Camping, Princess Style

[Smithy]

51 minutes ago, chileheadmike said:

 

Sounds good to me. 

I cook green beans with tomatoes and garlic.

 

I do too, and this morning I realized that the dressing in question would go very well with green beans. To our tastes, anyway.

[Smithy]

We have gremlins in the trailer.  I'm not talking about the gremlins in our electrical system, although we have more than our share of those. Maybe these are the same gremlins, doing extra mischief in their off-hours when they aren't messing with the wiring.

 

It all began when my darling wanted to make chili. He has a very specific recipe, with very specific ingredients. He swears he bought the precise canned goods he needed for this dish before we left. (I do mean 'specific': Joan of Arc brand beans, for instance - not Bush's Best, thankyouverymuch, because they don't taste the same.) He swears they were in a bag to be packed. I have no such recollection, but packing can be pretty intense toward departure time. Maybe we'll find them on the garage floor, frozen and then exploded from the intense cold, when we get home.

 

Recollections or no, we can't find them.

 

Next up was refried beans. They are a staple in our household: want Mexican? Pull out some salsa, refried beans, maybe some enchilada sauce, and have at it with the meat of choice, tortillas, sour cream, greens, etc.

 

Nope. No refried beans to be found in the trailer. We've looked everywhere. There are at least 3 cans of assorted enchilada sauce. There are least a dozen pints of salsa we made last fall and packed along. There are at least 4 cans of diced or crushed tomatoes, although they aren't the specific brand he wants for his chili. There are no refried beans. There are plenty of dried beans from which to make refried beans, but one doesn't do that on a moment's notice.

 

We began to wonder about our packing, or our memories. The plot thickened.

 

Last night, we wanted something incredibly easy. "Zatarain's!" I yelled. "How about red beans and rice?" Yep, that was it.

 

I dug through the cupboard until I came to the canister that carries several boxes of Zatarain's New Orleans mixes, and opened it....and found a small bag of brown sugar and a piloncillo. 

 

"We must have gremlins in the cabinets," we agreed. We settled for leftovers.

 

Today we realized the gremlins give as well as take. There is a mystery bottle of salad dressing...or marinade...or what?... in the refrigerator. He swears it isn't his, because he always makes his salad dressing in the ridged bottle. I swear it isn't mine, because I never use packaged mixes. The picture below shows, from left to right, my most recent salad dressing, the mystery bottle, and his salad dressing. He tried to claim today that it's the leftover marinade from my last citrus chicken. I know it isn't.

 

 

Gremlins, I tell you. At least they give back.

Edited February 1, 2019 by Smithy
spelling: corrected "piloncillo" (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

37 minutes ago, Smithy said:

We have gremlins in the trailer.  I'm not talking about the gremlins in our electrical system, although we have more than our share of those. Maybe these are the same gremlins, doing extra mischief in their off-hours when they aren't messing with the wiring.

 

It all began when my darling wanted to make chili. He has a very specific recipe, with very specific ingredients. He swears he bought the precise canned goods he needed for this dish before we left. (I do mean 'specific': Joan of Arc brand beans, for instance - not Bush's Best, thankyouverymuch, because they don't taste the same.) He swears they were in a bag to be packed. I have no such recollection, but packing can be pretty intense toward departure time. Maybe we'll find them on the garage floor, frozen and then exploded from the intense cold, when we get home.

 

Recollections or no, we can't find them.

 

Next up was refried beans. They are a staple in our household: want Mexican? Pull out some salsa, refried beans, maybe some enchilada sauce, and have at it with the meat of choice, tortillas, sour cream, greens, etc.

 

Nope. No refried beans to be found in the trailer. We've looked everywhere. There are at least 3 cans of assorted enchilada sauce. There are least a dozen pints of salsa we made last fall and packed along. There are at least 4 cans of diced or crushed tomatoes, although they aren't the specific brand he wants for his chili. There are no refried beans. There are plenty of dried beans from which to make refried beans, but one doesn't do that on a moment's notice.

 

We began to wonder about our packing, or our memories. The plot thickened.

 

Last night, we wanted something incredibly easy. "Zatarain's!" I yelled. "How about red beans and rice?" Yep, that was it.

