Cooking aboard or outdoors

Most of the stuff I cook is non-finicky stuff, that would be happy in a medium oven: beans, stews, roasted chickens, etc. To maintain that temperature range using charcoal briquettes, I use this old rule of thumb: whatever the diameter of your dutch oven is in inches, start twice as many briquettes (for my 12" oven, that's 24 briquettes). Then put half of them plus two on top, and the rest underneath. I usually place them in circles top and bottom, and place the two extra top ones in the middle.

If I want more heat (for baking southern-style biscuits, for example), I might add a few more top and bottom. If I'm cooking something that takes much more than an hour, I'll start adding more pre-lit briquettes top and bottom about then.

If I'm cooking on an open wood fire, it's a matter of judgment. Most of the time I rake a smaller bed of coals out of the main fire to set the oven on, then shovel more coals on top.

People who actually know what they're doing with Dutch ovens are artists. For example, my dad once cooked a birthday cake for my mother while we were camped out. He set the oven beside the fire instead of over it, and kept moving it, turning it and tilting it to keep the temperature even. On one of her birthdays more than fifty years later, she still remembered that cake fondly; she said it came out perfect. I had a piece of it, but I was pretty young and don't remember.

 

Don't laugh, I been obsessing about perfecting the dutch oven all weekend. It's only Sunday afternoon here and I have already burned my way through 125kg of briquettes.

I borrowed a laser temperature gauge, and have been repeating dishes until I can get it right twice.

Soups, stews and typically Hungarian cooking is easy. We and the neighbours either side of us have meals for days!

I'm trying to make the perfect cobb of bread and a chocolate cake. Not doing well so far, the cobb could penetrate a tank if used as a projectile and the cake would make a wonderful garden paver.

I might have a liquid lunch and try again. If Floyd can cook pissed, I might as well give it a go, as I can't do an worse.

 

Floyd 'could' cook pissed ,---he died in his restaurant in Thailand.

 

Dan Dan noodles anyone?

The Shanghai Dumpling Palace here in Melbourne was once renowned for two signature dishes. Pork dumplings and Dan Dan noodles.

The eatery has gone to the dogs lately after a change in ownership, with only the ignorant frequenting the place, and usually only the once. A shame really.

I've attempted many times to replicate their amazing Dan Dan noodles, and this is about as close as I can get. Near enough, but not quite the same.

 

Umm no... He died in Dorset, in mid September of 2009 in the home of his then crumpet.

Consistent with his celebrity and true to "hollywood style" he was married four times and had two children. He seemed incapable of maintaing a marriage of greater than three years... And people think fags ruin the institution of marriage!

His only involvement with Thailand was a poorly considered business arrangement with a resort restaurant on Phuket in 2008, after his earlier bankruptcies in England and France. This financial disaster was to be his last and occurred only a year before his death.

God bless him, and I can only wish I have the opportunity to set fire to a hotel while pissed in Hobart, Tasmania, while shooting an episode of a cooking show.

 

I'd like the opportunity of nominating the hotel....

PDW

 

Is that fags as in cigarettes or gender confused waste of space.

 

I feel sorry for old men who have strong prejudices against everything and everyone. Get over it already.

 

So do I.

 

Well since you've most likely sucked on more than one in your life time, lets call you a gender confused waste of space.

And since you're so inclined, let me be the first to don a pink feather boa in support of who you are. Be assured that pink is not my colour, but I support you non-the-less, though I would rather not parade down a main street in my tidy whities, as you might fantasise about doing.

You must understand that some of us "fags" are modest suburban folk, with values and an integrity, not ever understood by those that do not know us. I work hard to look after my husband, as my husband works hard to look after me.

I am me, i have a husband I love, I'm building a boat in my front garden, I want to share this task with my husband, and more importantly, to tell a story. Our story.

Your homo-phomic ******** aside.

 

I always thought the phrase was 'tightie' whities -- as in being seated at the kitchen table cleaning your guns, unshaven and in your wife beater shirt and tightie whities, when your daughter's date comes to pick her up.....

 

Now that is funny and you might well be right!

 

A much simplified buffalo wings with fewer ingredients that is BBQ'd rather than deep fried and more suitable for cooking aboard.

For marinade, combine a little tabasco sauce, cheyenne pepper, garlic, bourbon (go easy), and molasses/golden syrup. Marinade chicken.

For dipping sauce, combine a goodly knob of blue cheese with garlic, lemon juice and sour cream. Chill.

Discard marinade and BBQ wings on a medium heat till golden brown and cooked through.

Serve cooked chicken wings with dipping sauce.

 

Another ridiculously easy dish of porky pot pie.

Just stuff your favourite pork one-pot stew into a ramekin and crown with puff pasty. Don't be too fastidious, call it "rustic".

Shove it in a hooded BBQ set at 200C until browned. Throw a few leaves and some finely sliced apple on the side.

In this case, I combined cubed pork with onion, apple, thyme and cream.

 

Yes. That's all I ever do and have done,at home or aboard.

Probably well known by everyone-an easy dip for veggies,chips (crisps),or whatever is 500 ml of sour cream,and a packet of onion soup mix.
Doesn't seem to work with the low fat sour cream.
Stir it up well-it's almost addictive-and tastes better the next day.

Same thing with roasted red peppers.Buy or make,mix in an amount-I use a hand blender-but don't overdo it with the peppers.Keep adding until it's right.
What is good if you go to a European deli is Ajvar- it's a egg plant/garlic/sweet red pepper sauce. Put a few tablespoons in and you have a dip that is irresistable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajvar