Tales from the Wandering Cook

[echoes]

So much has been going on, there has been cooking but there has also been 2 new bebe powners in the last 10 days. first, the cuteness tax. let's see if I can get this right:



So, this is Beau, he is a boy and he was born last Friday at 3ish am? lets just say that last weekend is a blur because Beau pooped out Friday morning, I went to work Saturday and was mostly useless and sleep deprived. Worked Sunday and that is when Toffee was born.



Now, Beau and his mama are Gypsy Vanter ponies. Mama is full grown and her name is Rain. So, you guessed it, we have Rain + Beau. Adorkable no?




Next we have Savannah and Toffee and they are Welsh Cob Ponies. Now, Savannah is full sized, she is just what is called a Section A Pony which means she doesn't get any taller than what she is in the picture. She is about 10 "Hands" tall and, with a hand being 4 inches, than means 40 inches (just over 1 meter) at the shoulder. Toffe came out around 5 hands, 20 inches at the shoulder so she is smol. Last time savannah had a bebe i named it nugget to annoy the fiance. Turns out it was the perfect name.


I  don't know how tall rain is, as she is not our pony. We foaled her for a friend of my fienace because said friend was pregnant and was about to have her own baby (Which she did two weeks prior and baby is fine.) Also, we have better facilities for foaling so we were on bebe watch.


In comparison, the horse I used to ride was 15.3 hands at the shoulder which is just over 5 feet or almost 2 meters.

So, food really quick and then we will be on our way. I made Latkes not to long ago and I blame, Beat Bobby Flay," for the desire to cook these little potato  fritter pancakes. For some reason bobby Flay looses more times than he wins when Latkes are involved (Unless it is his sous chef cooking the latke and then he might win.) In theory these are really simple to make andin practice they are a bit more difficult to prepare. First these are usually made with potatoes, onions and then a binder combination of eggs and either flour, potato starch or corn starch. Other than these foundaation ingredients you add spices in the form of salt and pepper.

The difficulty in preparing the food is getting all of the moisture out of the potato. Normally, when you mash or bake a potato you don't think of how much moisture makes up this vegetable. But when you shred the potato, which you do for making latkes, you find out how wet it actually is. ( that sounds vulgar. I digress.) Anywhy, you shred the potato ( and i used a cheese grater to do this) and then you have to get as much water out as possible. I wrapped the shredded potato in cheese cloth and squeezed out as much as I could before I set the shreds on a paper towel and pressed some more using two single serving sheet trays.

While this dries you shred an onion, scramble an egg or two and then get ready to add everything together. Potato and onion get mixed and then add flour or startch and spices. Finally add an egg and you will have a somewhat damp "meal" that you form into little flattened cakes. I have learned that you keep the cakes as thin as possible for quick and even cooking when they go into oil. You then pan fry the potato cake until golden brown.

I made these with a sour cream smear and a Keilbasa and Shallot hash. We recently got quail egg at work and I wanted to buy them to do a soft fried egg atop the latke but I resisted.

Anyway. I am off for now, I have to try and upload pics from my phone so, if you ead this and there are no pictures come back in a bit and look for the cute tax.

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

Also did a beer battered Chicken strip this week that was spot on and I will be sharing that here soon. I owed a post on latkes for a while so I got that up. Its been a busy minute here and we have torntial rain every ouple of days so there is, as you have heard before, a lot of mud involved. Also dealing with my  fiane's grandfather wanting us to renovate our house so he can comeback and live full time with us. That story is a made for netflix docu-series that has more twists than a pipe cleaner. Newest development is that he might be buying a piece of property close to where we live.

Well, oil change is about done so I am off for now.

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

Oh, and if you have questions or comments regarding the bebes feel free to post them to this thread.

More later,

E.

[echoes]

Going to take a minute and talk about one of the esoteric? sides of cooking and that is : timing. There was a recent holiday and so there was a family gathering at my arents house which included my sister and her family and myself with my family. So sis lives in the same town a mom and dad and is all of 5 minutes away by car in pure suburbs.If this were a major city in North America,or any major city inn the world really, I would technically be in the same city as them because I live 25 minutes up the interstate in another town. This is relevant because I did all the proteins for the meal. I did three different meats and then had to get them to my parents before they got cold. I also did mac n cheese, exciting i know, and deviled eggs ( more about the deviled eggs at the end.)

Timing comes into play whether you are cooking at home or in a kitchen as part of a job. Chef's and cooks develop the ablity to pace their cooking through expeience, trail and error, and more than one mistake. I started one meat 3 hours before we left to go to my parents, the next at 1 hour and 15 minutes before leaving and the last roughy 45 minutes before we left. All in the same over, all with the same heat despite two of the meats normally being cooked at higher temmperatures. Not ony did all the meats come out on time but they did not overcook during the 45 minutes it took for me to get to the parents house. Perfect temps and textures; I was pretty proud of myself because even with experience, it is so easy to fuck this up.

