Dessert for those who don't crave sweets - Strawberries with Lime Agave Syrup

Given that we're deep into the holiday season, we've been exposed to a TON of sweets lately.  My wife got into a baking mood and produced nearly five dozen chocolate-chip and smashed candy cane cookies which were a huge hit (especially for the 5-year-old who got to take a hammer to a bag of candy canes), but between that and all the other cookies and stocking fillers, I've had my fill of sugar.
Add to that the fact that we don't even normally like sweets that much, when it came time to choose a dessert for a recent dinner party, I just couldn't bring myself to serve anything like chocolate, ice cream, pie or cake.

The rest of the meal was SoCal/Mexican themed, so I had a huge bag limes from CostCo sitting on the counter.  That reminded me of one of my favorite summer desserts, and then I realized that I'm spoiled rotten by living here in San Diego, and I can get excellent summer fruits year round!

Image courtesy of barefootwine.com

This dessert is so dead simple it didn't even occur to me to document the process, until I found myself explaining it to my guests and subsequently a few other people.

Ingredients:

1 lb Strawberries, hulled and quartered along vertical axis

Juice of 1 lime, fresh

2-3T of Raw or Dark Agave Syrup

Combine the lime juice and agave syrup in a squeeze bottle and shake to integrate (or take my easier route and simply add lime juice to the dwindling supply of agave syrup in its original bottle)

Portion the strawberries into 3-5 dessert bowls (depending on guest count), and drizzle some of the syrup from the squeeze bottle over each serving.  Serve immediately and collect compliments.

Like I said: Dead simple, but it's hard to appreciate how well the acid and earthy sweetness work to compliment the berries.  Dark/raw agave syrup will have more of the interesting flavors and be less sweet than the refined versions.

German Spaetzle

Fall is a wonderful time for shifting food styles.  Every year, several families in my neighborhood do a big "block party" to celebrate Oktoberfest, and it doesn't really feel like fall until I get those flavors and leave the summer foods behind.  The actual Germans in the group are responsible for the potato salad, handmade pretzels, spiral-cut radishes, and a dozen other important details.  Every year, though, I get to contribute one important dish to the effort: Spaetzle (or Spätzle).  It's a small dumpling-like pasta, traditional in Germany and surrounding countries.

One party-load. Beer and stein optional, but recommended.

Like many rustic dishes, the basics are simple, but the details are important. The traditional recipe consists of only coarse flour, eggs, and salt, and involves a special method for scraping long, thin, ribbons of the dough off of a cutting board into boiling water.  Modern cooks typically use a spaeztle machine instead - one of the only uni-taskers I own.  I also think a food mill with a large-bore sieve (3/8" holes?) would work, and some people have even used a basic colander with large holes.  

A modern spaeztle machine

A note on technique:  Most spaeztle recipes you find in books or online are derived from the traditional method and ingredients, but some adjustments are needed for the average home cook.

The proscribed process is to mix the ingredients like you're making a pasta - form a well in the center and gradually add egg mixture.  I don't like this approach as I think it encourages over-working the dough and makes the dumplings too chewy.  Traditionally, the flour used would be coarse, like Semolina, but we're using AP flour, so gluten formation will be more rapid.  The other important consideration if you're using a spaeztle machine, food mill, or colander, is that we need the resulting dough to "flow" and squish though the holes.  It should be wet and sticky, somewhere between a sponge and a batter.  

Therefore, instead of the pasta method, I do this more in the muffin method - prep the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then add all the wet to the dry and mix minimally, adjusting the liquid to get the proper consistency.  If you start with the base recipe as below and your flour is as dry as ours is here in the Southwest, you will almost certainly need to add at least another 1/4C to 1/2C of water to get the proper sponge wetness.  If the sponge is too tight, it won't flow through the hopper and you'll be frustrated.  If you've somehow gotten it too loose (big eggs?), add a bit more flour and soldier on.

Basic Spaetzle
(Feed ~six as a primary starch, I usually make a double batch for a big Oktoberfest party)

2-1/2 Cups Flour
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Water
2 Eggs**
1/4 tsp salt

** If doubling these proportions, use 5 eggs to double the remaining ingredients. You may still need to add liquid to adjust the consistency, but a bit less. You'll want a BIG pot of water for cooking a double batch, if you can manage it. I use my biggest stock pot and by the end of the batch the water is getting pretty starchy. If you can't manage one huge pot, maybe better to work one regular batch at a time and bring a second pot of water to boil for the second batch.

