of parmesan shreds stuck to the bottom of each potato and spreading out like some delicious doily. Definitely worth doing again. This is the way to do oven fries!