Even when not travelling, getting all the parts of meal to come up at the same time so that you can plate at home and keep everything hot, or cold if needed, is something that is part art, part prayer and a semi illicit blend of luck and skill. The smaller the cooking space and the more this becomes a performance and a display of grace under pressure. 

This all said, plan your meals, and test yourself, see how you do and how you feel when everything comes together at the end and you deliver. Its a good feeling.

More later, Back to work.

Cheers

E. 

[echoes]

So, I am not sure about everyone reading this, and I imagine some of you all are waaaaay more healthy than I am, but I don't know many people who don't like fried food. I mean, I know it is a  cliche that people in the "South" of the U.S. have yet to find a food they can't fry but I bet every culture around the world has at least one dish that ends up in a batter being dipped into hot oil. Recently I felt the need to deep fry something and I felt that homemade beer battered chicken tender was the way to go. Come on, beer and fried food is like a staple for most people in their early 20's and in their College/Uni years. The British have an entire pillar of their dietary pyramid dedicated to fish n chips and I can tell you, from personal experience, nothing soaks up a long night of drinking like something fried golden brown.

A long time ago, in another life, I worked in the food service industry and during my time in Cincinnati, Ohio I worked in a bar called McCleavy's up in Montgomery. Montgomery is a township to the Northeast of Cinci and is totally unrecognizable to me given the urban sprawl that has taken over metro Cincinnati. Anyway, back in the day this bar had something like 15 beers on tap, which made for a cramped as all hell keg cooler, but an amazing opportunity to make made to order beer battered shrimp. The shrimp basket was a crowd favorite and it could be made in minutes from any of the beers on tap. Here are some facts about making said beer battered shrimp:

Bass Ale, and to a lesser extent Killian's red, made for this amazing reddish copper coloured beer batter that also had a hearty taste.
Guinness made the batter almost black.
The most popular was Rolling rock for the beer batter and we used it as the default.

So, how easy is it to do beer battered chicken tender:

Ingredients:
1- 2 lbs of chicken breasts or precut chicken tenderloins
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder to the taste you want (start with 1/2 teaspoon each and work up from there.)
1 Cup of beer
1 cup of corn starch.

Oil at least 1 inch deep in a deep walled frying pan and brought to 350 degrees or a deep fryer set to 350.

If using chicken breasts cut into strips around a 1/2 inch ( 10 or so mm) thick
dredge chicken in the corn starch and get an even layer, remove clumps.
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl ( flour, seasoning and baking soda) before slowly adding beer. You want a smooth batter that is not to thick so if you need to add more beer to get the consistency you want do so. Drink any remaining beer so as not to waste beer.

Once oil gets to 250 dip corn starch coated chicken in to the batter and slowly drop in pan. You made need to use a spatula to keep the chicken from sticking to the pan. Cook for 4-6 minutes, or until evenly golden brown in colour.  Pull from oil and set o  a plate that has a paper towel on it to catch excess grease. I would break one chicken tender open to make sure it is cooked evenly but I have found the sweep spot usually is 5 minutes for not frozen chicken in my fryer. Your mileage may vary so make sure you cook the chicken until it is cooked all the way through

Serve with honey mustard, ketchup or American Sauce ( ranch)

Ok, Time for me to get to work, I got in early and am getting this done just under the wire. I will be back to edit it this because I am sure there are typos.

Cheers,

E.

(there were lots of typos, and maybe more I missed.)

[echoes]

Well fuck me I was typing and didn't save what I was typing and now I have to start again. I am, what I call on my farm, a dumb powner.

Hi everyone, hope you are well and I am trying to be better about posting stuff. For those of you who are approved here I have been post bombing a music thread I have here and I am also trying to be better about posting here.

So back on post 118 of this thread I talked about glamping with my partner at an event called the  "Wild Dog" horse ride last year. What this event consists of is a lot of people showing up and riding horses on trails and they grind the miles. They ride hard and then drink harder. ( I counted 18 empty mason jars that had been filled with moonshine the night before on Thursday morning.) I swear, horse people are like alcoholics with a horse hobby. Now, for those who know a little about me, well, let me bring the rest of you into a secret. You may be thinking, "Horses, a farm ... country redneck." I would not spite you all that, especially those who are not in the states and may automatically assume I fly a confederate flag and listen to country music. So let's unfuck that perception. I am currently typing this wearing a Sister's of Mercy t-shirt that is older than some of the people on this site and just finished listening to Pusicfer and I am now listening to 21 pilots. That said, these are not me "people" but I had a blast last year and we are going again two weeks from now.

While my fiance goes out and rides I will be typing and writing stories when I am not mucking pens and making sure our site is tidy. I'm domestic as all fuck and I like things to be in order. I joke that I don't have OCD, I have CDO...It's like OCD but it is in order... AS IT SHOULD BE!.

Anyways. other than bringing an inflatable pool for my partner's Feral Girl Clan ( that's what I call all her friends because they are all women and they are feral as fuck when they go out) I will be there personal bartender and breakfast maker. The even brings a food truck/crew to do the evening meal and lunches are usually whatever is at hand when they are on the trails. I am going to share my plans for the drink menu and then some things I am working on to do in the morning.

