Blueberry Vodka

Blueberry vodka

Put 2 cups of blueberries in a large mason jar with a fifth of vodka. I poked each one with a knife. Because I had them, half of the berries were frozen, which explains why the vodka is turning a vibrant shade of purple. Let sit for two weeks. Drain through sieve or china cap, press lightly.

I have also done this with a fifth of vodka and a couple of inches of fresh ginger, peeled with a spoon and coarsely chopped. It was unbelievably good, especially since the vodka was really bad before.

Salad of the Wife of Kit Carson

Salad of the Wife of Kit Carson

 

Where did I get this one? I’m thinking it was in a food magazine in the ‘90s. It’s a gorgeous salad that eats like an entrée.

 

Marinade:

(puree all ingredients)

¾ c pineapple juice

3 T honey

2 T sesame oil

2 T sugar

4 cloves garlic

1 chipotle pepper or equivalent chipotle sauce

½ t ground coriander

½ t cumin

Marinade 4 chicken breasts overnight.

Dressing:

(blend and let stand overnight)

2 cloves garlic

2 shallots

1 whole chipotle pepper

Zest and juice of 2 limes

1 T Dijon mustard

½ c olive oil

½ c peanut oil

Stir in a handful of chopped cilantro, salt, pepper

Grill or broil chicken breasts while brusing with the marinade, then cut diagonally into thin slices. Chop mixed greens, julienne Monterey Jack cheese. Add in some diced tomato, garbanzo beans, 4 roasted and diced green chiles, toss with dressing. Top with chicken and some fresh salsa. Serve on warm tortillas.

Pat Moylan’s Chile Pozole Caldo Verde

Pat Moylan’s Chile Pozole Caldo Verde

 This is Pat’s recipe with a few of my modifications. If you prefer cooking this more from scratch, use 1/3 cup each of dried black and pinto beans, soaked overnight and cooked until tender, 2 ears of corn, and three tomatoes, peeled, de-seeded, roughly chopped.

1 bunch kale

 1 large onion

 1 medium bulb garlic

 2 jalepeno peppers

 2 fresh poblano peppers

 ¾ # lean ground beef

 2 sausages, chicken or pork

 1 can black beans

 1 can pinto beans

 1 can corn

 1 can tomatoes

 1 can (or homemade) good chicken stock

 1 small can of salsa or pretty much any old Mexican sauce you have, 7 oz.

 2 dried chili peppers (either guajilla or pasilla), or 3T good quality chile powder. I prefer Chimayo.

 3T cumin

 Salt/pepper

 Cut off the tops of the 2 dried chili peppers and dump out the seeds. Crumble the chili peppers in a bowl, and  chicken stock. Nuke in the microwave for 2 minutes. Set this cup aside for later. If using dried chili powder, stick it in the chicken stock, heat up, and let sit.

 Chop/deseed the onion, garlic, peppers. Saute in a saucepan with some oil 10 mins.

 Puree half of the cooked vegetables, along with the chili/stock, and can of salsa or tomato sauce.

Saute the ground beef and sausage, drain.

 Slice/chop kale finely. Add with all other ingredients to large pot (this recipe makes 5 quarts) Add cumin, adjust seasonings as needed. Cook until kale is cooked, 20 minutes.

Fallen Chocolate Souffle Tart

Fallen Chocolate Souffle Tart

This is one I’ve been asked for many times.

Easier than it sounds. Just follow the directions. Good with sweetened whipped cream on top, with a dash of liqueur mixed in.
Vegetable oil
1/4 c (1 oz.) blanched almonds
3T all-purpose flour
3 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped fine or grated
½ c unsweetened Dutch Process cocoa powder
1 c sugar
½ c boiling H20
2 egg yolks
1T brandy
4 egg whites @ room temperature
Scant ¼ t cream of tartar
Powdered sugar

Position oven rack in lower 1/3 of oven, preheat to 375F. Place round of parchment paper in springform pan, spray with vegetable oil. In food processor, grind almonds with flour until very fine. Set aside. Combine chocolate, cocoa, ¾ sugar in large bowl. Pour in 1/2 c h2o, whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in egg yolks, brandy, set aside. Combine egg whites, cream of tartar, beat until stiff peaks form. Sprinkle in ¼ c sugar and beat on high speed until stiff but not dry. Whisk flour mixture into chocolate mixture. GentLY fold in remaining egg whites. Scrape batter into pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out w/moist crumbs. Cool in pan w/wire rack. Sieve powdered sugar over top.

