Camping with Chai

Borage (which really has nothing to do with chai)

Cardomom, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cloves, Star Anise, Orange Zest, Honey, Ginger, Vanilla! Oh My!

I have been somewhat obsessed with the flavors of chai lately. First, I discovered that you can premake a Chai Tea Concentrate to keep in mason jars in the frig. It's delicious, but expensive to add all those spices. Then I figured that I could make it with chai tea bags, which would cut down on the cost, and add some fresh ginger while it simmered and splash it with vanilla when it was done. I liked being able to pour it straight into my cup, add some milk and microwave for a minute.  

THEN, I found a recipe for Condensed Milk Chai Concentrate. It doesn't take up as much room in the frig. Make a regular cup of black tea and add a little of the concentrate. Viola!

Another of my favorite chai ideas is inspired from Fine Cooking magazine--Chai Soaked Fruits:

Steep 2 chai tea bags in 2 cups of boiled water for 5 minutes. Throw out the tea bags. Stir in 3 Tbs. honey, and 2 cups of chopped dried apricots, pitted prunes, golden raisins or dark raisins. Bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid turns to a light syrup(18-20 minutes). Keep in a jar in the frig to add to oatmeal or yogurt, spread on french toast or waffles. Remember to sprinkle on toasted almonds too. Oh, how about making a puff pastry tart and spreading it on there? LOVE it!

And, homemade Chai Spice Granola:

(adapted from Blog Aid: Recipes for Haiti)

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup agave syrup (or skip the agave and use 1 cup honey total, OR use 1/2 c.brown sugar)
1 cup water
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
3 tea bags

Dry Ingredients:
6 cups rolled oat flakes
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup pumpkin seeds (or sunflower)


1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
1/4 cup diced candied ginger
1 cup raisins
1 cup diced dried apples
1 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 300°F. Prepare 3 large cookie sheets with a sheet of parchment or non-stick spray.
Steep tea bags in 1 cup of boiling water. Remove tea bags after 5 minutes. Mix in the honey, agave, oil, and spices in a small saucepan.
Heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. It’s okay if it comes to a boil, but don’t keep it at a boil.
Stir together dry ingredients, except for the coconut, raisins and apples, which will be added later. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Split between the 3 sheets.
Bake at 300°F for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 275°F and rotate pans. Use a spatula to turn the granola and scrape any darkening bits off the bottom of the pan. Bake for another 15 minutes.
Add dried fruit and coconut, turn off oven and leave granola in oven until completely cool.
Store in an airtight container. Makes 2 quarts.

Summer Tomatoes

Here's an great thing to do with fresh tomatoes from Susan Branch. I "cook" it outside on my deck for 3 or 4 hours. I love having a jar chilling in the fridge, ready to add  fresh tomato flavors to any dish. Especially enjoy putting it in a blender and using it as salad dressing.  (You can click on the recipe to make it easier to read).

NEW IDEA: blend up, heat, and stir in cream for a delicious soup.

Rugged Salads for Camping

 

Salads are healthy, delicious, easy to make, and oh, so pretty.

We decided that if we just took the time to make them in advance, ready to go, our camping trips would be much nicer. And we've been doing a fair job at keeping up with it too. They are easy lunches and side dishes for dinner. Made with fresh wholesome ingredients. You can choose to limit or eliminate sodium, sugar, gluten, meat, whatever. They are ultimately flexible, add, take away, or change as much as you like.