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. 
2. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. 
3. Beat eggs lightly, add milk and water. 
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry, and mix quickly but thoroughly, being careful to avoid over-working. 
5. Check consistency and add water in 1/4C increments until you have a loose sponge that clings to a wooden spoon but flows somewhat. 
6. Begin making dumplings. Place whatever tool you'll be using directly over the pot of boiling water.  Fill the hopper of your spaeztle machine and "Grate" the dough mixture through the holes.  If using a colander, use the back of a spoon to press the mixture through.
7.  I usually work in small batches (1-2 "hoppers" of the spaetzle maker at a time), so that as the dumplings cook I can pull them out with a wire spider or slotted spoon after ~2 minutes of cooking.  Transfer to an earthenware bowl or casserole to keep warm while you continue to boil the rest of the dumplings. If you are making the below "sauce" directly in your casserole, you can begin adding pats of butter now and stirring briefly so that the dumplings don't stick to each other. 
8. Repeat until you've used up the sponge/batter/dough. 
9. Reserve some of the cooking water if making sauce.

"Hopper" of my spaeztle maker, approx. 2 cups

"Sauce" for Spaetzle 

(recipe is approximate for an above batch - double if you're doubling the spaetzle)

1/3 stick butter (or more, if you're feeling frisky)
~1 Cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine
1/2 Cup tarragon, chopped fine
1 tsp of lemon juice
~1/4tsp of Nutmeg, grated fresh
salt & pepper to taste

1. After you've cooked the whole amount of spaeztle, or in between hopper-loads, add the butter (cut into pats so it melts better) and stir to start it melting 
2. Add the herbs, probably 1/4 cup parsley and 2T of tarragon at a time, and stir. I usually judge the proper amount of herbage by the overall "color" of the mix and a taste test. You want a fair amount of both to impart flavor, but you're not making a salad. 
3. Add the lemon juice, nutmeg, and generous salt and pepper to taste. 
4. Add up to 1C of the cooking water and toss if it's too tight with just the butter. You can do all of this directly in the casserole dish, if it's big enough.

Ask around your local biergarten for more recipes

Alternative Preparations: Basic spaeztle are very versatile, and can be used like gnocchi, pasta, etc. with any of your favorite sauces.  Other classic German preparations are to fry the spaeztle in butter then season lightly, or to make into a cheese casserole with sauteed onions (Kaesespaeztle)

Quinoa Adobo Chile

The family and I recently attended the 2014 American Adventurist Mountain Rendezvous.  This is a fantastic event, and one half of their semi-annual series that gets together over a hundred Overlanding-oriented families and their rigs. 

Photo courtesy of Brent Haywood Photography

Many recent events have featured a Dutch Oven competition, and I wanted to participate this year.  As with many potluck events that we attend as a family, my goal was  to cook something vegetarian-friendly so my wife would be assured a meal.  We never like to impose her choices on anyone else and it's frankly ridiculous to assume.  In addition to being vegetarian, this recipe is also (accidentally) gluten free and could be full-vegan by either omitting the chocolate or using semi-sweet or other milk-less chocolate.  I had a lot of positive comments on this dish, and at least a half dozen requests for the recipe, so I consider it a great success. 

Pre-heating the oven. Photo by Kimberley Newmark

The other great success of my weekend was getting to use my freshly-built firepot tripod.  This shameless DIY clone of the excellent Roadii Firegrill (prohibitively expensive in the USA since they're built in the UK), was desperately needed due to local drought-induced fire restrictions.  It is wonderfully convenient to be able to set up my lightweight fire system anywhere that's safe and not have to bend or stoop to manage the coals or the dutch oven.  I've also got an adjustable grill-grate on cables for when I want to use it for grilling. 

