THE SDN RECIPE THREAD!

[Zixinus]

A quick question on campfire cooking:

Is there anything else that you can wrap the meat and other food in aside aluminum foil? I heard that wrapping them up in edible leafs is just as good and I would prefer not to use aluminium foil.

Plus, any hints of getting something edible with potatoes in a campfire? I could get it cooked, but the insides are terribly bland.

[Isolder74]

You are pretty much stuck with foil unless you are using a dutch oven. For some applications corn husks work but not directly in the fire.

As for getting good results cooking potatoes in a pouch meal, Before you put them in the pouch par cook them. That way they will get done the same time as everything else does. Salt them before placing them in the pouch.

[Zixinus]

You are pretty much stuck with foil unless you are using a dutch oven. For some applications corn husks work but not directly in the fire.

The one where you dig a hole and heat up rocks that you put in the hole? Or the mud oven thing?

As for getting good results cooking potatoes in a pouch meal, Before you put them in the pouch par cook them. That way they will get done the same time as everything else does. Salt them before placing them in the pouch.

Pouch meal? Erm, what? Are you referring to a ration meal? Because what I meant, is just regular potatoes still with their skin on and everything. I'm asking whether is there anything to be done with them before I put them on the embers (not the flames). Should wrap and put the thing on the embers with its skin or without it? Should I put it in one piece or should I cut it up and put some butter in-between?

[Broomstick]

If you're cooking IN a campfire you can use

1) Aluminum foil
2) Edible/non-toxic leaves covered with clay.

For number 2, you MUST be careful to use non-toxic plant leaves and non-toxic clay or mud. Here in North America corn husks are a favored choice because they're plentiful, but cabbage or grape leaves (like used in Greek cooking, or Eastern Europe) should work as well. The clay coating helps protect the leaves and food, and after it's baked you just break it open. (That's what was done before aluminum foil).

For cooking potatoes in a campfire, leave the skins on. I've had better luck with small potatoes. Yes, they come out bland. That is sort of the nature of potatoes. After baking break/cut open and apply stuff like butter or herbs/spices.

A dutch oven is a covered type of cookware, traditionally cast iron though I have seen them made of other materials. Basically, a bucket-like object with a lid. For camping you'd want one suited for using in an actual campfire, where you can pile coals on top of the lid.

A "pouch meal" can refer to putting all the ingredient for a meal into aluminum foil for camp cooking. You make a "pouch" out of the foil, hence the name. It can also refer to something like an MRE. Potatoes do need to cook longer than other vegetables, hence the recommendation to "par cook" them prior to inclusion in the pouch.

[Broomstick]

This is a campfire dutch oven from Wal-Mart:

So, basically, they are available if you plan to do a substantial amount of this sort of thing.

[Isolder74]

A pouch meal also refers to items like Tamales and other dishes cooked and served in a wrapper.

Basically you put everything in the meal in an enclosed device and the food is cooked in that wrapper. Wrappers can include, parchment, foil, grape leaves, corn husks etc. The wrapper is then placed in the heat and cooked all together. The catch with cooking in a campfire is you have to use wrappers that will survive in the campfire or not place them in direct contact with the coals.

Alton Brown provides us some good examples.





As far as potatoes go unless you are cooking them by themselves they usually take longer to finish cooking then the meats or other vegetables in the meal. So you cook them about halfway before chilling them to add with the other ingredients. This makes it so the food finishes together and less likely to burn.

If you cook them in the coals without foil or other coverings then don't plan on eating the skins.

[The Yosemite Bear]

I made my dinner this morning, I ate it less then an hour ago.

