cooking – Projects

October 1, 2022

Car Camping is not a Motorcycle Post.

This is a trick, and is not a motorcycle post. I normally camp from my motorcycle. Something great about just going on your motorcycle and stopping for the night somewhere. I owe my friends a big apology for all the years of teasing them about the quantity of stuff they camp with. I’d show up on my bike with minimal gear and be a jerk about it. Well I went car camping and my car was over stuffed with gear.

I did not know I had so much camping gear. It filled up the trunk and the back seat. WTF? What is worse is I kept my normal small tent and gear which fit in one bag. What is all this other stuff?

Kabob on the hibachi

One advantage of car camping is you can bring along the hibachi. I love my little ceramic hibachi it gets super hot and stays that way. It is not camping if you don’t grill food at least one night. Sirloin steak, mushrooms, onions, and peppers make for some delicious kabobs, or is kebabs? I de-kabob’d the vegies to get an even cook, and can veggies be a kebab? We had a fire in the fire pit that night. I guess I could have cooked there and brought less stuff.

Car_Camping_Kabob_veggies — Car_Camping_Kabob_TheMeat

Galveston Island state park refresh!

Car_Camping_Galveston_state_Park_DunesIII

The Galveston Island State Park had suffered some serious damage from a prior storm and was updated and re-opened in January of 2022. It is very nice now. The facilities are new and very nice, but the picnic area and camp slots are very close together now. This is good as it leaves more room for the nature and it is splendid now. New rinse showers for the picnic area and new bathrooms. I miss the iconic old concrete shelters, but the new ones maintain a similar shape if not the big circular windows. The new stuff is more inviting to include nature in your view and block none of it. All while protecting the nature from human traffic.

Car_Camping_Galveston_state_Park_Showers — Car_Camping_Galveston_state_Park_Dunes

Why has it been so long since I’ve been camping? I need to fix my motorcycle and get out there. I got home so relaxed it was worth the trip.

June 9, 2021June 9, 2021

Never enough Falafels

I learned today the plural of falafel is filfil according to wikipedia who knew. Well however, I can never have enough. I occasionally make them as a meal prep as they freeze well and can be hot and delicious from the air fryer in the time it takes to heat up a #10 tortilla to make a wrap. I just never make them often enough.

2 cups dried chickpeas soaked 24 hours
1 1/2 onions
1 head of garlic
1 bunch of cilantro
juice and zest of 2 limes
1 tbsp-ish turmeric powder
1 tsp of cumin
2 tsp baking soda
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup gram flour or besan as a binding agent instead of wheat flour.

Note: I always borrow the best parts of other people’s recipes, but as recommend everywhere. Stick to dried chickpeas or you will be in for disappointment.

It is just that easy. Throw it all in the food processor and blitz until it is the desired texture. This batch was a little smoother that I prefer because, I almost forgot the garlic. How could the king of never enough garlic almost forget. haha… I also add a touch of Besan or gram flour as a binder as needed instead of wheat flour. It is not gluten free if you put it on a flour tortilla to make a wrap, but could be, if served as not a wrap, since chickpea flower is gluten free. Remember to let the mix sit for a minimum of 1 hour in the fridge to set up. It helps prevent falling apart during frying. The 2 oz portion scoop from the Ace Mart restaurant supply makes the perfect size falafel, and drops them right into the hot oil with minimal splash.

I eat them as a simple wrap with baby dill slices and bean sprouts. a side project of hydroponics was sprouting mung beans for sprouts to have on hand. They keep better than store bought if you sprout your own. I have also been digging Hellman’s roasted red pepper sauce. It has a great pepper flavor without the heat of sriracha or sambal. It is a great change of pace. Since I have been on a fermentation kick maybe hot sauce is on the project plan…

February 12, 2021

Fermentation is delicious

It is kind of an update on an old hobby. I used to dabble in home brew a lot. I love beer and like full bodied beer you just could not get around here. So I used to home brew double and triple bock and the occasional oatmeal stout. I realized it encouraged me to drink in excess, so I don’t do it as much anymore. I can splurge at the grocery now and get some great full bodied sixer from a “microbrewery” now instead of brewing a 5 gallons batch and being drunk all month. I still make an occasional batch of ginger beer, so it was just natural I started fermenting other things.