Notes: 
The quinoa is already a complete protein, but adding the soy meat gives nice texture, flavor, and makes it extra filling. Substituting turkey or other ground meat will add nice flavors as well! This recipe is designed for a 14″(8qt) dutch oven and produces a nice thick chili.  Obviously it can also be prepared at home over direct heat or baked in a 350° oven.  I can't take full credit for the recipe, as I adapted it from one I found at camp-cook.com, but here's my version "as prepared":

Quinoa Adobo Chili

Directions: 

Ingredients: 
1 cup quinoa (easiest to prepare in advance, per below)
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
1.5 tablespoon cumin 
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 cans of black beans (recommend unrinsed unless sodium intake is a factor)
12oz (1 package) Lightlife Smart Ground Mexican Style soy filling (alt: 3/4lb of ground Turkey or TVP)
3+ tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil 
1 onion, diced 
1 cup corn (For best flavor, roast your own or use Trader Joe's Roasted/frozen corn)
6 cloves garlic, minced 
1 quart of canned diced tomatoes
1-2 cups water 
2 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, diced large
1 large or 2 small zucchini, diced large
2-4 chipotle peppers and as much adobo sauce as you can drain from a small can (4 peppers makes for good heat without being overwhelming)
¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate, chips or broken into chunks (I used Belgian 75% cacao, omit or use 100%/milkless chocolate for vegan )
1 bunch of cilantro 
2 limes
salt and pepper to taste 

Photo by Kimberley Newmark

Prior to departure:

1. Rinse the quinoa in a strainer until clear water is running through it.
2. Toast the quinoa for about 3 minutes in a cast iron skillet.
3. When toasted, add 2 cups of the vegetable broth to the skillet, cover, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. The quinoa is done when it starts to split open. Resist urge to season at this point, you're just prepping an ingredient.
4. Cool and bag or vacuum pack the quinoa for the trip
5. Measure and combine cinnamon, cumin, chile powder, and paprika into a tightly sealed container or ziplock bag
6. If sodium intake is a factor, you can rinse black beans and bag them now, however I prefer to include the starchy liquid from the can to help thicken the chili and add flavor. It's also way more convenient to just bring the cans. Likely no added salt will be needed if you use the liquid.
7. You can optionally dice and bag your veggies now as well, but I am recently forbidden from transporting cut onions in our camper's fridge, so I elected to prep the veg on-site.

Simmering away over the coals. Photo by Kimberley Newmark

In camp:

1. Pre-heat the 14″ dutch oven with a solid circle of ~28 briquettes on the bottom.
2. Chop the Onion and mince garlic.
3. Dice peppers and zucchini, if not done at home.
4. When Dutch oven is hot, add the olive oil & onions. Saute the onions until they start to change color then add the garlic and veggie "meat". Just brown the soy meat for texture, but cook until no-longer pink if using real meat (about 2 min).
5. Add chipotles and adobo sauce and the dry spices. Stir mixture for about 3 minutes.
6. Add the tomatoes and their liquid, black beans, bell peppers, quinoa, zucchini, and ~1 cup of water. Mix well.
7. Move 1/2 the briquettes to the lid of the Dutch oven to form a ring. Reform the bottom briquettes into one ring.
8. Let mixture simmer for about 15 min then mix in the chocolate.
9. Check thickness of chili: If mixture is too tight, add water and let it simmer covered for another 5 min. If too loose, remove the lid and let simmer uncovered 5-10 minutes to thicken.
10. Garnish with fresh cilantro and a slice of lime. (Can't emphasize this enough - the late addition of acid really brightens up all the veggies!)

Enjoy!

Photo by Kimberley Newmark

Overlander's "Pita Pockets"

This recipe is another favorite of our daughter.  I make it often at home, but I originally learned it from another family while camping in Tahoe many years ago.  We call them "Pita Pockets" because our daughter loves the way that sounds, but these are pretty free-form, ethno-culinarily speaking, so you can experiment to fit your tastes.

The winning part of this meal from the kid perspective is that they get to assemble it themselves, and control what goes into their own pocket.

Like many good overlanding recipes, this one permits a lot of prep work to be done at home, making in-camp cooking a relatively easy job - makes my life easy and lets me enjoy a beer and the scenery instead of slaving away for too long.  (Although, if you have a lazy afternoon, fresh-cut veggies will retain a bit more 'snap'.)  It's also vegetarian-compatible, which is a big plus for the wife.  This recipe is basically one-pan or no-pan, but does require refrigeration (or a cooler) and a grill is better than a burner for this one.  As listed, should feed a family of 3-4.