 

I dug through the cupboard until I came to the canister that carries several boxes of Zatarain's New Orleans mixes, and opened it....and found a small bag of brown sugar and a pilincilo. 

 

"We must have gremlins in the cabinets," we agreed. We settled for leftovers.

 

Today we realized the gremlins give as well as take. There is a mystery bottle of salad dressing...or marinade...or what?... in the refrigerator. He swears it isn't his, because he always makes his salad dressing in the ridged bottle. I swear it isn't mine, because I never use packaged mixes. The picture below shows, from left to right, my most recent salad dressing, the mystery bottle, and his salad dressing. He tried to claim today that it's the leftover marinade from my last citrus chicken. I know it isn't.

 

 

Gremlins, I tell you. At least they give back.

 

Drive home and check.  You know you'll never sleep until you do.

 

[Smithy]

<The back-story resumes.> Somewhere between Claremont and Pismo Beach is a preferred fuel stop: preferred because of its easy access to fuel with our rig, and its easy access to and from the freeway. We have it marked on our GPS. I have always been intrigued by the Farmer's Market next door.

 

 

Although we didn't need any groceries - we planned to eat out a lot at Pismo, and we still had a good stock of food - I decided to investigate. At first glance, it didn't look promising...

 

 

...but at a closer look I realized that there actually was produce available. The building itself was locked.

 

 

How often do you see an "honor box" in California? They're rare even in northern Minnesota these days. 

 

 

I bought a bunch of onions that I didn't need but were too beautiful to pass up, then we went on. The coastal mountains are gorgeous in winter, when the rains have allowed them to green up.

 

 

That night, we dined on the enchiladas I'd bought at Wolfe's. When I said earlier there was no photo, it's because I'd forgotten this one. In truth, the plating is horrible and the proprietors of Wolfe's Deli would probably prefer that I NOT show it...but this way, you can see some of our Christmas linens. The enchiladas were delicious.

 

 

[Smithy]

I'm sorry to report that Beach Burger, in Oceano, was closed while we stayed at Pismo Beach. I wrote about it here and rhapsodized about their burgers with the Dutch Crunch buns. Here's a refresher, from two years ago:

 

 

There was a sign on the door saying they'd be opening "soon" - now I don't remember whether it was under new management - but it was clear the place had been closed a while. We were very disappointed, but it gave us a chance to check out another place we'd been wondering about: the Rock & Roll Diner, located along the Pacific Coast Highway in a couple of rail cars. We've looked at the place for years but never gone. "Come and experience the most unique 50s diner on the Central Coast!" they brag. (Yes, the web site says "most unique". Hey, it's a 50's sort of place.) I have always been entranced by their grill outside, that begins working on meats early in the morning. We learned that it isn't just "standard American" fare, but it's also Mexican and Greek cuisine. My sister, DH and I ate there one night. I think he had a burger. I had a tri-tip sandwich. She had Greek chicken. I don't seem to have taken pictures, inside or out. The interior is decorated with old movie posters; each table has a countertop jukebox, but the actual music had to be chosen from a more modern electronic version. 

 

One day my sister and I wandered the little village of Arroyo Grande, inland from Pismo. We weren't hungry at the time, and we were on a mission, so we simply stopped to admire this interesting little cafe. Next year maybe we'll stop in if it's still around.

 

 

The chickens clearly belonged there. They looked like they were waiting to be let in.

 

 

The mission was that I needed new guitar strings and there was a music store in the village. I got the strings, but I also came within a hair's breadth of buying a ukelele - like this one. It was so darned cute! And it was so cheerful! And it was on sale! And it was fun! I mastered my impulses for the moment, and we went across the street to an antique store. I came out with these:

 

 

Considerably less monetary outlay, and (only slightly) smaller than the ukelele. I've nearly given up on being able to learn about Indian cookery from an e-book, and this book looks like it will be a good start for me. "feast of eden" seems to be a typically good Junior League book, and it's sprinkled with John Steinbeck quotes. This book is the source of the broccoli with sun-dried tomato dressing I wrote about a few days ago.

 

We went for a good, long beach hike. I'll be posting more photos of the scenery - we walked a lot - but I'll spread them out amongst the Pismo posts. 

