Instant fruioatmeal flambé

We had some packets of instant oatmeal that were getting a little dated, so I decided it would be good to use them up, and replace them in out pantry. But the idea of plain oatmeal wasn't cutting it for me so fresh from the local Hollywood liquor, I thought what could be better on a chilly day than some instant fruioatmeal flambé? 

We had apples from our tree that needed processing, so I ran them through our peeler, corer, slicer and started three apples sautéing in 2 Tbs of butter in a large skillet, while a kettle heated the water for the oatmeal. To the apples, I added a couple Tbs of brown sugar, some cherry flavored craisens, and some walnuts. Our apples don't put off a lot of juice, so when the pan got dry I'd add a couple tablespoons at a time of apple syrup. (Unfiltered apple juice reduced in a large pot for a long time until is thickens). When the apples were just about ready, I put on some orange liqueur and vodka over medium heat and turned the apples up to high heat. Once the liqueur started to bubble and the apples were good and bubbling (without burning!) I added the liqueur to the pan and let it catch flame and cook for a moment. Then stirring the plan and adding a little more apple syrup and turning off the heat, I mixed up the oatmeal and hot water from the kettle. Mixed the two mixes together and placed servings in bowls. I deglazed the apple pan with milk that was poured over the fruiotmeal, and served.

Site assembled brick oven

Wouldn't camping with a thousand of your closest friends be more fun with an on-site assembled oven? Of course it would, as I found out last weekend.

The design is based off directions for a backyard pizza oven found on You Tube, with added angle iron structure for more stability. Wonderboard is placed on saw horses for the base. Then one layer of 12 fire bricks make up the bed of the oven. Then courses of ordinary red clay bricks, not cement brick , are built up with angle irons to hold everything in place.

Courses across the top are supported by angle irons. Extra pieces of wonderboard serve as wind screens, a top, and a door.

Lemon curdled cheese over the fire

Over the Fourth of July weekend, I had two opportunities to make cheese over the fire. In the first attempt I used whole milk (pictured here).

In the second I used half half and half and half whole (or 1/4 cream, 3/4 whole milk). This produced a very creamy cheese. In both cases I used lemon juice to curdle the cheese.

Start with cold milk in a cold pipkin.

Cover and set in the fire pit without too much direct heat. Ease the heat in as the pot becomes warm to the touch. 

Meanwhile set up a colander in a bowl to catch the whey. Have your curdling agent on hand. My favorite is lemon juice. 

Once the milk reaches 190 degrees add enough curdling agent to get a "clean break". Give it a stir. Then pour through a lint free tea towel (what they call "Cheese Cloth" is way to loose a weave).

Twist up the towel or put a weight on it and let the whey continue to drain out for as long as you can stand to wait.

Flavor as desired, perhaps add a pinch of salt and serve. It goes great on salad. Use the whey in baked goods, or I hear you can add a little rose water and it makes a nice beverage. 

Making fresh cheese

After several experiments with making fresh cheese I am hooked.

I like to use the cheese in salads, artichoke dip, anywhere you might use a soft cheese really.

Cooking over the fire

My friend had a second Cooking over the Fire Day at which Shasta and I had a great time. I mostly kept the dogs entertained and roasted a few root veggies in the ashes while others prepared some quite tasty dishes in the pipkins.

Fanning the fire, cooking, fire gazing

A spitted egg

Eulalia! Don't take Ulfred's egg...

Hot and sour soup

Pipkin, spitted egg, meat, soup, roasting veggies

Happy, tired dogs

Pipkin Cooking over the fire

I had a lot of fun at a cooking-over-the-fire day at a friends place. Should have taken more pix, but was too busy playing with dogs, fire, and food.

Anyway, there is a full report at her blog:
http://briwaf.blogspot.com/2013/01/fire-cooking-day-report.html

Cooking veggies in the fireplace

Had a fire in the fireplace and decided to experiment with roasting some veggies in the coals.

Scrubbed two potatoes, an apple, and a carrot and rubbed them with some bacon drippings.

Placed them on a sheet of aluminum foil with a couple sprigs of rosemary.

I tried setting the potato in front of the fire, but it didn't really get hot enough.

So as the fire was dying down to coals, I just set the thing in against the inside wall and piled a bunch of hot coals on top.

I should have waited until it reached 210 degrees, but the coals seemed to be cooling off, and I was ready to eat at 204. This left the potatoes a little crunchy, but still cooked. The carrots were ok. But the Apple was amazing with a noticeable hint of rosemary.