Ingredients:

• 1lb of Lamb, Beef, or Chicken, optionally marinated (see Method)
• Substitute (or add) grilled or roasted mushroom slices or falafel for vegetarian compatibility
• 2C Lettuce - Romaine, Red-Leaf, or Spring mix (optional)
• 1-2C Tomato - dice one large tomato or halve/quarter a big handful of small grape or cherry tomatoes, depending on taste
• 1-2 Persian or Pickling Cucumbers (preferred), or 1/3 English Cucumber, 1/4" dice
• 1/4 to 1/2 Onion, white or sweet, finely diced 
• 1/2C Feta Cheese
• 1/2C Kalamata Olives, seeded & halved or sliced
• Tzatziki Sauce - Packaged fresh, or DIY for the ambitious
• 4 Whole Pitas or 4-8 Flatbread rounds
• Basque Marinade (optional)
• Garlic Salt (optional)
• Hummus (optional)

Hardware:

• Lots of ziplock bags
• Grill or heavy pan
• Heat source (grill or campfire is best, burner will work also)
• Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil
• Grilling tongs

Method:

1. Prior to departing for your trip, wash and dice all of the vegetables except tomatoes and lettuce.  Pack them individually in heavy-duty ziplock bags or Tupperware type containers.  If using bags, double-bag the onions.  Trust me on this.  
2. If using grape or cherry tomatoes, you can safely quarter or halve them as well.  If using a juicy beefsteak or roma tomato, you may be better off leaving it whole and dicing on-site, as it may just turn itself into salsa if you pre-dice.
3. Wash and tear your (optional) lettuce or spring-mix into smallish bits and bag with a paper towel to absorb extra moisture.
4. Depending on your meat preference, you may want to start a marinade at this point.  Nothing other than a little garlic salt just prior to grilling is really needed, but if you want to punch up the flavor, I highly recommend Basque Marinade/Meat Tenderizer.  It seems to be readily available in the marinade/bbq-sauce section of every mega-mart grocery store I've ever been in.  For beef or especially lamb, just put the meat in a zip top bag and splash in enough of the marinade to roughly cover.  Double-bag the meat for safety against leaks, and toss in the cooler or fridge.  For chicken, the Basque marinade still tastes great, but the marinade is slightly acidic (vinegar), so it will result in rubbery chicken if you marinade for more than a couple of hours.  Another note on chicken: I normally prefer bone-in thighs whenever I'm cooking chicken, but for general ease of preparation/eating/cleanup in-camp, boneless breasts are probably a better choice if you choose chicken.  Optionally, you could even pre-cook chicken (any cut) then slice to a large-dice before leaving, then simply re-warm in a pan then toss with 2Tsp of the Basque marinade, but this wouldn't be my preference unless you really want a dead-easy meal prep and you're eating this meal on Day 1.
5. Once in camp, prepare your fire, grill, or burner.
6. If you prefer to eat pitas as actual pockets, slice them in half now.  There are a few methods to handle the bread:  The easiest is to stack them and wrap in heavy duty foil to make a "packet".  When you start grilling the meat, place this packet near the heat source, like the corner or the grill or the side of the fire, but not over direct heat.  Turn the packet occasionally (use tongs!).  The bread should be sufficiently warm and slightly steamed at service time.  Alternatively, you can warm the bread in a pan for ~1 minute per side, then transfer to a foil packet to keep warm.  This works better for flatbread than pita.  Finally, you can simply "toast" the flatbread over an open burner.  This does NOT work for pita at all...
7. Grill your meat to preferred temperature.  On the small folding "grill" (really a brazier) we use when overlanding, only a minute or two per side is needed for most cuts of beef or lamb with the very hot fire I get from lump charcoal.  You can also pan-roast your meat if you only have a burner.
8. Rest the meat for a few minutes after cooking, then slice to a large dice
9. And finally: Pita-Pockets, Assemble!  Help the kids open up your warmed pita halves, or use a whole flatbread like a gyro wrapper, and assemble your sandwich with preferred mix of veggies, meat, Tzatziki or Hummus dip, and cheese.  Have a plate and a spoon handy for the kids to eat the filling as it falls;  my daughter, at least, has yet to master holding things horizontally and eating from the end, rather than the middle.  Usually at least half her sandwich is eaten like a salad or "bowl" after the bread is consumed, but that's half the fun.  I usually pair this meal with pita chips as it lets the family start in on the hummus  and Tzatziki dips while I do the cooking.  This keeps the hungry-kid complaints to a minimum.