The love of German and Bavarian style beer can lead to only one thing. Sauerkraut! I have been working out a consistent ratio for the spices and a way to get naturally fermented sauerkraut. I also don’t cook it in the end as I like the light crunch. I even eat it cold.

I think I have found a stable ratio of 2 percent salt by weight of cabbage. It gets the right amount of salt and once it draws the moisture from the cabbage it has enough liquid to ferment great but not be too salty. I have as always liked fennel and caraway in my kraut, so why not both!

Finally as a nod to my fermenting of Kimchi too. I take half of my “Bavarian” style sauerkraut and add Gochugaru or the dry chili flakes to some and becomes the perfect mix of sweet and spicy delicious. The perfect topping for a lazy hod dog meal.

So along with the sauerkraut I might as well ferment all the things. Daikion radish, carrots and cauliflower, I’ll ferment almost anything into a pickle because it is delicious. I have not made pickles yet, so I hope for a bumper crop of hydroponic calypso cucumbers this “season”

You know living in the “international district” of my town I cannot help to mix cultures it is the American way, so butterflied and fried spicy boudin with Bavarian style sauerkraut with Gochugaru. I wish you could taste how delicious this combination is. I’m going to have to go to the local red BBQ truck to get more boudin.

February 9, 2021

“Low Carb” cottage pie, or I am slow on the uptake.

A friend I know is on a low carbohydrate diet and tries to cut carbs wherever he can. He recommended Cauliflower mash to top cottage pie. I never tried it, but I wanted cottage pie and only had one potato in the house. What is a cook to do. Well obviously use the cauliflower I had been saving for another batch of gobi manchurian but was too lazy to cook.

I doubt I will ever make cottage pie with mashed potatoes again. Lesson learned! The improved texture of the mash and the extra flavor made a huge difference.

cauliflower_mash_cottage_pie_ingredients

Cauliflower ~1 head
the potato I had
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup of half and half
Ground beef about 1 pound
Frozen peas about 1 cup
Cubed carrots about 1 cup
chopped onion about 1 cup
5-6 gloves of garlic chopped
1 can sliced mushrooms
chopped celery about 1 cup
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 pack of Mushroom gravy mix
1 cup of caldo de rez
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp cornstarch in water

Well I did not have a whole head of cauliflower and only one potato, so I honestly used both. I had snacked on the cauliflower to finish off some garlic hummus I had in the fridge, so not really enough, so I used my last potato too. A quick steam in the Instapot about 5 minutes plus venting with both inside on the steaming tray. and just mash them together with a pinch of salt, a little butter and 1/4 cup of half and half. I don’t do diet so use butter.

I made the filling, While the mash was steaming. Pretty simple mix. Brown the ground beef, then add the onions and soften. Once the onions are soft add the carrots for about 2 minutes. Once they are on their way, add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Add the peas and then the mushroom gravy mix( in cold water as directed). I also added 1 cup of beef bullion at this time. I also added Salt and pepper to taste along with the oregano and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer the mix covered until the mashed mixture is ready about 20 minutes. I added the celery and drained can of mushrooms about half way through the simmer as I don’t like them to get soggy. Finally finish with a little corn starch and water to thicken up the remaining gravy.

cauliflower_mash_cottage_pie_prep — cauliflower_mash_cottage_pie_filling

So just like normal cottage pie. I put in the only oven safe vessels I have. Mini spring form pans and topped it with the mashed mixture. I put the pans on a baking sheet covered in parchment for easy clean up, as the spring forms leak a bit. I will get some reasonable ramekins one day that are a useful and uniform size. Broiled them to get a light brow on the top and this meal prep is considered complete. However, the mini spring forms make it easy to pop out the cooled pie for reheating in the microwave. They are also perfect single serving portions about 3 inches in diameter.