 

[heidih]

Beautiful views. I think Greek food and repurposed rail cars is a thing  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diner

[lemniscate]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

repurposed rail cars is a thing

 

I have vague memories of a restaurant chain called Victoria Station that was made of of railcars.  I think I had a birthday dinner there when I was a little kid.

 

[ElsieD]

I wrote about it here and rhapsodized about their burgers with the Dutch Crunch buns. 

 

@Smithy  what were those buns like?  I came across a recipe for them a few weeks ago and thought, 'I'm Dutch, and have never heard of them before".  IIRC, there was a water/sugar mixture painted on them which crackled  as they were baking.  If they were good, I'll try and find the recipe again.

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

I wrote about it here and rhapsodized about their burgers with the Dutch Crunch buns. 

 

@Smithy  what were those buns like?  I came across a recipe for them a few weeks ago and thought, 'I'm Dutch, and have never heard of them before".  IIRC, there was a water/sugar mixture painted on them which crackled  as they were baking.  If they were good, I'll try and find the recipe again.

 

They were very good. I don't remember much detail, unfortunately, but the photos give an idea of the texture. The buns were sturdy enough to stand up to the juices of the burger and additions, but not tough. I don't particularly remember a "crunch" but the burger in the background suggests that there was.

 

 

Here you can see how much stuff I had loaded into mine. The bread never got soggy.

 

 

@Porthos may be able to say more about the bread and what it's like. He recognized it two years ago and commented on his favorite source for it. @Thanks for the Crepes posted a link to a recipe, also. Hmm, I still haven't tried making this! Maybe it's time to change that. (To go directly to the recipe TftC posted, see here.)

[Smithy]

Aha. I've been looking for more information on Dutch Crunch Bread. I found a very good article in American Food Roots titled Dutch Crunch is San Francisco's other bread that tells about its history and explains the odd topping of rice flour, yeast, sugar, salt and fat. The history is unclear. Some claim that it's an old recipe from the Netherlands, where it's known as tijgerbrood (Tiger Bread). @ElsieD, does that ring any bells for you? Others claim that the recipe even in the Netherlands isn't very old - dating back maybe to the 1970's. I have also found recipes for tiger bread, but as usual the internet is a prolific source of information - good and bad - and I've restricted my search to the term I know.

 

I was amused to read that Sainsbury's in the U.K. has taken to calling it Giraffe Bread instead, after a 3-year-old girl questioned the name. The pattern doesn't look very tigerish to me either, but it does look giraffe-like, or jaguar-ish. 

 

Here's what the American Food Roots web page has to say about the Dutch Crunch bread's texture: 

Quote

Unlike sourdough, Dutch crunch is not a particular type of bread. Rather, the name refers to the crackling, crispy topping created by painting dough with a paste of rice flour, yeast, sugar, salt and a fat such as butter or oil. The bread rises as it bakes in the oven, but the gluten-less rice flour paste does not, causing the topping to crack. Dutch crunch can be added to any type of bread, but it typically tops soft, slightly sweet French rolls, creating an intriguing contrast in taste and texture.

 

They offer a recipe on the web page, of course. I also found these recipes to consider:

• Genius Kitchen: Crunch Dutch Bread (I don't know why the words are reversed. Strangely it seems harder to say that way.)
• @kitchn: How to make Dutch Crunch Bread

Time to compare, contrast, and try when I find some rice flour.

[ElsieD]

I don't remember ever eating bread with that kind of topping.  I looked up recipes for tijgerbrood and they are all similar, much like the ones you linked to, although for the bread part the recipes varied a bit in terms on the type of flour used.  I too, need to find me some rice flour.

[chromedome]

I remember seeing it as far back as the late 1970s. It was explained to me as an adaptation of an Indonesian ingredient (the rice flour) to the colonizers' home-style bread, because the crust of a regular loaf just wouldn't stay crisp in the tropical heat and humidity. That's utterly uncorroborated and offered without warranty on my part, but I suppose it's as plausible an explanation as any.