Update 2014-06-10: Dietary Notes:

Wanted to add a couple of notes for any Overlanders who are counting calories, like me:  Using half-pitas in pocket form is about 40 calories per sandwich, versus ~150 calories if you use a whole flatbread.  That's a worthwhile change and the size of the pita will also force a bit or portion control in terms of filling.  Leaving out the meat or cheese is an obvious possibility, but choosing a lean bit of tri-tip steak and a good Low-Fat Feta Cheese (I like Trader Joes') doesn't add too many calories if you keep the portions reasonable.  Definitely skip the pre-dinner Pita-Chip and hummus course, though, unless you did a lot of hiking that day.

... breakfast tacos (again).

I have previously documented my affinity for using leftover taco fixings as breakfast fodder.  In the time since I started the food blog, I've had to get more and more serious about watching what I eat as I've rededicated myself to my weight loss goals.

The one-two punch of a slightly abnormally efficient metabolism and intentionally eating at a calorie deficit to lose weight means that there are scant few calories in the daily budget with which to experiment and have fun with food.  That doesn't mean, however, that I have to eat bland healthy stuff all the time.  Or ever, really.

Here's an example of employing all my tricks and still getting to have fun with leftovers.  Admittedly, flank-steak tacos are anything but revolutionary, but it's the details that makes this meal possible:

This particular preparation of tacos rings in right around 400kcal.  Lately, that's an extravagant number of calories to "blow" on breakfast, but I'd just finished fleeing imaginary undead during a 5k run while playing Zombies, Run!, my favorite exercise-based alternate reality game.  For a normal day, I'd cut the amount of meat by about a third, and it would be at least closer to my normal 200-300kcal breakfast.

The tally:

Costco Flank Steak - 3oz - 198cal

2 Corn Tortillas - 110cal

Calavo Guacamole, 2T - 40cal

Olive Oil, 1t - 40cal

Onions - one 1/4" slice - 16cal

Hot Sauce - 0cal

Lime Juice - 0cal

Available Herbs, Cilantro, etc. - 0-1cal

-------------------

Just over 400 calories.

I build flavor by caramelizing a big slice of Vidalia onion with a minimal amount of oil and a medium-low heat.  This takes a bit of time, more than I usually prefer to spend on Breakfast during the week, but it's low-attention, so I can let this sit while I tend to other details like feeding my daughter and prepping the day's lunch.  The meat was previously grilled, so I just toss it in at the end to warm, and then add a last bit of seasoning.  Tortillas are warmed in a dry pan, then assemble with a minimal amount of guacamole, the barest squeeze of lime juice, and a good hot sauce.

Is there any magic there? Not really.  It's the typical recommendations, but you have to actually follow through.  In this case, using minimal oil and a good pan for the onions is important.  Besides the meat, the biggest calorie hit comes from the tortillas, so make sure you buy good corn tortillas - first because they're healthier (lower calorie, and lower % of calories from fat vs flour tortillas), but secondarily because with good tortillas you need fewer.  No doubling up for structural integrity needed if they're properly warmed, and they contribute a good corny flavor and texture.  I had a large quantity of leftover Costco guacamole, and while homemade is better in terms of taste and texture, it is not any better calorie-wise.  At least avocados are the "good fat".  Finally, make sure you pick a Hot Sauce that doesn't have much (or any) oil added.  Some brands include oil for mouth feel, etc., but it changes the sauce from a calorie-free condiment into something you need to account for.  Not worth it, in my opinion.  

Almost as important as what's included is what's excluded.  Thinking stylistically, this is more of a street taco.  Even the three ingredients here (not counting condiments) is pushing it.  If I'd had cilantro on hand, that would definitely have gone in, but otherwise nothing else is needed here.  Even a small amount of shredded cheese would have added 25% to the calorie bill, but more importantly - it isn't even warranted for these flavors, since you already get the richness and creamy mouth feel from the caramelized onions and avocado.   