August 28, 2020

Chipotle Chicken Revisited

I had toyed with a recipe for this in the past, but have been on a SousVide kick lately and realized that this could be done as a bulk meap prep. Sous Vide foods are pre-cooked and freeze easily ready to defrost and eat. I decided on a Honey Lime Chipotle Chicken with Cilantro Lime rice and some Pico De Gallo and three Bean salad. Just like my recent discovery of air frying to reverse sear Sous Vide cooked BBQ. I gave the chicken 5 minutes at 400 degrees to get a texture on the outside post Sous Vide cooking. This can be done after defrosting the frozen meal prep for the hot off the grill flavor and texture.

Pico De Gallo

I love Pico De Gallo as it is a simple salad that can be converted into salsa with a stick blender. Here is what I use for mine. Tomatoes, Jalapenos, Limes, White Onions, and Cilantro with only a touch of salt and black pepper to finish it off.

I just cut everything up and mix it in a bowl. I then just put it in mason jars to keep. Normally I make Texas caviar too at the same time since it uses the same ingredients, but only had one can of black eyed peas so 3 bean salad was made instead.

Honey Lime Chipotle Chicken

1/2 can of San Marcos Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce including sauce
1/2 bunch of cilantro including stems
2 tablespoons honey
5 teaspoons of liquid smoke
1 teaspoon of cumin
2 teaspoon of dried oregano
2 teaspoons of dried cilantro
2 tablespoons minced garlic
The juice and zest of one lime
2 tablespoons cooking oil

I use the mini chop food processor to blitz all the ingredients into a paste and then put boneless skinless chicken thighs in the paste to coat. I vacuum sealed it into bags ready for Sous Vide. I then placed the bags in the Sous Vide at 165 degrees for 2 hours.

Cilantro Lime Rice

I did a simple Cilantro lime rice by taking 1/2 bunch of cilantro and the juice and zest of one lime and mixing it into a rice cooker of freshly cooked rice. This is as simple as a flavored rice side can get.

Finishing it off

HoneyLimeChipotleBurritoWrap — HoneyLimeChipotleBurrito

The chicken can be cut up and added to Burritos. My favorite local tortilla company La Ranchera not only makes great corn tortillas, but burrito wrappers that make about the perfect size burritos.

I have a feeling that I’m about to air fry some of La Ranchera’s corn tortillas into chips and make me some Honey Lime Chipotle Chicken natchos soon. I quit buying premade tortilla chips once I found out that the air fryer makes better ones from fresh corn tortillas with less oil that deep fried.

November 28, 2019

Sweet Tomato/Souplantation Asian Ginger Broth

My official taste testers sometimes go out to Sweet Tomatoes instead of having a meal at their house. Dad really likes their Asian Ginger Broth, and I agree with him. See the link for their recipe which they provide, but 16 cups is a lot of soup, so I tested some small batches at his request to duplicate it. I used chicken base instead of the recommended veggie stock as I don’t stock veggie base at my house. However I did reduce the base to about 1/2 strength so it did not over power the ginger and garlic. Here is their original recipe straight from the link above. I came up with a 2 cup version in both easy and medium difficulties. See below Souplantation.com’s recipe.

Easy way Asian Ginger broth

1/4 teaspoon Ginger Powder
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon chicken base
1 teaspoon of veggie oil
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of corn starch in 2 tablespoons of water as a slurry.
1 slice of tofu diced
1 green onion sliced

This easy way works in either the microwave of the stove, and I tested both. If you do it on the stove heat the oil and bloom the spices for about 30 seconds, and then add the water and bring to a boil. Once it boils add the corn starch slurry stirring until clear. Poor over the cubes of tofu and green onion and serve. For the microwave just put the water, garlic powder, ginger powder, and oil in a a microwave safe container and heat till boiling. Once it boils add the slurry and cook an additional 20 seconds stirring frequently. Poor over the tofu and onions just like the stove top version and serve. The powdered spices do have a slight texture in the bowl, but not to any detriment.

asian_ginger_easy_product2 — asian_ginger_easy_product

Medium difficulty Asian ginger broth

1-2 cloves of garlic minced
1 thumb sized piece of ginger minced
1 tablespoon of veggie oil
1 teaspoon of chicken base
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of corn starch in 2 tablespoons of water as a slurry.
1 slice of tofu cubed
1 green onion sliced.

