Sharing Our Best Cookbook Update

 

The cookbook I did a last fall is being updated with stories and recipes from the Man Camp Experience.

 

 

 

The cookbook will be listed on Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobel as the second edition with Bonus Material.

 

I'll tell you how we utilized the extra cooked oatmeal to make fabulous breads, including the one pictured below. The guys have fresh homemade bread nearly every supper. The only time they don't is when they are having burritos ---a Mexican supper extravaganza.

 

I'll share how we use the bread heels to make breading. We also make our own tortilla chips from corn tortillas. The leftover chips are combined with toasted bread to make the coating for our pork chops and Parmesan chicken.

After combining the materials, I use a can to crunch them fine. We don't have a food processor on site. I will tell you about some of my favorite tools here that we use to produce our own marinara sauces as well as 'house' dressings.

 

I've made a lot of the desserts from the Sharing Our Best Cookbook. However, I've quadrupled them, then doubled them again, for mass production. The guys get all homemade desserts too, for lunch and supper. We haven't bought any sweets other than ice cream.

I'll tell you how to make cookies into bar recipes.

If you're cooking and doing your own pots and pans, check out my Rice for 50 method.

 

We have to think big now that we're nearly done here. We'll get 10 surprise diners. Check out the Man Wraps and Man Stackers for ways to utilize those last half pounds of sliced meat.

 

This new, second version should be available the end of May. I'll post here.

A Project Completed--The Cookbook and Such

I finally finished the Cook Book I've been working on, a collection of great recipes, tips and family stories. Every night after work, I'd come home, fire up the computer and work for an hour. This ongoing project is the result of a church Cook Book being out of print, yet still in demand. My friends, family and fellow church goers worked hard to compile some of these recipes nearly 15 years ago. Now, you can get them for your Kindle, or Nook reader.

 

 

The Cook Book Project-Sharing Our Best at Amazon.com, for Kindle Readers.


The Cook Book Project-Sharing Our Best at Barnes and Noble, for Nook Readers.

Yeast is a Many Splendored Thing

Yeast can do a lot of good things. When settlers headed west, they left the conveniences behind, but they still brought yeast. How? In the form of sour dough starters. Here is a photo of mine in the mason jar. You take one teaspoon of yeast, one and a half cup of warm water and two cups of four. Mix well, and place in jar. Let set overnight to work, then put it in the frig. When you take some to use for leavening (yeast breads) replace with flour and water. This way you keep the yeast working. You can double this recipe if your family is larger. There's only two here, so this was enough for us.

Its been mighty hot and I wanted pizza. I make my own dough, but didn't want to fire up the oven. Just too much heat. So, taking my dough, I oiled the cast iron skillet, pressed the dough into it, and topped it with the normal stuff.

I like to use spaghetti sauce to speed up the pizza process. Then some chopped green onions, mushrooms, black olives. Put a decent lid on this, and set on a low flame. It takes very little heat to cook this deep dish pizza.

We only ate half because its pretty filling. A side of salad, a cold beer, and you have a good meal.

I love cooking with this cast iron skillet because it is so cost effective, holds the heat well and evenly.

Skills like utilizing yeast are worth learning as a survivalist. If things get bad, we won't have store bought bread, or baking powder. Yeast is something we can keep on hand by utilizing this sourdough starter.

Acorn Burgers-Delicious

After removing the shells and tannins from acorns fantastic things can happen. I am in the process of creating a total learning video for my channel at

http://www.youtube.com/user/brawny03

The project last night involved mincing my sauteed, spiced acorns and combining them with other grains to form patties. The actual recipe is :

1 cup minced spiced acorns

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup self-rising cornmeal

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

Mix all ingredient together to form stiff paste. Allow mixture to rest for half an hour. Then, heat 1/4 cup of canola oil in skillet. I prefer a cast iron pan, myself. Form into 4 patties, and fry until crispy brown on each side. I used a cover for just a few minutes to create enough heat for the centers to fully bake as well.

Serve with catsup, or brown mushroom gravy. We had brown rice and garden salads to complete this healthy meal.

Bon Apetite!

The Second Stove and Perfection

Originally I thought all the holes had to be open to the air. First tests showed it still burned too hot. I slid the top down so that the bottom covered the holes half way. Then, putting the thick batter into a cold pot, with oil both in the batter (1 tablespoon) and oil in the pot, I let it cook for about 6 minutes.

Once again I worked with my slow burner. The second version is more precise, and I was able to adjust the amount of airflow until it made a sputtering sound. This sound told me just enough air was getting to the fuel to allow a slow combustion.

Perfect. I didn't want too much heat, especially for such a thick cake.

The second video is at YouTube also

http://www.youtube.com/user/brawny03

It shows how the pot support, windscreen and buffer pan was utilized to create this perfect cake.

I call it a cake. Really, it is 4 ounces Jiffy cornbread mix, 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1 tablespoon oil, and just enough water to create a thick batter.

Rainmaker pronounced it delicious.

Stay tuned for the Ultralighter's Kitchen: a system of stoves and cookware to create gourmet meals on the trail.