The TRF Cookbook

[stealth6]

Ok fine, I’ll post a couple of the recipes. I’ll do a couple of the ones that are likely “new” or even unknown to some folks here.

SHAKSHUKA – (this makes plenty for a hearty breakfast for three guys…could serve up to 6)

Ingredients: 6 eggs, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can crushed tomatoes, 1 yellow onion, 1 bell pepper, 3-5 cloves garlic, fresh cilantro, 1tbs chili powder, 1 tbs cumin, 1tbs paprika, salt/pepper, olive oil crumbled feta.

• Chop/dice bell pepper and onion, mince garlic.
• Heat oil in skillet, sauté onion & pepper until onion is translucent (about 5 minutes)
• Mix in garlic and spices, heat another 1-2 minutes.
• Add in both cans of tomatoes, a bit of s&p, bring to a simmer and let thicken a bit.
• Use a large spoon to press 6 “wells” into thickened sauce, crack one egg into each.
• Cover and continue cooking until eggs are “done” (about 6-8 minutes)
• Sprinkle in some feta, garnish with a bit of chopped cilantro.
• Serve into bowls (generally one egg plus a bunch of the sauce each serving)

Should look something like this:


Mango/Avo/Chicken Salad – (serves three plus)

Ingredients: 1-2 large mango (pretty ripe), 1-2 large avocado (ripe but pretty firm), 8-10oz. of oven roasted chicken, 2 limes, about 4 inches of English cucumber, fresh ginger, fresh mint leaves, olive oil, rice vinegar, salted peanuts (not roasted), salt, pepper, some sort of “wrap/tortilla”.

• Mince ginger fine, 2tbs. Chop mint fine, 1tbs.
• In small bowl combine ginger, mint, 2tbs lime juice, 1tbs rice vinegar, 2-3 tbs oil, s&p….whisk together and set aside.
• Dice avo, mango, cucumber, and chicken. Zest 1 lemon. Toss together (gently) in a bowl.
• Add then dressing in, continue to (gently) toss/mix.
• Crush some peanuts and sprinkle in just before serving.
• Serve in wraps, or in bowls, or any other way you might choose. Another way is to NOT “mix it all together” but to just serve up all the diced ingredients placed together, drizzle the dressing over that pile, and then sprinkle on the peanuts.

For both of these, the quantities in the recipes are just suggestions. You could up or reduce amounts of most any of the ingredients however you care to. Or you could add or take out ingredients as you see fit. The Shakshuka is popular all over North Africa and the Middle East and there are tons of local variants and styles. These particular recipes are just one way……feel free to experiment and alter them however you want, and make your own “local variants”.

 

[bjphoenix]

Taking my brothers (from back east) on a short river trip next week (I used to guide). "Upper" San Juan River in Utah. This is the menu I've planned (and will be cooking):

That's pretty elaborate, when we go out there our meals are a lot more basic.
What kind of craft can you navigate that river with? From what I've seen it's somewhat limited to pretty small craft.

 

[John Kemker]

Made homemade Mexican Street Corn yesterday.

1 package of frozen sweet corn
Mayonnaise
Crema Mexicana
Queso Quesadilla
Taijin seasoning
Chopped cilantro

Steam the corn in the microwave, using the bag it came in, according to the directions.
Dump the corn in a skillet on high heat and heat it until you get some caramelization on the corn kernels. Add a generous dollop of mayo and about the same amount of Crema Mexicana. Sprinkle with Taijin to taste and top with Queso Quesadilla and cilantro. Serve hot.

 

[stealth6]

That's pretty elaborate, when we go out there our meals are a lot more basic.
What kind of craft can you navigate that river with? From what I've seen it's somewhat limited to pretty small craft.

Oh, it's WAY more elaborate than my normal.
When I'm on my own, or with any of my normal travelling partners, I usually go very fast/easy/basic with food. Often enough I go without any stove or cooler

But this trip is a pretty special one.........taking my brothers on an adventure, one of which has never been out west or done anything like this. So, I'm stepping up the meal plan by quite a few notches. There's more "personal" significance to this trip, so I'm making things special. Plus, in my commercial guiding days, it was actually pretty common on those trips to do meal plans like this.

As far as craft goes....I've rowed rafts up to 18' on this river many times, though usually it was 13'-16' boats. On this trip, I will be going with a 13' raft and a duckie. Plenty of water this time of year for those craft (currently at 1150cfs).

 

[stealth6]

Made homemade Mexican Street Corn yesterday.

1 package of frozen sweet corn
Mayonnaise
Crema Mexicana
Queso Quesadilla
Taijin seasoning
Chopped cilantro

Steam the corn in the microwave, using the bag it came in, according to the directions.
Dump the corn in a skillet on high heat and heat it until you get some caramelization on the corn kernels. Add a generous dollop of mayo and about the same amount of Crema Mexicana. Sprinkle with Taijin to taste and top with Queso Quesadilla and cilantro. Serve hot.

If you make it again tomorrow, I'm coming over.

s6

 

[RiffD]

Ok fine, I’ll post a couple of the recipes. I’ll do a couple of the ones that are likely “new” or even unknown to some folks here.

SHAKSHUKA – (this makes plenty for a hearty breakfast for three guys…could serve up to 6)

Ingredients: 6 eggs, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can crushed tomatoes, 1 yellow onion, 1 bell pepper, 3-5 cloves garlic, fresh cilantro, 1tbs chili powder, 1 tbs cumin, 1tbs paprika, salt/pepper, olive oil crumbled feta.

