The Stanley Mug

Before setting off on my camping/canoeing adventure last weekend, I needed to pick up a mug. I headed to Sunflower Bike Shop in Lawrence for that purpose. A knife, water proof matches and a hat were purchase during a conversation about biking the Katy Trail and I left the shop and rejoined Adam. I didn't think about the mug until he handed me a latte from Henry's. Luckily Henry's and Sunflower are on the same block. My return trip yielded the Stanley mug pictured above. Adam suggested the handle with carabiner style hook would be a pretty cool feature.

The mug was great on the trip. It handled my coffee well. Clipped to my pack. The lid screwed on tight. However, it wasn't until yesterday morning's experiment preparing Curried Beef with Mango that the mug's true potential was realized. I'm not a big fan of waste and using a large zip top back to prepare a meal and then be disposes of is not my favorite idea. Lots of the backpacking recipes I'm interested in require such a preparation. My thoughts have evolved to packing the meal in a much smaller sandwich sized bag and then preparing the meal in the mug. Maybe I'd need two mugs, but that seems far less wasteful in the long run. To test my theory breakfast was again made in the mug. Oatmeal inspired by a cashew, cranberry, dark chocolate trail mix we enjoyed on the trip.

Oatmeal with cranberries and dark chocolate
1/2 cup instant oats
1/6 cup dried cranberries
1/2 tsp white sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbls dark chocolate chips

Combine first five ingredients in the mug, cover with boiling water and lid to sit for 10ish minutes. Add chocolate chips and stir. Enjoy.

Camping Food: Curried beef with brown rice and mangos

Last weekend (Halloween 2010) my friend, Adam, and I embarked on a canoe trip down Delaware Creek into the Kansas River to Lawrence, Kansas. The two day trip was a true adventure with lots of wildlife including a lone coyote, bald eagle, and the elusive big, fat beaver. I took charge of cooking due to the fact I'd just receive a copy of One Pan Wonders, a nice little cookbook for backpackers. Two meals were prepared from the guide, both being light weight, simple to prepare and pretty tasty. Home prep was key. I'll discuss one meal today as I recreated it this morning in the comfort of my own kitchen.

Curried beef with brown rice and mango
1/2 cup instant brown rice
2 tbls dried mango, chopped fine
1 tbls beef jerky, chopped fine
1/2 tsp white sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp group ginger

In the kitchen I put everything in my Stanley mug and covered with boiling water. Ten minutes later I had a nice mug of chewy, spicy goodness. While camping I packed all of the ingredients in a zip top bag. We ate this for breakfast and stuffed the bags of food in a beer coozie then added boiling water to the bag. The coozie provided stability while my Stanley mug held coffee. After 10 or so minutes we mushed the contents of the bag to mix and ate straight from the bag. Minimal mess. Minimal clean up. We were both happy.

Beans for the Heart

This week was a bit surreal in regards to my culinary life. There is no doubt that I have done my best to live each day to it’s fullest and drink deeply from the cup of life. Unfortunately, that has also meant eating deeply from the plate of life. And I like my plate full. Layered really.

A recent visit to the doctor revealed that it would be a good idea to put a little less on that plate and be a heck of a lot pickier regarding the contents. So be it. I’ve battled the bulge before and I’ve won some battles. I know what has to happen and I’m sure with the help of the cosmos, this battle will be bested. I’ll die trying…

First, I try not to eat things out of cans, but I like beans. So it has been beans the old fashion way, bags of dry beans soaked overnight and boiled to the desired firmness. For this dish, I like my beans at a mashable consistency. Everything else is pretty straightforward.

Bowl O’Beans
2 tsp olive oil
½ onion
1 tbls minced jalapeno
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup broccoli florets
4 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tomato
¾ cup black beans
2 tbls hot salsa (whatever you dig)
1 ounce shredded sharp cheddar or pepper jack cheese
½ avocado

Dice your onion and mince your garlic and jalapeno while the olive oil is heating in a large skilled. When you have a nice warm pan and some glistening oil toss in your veggies and let things get happy. Meanwhile dice your chicken breast. As the onions become translucent add your chicken and broccoli and stir-fry.

Plate your beans and top with shredded cheese and some super hot salsa, if that is your thing. Add the tomato and avocado and when you are happy with the contents of the skillet, slide it right on top of the bowl o’ beans. Customize to your hearts content.

Huevos Rancheros

Last week the kids and I ate breakfast at a local place in my hometown. I don’t generally order Huevos Rancheros, but the extended Ramsey family is not into heat as a flavor and I was missing some excitement on the palate. I enjoyed the breakfast immensely and started poking around for a recipe to try at home. Thanks to the recent snow, wind and miserable temperatures, I found some time to give the dish a try this morning and was pretty pleased with the results. Here goes:

Sauce:

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• Three small onions, chopped
• Two bell peppers, chopped (I picked red and yellow)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 12 oz can tomato juice
• ¼ cup water
• fresh cilantro

The fixings:

• 2 eggs
• 2 small tortillas
• refried beans
• sour cream
• guacamole
• pepper jack cheese

In an 11-inch sauté pan, I warmed a couple teaspoons of vegetable oil while chopping the onions and peppers. They went in the hot skillet and softened for about 8 minutes. The cumin, salt, cayenne, jalapeno, and garlic went in next and I stirred to mix for about 30 seconds. Then I added the tomatoes and cooked for about 2 minutes before adding the tomato juice and water. Finally I brought the whole pan to a simmer and reduced for 20 minutes or so.

Once the sauce reached my desired consistency, I transferred to a dish and stirred in a handful of chopped, fresh cilantro.

Then I warmed the beans and tortillas while frying a couple eggs. To assemble, I placed a warmed tortilla on a plate and spread with beans, adding a layer of the ranchero sauce and then the eggs. To garnish I added a dollop of both sour cream and guacamole and served with a second tortilla and a bit of shredded pepper jack cheese.

A good breakfast for a cold morning…well, perhaps a good breakfast for a cold noontime meal. There is quite a bit of the sauce, enough to serve 8 or so. Tonight I plan to smoother a pork chop with the spicy sauce. In the future, I’d like to roast the vegetables for a deeper flavor. I’ll report back with significant improvements. Eat on.