1 box of chicken broth (not cubes but a 1 pint pour box)
six diced potatoes
1 bag of mixed veggies
1 bag of baby carrots
4 pounds of turkey meat
1/2 cup of poultry marinade

combined in a 1 1/2 gallon crockpot and let cook all day, with a little extra water
came out good fed 6 people

[LadyTevar]

A couple of recipes for those going out camping:

Granola

1/2 c oil
1/2 c honey
1/2 c molasses

Heat until thin. Add to:

1 Tbs vanilla
1/4 c powdered milk
2 Tbs yeast
Zest of 1 small orange or 1 lemon
1 c wheat germ
1 large canisters (~12 c) rolled oats
1 c unsweetened coconut

Bake at 250° for 1-1/2 to 2 hrs. Stir in:

2 c dried fruit (I like sweetened cranberries & raisins, but dried
cherries are wonderful!)
1 c nuts
1 c sunflower or pumpkin seeds, toasted

Cool. Put a plastic bag into the original oatmeal box (to protect it
frmo the oil in the granola), and use it to carry most of it to war.
There will be about 4-6 cups left over, of course.

Eat with yogurt poured over it.


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Yogurt

1 jug of milk*
1 small container yogurt**

* The higher the fat content, the thicker the yogurt it will make -
and the tastier. But even 1% can make decent yogurt. Homogenized,
pasteurized, or none of the above - it doesn't matter.

** The cheapest you can find, in any flavor. It doesn't matter if it
says "CONTAINS LIVE MACROBIOTIC CULTURES! ACTIVIA WIL LMAKE YOU
REGULAR!!!". With the exception of some ethnic yogurts, they all have
the same living cultures inside. You're only using about 1/4 the
container, so flavor isn't too important.


Pour a quarter-cup or so of milk from a fresh, unopened gallon,
half-gallon, or quart plastic jug of milk into a measuring cup with a
pouring lip. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of the yogurt, stir it up to
break up chunks, and set it aside.

Put the lid loosely back on the milk jug, and place the jug in a pot
that is at least 2/3 as high as the container (higher is better).

Put the pot into the oven. Fill the pot as high as possible with hot
tap water (but not higher than the milk in the jug, so it doesn't
float). Turn the oven on to its lowest setting, usually 175-200° F,
and set a timer.

Every 10 minutes, check the temperature of the water. Since the
heating time will depend on the amount of water + milk you are
heating, I can't tell you how long this will be, except it should be
under an hour.

When the water reaches 140° F, turn the oven off. If it gets up to
150-160°, don't panic; it will still work fine. If it gets much higher
than that, wait until it cools to 150° before adding the yogurt.

Pour the milky-yogurt into the milk jug, and reseal. Close the oven
door, and let the mixture slowly return to room temperature. This
recipe is a great late-evening procedure, since you can just leave it
overnight.

When you open the jug, the completed yogurt should be thicker, smell
slightly sweet and tart, and of course taste like yogurt.



This will keep for 1 week in the shade at Pennsic. I'm not kidding.
Sometimes longer. When it starts to go, it will become kumiss from
yeast, and is still drinkable (but less tasty). If you keep it tightly
capped, yeast outgasses, but yogurt bacteria do not; so if the jug
doesn't phbhpht when you open it, it's fine. Some green-blue or
blackish mold may develop on drying yogurt near the top; it won't ruin
the yogurt. Merely wipe it off with a dry towel. (These molds are
cousins of those that produce the flavor & colored streaks in bleu
cheese & morbier cheese.)

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IF YOU DECIDE TO FLAVOR IT WITH PUREED FRUIT, wait until the yogurt is
thick & tangy. The cultures seem to eat the tasty esters out of the
fruit first, leaving it oddly flavored, if you mix the fruit in first.
But I prefer my morning yogurt-over-cereal plain.

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I FORGOT TO MAKE IT, AND WE'RE LEAVING FOR PENNSIC NOW!!!...

No problem. Buy a gallon of milk, and the cheapest yogurt you can
find. Stick them somewhere in your super-tight car where they won't
get poked. Drive to Pennsic.