...BLTs, BLATs, and the TBS

Round my house, we're good Californians.  In culinary terms, that means that BLTs served at home are always BLATs.    I've written previously about my love for the Devilicious BBBLT which includes a fried egg and cheese, but at home we generally stick to the BLAT.  We're truly blessed here to have access to quality avocado that's really ripe through most of the year - so why miss an opportunity?

Well last night we were all (including the toddler) enjoying our BLATs with house-made potato and sweet potato chips when the toddler started creating her own sandwiches.  First, she had re-dubbed the BLAT as the "TBS": The tomato, bacon, salad sandwich.  OK, hard to argue with that, and especially hard to argue with a 3-year-old.  Next she created the TBSS - Tomato, bacon, salad, and sweet-potato chips..  I guess she thought it needed more crunch.  She wolfed down a rather large sandwich stuffed full...


For some reason, she always asks permission before experimenting with her food - we always tell her to go ahead (as long as she's eating).  I'm just sort of fascinated to see her relationship with food starting to evolve - she's starting to think like a chef (or at least a foodie); trying to figure out how to combine ingredients to the best possible effect.  I love that she "helps" me cook and watches me experiment and make mistakes.  Hopefully the practice will rub off on her.

I feel silly having to write this, but after having too many badly built BLTs in my time, I guess basic sandwich construction is still an artform not mastered by all.  Therefore, for the record, in order to maximize flavor and minimize the dreaded "ingredients slide", here is the proper construction of a BLAT:

Mise en place:

• Slice 1 large, ripe, heirloom tomato into slices no thicker than 1/4".
• Wash and pat dry several leaves of Red Leaf or other flavorful lettuce.  If you're going to use iceberg or butter lettuce, better to skip it, you won't taste it anyhow.
• Take 1 large ripe avocado, split, de-seed, and remove meat from skin.  Mash in a bowl with a generous shake of garlic salt, like you're making a particularly boring guacamole.
• Cook your bacon.  I prefer well-crisped in the oven so it stays flat, but choose your favorite method here.  If you're feeding a vegetarian, we highly recommend the MorningStar frozen Veggie Bacon Strips.  These warm easily in the microwave (use a swatch of parchment paper to avoid sticking) and are VASTLY superior to any of the refrigerated soy substitute bacon products.  They actually have "veins" of different material, so they have a texture/consistency that is more like real bacon (i.e. some crispy, some soft).  They are not wobbly and brown all over, and they do not smell like pet food.  Real thick-sliced center cut bacon still kicks this product's ass every day, but if you MUST use a substitute, use a good one.

A la minute:

• Lightly toast two pieces of VERY sour sourdough. Don't overtoast lest you ravage your hard palate like the sandwich was a cheese grater...  
• Lightly coat one slice of bread with your home made mayo or aioli.   If using store bought, it had better be Hellmans/Best Foods mayonnaise.  If you use a different brand, we just can't hang.  Sorry.
• Coat the other slice of bread with a good spread of the mashed avocado.  Do these two steps right after the bread comes out of the toaster or else the bread will dry out.  See above, re: cheese grater.
• Place the lettuce on the mayo-coated slice of the bread.
• Place the tomato on top of the lettuce. Apply in a SINGLE LAYER ONLY.  This is why it's important to use good heirloom tomatoes - so you can taste them in small amounts.
• Apply bacon to the avocado-covered slice of bread.
• Add extra optional ingredients next like a fried egg, cheese, and/or onion (or apparently sweet potato chips).
• Combine halves and slice sandwich.  Serve immediately.

There you have it, a properly engineered sandwich.  Having a good fat coating on both slices of bread will protect the sandwich from sogginess, etc.   The proto-guac will also now act as a mortar to keep things together, versus sliced avocado which is the leading cause of ingredients slides in most sandwiches.  The texture of the bacon and lettuce keeps the tomato layer from sliding; and limiting the tomato to a single layer means no low-friction mating surfaces within the tomato strata.  This sandwich can be sliced easily without toothpicks to hold it together, and even our toddler has been able to hold it well enough to eat without ingredients sliding out.