Drink menu:

( I get down there Tuesday late after work, she will be down there Sunday)

Wednesday - Swirl margaritas that are homemade margs of my own recipe with premade Sangria that I am getting from Costco. This a drink that was super popular at a bygone Mexican restaurant that I used to manage called, Don Pablos.
Thursday - Bourbon Slush - a family recipe that I might share later. this shit is great
Friday - Pain Killers
Saturday - Cosmo slushes

Breakfasts will include a Croissant Bread French toast ( this may be a product review because this bread is a legit. Lots of eggs and bacon on different days. Biscuits and gravy with sausage links. Juevos Rancheros and skillet potatoes and then, maybe, if I am feeling froggy I will hop and make Beignets on Saturday. Saturday night is a potluck and I am debating bougie to fuck with everyone and make my deep fried risotto that I have talked about before just to flex a little. Some gourmet shit to sit with pulled pork and comfort food. May also do pan fried veggies and another side, or my deviled eggs with candied bacon. We will see. I haven't decided. Will keep you all in the loop if you want. I will also try to share some photos of the place because, well, its a trip for me.

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

I'm on holiday and did get some pictures of a simple breakfast this morning. Nothing has gone to plan in a totally positive way today so i did not get to write anything at all today. Instead I hung out at the Feral Girl Clan oasis and got sunburnt arms for all my troubles. I will post some tomorrow when my fiance goes out riding.

On another note, I'm going to be on a stage tonight for the first time in 30 years. Backstory: Every night there is live music, a dinner and then everyone gathers around and jams until the moonshine runs out. I don't play guitar but i brought a Cojon hand drum down this time and sat in for a couple hours keeping time.

Well, i made it up to the barn to try and write when the two guys who are playing tonight walked up and said, "hey, we were just asking about you." Turns out they were looking for me and asked me to join them on stage tonight to keep time for them. So, yeah, that's cool.

Tonight is going to be a night of: music, food, tequila and cigars. Will report in the morning.

Cbeers,
E.

[echoes]

I survived.

So, played music with other people, like on stage and not in a giant jam session, last night for the first time in forever. Had a blast and, you all might laugh at this and this is not an exaggeration, I think I only knew two songs that we played. I knew the Johnny cash song, and I was familiar with a country song about she's acting single and I'm drinking doubles. I do not know modern country music outside of maybe 4 songs and I'm familiar with maybe a few others. I know older country due to the parents so this is not in my musical wheelhouse at all. Luckily, being a drummer, all I need to do is keep time and stay in my lane. I did well enough and didn't make many mistakes. After that it was: tequila, cigars, beer and a small jam session to end the night.

I'm currently listening to Deftones ( "Tempest" if you wanted to know) to cleanse the audio palate.

Speaking of palate, did breakfast again and it was sausage links, fried eggs, scrambled eggs and pastries. One of the feral girls is a phenom with sourdough and brought a fresh loaf which was the perfect vehicle for the fried eggs. My entire plan for the menu this week has gone absolutely sideways and that is fine. I guess this is just another reason why I say that food is art. Baking is science, everything has it's place and you follow tried and true recipes to get the end result. Cooking is art, its creation or as I one time read, "No Rules, to recipes, no gods just cook."

Tonight I am going to make a bourbon slush and, if it goes over well I will share it tomorrow. The girls are out on a 12-15 mile ride today so I have time to type a bit. I've already cleaned up breakfast and mucked three pens so I am on free time until I go back to camp to set up a canopy and do some veggie prep for breakfast tomorrow.

Now to get on topic. This is going to be a product review today as I have not done anything crazy cooking-wise just yet.

Blackstone Grills

Blackstone and Trager are the big names in outdoor cooking now. I hate to say I jumped on the bandwagon but 2 Christmases ago I got a 24 inch tabletop grill that I finally got to get out, season and I'm using it this week. Last fall I used an electric griddle and I could have brought it again but I didn't do any grilling last year so I broke this out of the garage and finally got to use it. In the past I have always had traditional grills, whether charcoal or gas, that relied on grill grates and direct heat. When my last grill died I went without, mostly due to time, and never got off my ass to get back into outdoor cooking. Well, I can say I am very happy with this grill and will tell you a little about it if you are ever considering a new grill.

First:

Assembly was really easy. Screw on the handle to the cover, screw on four legs and remove all paper and plastic used to package the grill. Done. The gas connection is off the front right side and it comes with two connecter hoses. One can be used to hook up to a standard 20lb propane tank and the other hose can hook up to smaller lp tanks. I like that versatility and I have been using the 20lb hose for this trip.

It also comes with one scraper and 2 cleaning brushes.