WHEN YOU GET TO PENNSIC, take the milk jug out (it will be warm now).
Open the yogurt up, and coax a couple tablespoons into the milk (pour
out some milk onto the ground first, if there's no headroom). Yogurt
doesn't outgass, so you can fill to the rim if you like. Recap the
milk, shake well, and leave it in the sun all day. At night, check to
see if you have yogurt yet. If not, repeat the sun-baking the next
day. Yogurt bacteria are thermophilic - they loves them a hot meal!
After it is thickened, keep in the shade. This slows down their
eating. Since they are established, and the milk acidity is higher,
bad-tasting bacteria will have a hard time getting a foothold, so it
will keep... basically until the yogurt bacteria run out of food.
Then, yeast will move in... as I mentioned before

[His Divine Shadow]

This is a campfire dutch oven from Wal-Mart:

So, basically, they are available if you plan to do a substantial amount of this sort of thing.

Also great for making bread in, and using as fryers.

[The Yosemite Bear]

not to mention chili

[Isolder74]

Dan's Buttermilk Biscuits.

4 cups cake flour
4 cups All Purpose Flour
2 1/2 cups Buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp + 2 tsp Shortening
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 F

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and sift twice into a large mixing bowl. Using a pair of forks cut in the shortening and the butter until you have a coarse mix and all of the shortening is worked into the flour(the butter can have some small chunks). Mix in the buttermilk and stir until just combined. The mixture may be crumbly but it will come together as you roll it out. It is important that you work the dough as little as possible for the best results. Divide into thirds. On a floured table, place a part of the dough and fold it over itself twice and only twice. Flip over and roll out to 1/2 an inch thick. Cut into rounds. Remove the scraps of dough and set aside. Get the next third of the dough and place the scraps on top. knead twice like before and flip over and roll out as before. Repeat. Roll out the scraps after very gently kneading them together and cut out rounds until the dough is gone. These will never be as good at the others or rise as tall. On a large cookie sheet place the biscuits on the pan with them all just touching. Makes 2 dozen.

Bake at 400 F for 25 - 30 mins or until golden brown. Save the wrapper from your butter and use it to rub the tops just after taking them out of the oven or if you want to melt 1 tbsp of butter and use to brush the top but that isn't needed.

If you do not have cake flour you can just use all AP but they will not be as tall and as flaky. Bear in mind the recipe can be easily halved.

[Cairber]

By request from my Panamanian husband, I tried my hand at sancocho this weekend. It turned out pretty good.

This is the tradition Panama version, as I know many hispanic countries have a version of this dish.

-box chicken broth (or make your own)
-2 onions cut into chunks
-4 garlic cloves diced
-3 carrots
-4 chicken thighs
-yucca cut into 1 inch cubes (you can use frozen or fresh)-- not sure how much I used? it ended up being like 4 handfuls diced
-corn on the cob cut into 3 pieces per cob
-cilantro (I use a lot as that's how its made at V's house-- so like a big handful fresh)
-oregano- tablespoon or so dried
-salt
-pepper
-white rice on the side

-put everything except rice and corn into pot and cook 1 hour. remove chicken and take off skin. remove from bone and cut into large pieces and then return to the pot. add the corn. cook a further 20 min. serve with white rice on the side.

[The Yosemite Bear]

going to be experimenting with some mixture of chili and curry recipies, so if the UN goes to Yosemite looking for WMDs you know what happened, if sucessful I will publish the lazy shopper slow cooker recipie...

[The Yosemite Bear]

All right modified from my mom's recipie the secret BOTM Chili

equipment
1 Collander
1 Skillet or Wok
1 dutch oven or slow cooker
1 wooden spoon
1 ladle, metal (plastic ones melt if used on slow cookers or dutch ovens)
bowls for guests or multipals forself
spoons to go with bowls
knife
cutting board

ingrediants:
1.75 pounds of kidney beans cooked/canned
1 poind of black beans cooked/canned
1 pound of pino beans cooked/canned
1.3 liters of V8 juice
1.5 pounds of ground meat or soy
1/2 red onion
5 mushrooms
1/2 pound mixed veggies (carrots and green beans)
1 "airplane bottle" of red wine
1 teaspoon wasabi paste
1 table spoon chili powder
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayanne pepper powder
1 teaspoon mustard
2 habanero pepper skins