Just like the easy version stove top method. Saute the ginger and garlic in the oil until tender and fragrant. Once this is done add the water and the chicken base and bring to a boil. Once it boils add the corn starch slurry and stir until clear. Poor over the toppings and serve. See featured image for serving suggestions.

October 28, 2019

Curry Sacrilege

I love being a hack of a cook. I have no shame in blending cultures and flavors. My latest was Curry Sacrilege blending a traditional Thai Yellow curry with a Indian Madras flavors. It made a perfect meal prep for the onset of cooler weather. The reality is I did not have the ingredients to make either traditionally, so why sacrifice. Tasty curry is all I care about.

I don’t peel my potatoes! I started out thinking traditional Japanese style curry because a friend taunted me with a photo of a recent batch he had made. I decided against the more traditional brown gravy of the Japanese style and went for the Thai Yellow, but was missing some ingredients. Also blending curry powder from scratch you can make it yours.

1 pound beef cut into chunks
500g potatoes washed but not peeled
500g carrots
2 small white onions
Garlic to taste or a ton.
Fresh Ginger
1 and 1/2 bell peppers
Juice of one lime
1 can of coconut milk.
I wish I had lemon grass
homemade curry powder

Curry powder

I blended my own curry powder by adding the list below into my mini chop food processor and blitzing it until a fine powdered consistency.

1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1 tsp Fennel seeds
2 tsp of Indian three chili powder.
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder

Curry process

I had the chuck portioned and pre-cut into chunks in the freezer so I defrosted it naturally and then added one thumb sized piece of grated ginger, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, juice from 1/2 of the lime, and 1 tablespoon of mirin to marinate the meat. I would have added the missing lemongrass at this time chopped into a fine mess or grated like the ginger.

While the meat marinated I prepared all the vegetables by washing and cutting into bite size pieces. I don’t know why I peel my carrots, but not my potatoes. I also used the mini chop to make a garlic paste as it was already dirty from the curry powder. Normally I would have just chopped the garlic.

Brown the beef in oil or ghee. I used a combination of ghee and coconut oil as is my preference but vegetable oil would work. Once the meat is browned on the outside add the onions and garlic. saute slightly and then add the curry powder to bloom all the spices in the oils.

Once the spices are very fragrant add the coconut milk and the vegetables. Hot water or stock can be added to cover slightly and them simmer for at least 30 minutes until potatoes and carrots are firm but tender. Bell peppers can be added at this time as well as any spice additions like salt or i touched it up with a bit of Madras curry powder to add a bit more heat. I also added the juice from the remaining 1/2 of lime at this time to ensure the lime flavor was bright and came through a bit. 5 or so more minutes until the bell peppers are tender and portion out for meal prep.

Curry_Sacrilege_post_prep
Curry_Sacrilege_spice_bloom
Curry_Sacrilege_middle_of_the_curry

Served with rice to double up on the winter starches.

October 28, 2019

Fall Bread Making

I love the fall as it is time to bake. I only do it in the fall as with an electric oven it heats up the whole house which can postpone the need for a heater here in Texas. I got to test 3 different types of yeast breads. I wish I could bake regularly so I could keep a sourdough starter alive, but I am just too inconsistent to keep one alive and healthy with baking bread once or twice a year weather permitting. I’ll continue to make the sponge with Active Dry Yeast as the shelf life on that still amazes me.

Low Hydration

The first loaves were low hydration at about 50%, which is expected with 100 percent whole wheat flour. I find it hard to make a full hydration with the extra bran. This bread came out almost like an Irish brown bread, but was a full yeast dough and not a baking soda and baking powder bread. Great flavor and mouth feel but very dense and a very firm crumb, with hardly any rise. so hard to make loaves with a dough this stiff.

LowHydration_risen
LowHydration_pre_risen
LowHydration_loves
LowHydration_dense_crumb

High Hydration bread

The next set of loaves were a full high hydration almost 68% hydration. I mixed it 50/50 with bread flour and 100% whole wheat. It made almost the perfect crumb for my taste. Light and airy with a firm mouth feel. It also retained the full whole wheat flavor without sacrifice. You can see the comparison with the low hydration(roundish slice) on the plate below.

HighHydration_proving
HighHydration_risen
HighHydration_loves
HighHydration_open_crumb

Is Skillet cooking flatbread really baking?