...Italian Sausage Tacos

One of the many reasons I really love Breakfast at home is that it's the meal of they day where I have the most freedom to experiment for myself.  Even if I brown-bag lunch, I'm limited by what I can carry, store, and re-warm in my tech-company break room.  Dinner affords me more time to plan, shop, prep, and cook, but I'm bound by the need to put food on the table for my beloved Lacto-ovo-pesco-vegetarian wife and our toddler daughter.  Both are relatively adventurous (given their respective limitations), but there is a whole world of food that neither one will touch and it often just isn't worth it to prepare adventurous things for one.  Breakfast, though, is somehow more freeing.  Most of the freedom comes from the relative ease of feeding the rest of the household.  On weekdays the wife is satisfied with good coffee and the toddler prefers dry cereal with a little dried fruit.  On weekends I move through the kitchen like a short-order cook at the local coffee shop.  Everyone usually gets what they want, to-order, (made easy by the fact I can usually predict what they'll want.)  On even the most hectic Saturday before a playgroup or Zoo excursion I can still bang out a steaming pile of biscuits or pancakes in a few minutes, with a side of substitute-bacon and real-bacon for the appropriate diners.  No problem.  The remaining freedom for breakfast comes from the fact that I love savory breakfasts, which means I positively adore experimenting with leftovers, odd flavor combos, and food nobody else would eat.  Practically speaking, one of my experimental breakfasts is usually more lasting and satisfying for the inclusion of protein, etc.

Tacos for breakfast is a great example of this.  We do "taco night" fairly regularly at home.  The wife enjoys a re-seasoned soy-based taco substitute, I enjoy carne- or pollo-asada, and the toddler vacillates between them.  Things improved dramatically when I recently re-discovered the Azteca Mexican Market hidden near my workplace, which finally provided the reliable and convenient source of hand-made style tortillas I'd been searching for for years.  As an aside:  Seriously, this is San Diego.  We used to be part of Mexico, why is it so hard to find a decent tortilleria north of I-8?!?!  An artifact of purchasing tortillas this way, we have to buy somewhat in bulk (2-3lbs minimum), and they aren't fresh for very long, which leaves me looking for ways to use up the wonderful little discs of corn.  Usually, I can just use up whatever leftover protein went into the tacos the night or two before, but every so often, I make the "mistake" of buying just enough pollo asada (or the toddler surprises us with her appetite) and I'm searching for other fillings.

This week, the "just enough taco filling" problem collided with the "had a lot of leftover ingredients after a DIY-pizza-party" problem and a new favorite was born:

Italian Sausage "Street" Tacos

Ingredients:

• 2-4 corn tortillas, hand-made if you can get 'em
• 1 link, spicy Italian sausage (casing removed)
• 1/2 Avocado, ripe but preferably still a bit firm
• 1/2c cheese - Mexican blend = good, Cotija or "Queso Blanco" = better
• Small handful of Cremini or button mushrooms
• 2 lime wedges (or 1/2 tsp of Real Lime juice, etc.)
• 1/2tsp olive or vegetable oil

Method:

1. Wet a hot pan with a very small amount of oil and begin frying the sausage.  As it cooks, you'll be able to break it up with a spatula into bite-size chunks.  If you're using a salty cheese like Cotija, resist the urge to add seasoning.  If using a basic Mexican blend, a pinch of salt is probably a good idea.
2. While the sausage is cooking, slice the mushrooms.  After the fat has rendered, add the mushrooms and brown them.
3. Slice the half-avocado into two quarters and then cube the meat while in the skin.
4. Place tortillas between two sheets of paper towel on a plate and microwave for 30s (if scaling up the recipe for >1 person, use your favorite tortilla warmer - I use a terra cotta garlic baker pre-warmed in the microwave with damp paper towels)
5. Once the filling is cooked, assemble your tacos - some prefer doubling up the tortillas but the ones I buy are thick enough to use one-per-taco.  Distribute the sausage/mushroom mix evenly, then add your cheese.  Turn the avocado cubes out of the skin and add to the tacos, then finish each with a light squeeze of lime juice.
6. Feel free to experiment with finely diced white onion, cilantro, or pico de gallo, but keep it simple and light! Taco sauce, etc. would easily muddy the flavors here.

Makes 2-3 small tacos for a very satisfying small meal.