Why do canisters attached to canister stoves freeze?

I asked for some expert advice on this question, and here’s the answer:

What is in the canister is a liquid under pressure – easy to feel when shaking. When a stove like an MSR Pocket Rocket burns, the liquid inside vaporized, which causes a loss of energy and cooling. The same as when liquid alcohol evaporates off your skin and feels cold. The butane continues to cool down and even evaporates below freezing temperature. When that happens the moisture in the air condenses on the cold canister surface as little droplets. If it gets even colder those droplets freeze into ice.

It is most likely to occur when the outside temp is already cold and the fuel has sat out all night and is cold. Also running the stove full bore evaporates more fuel ,causing it to chill faster. You will also notice thatonce you get ice on the canister, the performance is poor.

The solution is to find stoves that run the canister upside down. These draw out liquid fuel rather that vapor, and thus the canister does not get cold and therefore the stove performance remains great right until the last drop.

“Those” Noodles

Someone (who?) brought this to a potluck I recently attended. It’s a pretty unassuming dish, but it’s packed with flavor. Enhance its visual appeal by adding chopped red bell pepper.

“Those” noodles
1# angel hair pasta
1/3 c peanut butter
1/3 c soy sauce
2T sesame oil
3T sugar
3T olive oil
optional add-1 T sesame seeds, toasted or not
Red pepper flakes & garlic to taste
Cook pasta, toss with sauce. This could easily be converted to a delicious backcountry recipe.

Posole

In honor of the Cinco, today I am sharing my posole recipe with you. I got it a million years ago from my old friend Carolyn McLean. This is *really* tasty.
Pozole
1. Overnight: soak 2/3 cup (12 oz.) hominy overnight. If using canned, skip to step 3.
2. Rinse posole and simmer 1.5 hours. Remove dark nubs if time permits.
3. Simmer posole in 3 qts chicken broth for 1.5 hours until kernels are tender and splayed open.
4. Saute, then add, 1 small onion, chopped, 1 serrano chili, 1 lb. cubed pork, and 1# tomatillos (roast them if they are fresh for more depth, or boiled 10 mins in salted water). Canned ones=just toss in. If you can’t find canned or fresh, you can substitute equal amount of green salsa.
5. Optional adds: pepitas, fennel tops, oregano, pepper, I small can green salsa
6. Simmer 1 hour
7. Condiments: tortillas, salsa, guacamole, lime, cilantro. Guacamole is extra yummy mixed in.

Red Salad Dressing

This is an old one of my mom’s.

Red Salad Dressing

¾ c olive oil

¼ c vinegar (cider is good)

¼ c ketchup

½ t paprika

¼ t ground black pepper

2 T honey

1 t salt

1 clove garlic, halved

Put oil and garlic in small saucepan, heat to extract garlicky goodness from garlic. Discard garlic, cool oil. Blend all ingredients.

Taco Chop Salad

Taco Chop Salad

Does this one need to be written down? Probably not, but it sure tastes good. Mucho kid-friendly too.

Toss any or all of the above into a wooden salad bowl:
Leftover taco meat of any kind
Lettuce, chopped
Green or white onion, chopped
Black olives, chopped
Pickled jalapenos, chopped
Cheese, grated coarsely
tomatoes, chopped
chunks o’ avocado
frozen corn
tortilla chips, broken up

Heat leftover taco meat and corn, add to bowl. Drizzle with fresh lime juice and salt, toss, serve.

Preserved Lemons

Preserved Lemons

This was in Gourmet a few years ago. You’ll never run out of fun things to do with these taste-filled citrus bombs. To prepare for eating/using in dishes, remove the inside part of the lemon (the part you’d normally eat) and throw away. You use the peel from this. I usually use organic lemons with that in mind.
6 lemons
2/3 cup kosher salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice (from 5 to 6 additional lemons)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Blanch lemons in boiling water 5 minutes, then drain. When cool enough to handle, cut each lemon into 8 wedges, discarding seeds. Toss lemons with kosher salt in a bowl, then pack lemons, along with their salt, tightly into glass jar with tight lid.
Add enough lemon juice to cover lemons. Seal jar and let lemons stand at room temperature, shaking gently once a day, for 5 days.
Add oil to jar and refrigerate. Preserved lemons can be chilled, covered in their juices, up to 1 year.