I also threw in some Pita breads into the rotation. I cooked them in the cast iron skillet instead of the oven stone. I prefer the oven stone but it has to be down right cold to cook with the oven door open and on full tilt. I refuse to run the A/C on high just to heat the house with the oven. Maybe a pizza oven could resolve this baking outside.

FlatBread_yeast
FlatBread_dough
FlatBread_risen
FlatBread_cooking
FlatBread_testing

October 9, 2019

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Well as normal. Monkey see Monkey do. I saw this YouTube Video, and decided it looked delicious. If you don’t want to put in the work you can always head over to Empire Turkish Grill and get their very delicious Lahana Sarma ( Stuffed Cabbage Rolls).

1 lb of ground chuck 80/20
1 cup of cooked brown rice
2 eggs
1 can of mushrooms
3 shredded carrots
1 Head of cabbage
1 onion chopped and Sauteed
Garlic to taste (sauteed with onion)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce.
2 teaspoons of paprika

Core and steam the whole cabbage. I did this in my Instapot for about 5 minutes on high pressure. This makes the leaves easy to peel and roll. I did not want to cook it soft, but wanted the leaves pliable enough to roll. five minutes was perfect and allowed me to not over cook the rolls even after the SousVide portion of the cooking.

The filling ingredients, meat, rice, carrots, mushrooms, and sauteed onions and garlic, are mixed in a bowl until a firm consistency the eggs are used as a binder. Once the filling is ready it is scooped into a peeled cabbage leaf. You can remove the stem of the leaf to make rolling easier. See YouTube link above for more information. I used two loads of a 1 oz portion scoop to make the rolls consistent. A light sauce is made from a can of fire roasted tomatoes and tomato sauce and paprika, or in my case tomato soup as I was out of sauce. I also hit the sauce lightly with an immersion blender to make it a bit smoother.

Once the sauce was ready I loaded three to four rolls and about 1 cup of the sauce into a vacuum bag and prepared it for the SousVide. If you don’t have a SousVide you can place them in a dutch oven or deep casserole dish and bake as it is more traditional. However the SousVide makes a great tool for meal prep. About an hour in the SousVide and they were done ready to store for tasty meals.

mealprep_cabbage_roll_a_pile_of_rolls
mealprep_cabbage_roll_soux_vide
mealprep_cabbage_roll_soux_vide2
mealprep_cabbage_roll_single_serv
mealprep_cabbage_roll_meal_prep3

I really should have made more sauce. It is hard to vacuum seal bags with lots of sauce, but these really could have used more sauce. They were delicious and my official taste testers said I could put them on the rotation.

mealprep_cabbage_roll_to_share
mealprep_cabbage_roll_taste_test3
mealprep_cabbage_roll_taste_test

My only issue is that this makes a ton of dishes.

September 16, 2019

Picadillo

Lots of cultures have a Picadillo, It can be found in Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Filipino food. I have been making a batch weekly to have different flavors added to my rotation.

Sazon Seasoning.

Picadillo starts with Sazon seasoning. I stole the basis from skinnytaste and as usual made it my own. I did not want to get a store bought one. I’m not adverse to MSG but want to control my intake.

Garlic powder
Onion powder
dried cilantro
dried coriander
dried cumin
dried oregano
anatto powder
paprika
salt
pepper

equal parts of all the above added to the mini chop and blitzed until uniform in texture. This dried seasoning blend keeps well in an air tight container.

Making the Picadillo

Ground chuck
1 cup of frozen peas
1 cup chopped carrots
1 onion
6-10 cloves of garlic
Sazon seasoning (see above)
cubed potatoes are optional. I omit them.

Brown the beef and then add the onions garlic and saute until tender. The Sazon seasoning is added and bloomed in the oil until fragrant. The peas and carrots are added and water or beer to cover. Simmer until the carrots are tender. Potato cubes can be added for a more traditional blend.

Picadillo Empanadas

The filling once cool can be added to pie crust to create empanadas.

Picadillo Empanads in waiting
Picadillo Empanads air fried
Picadillo Empanads with ready made pie crust
Picadillo Empanads meal prep