Second:

Seasoning the grill, any grill, is super important so do not skip this step. Seasoning develops a nonstick patina on the cooking surface and is done to making cooking easier and consistent while also making it easier to clean the grill top later. I used a Blackstone product to season this grill but you can do it with any highpoint oil. The process is straight forward so do not be afraid of this step. Honestly everything is on Youtube now but here is the short version of what I did. I cleaned the grille with soap and water and then turned it on high. I added about 2 Tablespoons of the seasoning agent and used the scraper to evenly coat the entire surface of the grill. Then you wait for agent of choice to start to smoke and cook off. I lightly ran a towel over the surface and then repeated the process 2 more times. When I get home from this trip I will repeat the process one more time and will do the same every so often in the future.

Third:

Learn your hotspots. My grill has two separate burners one each on the right and left side. You will see in the pictures I will try to post where the patina is darker than other parts of the grill. You will learn where foods cook faster and then can utilize this knowledge when grilling in the future.

Fourth:
Clean up is really easy and I have yet to have to use anything more than soap and water to clean the grill. The seasoning is what makes this so easy so I cannot stress how important that step is. I didn't mention this in the set up portion but there is an aperture at the back of the grill, a rectangle in the back wall, and there is a drip cup that is removable that sits right under this opening. Scrape heavy debris towards the back and then clean the grill as needed. 

Last:
The grill comes with a "cover" hat is actually a fulling encompassing bag that will hold the grill handle, legs and all. I am going to place a 1/4" inch piece of wood in as a floor because I already know those legs will eventually try and bust through the bag. 

Here is a picture of yesterday's breakfast:



And another one here:



I am really satisfied with this grill. It is "portable" but it is on the hefty side. I have not weighed in but I can carry it easily in the bag due to two reinforced handles on the bag. This would be a great addition to a small deck or patio and, unlike standard grill grates, it doesn't produce a lot of excess smoke.

Lastly, here is a picture of the Feral Girl Clan Oasis:




More later,

Cheers.

E.

P.S>: My upper arms are totally sunburnt. Thought you should know.

[echoes]

Last day on holiday, tomorrow it is back to the really real world and I will be working at the job starting around noon. This means we are going to be up around 8 am tomorrow and hopefully on the road by 9. Not a bad trip overall and it was fun to get away for a bit. I got to drum, I got to make drinks and I cooked a lot of food. Here are some pictures of Huevos Rancheros:



My version of Huevos Rancheros is as follows:

Diced Green Bell Pepper
Diced Red Bell Pepper
Diced Yellow Onion
Eggs
Cheddar Cheese
Chili powder
Salt
Garlic
Pepper
Cholula sauce
Flour Tortillas

Sauté the peppers and onions until the peppers are tender and onions are just under caramelizing. Add in eggs and scramble. You can pre-scramble the eggs in a bowl or you can do it once you add it to the pepper mixture. Cook the eggs until they are to the texture you want and then add shredded cheddar cheese. Season to taste. Plate or throw on top of a flour tortilla and go to town

I must have had a theme yesterday because later that night I made Elote. This version of Mexican street corn on the cob was done as follows:

Precut 3 inch corn on the con
Mayonaise
Lime Juice
Chili Powder
Cilantro
Cotija Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Cholula sauce
Spices

Boil the cobs for 10-15 minutes and then place on the grill. Get a light char and slowly rotate to evenly char the cob. While doing that mix all the other ingredients and ad: Cholula, salt, garlic, cilantro and pepper to taste. Once a full rotation is done you start to brush the spread atop the corn and coat while doing a second rotation. Pull off the grill before it blackens and jab a skewer on as a handle.

Here is a picture of the corn with giant fuck off pieces of meat from last night.



Also, for those of you outside of the states, you may have heard of the term swimming hole and wondered, "Do people really swim in holes?" I am sure that the concept of the swimming hole may be international, but if not, this is a swimming hole:



Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

Hey all,

So, a lot of people have been reading this, which is something I honestly didn't expect. I'm trying to be a boring person as I get older. I've done things, here and there, and I have a lot past lives that were full of excitement. I want to take a minute and say thank you, for anyone who has stopped here and read some of my stuff. I hope that some the ideas, and food, that I have thrown out have motivated at least one person to try cooking something new. I am not a content creator, I don't polish my post and make them squeaky clean as anyone who has read my posts can attest to. So, thank you all for being patient, for being forgiving.  I am sure that there is at least one person who thinks that I am totally full of shit, and you my friend, are welcome to your opinion and I hope that in the future I change you mind. If I can't, well, Xin Loi. ( Don't ask how I know that phrase.)

Anyway, I have not been cooking a lot of crazy stuff. I have this weird ability to eat the same thing over and over and I have been grinding the same lunch at work for about 3 months. I will be going back to wild dog in June and I am going to be the camp cook once again. already planning a menu. The feral girl clan has announced their appreciation for my cooking and were excited to see I was going to make the event, something I had not originally planned to do. This is not so much wild dog as crazy dog because usually it is only 21 and older but for this weekend under 21 is allowed. 

(I never knew how many horse people were ... not so much kinky as very libidinous. Long story for another thread. anywho.) My fiance is bringing her youngest and his Gf and there will be other, "kids." 