Here's a list of our favorites:

• Mediterranean Barley-- cooked barley, tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives, lemon vinaigrette, garbanzo beans, feta, garlic, fresh parsley or oregano.
• Pesto Pea--peas, edamane, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts or pinenuts, pesto, parmensan on a bed of spinach.
• Mexican Corn and Bean--various types of beans, corn, diced red pepper, edamane, red onion, cilantro, lime juice.
• Tuscan Pasta--penne pasta, Spanish olives, currants, pine nuts, tomato/balsamic vinaigrette.
• Fingerlings with Pancetta--roasted fingerling potatoes, diced cooked pancetta, cherry tomatoes, frisee, fresh thyme, olive oil + red wine vinegar.
• Broccoli--slightly steamed broccoli florets, cubes of sharp white cheddar, sunflower seeds, golden raisins, red onion, sweet creamy dressing. (I ended up using a bottled Ceaser for this).
• Ginger Beets--cooked, diced beets, with ginger vinaigrette, and orange zest.
• Coleslaw--thinly sliced red & green cabbage, red/yellow/orange bell peppers, carrots, scallions, cilantro, peanuts/almonds/cashews, Asian vinaigrette (sesame oil, soy sauce, etc).
• Tuna--tuna, celery, jalapeño, red onion, scallions, capers, olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, oregano.
• Roasted Beet--roasted beets, diced with toasted walnuts, feta, mint. (*My favorite).
• Gingered Carrot--shredded carrot, apples, pineapple, raisins, ginger syrup, walnuts or toasted almonds.
• Citrus--slice tangerines, grapefruit, oranges with toasted coconut, pecans, mint, honey and lime juice.
• Cherry Chicken--equal amounts of shredded chicken and pitted bing cherries, then add celery, walnuts, yogurt, tarragon.

Gloriously delicious, yet easy, Camping Foods

Plum Relish--roughly chop plums, soak in 1/2 cup olive oil, 4 T balsamic vinegar, toasted fennel seeds, and orange zest, salt + pepper, for about 15 minutes. Spoon over salad greens, grilled chicken, fish, pork or lamb.

Red Pepper/Feta Dip--combine a jar of roasted red peppers, a container of feta, and a garlic clove in a blender or food processor until smooth. Serve with veggies or crackers or use as a spread.

Gingered Carrot Salad--grate carrots and apples. combine with crushed or cubed pineapple, raisins. sprinkle with ginger sauce. Add walnuts or toasted almonds, at the end.

Crustless Quiche--cream ricotta with 5 eggs, add anything you want--cheeses, meats (bacon, proscuitto, sausage, cooked chicken), vegetables (spinach, tomato, red peppers, asparagus, etc), herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, etc), and seasoning (salt + pepper, red pepper flakes, fresh nutmeg). Cook in a pie pan for one hour at 350 degrees.

Gazpacho-- 1 cup each: fresh corn, diced red onion, diced cucumber, chicken stock. 2 cups crushed tomatoes. 1/2 cup tomato juice. 1/4 cup chopped cilantro. Juice of one lime. Splash of Tabasco (or a hot pepper, if you have one). Chill for at least 8 hours.

Beet Salad--roast peeled beets with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, cool, mix with feta cheese, chopped mint, and toasted walnuts.

Prepping Camping Foods

We are heading out to the High Sierra Music Festival for 4 days of hippie heaven--peace, love, and music. We don't want to mess with food too much while we are out there, so I pre-made a lot of it yesterday morning. Because I wanted to be done before it got hot, I started the oven the minute I got out of bed.

First order of business--quiche. In the mixer, blend ricotta cheese, 7 eggs, fresh thyme, bacon, spinach, lots of bits of cheese. Pour into a pie dish. Cook in 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes.

Next, sundried tomato pasta salad from Pioneer Woman. Try it, amazingly delicious. I added prosciutto and left out the fresh tomatoes because we are traveling and will probably eat it over several days.

Also, Stuffed Bell Peppers. I just steamed two bell peppers and then packed them with cooked hamburger, sauteed onion, pasta sauce, Worcester sauce. Topped with smoky Gouda cheese and wrapped in foil, we can just pop them in the solar oven.

Then, these Energy Bars that are simply over-the-top rice crispy treats, and the perfect camping food.

Energy Bars

1. Warm the following in 250 degrees oven

2.5 cups of Rice Krispies
2 cups of instant oatmeal
1/2 cup to 1 cup of raisins
1/2 cup chopped unsalted peanuts
1 package of sesame seeds


2. While the above is being heated, melt the following:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 to 3/4 cups peanut butter
2 packages of 10 oz marshmallows (I just buy 2 bags as they don't come in 10 oz size anyway)
Add: 1 cup coconut to melted mixture and stir.