place beans in colander and run cold water over them in the sink
chop the habanero skins, the onion and the mushrooms on the cutting board
place meat or meat substitute in skillet or wok apply medium flame/heat, once the bottom has begun to lightly brown add the contents of the cutting board to the meat in the skillet, until everything is sauted and the protien is fully cooked, remove from heat & drain off the fat.
now place the dutch oven on the heat, or if using the slow cooker plug it in, and leave it on low.
add V8 juice, add the contents of the skillet, shut off the cold water and add the contents of the collender, now add everything else stir with wooden spoon. for dutch oven cook for 3 hours, for slow cooker ingore it for the next 10 hours. makes a good deal,

Warning must be consumed with starch and a refreshing beverage, may cause spontaneous combustion in non-southerners, and/or non-hispanics, do not consume anywhere near a date night (actually the washing of the beans before putting them in mostly reduces the methane build up.)

[Falarica]

Proper Uni Chilli

Serves 4 people with appetites.

700g Beef Mince
2/3 Big onions
10 Cloves of garlic
2 Carrots
3 finger chillis
2 bell peppers
1 can of Red Kidney Beans
2 cans of Chopped tomatos
1/2 tube of tomato paste
2 beef stock cubes

Heat a little oil in the pan and brown the meat. Add chopped onions and garlic. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add chopped carrots, chillis and peppers. Fry the lot for a couple more minutes. Stir in the chopped tomatos and add the tomato paste. Simmer for 2/3 mins and add the stock cubes and kidney beans. Then just wait until the chilli has been reduced to the consistency you want it to be and serve with rice.

I currently live off this at uni and always make sure I have some of this in the freezer for when I can't be bothered to cook something from fresh. Gets me through 3 meals usually.

[Falarica]

Paprika Wedges

Vegetable Oil
Potatoes
Paprika
Salt

Line a baking tray with foil. Chop potatoes into wedges and place into tray. Add oil, lots of paprika and salt. Mix with your hands making sure that all the wedges are covered. Put into an oven at 220 C for 45-50 minutes.

For spicy wedges add a table spoon of chilli oil as well, careful with your hands though.

[HMS Sophia]

French toast, a really quick and simple breakfast (or desert... or snack... or anything)

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1 or 2 tablespoons vanilla essence

Instructions:
Break the eggs into a bowl, and whisk gently
Stir in the milk and vanilla essence.
Heat a frying pan and melt some butter.
Dip both sides of a slice of bread into the mixture and place in the frying pan
After about 5 minutes (or once golden brown on the bottom), flip and fry the other side
Serve on its own or with golden syrup.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Wassil Starter

1 gal. apple juice
1 qt. mollasses
1/4 cup cloves
2 tabl spoons nutmeg
6 sticks of cinimon
1 lemon (juice plus peal)
2 limes (as above)
2 dutch ovens
1 strainer or collnader

combine all ingrediants sturring occasionally for two hours strain and store. serve warm cut with:
apple juice 2pts wassil starter 1 part for virgin
white wine, apple juice, wassil for traditional
as virgin but add 2 or more shots of Rum for grog.

[aerius]

Super Easy Chicken


1 chicken breast
a few cloves of garlic
soy sauce
sesame oil
brown sugar
fresh chili peppers (optional, but recommended)


1) Stick the chicken breast in a rice cooker or steamer for 20-30 minutes till it's cooked, then remove & refrigerate till cool
2) Finely chop the garlic and chili peppers
3) Get a rice bowl and put a few tablespoons of soy sauce in it, 5-7 should be good
4) Add about 4-6 tablespoons of sesame oil and 1/2 to 1 tea spoons of brown sugar
5) Add the chopped garlic and chili peppers, mix well and let it sit in the fridge for half an hour or so
6) Cut chicken into large bite sized pieces, serve on a plate and spoon the sauce mix all over it

[The Yosemite Bear]

because rice cookers and crockpots rule!

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 can of mixed vegies
a quart of water
1/4 cup of rice
9 sprigs of asperigus
mix in spices and whole spices (ginger/garlic)

mix and wait...