...Cajun Salmon and Pilaf a la Ara

Readers of my other blog will know that one of my hobbies is Overlanding - vehicle-based, self-reliant adventuring.  Basically it's what Car-Camping used to be, in the days before ubiquitous good roads, campgrounds, and RVs.  Get into a 4x4, and go someplace, away from other people whenever possible.  The main trade-show and annual center-of-gravity for this hobby in North America is Overland Expo.  I attended last year with the goal to "Get Outfitted. Get trained. Get inspired. Get going..." as their motto reads.

Mixed in with the training on how to safely recover a stuck vehicle using a winch, how to build your First Aid kit to avoid problems at border crossings, and how to get your wife to go with you, I took a great little class called "One Pan Cooking and Provisioning (No Fridge)".  The first half of the course title sounds like any one of hundreds of cookbooks for frustrated housewives, but the second half gives away the secret.  Ara Gureghian and his dog Spirit overland full-time on a BMW motorcycle and sidecar.  Ara is also a classically European-trained chef, so when presented a very tasty lesson on how to plan and provision for meals that don't require refrigeration, and are easy to prepare, I made sure to pay attention.

Like most great recipes, Chef Ara taught a method, more than a list of ingredients.  In fact, no recipes were ever provided for the class (although a few of his are available from his website.)  Upon returning home, I was anxious to try to replicate some of what I'd tasted - I think he'd be proud, and my wife certainly approved.

The "cajun" salmon is an ongoing favorite of mine because it's simple to prepare, packs a big flavor, and most importantly is an approved "go-to" protein for a meat-eater who has to cook for a Lacto-ovo-pesco-vegetarian every day.  I won't go into detail here but it's basically oil and some variant on a spice rub (Emeril's Bayou Blast, for example) in a hot pan.  I prepared it alongside this new side dish mostly as a hedge against culinary failure - you never want to go hungry because you blew the new side dish.  It turns out, I needn't have bothered.  Choosing a combination of quality fresh veggies and dry foodstuffs, adding some herbs, oil and a good hard cheese results in an easy one-pan meal that is filling and satisfying.  More often that not these days, I prepare this solo, instead of as a side dish, though I still usually need a standalone protein for the toddler as she has not yet latched on to the adult quality of these flavors.

As I've said, it's more of a method than a recipe, but here's my best attempt to present for those who'd wish to emulate.

Ingredients:

• ~1/2 Onion, white or yellow, coarsely chopped.
• Largeish handful or two of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
• Handful of fresh or frozen peas
• Handful of diced carrot (when camping I just put a big handful of frozen peas & carrots mix into a zip back and toss it in the fridge, but fresh would be fine too)
• 1-2C of fresh zucchini, squash, or whatever else looks good
• At least 1/4c of a good cheese.  Hard cheeses survive w/o refrigeration, soft ok in a coldbox.
• Herbage.  I like chopped basil, but parsley or whatever else will work too.
• Whatever other sundries sound good to you: slivered Almonds, Olives, sun-dried Tomatoes, etc.
• 1C of your favorite dry starch.  I started with long-grain rice, and have also done Qinoa, but our current favorite is a wonderful "mix" from Trader Joes that includes, Rice, Orzo, Qinoa, Couscous, and some yellow lentils, IIRC.
• 1-2C of water or your favorite stock (appropriate volume for your selected starch, as this ratio varies)
• Appropriate Oil of your choice
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

1. Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in your big pan and sweat (or saute) the onion and whatever other aromatics you're using. Sweat vs. saute depends on the flavors you're going for and what your heat control is like.  My Coleman white-gas camp stove really only runs well on "high", so I work fast in the field.
2. Add in any "hard" veggies if they'll need a while to cook.  Ripe zucchini or mushrooms cook fast enough that I tend to add them after the next step:
3. Add your starch and saute the grains/pasta until GB&D.
4. Add remaining ingredients except cheese, but reserve a small handful of herbs and sliced tomato for garnish.  Season to taste. Cook briefly.
5. Add appropriate volume of liquid for your starch.  Cover, reduce heat, and cook for the appropriate amount of time.  (Pasta ~10 minutes, Qinoa/Rice ~20 minutes, etc.)
6. When starch is cooked and liquid absorbed, grate in a hefty volume of hard cheese (or crumble in soft cheese), toss, re-season, and plate up.  Garnish with reserved herbage and tomato.

Makes more than you'd expect.  Enough for 2-4 as a main, or many more as a side.