[Smithy]

Just now, chromedome said:

I remember seeing it as far back as the late 1970s. It was explained to me as an adaptation of an Indonesian ingredient (the rice flour) to the colonizers' home-style bread, because the crust of a regular loaf just wouldn't stay crisp in the tropical heat and humidity. That's utterly uncorroborated and offered without warranty on my part, but I suppose it's as plausible an explanation as any.

 

Have you ever made it? I don't know anyone who has, except for Shelby - whose attempt was rather discouraging. I'd love to hear first-hand experience from someone who got it right.

[Dave the Cook]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

. . .  when I find some rice flour.

 

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

. . .  I too, need to find me some rice flour.

 

Almost any Hispanic or Asian market will have it. It's less reliably found in mainstream US grocery stores, either in the "International"/"Asian"/"Mexican" sections, or wedged in the baking aisle along with other gluten-free flours (which, come to think of it, might be used as substitutes for rice flour in this application).

[chromedome]

5 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

Have you ever made it? I don't know anyone who has, except for Shelby - whose attempt was rather discouraging. I'd love to hear first-hand experience from someone who got it right.

Truthfully, I don't remember if I went that far. I was already baking my own bread by the late 70s, so I had the option, but if so the intervening 40 years have blotted it from my recollection.

[ElsieD]

Maybe @Shelby will chime in and give us a refresher on her experience.

[ElsieD]

Bulk Barn carries rice flour.

[MelissaH]

I made a loaf covered in Dutch Crunch a really long time ago—like before I met my husband, so pre-1995. A quick look through my older cookbooks didn't bring up any obvious recipes, alas, so I can't tell you where I found it. It's entirely possible it was something I made either when I still lived with my parents, or when I visited them, which would mean it's in a cookbook my mom has but I don't.

 

I should make this again.

[BeeZee]

Wegmans supermarket has something which looks similar called "Marco Polo" bread (also a version in bagel form, which is just wrong). I looked at the ingredients online and it does include rice flour.

https://www.wegmans.com/products/bakery/bread-fresh-baked/italian-bread/marco-polo-bread.html

[Kerry Beal]

Then there is choux au craquelin - where a small cookie of flour, brown sugar and butter is baked on top of choux. 

[Smithy]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Then there is choux au craquelin - where a small cookie of flour, brown sugar and butter is baked on top of choux. 

 

That's an interesting take on the concept!

[Shelby]

5 hours ago, Smithy said:

I'd love to hear first-hand experience from someone who got it right.

ME TOO.

 

I STILL have rice flour lol.  That was such a disappointing experience that I vowed to never try again....however, the pain has lessened over time lol.  Maybe I'll give it another go.

[ElsieD]

4 minutes ago, Shelby said:

ME TOO.

 

I STILL have rice flour lol.  That was such a disappointing experience that I vowed to never try again....however, the pain has lessened over time lol.  Maybe I'll give it another go.

 

Can you elaborate on your experience?  I want to try it too and it would be helpful to know what happened with yours.

[Shelby]

17 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

Can you elaborate on your experience?  I want to try it too and it would be helpful to know what happened with yours.

Oh Elsie, you're going to make me go back to that dark place? 

 

Let me think back and I'll try to remember specifics.  I think I posted about it around here somewhere.  For now, I'll say it was the most complete failure I've ever had (cooking-wise, that is).

Edited January 31, 2019 by Shelby (log)

[Smithy]

I've noted before that our plans change abruptly at times. Last night we were planning to cook outside. The campfire hadn't been laid yet, but the fireplace and camp stove are ready to go. Instead, we found ourselves making an unplanned trip to town. By the time we got back (in the dark - it's surprising how much different the terrain looks by headlight!) we wanted the easiest thing we could think of, short of leftovers. Jarred spaghetti sauce supplemented with chopped onions and hot Italian sausage did the trick.

 

 

I normally use one of those silicone blumen-things to prevent pasta from boiling over, but my new pasta pot has a strainer built in and I wasn't thinking clearly. Given the pattern of bubbles building and breaking against the clear glass of the lid (lower right image in the collage above) I'm glad I tried the pot lid. Isn't that a pretty pattern?

 

 

I'll get back to Pismo (figuratively speaking, not literally) later today.

Edited February 6, 2019 by Smithy
Corrected "left" to "right" regarding collage. Duh. (log)