• Chop/dice bell pepper and onion, mince garlic.
• Heat oil in skillet, sauté onion & pepper until onion is translucent (about 5 minutes)
• Mix in garlic and spices, heat another 1-2 minutes.
• Add in both cans of tomatoes, a bit of s&p, bring to a simmer and let thicken a bit.
• Use a large spoon to press 6 “wells” into thickened sauce, crack one egg into each.
• Cover and continue cooking until eggs are “done” (about 6-8 minutes)
• Sprinkle in some feta, garnish with a bit of chopped cilantro.
• Serve into bowls (generally one egg plus a bunch of the sauce each serving)

For both of these, the quantities in the recipes are just suggestions. You could up or reduce amounts of most any of the ingredients however you care to. Or you could add or take out ingredients as you see fit. The Shakshuka is popular all over North Africa and the Middle East and there are tons of local variants and styles. These particular recipes are just one way……feel free to experiment and alter them however you want, and make your own “local variants”.

Shakshuka is a regular at our house, especially during the summer months to use up tomatoes. We love both the egg version and a fish shakshuka version I found on The Mediterranean Dish site. If there is sauce leftover from the fish recipe we use the next day to make Spanish rice, which the kids happily gobble down every time. Notably for both recipes we serve it over rice.

 

[bjphoenix]

Made homemade Mexican Street Corn yesterday.

I saw a recipe for creamed corn where you strip the corn off of the cob in a way that splits the kernels open, dump them in a pan and heat on low heat to get most of the water out. When the consistency starts to approach mashed potatos you add salt and butter. I was having a hard time visualizing it but the author promised that people would fight over it at the table.

As far as craft goes....I've rowed rafts up to 18' on this river many times, though usually it was 13'-16' boats. On this trip, I will be going with a 13' raft and a duckie. Plenty of water this time of year for those craft (currently at 1150cfs).

My mistake- when I first read your post I was thinking San Rafael river. I'm not real familiar with San Juan river, looks like it originates in southern Colorado, northern New Mexico.

 

[NateB]

https://health.osu.edu/wellness/exercise-and-nutrition/cooking-cicadas

Cicadas are emerging, make sure you have some good recipes.

 

[Antares JS]

https://health.osu.edu/wellness/exercise-and-nutrition/cooking-cicadas

Cicadas are emerging, make sure you have some good recipes.

Next you'll be telling us how great it is to live in a pod.

 

[NateB]

Next you'll be telling us how great it is to live in a pod.

I'll try most foods, but Cicadas aren't too high on the list. Of course, are they that much different than crawfish? I'd eat them in the apocalypse if I didn't have luck with my fishing pole. I might have tried one a dare in college too, especially if I could have won a bet for a textbook or two.

 

[kuririn]

I like how the chef is cracking up on the side when he takes a bite.

 

[Sandy H.]

I'm really close to sunrise of 50 years old and I never remember Cicadas like we have in NC now. We've had about 3-4 weeks of what sounds like a pump bearing failure going on from around 10am until 4-5pm. I hear them in the shop (46db) and when I walk outside, I've recorded 64db. It is basically tinnitus for half the day from what I've heard from others. Its not the waaah-wooo-waaah sound I thought they made, it is just a constant weeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I've also never seen a live one before, just the shell casings, but walking back and fourth to the mailbox, I see 10+ on the ground dead and easily twice as many buzzing about. The chickens think they're tasty, though, so I guess there's that.

They don't seem to do any damage here, other than just being a noise nuisance. It wouldn't bother me if they stopped sometime soon, though.

 

[boatgeek]

I'm really close to sunrise of 50 years old and I never remember Cicadas like we have in NC now. We've had about 3-4 weeks of what sounds like a pump bearing failure going on from around 10am until 4-5pm. I hear them in the shop (46db) and when I walk outside, I've recorded 64db. It is basically tinnitus for half the day from what I've heard from others. Its not the waaah-wooo-waaah sound I thought they made, it is just a constant weeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I've also never seen a live one before, just the shell casings, but walking back and fourth to the mailbox, I see 10+ on the ground dead and easily twice as many buzzing about. The chickens think they're tasty, though, so I guess there's that.

They don't seem to do any damage here, other than just being a noise nuisance. It wouldn't bother me if they stopped sometime soon, though.

I think this year is when two major broods coincide, so there's twice as many cicadas as usual.

 

[kuririn]

Emergence Cookies feature a peculiar ingredient: Cicadas, which are high in protein and low in cholesterol. / Credit: CBS News© Provided by CBS News

Emergence cookies (courtesy of "Cicada-Licious: Cooking and Enjoying Periodical Cicadas," from Jenna Jadin and the University of Maryland Cicadamaniacs)​

Ingredients:

• 60 parboiled dry roasted cicadas
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 beaten egg white
• 1 1/2 cups sugar + additional 1/3 cup
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• (optional) 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts

To make this recipe, which yields about 60 cookies, start by mixing the shortening with 1 1/2 cups of sugar, chocolate, baking powder and vanilla. Once well combined, gradually stir in flour and nuts and then cover and chill the dough for 1 to 2 hours. While the dough cools, combine 1/3 cup sugar and egg white and brush the egg mixture on top of your cicadas, which should be laid out on wax paper.


Once the dough is chilled, shape pieces into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Put one of the cicadas on top of each cookie and lightly press down. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes at 375º and transfer to a rack to cool.

 

[Greg Furtman]

I think this year is when two major broods coincide, so there's twice as many cicadas as usual.

For the first time since 1803 Brood XIX and XIII will co-emerge. You will be able to see all seven named periodical cicada species as adults in the same year, which will not happen again until 2037.