[The Yosemite Bear]

More crockpot fun

just put the following in my crock half an hour ago:

4oz pene pasta (weight)
4 adeals chicken apple sausage chopped
3 red potatoes
1/2 pound baby carrots
1/4 pound mushrooms
a bit of chopped celery
two vegitable broth cubes
filled with water.

[angeli.mina]

Chicken Corn Soup

Ingredients
1 (4- to 5-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2-1/2 to 3 quarts water, or as needed
1 large onion
8 to 10 black peppercorns
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
8 to 10 threads of saffron, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed saffron (optional)
10 ears of corn, or 4 cups frozen corn kernels
3 celery stalks, diced with leaves
6 ounces wide egg noodles, packaged egg barley, or Rivels (recipe follows)
Freshly ground white pepper
2/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped


Instructions
Place chicken in soup pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and skim foam as it rises to the surface. When it has subsided, add onion, peppercorns, salt, and saffron. Simmer gently but steadily, partly covered, for about 1-1/2 hours or until tender.

Remove chicken. Trim and discard bones and skin, and onion. Let soup cool, then skim fat from surface. Tear meat into spoonable pieces and return to soup.

Cut kernels from 4 ears of corn, then grate kernels from remaining 6 ears, catching all milk and pulp on foil or waxed paper. If using frozen kernels, puree half in a food processor or blender, adding a little soup if liquid is needed. Add whole kernels and grated or pureed corn to soup along with celery and noodles, barley, or rivels. Simmer gently until corn and noodles or rivels are cooked. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Stir in parsley and serve, garnishing each portion with chopped egg.

This soup freezes well, but do that before adding the noodles, barley, or dumplings. Prepare those when reheating soup. To prevent scorching during reheating, place the pot over an asbestos mat or on other insulating plate.

Yield: 8 to 10 first-course servings; 4 to 6 main-course servings

[The Yosemite Bear]

using calmato for some seafood gumbo, for tomarrow (slow cooker vs. cajun cooking)

[starslayer]

If you have all day to cook, this is a pretty good sauce to try:

Bolognese Meat Sauce

Ingredients:
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped onion
3/4 lb. ground beef, almost the fattier the better (ground chuck is best)
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon oil (I usually use olive oil, but canola or something would work just as well)
1 cup whole milk (2% is acceptable)
1 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes, in their juice (a can of tomatoes from the supermarket works fine)
1 1/2 pounds pasta (tagliatelle is best; failing that, spaghetti or fettucine can work, but rigatoni and such are better)
Salt
Black pepper

Makes 4-6 servings

Instructions:
1. Put the oil and 3 tablespoons of butter into a large enameled cast iron pot, or other pot that retains heat well. Turn the heat to medium and melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the onion and cook until it is just turning translucent. Then add the carrot and celery and cook for about 2 minutes.
2. Add the beef and large pinch of salt, along with some pepper. Crumble it with a fork, and cook it briefly, only until it loses its raw, red color. This is very important: DO NOT BROWN THE MEAT.
3. Add the milk, and turn the heat down so the sauce simmers gently. Stir frequently until the milk has completely evaporated.
4. Now add the wine, and simmer until it too has evaporated, stirring a little less frequently than for the milk.
5. At this point, you'll probably have been cooking for two hours if you've done this right. Add the tomatoes, and turn the heat way down. You should be aiming for the gentlest possible simmer possible on your stove. Cook uncovered for at least three more hours, with longer being better (I usually go about five hours). Stir about once every 15-20 minutes. You're aiming for complete evaporation of all the remaining water, and you want the fat to separate from the sauce. If it starts sticking before the time is up, add a little water, but I've never had this happen when I've cooked it.
6. Once the sauce is just about done, cook the pasta and toss it with the remaining butter. Then toss with the sauce and serve.

Yes, it takes all day, yes, its quite rich, but goddamn is it delicious.

[Isolder74]

Sounds a bit like My version of that sauce. I'm still perfecting it so I haven't posted it yet.