So food wise, I am planning a "taco bar" with carne asada, ground beef and chipolte chicken for one night. breakfast will be similar to what I posted last time. I am also planning to do my pineapple rum and molasses chicken one night. Imma teach the feral girl clan I can make the eats.

I am also going to be the bartender because I make mean drinks. That doesn't mean they are good, they just hate you and will punish you for drink them. (they are actually good but that is just a paraphrase from a comment I cannot post here ... short story, funny but not relevant.) I'm thinking another round of frozen pain killers, marg swirls and maybe something new. It's june, it will be hot, so there will be cold drinks. 

I'm bringing the pool again, the oasis will be built and I'm bringing my cojon hand drum because there will be jam circles.

Anyway, while this is sort of a filler post is, more importantly, my chance to say thank you. Again, for those of you who stop here, I really appreciate that. Come to the companion thread and chat with me there. Oniya does, and I appreciate every time they post there. Join in, let's chat if you want. Until then...

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

Hey everyone,

With prices going up on damn near everything across the board I am going to throw out a quick, easy and cheap way to feed a few people when you are on a budget. The basics are actually going to be great when you need something for a party and you don't have a lot of time but they can be dressed up and it will look bougie on a budget.

Now, cooking from scratch is always cheaper than buying premade but there is a trade off in all things; think of this as food economics. I say this because, in this sense, you are applying the concept of : what are you will to offer in trade for a good or product. That the basis of economics and it can really be applied to damn near anything. Add this to the second concept : You can get something in: a) good quality, b) in a timely manner and c) at a good cost; now, you only get to pick 2.

How does this apply to food? Well every major warehouse chain and many groceries have a "deli" or hot food section and most sell rotisserie chickens. I am biased, I think Costco is damn near always the best bang for the buck at a flat $4.99 that has not gone up with inflation. A secret here if we have any Costco shoppers: don't worry how long the bird has been up there, pick up the bags and feel the weight. Anything over the minimum weight for sale does not get charged more so find the heaviest bird and you are still paying $4.99. If you get an underweight bird then there should be a tag on it for a lower price.

Anywho.

Get a rotisserie chicken, and if you want to you can do that entire Hound speech about needing to eat every chicken right before him and murderbebe (arya) kill everyone in the inn while you pick your chicken. So right there is five bucks.

get a sleeve of King's Hawaiian rolls which will run you are $5.00 bucks as well.

Pre-cut cheese at most deli's will be about a half pound, and guess what, will run about $5.00 for their version of name brand.

Get a box of mac and cheese $2.00

And either buy potatoes to make mashed spuds or you can get pre-made. Costco, again, has a two pack of Main Street mashed spuds of $8.00. you only need one, so call it $4.00


So, for $14.00 you can make 12 sammiches with mac and cheese and with mashed spuds. 

When you get the chicken home, and while it is still hot, you pull all the meat off the bird that you can. I separate white and dark meat because some people don't like one or the other. Some say the white is dry and the dark is "slimy" but if you don't care mix it all together. Then, using two forks, shred the chicken. Since it is still hot it ought to shred pretty quickly. You can do pulled chicken and cheese sliders, or you can buy sauces and make a slider bar.  Balsamic glaze will up the bougie factor whereas BBQ is comfort food. But us essentially have 12 sammies for under $20 American and you can feed 4 people and be full when you are done for less that $2.00 a sammy.

It also takes about 20 minutes from start to finish if you are using pre-made spuds.

Here is where you can also be creative because what I just described was a carb-coma waiting to happen. It's pure comfort and not really super healthy. Drop the mac and cheese and add veggies ( raw or cooked) if that suits you a bit better. Leave out the Spuds and pick something else that is healthy, but you can keep it under $20 and right now, that is always a good thing.

If you have a bigger event you double the purchase and you look like you have to prep and work at it without telling anyone how easy this.

I know this was not an exciting post but I did this earlier in the week and went over great. Sometimes its all about keeping it easy, and cheap.

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

It's five in the morning. I stopped drinking around 12. Am i doing something cool like posting about food? Am i sleeping? Obviiously not. Right now i am glorified towel boy and midwife. Meet "ant."

mom is named buggs so i am calling the bebe ant. Which means my fiance will kill me when she gets home.

Cheers

E

[echoes]

so Ant is doing great and has already been outside showing how much zoomies she can have. Toffee is sooooo trying to be her friend but mama horse is not letting her play with Toffee.... Yet. It is only a matter of time and the pre-birth hormones will simmer down and Buggs will no longer want to kill anything that looks at her bebe.

Tomorrow I am doing Carne Asada tacos and I'm going to review a spice rub that my partner got for me along with a recipe for a cilantro lime crema I will be making for the tacos.

Till then, Cheers.

E.

PS......so......Much...... Fucking ....... RAIN. Noah called, he wants his boat back.

[echoes]

Product review and, before we begin, I am not sponsored or paid for reviewing this product. In fact, the fiance picked up a bunch of different spice blends and I thought I would give it a whirl. Usually I make my own blends but this time I gace the premade a go and I am pretty satisfied by the results.

