Saturday, November 10, 2012

Camping ideas that are not recipes

  1. Rice-a-roni and broccoli
  2. Over a fire pork tenderloin- get marinated or unmarinated pork tenderloin - if unmarinated generously salt and pepper- spray a sheet of aluminum foil with pam, wrap pork, and place over fire. Use a meat thermometer (remember to add to the camping kitchen) to check for doneness. Serve with warmed homemade apricot rosemary jam.

Clafoutis

We made plum clafoutis from this recipe. It puffs up like the beginnings of Yorkshire pudding, but the thick egg mixture forms a custard, with the add-ins baked in. We used plums we had gotten at the farmer's market 3 weeks before, in desperate need of being eaten (wrinkly but otherwise good), for this one.

Plums
3 T fruit liqueur- we used pomegranate schnapps - the recipe calls for Vieille Prune de Perigord
6 eggs
1 t salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour

Preheat the oven to 375. Quarter the plums, and soak in the liqueur. While they are soaking, blend the eggs to frothy, add the cream, salt, sugar, and then sift the flour in. Use an immersion blender or electric mixer on high to blend.

Butter and flour the pan (select a pan size which will allow you to spread your plums in a single layer on the bottom). I will admit that the Pam flour product works really well for this. I swear they sweeten it, and it gives a nice crisp underside rather than a floury one. Place the plums in the pan carefully so as not to disturb the butter and flour and pour the liqueur over them. Pour the batter over the top. Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown and the custard has set.

Serve with powdered sugar sifted on top if desired.

I've seen a lot of recipes use milk rather than cream, making a thinner custard. The recipe linked above has a lot of ideas for variations on this- different fruits, liqueurs, custard versus cake, etc.

Update: we've made this with apple, and it was good, but not as good. I tried a sweet dessert wine in one. The overripe plums gave an amazing flavor to the 1st round. I would think that ripe or overripe stone fruits of any sort or berries would be amazing.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Potato Leek Soup

3 cups potatoes
3 cups leeks
6 cups water
1 1/2 t salt
1 cup milk-based product: sour cream, whipping cream, creme fraiche, milk, or a combo of what's in the fridge
chive garnish

Dice potatoes, and thinly slice leeks (white and light green parts only). Put in a pot with the water and salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 30-40 minutes. Blend with immersion blender, check seasoning. Mix in cream (if the cream is thick, mix some soup with it first before adding). Serve. 6 servings.

Chicken Piccata

4 chicken breasts
1/4 cup flour
salt
pepper
paprika
garlic powder

chicken broth
white wine
2 T oil
lemons
capers
artichoke hearts (marinated or unmarinated)

angel hair pasta
Parmesan cheese to garnish

The chicken breasts should be thin, which can be achieved by either tenderizing them with a meat hammer, or butterflying them. Mix the flour and spices in a bowl.

Heat water for pasta.

Heat about an inch of chicken broth in a Dutch oven, large saute pan, or nonstick pot on medium- medium high heat. Thinly slice and seed the lemons. Set a few lemon slices aside for the garnish. Add some generous splashes of white wine. Add the lemons to the chicken broth and cook to soften. Add the oil, capers, and artichoke hearts. Add more chicken broth and wine if the liquid level is getting below an inch. Dip the chicken breasts into the flour mixture, and lay in the pan such that they are in contact with the pan and mostly covered by the sauce. Add angel hair pasta to pasta water (it only takes 3 minutes to cook- plan the timing carefully- if you want to have the pasta ready before putting the chicken in, add oil or butter. Angel hair is the worst sticky.) Flip the chicken when golden brown. Cook until lightly browned on both sides.

Make a bed of pasta, and put the chicken with generous spoonings of sauce on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and put a lemon on top. Enjoy!

Savory Leek Bread Pudding

Smitten Kitchen's recipe