3. Combine the heated ingredients to melted mixture.

4. Butter or Pam spray a 9 x 13" pan. Put 1/2 of the mixture into bottom of pan and press down. Sprinkle 1 cup of chocolate chips and press down. Then spoon the rest of the mixture on chocolate chips, spread and press.

HINT: Whatever tool you're using to spread the heated mixture, dip it in water before spreading each time as it's sticky as heck. Even a rice paddle is totally the bomb to do this.

Since the hot stuff was done, I could now cut up a pineapple, and a jicama to go with the fresh berries, watermelon, and cherries. We will also bring Smoked Chicken, Apple, and Chardonnay sausages and Mango Passion Granola from Trader Joe's. Sun Tea, Beer, Wine, Chai and Limoncello to drink.

Had everything done, dishes cleaned, and kitchen in order before noon. I didn't feel guilty about laying around in the hammock all afternoon at all.

Two Quick Camping Food Ideas

Sludge--Just like always, you can vary the ingredients all you want--use Parmesan or any hard cheese, use green onions, use more red pepper or less. Just add olive oil to cover and store in your frig for a bread spread, or topping cooked veggies.

Copper Pennies--everyone loved this dish at our family reunion potluck. Steam carrots until just barely cooked. In a saucepan saute some diced onion and bell peppers in a little olive oil, add a can of tomato soup, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of olive oil, 3/4 cup of vinegar (any kind), 1 tsp. Worchester sauce, 1 tsp. dry mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Heat through and pour over carrots. Chill.

Smoky Meatloaf

Just imagine it -- your favorite meatloaf recipe smoked with woody flavor and glazed with a brown sugar/vinegar/mustard finish. Yum!

Put the meatloaves in the smoker for a two to three hours--to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. You don't over smoke them because they are porous, not dense, like a chuck of meat.

Make extra to freeze.

Camp Food

Yes, we are camping again. I thought I'd talk about some of the things we like to eat when we are camping. The criteria is that they must be easy to cook and easy to clean up too.

First, Brad pre-makes a few meals. These can be things like lasagna or enchiladas that can be cooked in the solar oven. He put them in disposable pans, so the mess was all in our home kitchen, where the dishwasher is.

I tend to make the dessert items. This time I baked a batch of homemade oatmeal/raisin cookies. I also pre-made the crumble for the Cherry Crumble recipe and put it in a ziplock bag. I will layer it later and pop it in the solar oven too.

Sometimes we make dishes like a pasta salad or a Mexican corn salad. It's wonderful to just spoon it right out when you want something delicious to eat.

At Trader Joe's I bought a package of sliced salami and cheeses, a little container of marinated mozzarella, and another one with mixed olives. Along with a baguette and some fresh tomatoes, this will make a delicious antipasto for cocktail hour.

Other than that, we BBQ a lot. Eat cereal and fresh fruit for breakfast, sandwiches or quesidillas for lunch. We clear out our frig and bring almost everything with us. No point in having it rot while we're gone.

Bar-B-Qued Pina Colada

Sunset magazine had a recipe for "Pineapple Satays with Coconut Caramel," which is basically sugar, water, and coconut milk brushed on pineapple spears and grilled. When I made it, Brad said, "This is like a pina colada, but it needs rum." So we invented BBQed Pina Coladas. I was lucky to have Ty here to help me get the caramelizing part right.

BBQed Pina Colada

1 cup sugar
water
1 pineapple
3/4 cup coconut milk
lime juice
rum
shredded coconut, toasted

In a small saucepan, warm the coconut milk slightly. Put sugar into a frying pan, heat medium high. This is the critical part: as the sugar browns, start with a small area in the center, stirring it, making the circle bigger and bigger, incorporating more and more of the sugar. You can add a little water if it's too thick. When it's nice and brown and all of the sugar is included, remove from heat and whisk in the coconut milk (it will bubble up). Add the juice of a lime, and rum (you decide the right amount for you). Warm and whisk.

Soak pineapple spears in the liquid in the frying pan. (We left them there while we ate dinner). Remove the spears from the liquid, thread onto shish kebob squewers. Grill 4 to 5 minutes, just to warm through and add nice marks. Serve sprinkled with toasted shredded coconut and leftover sauce.

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We saved the sauce in the frig. You can use the same stuff to do it again! Or you can start experimenting with using on ice cream, or in a milkshake, or fruit smoothie. Or grill some different fruits, peaches, or plums, or figs.

Garlic Parmesan Dipping Oil

As you might have guessed by now, I am a flying~by~the~seat~of~my~pants cook. Exact amounts don't mean much to me. It's more about what flavors blend. So, when we were in Napa last time, I spied these elegant bottles of Roasted Red Pepper Dipping Sauce and Garlic Parmesan Dipping Oil with lovely labels. I thought that they would be fun to make. So I cruised around the internet and assembled various ideas until I came up with this:

Gently simmer about 12-15 whole peeled cloves of garlic in 1 cup of olive oil. Cool.

In a blender, put:
1/4 cup of white balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
1 t. sugar (plus or minus)
fresh oregano (or dried)
hot red pepper flakes or a few drops Tabasco (according to your taste buds)
about 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
salt + pepper

Add the garlic oil with cloves. Blend.
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Now, what to do with such a concoction? Well, here's some ideas that I have come across:

Toss with bread cubes and bake for croûtons
Use on pasta or potatoes
Marinate poultry or fish
Caesar salad dressing
Brush on a pizza before cooking
Drizzle on fresh sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil
Use it to stir fry
Pan roast meats or veggies
Or, dip bread in it

Next, I'm going to try the Roasted Red Pepper Dipping Sauce

Smashed Sandwich

Once in awhile, my family asks me to make a smashed sandwich. Tonight we are going to Lake Tahoe to see Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" and need to take a picnic--it will be the perfect thing.

1 round loaf of bread
Olive oil, lemon juice and various chopped fresh herbs mixed together
thin sliced ham, salami, turkey, and provolone cheese
roasted red peppers
whole basil leaves

Cut the top third off the bread. Gut out the soft white bread, leaving a thin layer and the outer shell (do the top too). Brush the lemon juice, olive oil and herbs all over the inside of the bread and top. Start layering in the meats, cheeses, peppers, basil and anything else you want (onions, olives, pickles, zucchini, whatever). Layer it any way that makes you happy, willy nilly. Make sure to press and tuck into the inside edge as much as possible. Mound it high in the center, so the top will be filled when you put it on. Put it together and wrap tightly in waxed paper or foil. Put into the refrigerator with a cast iron pan on top, fill the pan with heavy objects. Leave for a long time, two hours to overnight. When you cut it into wedges, it will be beautiful!

Road Side Stands

Stopping at a roadside fruit stand for goodies straight off the farm has to be one of the best reasons for traveling. See what is fresh and local in new places. Pick out some of the very freshest fruits and veggies to incorporate into your camping meals on the road.

Drunken Cheesy Bread

This is my kind of food--quick delicious easy fattening comfort food. It’s from Real Simple magazine. 5 ingredients. Takes about 3 minutes to put together. Chances are you have everything close by. You can change and substitute all you want.

Tear half of a baguette in bite size pieces into a buttered pan
Drench the bread in dry white wine
Top with onions and ham
Sprinkle generously with grated guyere cheese

Pop into the campfire or a hot oven for 30 minutes until the cheesy is gooey and bubbling.

Of course, I don’t do onions, so I had to find something else. Decided on artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers. You could use anything really--sun dried tomatoes, herbs, olives, leeks, garlic (fresh or roasted), capers, mushrooms.

Use different leftover meats and a variety of melty cheeses. I’m thinking fontina, gouda, mozzarella, provolone, havarti, asiago….