Spanglish Asadero is a 9 year company found in California as a catering company that eventually branched out to making rubs and blends commercially. The brother and sister who run the company are Mexican-Americans so this gives them a good base in authenticity. My Fiance got their Carne Asade seasoning and at first I was a bit nervous. The first listed ingredient is Sea Salt and, and your mileage may vary, when I see that the first ingredient is and salt I think that is a red flag. Maybe it is just me, but growing up "seasoned" meant "salted and that was it. I joke that you know when you are becoming an adult when you like pepper more than salt but it is kinda true. Anyway, I find that most blends that lead with salt are too salt forward and the rest of the blend gets lost; not the case here. The blend is very even and the rest of the ingredients read as follows:
Chili Pepper, Dehydrated Garlic, Sugar, Rice Concentrate, Cilantro, Citric Acid, Dehydrated Onion, Paprika,Orange Oil, Lime Oil, Spice (WTF is that? Must it flow?) and Paprika Extract.

So I did a rub on a piece of top sirloin that I had repeatedly stabbed with a fork, coated all sides and then placed it in a zip-lock before leaving it in the fridge for 24 hrs. With just Olive Oil I finished it on the Blackstone and here are the results.

The steak did not overly char or burn on the rub so that was nice. Sugars in rubs can sometimes blacken quickly and this did not. I could have used butter but I think Olive oil was the right call here.

Taste wise it was not salt forward and I felt it had a really nice balance across the board. If you are not a "heat" fan do not be afraid of this blend. it had warmth but it was not erasing taste buds with heat. The paprika comes though and if you add a squeeze of fresh lime atop this then you are totes in business. 

I thin sliced the sirloin and used it to make soft shell tacos with: rice, lettuce, cheese and a homemade Cilantro lime crema.

I used about 1/4 cup of seasoning for a pound and a half of steak and it came out really nice. So, if you are looking to try something new and like tacos this is not a bad investment. You could grill this, flat top it like i did or do cast iron and I think you will be just fine.

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

Cilantro Lime crema:

Sour cream
Plain Yogurt
Cilantro
Lime Juice
Salt
Garlic powder

The base is a combo of sour cream and Yogurt, I am not going to put amounts here for a reason and that is follows: make the flavor profile fit the way you want. If you want the sour cream to stand out then use more and vice versa for the yogurt. Same thing for the cilantro and the lime juice, decide what tastes good to you and add as necessary. The salt and the garlic is just to round the recipe out. Make this yours. Some people think cilantro tastes like soap so they may make the lime juice dominate where other people may want the sour cream to be the star. The entire point of the sauce is to "cool" the meant flavor wise so it is all up to you.

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

hey everyone, hope you all are doing well. I'm going on a little holiday this week back down to wild dog for 4 days. well, not so much wild dog as crazy dog because this is not the 21 and over week that is two times a year. I'm going down with the fiance and her youngest along with his girlfriend. this is a 4 day from Thursday till Sunday and I will be the camp cook, bartender and bedwarmer for me soon to be wife. Yep, im the camp follower/whore. (I am really just a whore but I have additional talents that make me valuable to the feral girl clan.)

So Thursday will be a taco bar: carne asada, chipolte chicken and ground beef ala taco style with all the "fixings." Friday will be molasses, pineapple and rum chicken with sides. I don't have to throw down on Saturday and Sunday I just have to make breakfast and then we come back. I will take pictures and share for those who read this. I'm getting better about that and I will do my best not to disappoint. 

I'm taking my cojon hand drum, the resident musicians will be there and I am going to sit in again. 

So, see you all soon, cheers,

E.

[echoes]

I'm back and i will be posting some stuff very soon about the trip. I didn't get a chance to type because: 1) internet was down in the barn and 2) i was dragooned into a number of extra tasks over the last 4 days.

In all the trip was a blast and there were more good.moments than bad.

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

Let's do an old song by R.E.M and, "Begin the Begin." The lyrics don't really fit but the title works so we are starting this past Wednesday. I'm working a lovely 1:30-10Pm  shift and during my two 15 Minute breaks and my 30 minute lunch I am shopping for the trip that begins Thursday. Luckily, all the shopping gets done without a hitch and I have food and booze enough for 20 people for 4 days. I am covering Dinner Thursday and Friday along with providing burgers for Saturday's cookout at the watering hole (so lunch) and I am covering Breakfast Friday - Sunday.

Piece of Cake right?

We lost power some time Wednesday night/ Thursday morning due to a storm front that absolutely ripped through the state. Lots of flooding, lines and tree down  (more on this in a minute.) So we can't load at the asscrack of dawn cause we can't see anything. Difficulty 5 ( we have lanterns in our cooking kits so that helped.) We have to limit the number of times we open the fridge and the freezer because don't know when the power will come back on (4PM if you were wondering.) Also, the Grandfather who now lives with us likes to open fridge doors and stare into the fridge as if it were a TV so we HAVE to limit the time the door is opened. No problem, we got this and everything gets loaded into coolers and we are ready to load. Loading gets done during a break in the rain, which was not to last, and we are outbound. We swing by and pick up the RV and luckily get out in one go though the front extension legs bottom out on the driveway due to a nasty angle where the driveway meets the road. (Also more on this in a bit.) Stop at Costco for ice and we head South to Wild Dog.

Remember the rain break that was so nice to us for loading the vehicle? Well, as soon as we were on the interstate the rain came back, and it came back fierce. Visibility was yuck and google maps decided to stop working for a minute so we miss the first exit that we could turn off to get around the city of Richmond. Not a problem, I know Richmond fairly well and the next exit will still get us where we are going. My soon to be stepson and his girlfriend are driving ahead of us, which is fine, they have directions, and so we are not to far behind them. We get through Richmond, Waco and then Irvine and we are on country roads. Here are some pictures of this part of the story:

Rain



And more Rain:



And finally we are about 20 minutes away when we notice a familiar looking truck head back down the road heading towards us. It is stepson and girlfriend, they are fine, the road in front of us has a tree across it and there is no ETA on when it will get cleared. Quick note here, this is not a country or city crew working on said tree, and this is not just a big branch, it is a whole fuck off tree across the road and locals going ham on it with chainsaws in the middle of the rain. People around here be like that. So we luckily find a spot to turn the RV around and now we detour: Oh sweet Jebus what a detour. My fiance is driving, I am the naviguesser and we are about to go on a magical mystery tour. we are talking roads that sometimes are only 1 car-width thick and we are up, down, up down, left, right , left, Right B, A Start for the next hour. We go through part of a national forest on a gravel road at one point on slopes that I would not want to drive on dry.

Which brings up something you might have noticed in the earlier paragraph. I am not driving. I am a fairly decent driver but my partner tows horses a lot, she has more experience in towing so you let the pro take the wheel. That's easy to say, what is not easy Is I cannot drive in mountains and we are in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains here in Kentucky. I had a panic attack years ago while driving through mountains and to this day I white knuckle even riding through them. It's the fall off beside the road that sends me into staring down at my phone or closing my eyes when we travel. Add in the extra weight, the rain and the double back curves ... I'm happy to say I didn't freak out or throw up. Some of the grades were ridiculous and I am proud to say she killed it.

We got there safe and, of course, the rain stopped once we got there. Our friend had trailered 3 of our horses to the site the previous day and they were warm and dry in stalls. We got set up and then the first of several realizations was about to happen. Remember me saying we bottomed out coming out of the driveway with the RV. This, it turns out, knocked the motor that controls the front extensions legs to balance the trailer askew and so they will not lower. The back legs are fine and we still have the jackstand but this is not ideal. Manageable, yes, ideal no. but we get set up, plugged in and unhitched.

Here is a picture of the sky at this point.


This is also when I learn about all the things we forgot to bring and I am notw scrambling to adjust meals accordingly. We left a 3 burner gas grill at home that is literally 3 circular burners and no grates. This was to be used for the making of Mashed potatoes on Friday so I was lucky that I had picked up a Costco sized container of potato salad ( even though that was to be used on Saturday.) We forgot a second fold out table and a few other things but equipment and food wise but we made it. I end up setting up shop in the barn to cook for the next few days and here are a couple of picture of Thursday's Dinner:


And Here:


I did not make a signature drink for Thursday, instead choosing to use Premade margaritas for the those who wanted to share. Tequila and Mich ultra for me. No musicians this night, just bluetooth, but we all stayed up till around Midnight thirty and, after everything it took to get there, it was a great night.

Dinner was taco bar with taco meat, chipolte chicken and carne asada. The carne asada was a skirt steak that I added the rub I mentioned a few posts back to even though it was already marinated. The chicken was a costco premade and the picture shows me doing the beef and accompanying rice. on the Blackstone. There were refried beans, topings, quac, queso and salsa along with chips. A huge ass cookie tray and the feral girls ( along with others) threw food down like champs. There was a lot of drinking, shit talking and dancing until we all called it a night.

Good Times.

More soon.

Cheers,
E.

[echoes]

So we get to Friday and it is amazing. The weather is sunny, not to hot but warm enough that the crew is planning to head to the watering hole that I posted about before. Now that we had rain it ought to be full and the feral girl clan is ready to ride. Usually I stay behind and type but, for some reason, the interwebs are down so I am now going to have to drive down and meet them at the watering hole. Luckily I know the way now and so we get up at somewhere near the asscrack of dawn to get ready. 

breakfast was Juevos Rancheros: scrambled eggs with diced peppers, onions and shredded cheese. There is bacon and there are tortillas. Lunch is going to be Hawaiian Roll sliders: Ham and Swiss with mayo, Roast beef with cheddar with poppy-seed spread and chicken with colbyjack cheese along with a balsamic glaze. You all have seen this before in previous posts so it should be no surprise. Finger sammies for the win along with chips.

The watering hole was full as hell:



As you can see above, compared to the picture I posted about back around post 133, water be full. My fiance was leading a horse in and fell off the drop off soaking a towel but she was fine. See that ring hanging above the water, the former steering wheel of something. Yes that was used to send people off from a tree so they could swing above the water and drop in. How redneck is that you may ask? on a scale of 1 - 10 that is about a 5, pure mid America Americana is what that is. I did not swing off the the tree, I did not swim. I was there as logistics and I know my role. I didn't even bring alcohol down to the watering hole, I brought food. Don't worry friends, I am nefarious and I would get everyone pretty fucking drunk later that evening.

On my way down I picked up a passenger, no, not a hitchhiker and there is no lead into some lurid porn you may be hoping for. A friend of the girls, a photographer, came down from Evansville and she needed a ride to the waterhole to take pictures. I drove her down and she got to work snapping photos once the girls got there. Oddly enough we beat them to the spot by about a half hour. 

When we were packing up my Fiance gave the photographer her horse to ride back and we did a quick run to the nearest town ( 40 minutes 1 way) to grab Ice and some other supplies. Once everyone got back to camp it was social hour and then I got to work on food and drink. I did a rum, pineapple and molasses chicken with grilled veggies and potato salad. Did a regular salad as well. here is the chicken getting cooked.



So, remember when I said I brought no booze to the watering hole and I nerfarious? Well, I made pain killers and I have mentioned them before. This is a drink that is rum based and I made about 2 gallons of pain killers with a handle of spiced rum, a 750 of triple sec, 1 giant can of pineapple juice, oj and coconut syrup. Well the girls went after the drink like it was going out of style. What's funny, and you all may enjoy this, but where there are womens the men will show up. So I want you to go back and look at pictures of the barn we hang out in at wild dog. I want you all to imagine men: beards a plenty, shit kicking boot, ariat jeans and a lot of flannel. These Menly men were sucking down the foo foo rum drinks as fast as the women and most of them were like, "I can't taste the alcohol." 30 minutes later they were all, " I found it." I got a lot of people pretty good to go before the moonshine came out.

Me, well I was not drinking the evil cane sugar liquor. I was shooting tequila and drinking beer because I know my lane. (Shout out to the Costco extra aged Anejo, I don't even want to know how many bottles I have bought of this shit but if you can find it, worth the fucking money.)

One of the resident musicians made it out and we ended up circling the fire and playing music until "early" evening ( about 1 am.) I brought out the cojon and jammed with them until I had a more than decent buzz and called it an evening. In all, it was a success and a great night. There was music, redneck twerking and a lot of fun. I even slow danced with the fiance ( she doesn't dance) and one of her friends caught a video of it. Funny story, I can ballroom dance, not professionally but I still know the steps, and I am a rave kid so I can swing my hips when I want to. She is two left feet and has no sense of groove but we made it work.

Soon I will post about saturday and the near clusterfuck that happened.

Hope everyone who reads this is well, and I might throw in a tangent on the next post because I learned something on this last trip. I mentioned, previously, that Wild Dog can almost be like a swingers ball with horses; there are a lot of hook ups and not all of them with their respective partners of choice or circumstance. Most of the feral girls are moms, they are married or they are single moms. I'm going to make a comment on bad relationships and about having a support group here soon. It's been on my mind, and I want to get that off my chest. I think some people who read this will understand and, those who don't, well, you may get a glimpse into something else. IDK. I have a buzz as I write this. 

You all, those who read this thread, know I am not trying to polish this for likes. You know I write as I think by now and if you don't, well, Surprise!

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

Hello everyone, hope you are all doing well. I've been a general utility gremlin around the house getting shit done these last couple of weeks. We have rain, so much rain, and with it comes mud and all the fun things that are associated with that. Put down a vinyl floor in a basement room that my oldest stepson uses as his bed room this week, he is much happy for this and the floor looks really good with the paint choice on the walls. Did a thing for him so that is cool:




shadowing is just from light.

Outside of this I have not done anything new or creative with food. been staying with some mainstays. Did biscuits and gravy today for breakfast. Yesterday was pork tenderloin with pasta carbonara; which was amazing btw. I diced Canadian bacon and made it crisp as the pork for the carbonara and it was amazeballs.   

nothing new or wild for now, the partner is freaking out about the wedding in October but it will be all good.

I just hope everyone is doing well and when I get something new, or cool, I will share.

Cheers,
E.

[echoes]

I'm still here, I promise. I just haven't been doing anything exciting as of late. My life has been work ( paid) and work ( farm and unpaid) as of late. My flower box failed this year and I am kinda sad and also pissed about that. I had some tulips for a minute and then nothing else. (Sad)

Anyway, I will try and share some more life stuff soon, I suck at this. I could never be an influencer because I honestly don't give a lot of fucks about that. Been listening to music, dealing with my mid-life crisis by regressing to the 90's and getting prepared to get married. (Again.)

so wish me luck if you want, or tell me to go fuck myself. Its your call.

cheers everyone.

E.