Adventures with anrkst.

I've seen this it's true !

 

In a previous post I made mention of making/using a smaller version of my “Field Cutting Box” seen here


Due to the confined space it’s slightly difficult to use my usual cutting tool, the ever present 18” Latin machete.
I have been carrying the White River Small Game for food preparation and had no real complaints…..except…
for an ongoing contest with those dastardly Canadians in a never ending quest for the elusive goal of a 10 lb load out!

 

…Well, because it’s fun, I located an item that was on my wish list and decided to get a super compact “assistant” knife.


The White River ATK (Always There Knife)
2 1/2” Blade. 6” oal. 1/8 thickness. S35vn stainless steel.


I’ve had this a couple of days, at first the slickness of the mirror polish was disconcerting. The whole tiny thing is absolutely Uber smooth. The edges, tang holes, spine , all melted butter slick. To the degree it will make you wary of sliding your fingers onto the inhumanly sharp edge.
I tried out several different types of wraps (that I didn’t like and kept taking off) before hitting on this one.
This is full strength paracord (not gutted), it’s simple and sparse, very strong , can be washed with soap or even scrubbed with a bristle brush to clean and decontaminate, and should last for years yet is easy to replace if necessary.


It came with what they call a “Universal Kydex Sheath”. In that the blade can be inserted in either direction. It seem well made but I think the “Universal” feature causes it to give up a little in retention security. It might be possible to warm it and adjust the tension but as delivered I personally wouldn’t want to carry it inverted or as a neck knife.


For my purposes it’s fine as it is. It’s attached to the pouch with an adjustable cord and I just drop it in. It’s uncomplicated but readily accessible.

 

Practical testing.


Because I got this mostly to fulfill my desire to cook things outside I thought I’d give it a run on something simple but involving the near slickest of substances, pork fat.
( If I ever get within arms reach of our friend @Bozho Im gonna slap him over the head with a dead fish for telling me about this recipe! It’s delicious and I eat it constantly!).
The makings of a Bulgarian Egg…


Cutting things that are nearly the length or size of your blade can be challenging, but with practice it’s not nearly as difficult as it might seem. ( and I love me some garlic…a lot of garlic. )


It’s different, no question. And bigger objects like onions or tomatoes require more moves because you have to cut the larger pieces into smaller chunks and then again to get the sizing down.


That looks choice right? Even better when slathered in Tabasco… . Love the stuff…

(EDIT: I feel I must edit this part of the post. I have been reasonably informed that the meat is in fact Turkey bacon. ( ?) My beautiful daughters often buy things when they are here and leave them in ziplock bags when they depart..the youngest left it, it looked like bacon, it smelled like bacon..I used it up rather than have it spoil. My apologies for the slightly misleading post. )

 

Something harder, more difficult…

Now as a rule I don’t make a lot of things outdoors. I know how of course, notches, try sticks, trap triggers, but other than just making shavings off a stick, simple entertainment, a set of chopsticks, or a spoon or small cooking spatula, I rarely find the need for intricate carving. But I wanted to test the comfort level in a distance or hours long session, because we’re talking about a very thin, very flat object You’d definitely want to know you could use it if you needed to.


So I pulled a reasonable sized piece of cedar from my stash. This was already split and it’s been sitting in a warm dry environment for about…3 years.


I won’t need the entire thing so a few minutes work with the Leatherman saw as part of the practice procedure…


Then some light baton work to even up the basic piece. You probably wouldn’t use this to split kindling but 2-3 inch stuff that you keep working down to pencil and matchstick size is reasonable. I would have no problem using a stick to baton it through the breast bone of a deer, or to take the ribs loose from the spine. I’ve done it multiple times with an Izula so I’m confident in the strength of knives in this size range.


So I’m waiting on a signature delivery package, nothing to do but wait for it. This little “sugar skull “ took about 4 hours to whittle out. Multiple grips and angles used, I found the knife to be quite pleasant to use and I was pleased with the security of control that the simple wrapping provided.


To my surprise I did no touch up sharpening throughout the entire process. I washed the knife between food prep and whittling but it wasn’t resharpened. After all this the edge was still sharp enough to clean shave my arm.

I’ll be running this in my regular rotation, it’s super lightweight but offers a ton of performance, punching well above what you’d expect in this size knife. Definitely a thumbs up on this one.

 

Awesome!

 

The question: When is a good day?

Well a few cloves of garlic will help..

..and we can thank friend Big Ian for the basic starting mix we’re using here…

The OIC is again pretending I’m not speaking words…(Look at the tail. )

That end kinda gives it away fuzzball!!

It’s always a good day for some Pinto Beans & Cornbread now idn’it?

Stand firm on the justifiable side of the trail friends..even if it means your name is listed with the rest of wanted black hearted pirate outlaws. .

 

Are people judging you for associating with us Canucks again

 

Ooooooh burn

 

Well..they probably do, but we got some Canucks, a Dane or 2, some assorted eastern bloc types, a Russian or 2, pretty sure there’s a S. American here somewhere, an Aussie..Lord knows who else has snuck in this place. But everybody has the same calluses from putting hands to the oars..all pulling to make the boat go in the same direction. There’s something good in that..even if they’re pirates one and all.

 

“The Furtherance of Knowledge.”

So I have to tell you guys in advance (spoiler alert?) that I’ve been working on some new recipes for my “Cooking on the Grass” blog. Basic but fulfilling 1 pot meals I can do in a mess kit vs eating the stuff I call freeze dried nightmares.
Per that description there are times that a bit of flour is called for, either as a roux or thickening agent or as dough or dumplings added to the dish.
What I set out to accomplish was Not having to carry a container for said flour. It has to be measured out and filled at home and even a small container has a fair amount of “dead space” in the container, and furthermore you have to bring the container back.
Also, if you’re making dough you then need an extra dish to make it up in. That’s also more to wash/clean up. Right?

To address this I present the olden ways solution. Hardtack. Or Ships Biscuits.


My recipe here is 2 cups of plain flour (not self rising), 1/2 cup of double filtered water, and a teaspoon each of iodine table salt and plain sea salt. I ended up adding a little more flour and did not use quite all the water to produce a non sticky stiff dough which I rolled out to approximately 1/4” thick.


I roughly cut mine to 4”x 4” and pierced them extensively on both sides with a fork.
I only made a small amount because this is an experiment.


Based on several different recipes I baked mine at 375F for 1 hour turning them over at 30 minutes. They were left in the oven to slow cool for about 2 hours ( while I went to the gym. ) I then dried them a second time at 250F for 2 hours again flipping them at the halfway point.

 

Pt 2


These are very dry, and very hard! You certainly wouldn’t want to try and bite off a piece. I intentionally smacked this one against the side of the baking sheet so I could taste it and see what I thought.
It doesn’t really have much flavor other than being slightly bread tasting and reasonably salty.
I can easily kind of hold it in the mouth and mess with it for well over 5 minutes before it actually becomes mushy enough to eat.
This is definitely the result I was looking for.


To further its shelf life stability I’m wrapping each piece individually in plain brown paper.
This step is probably not really nessesary but I liked the idea so I did it.


Then while they were just the tiniest bit warm I vac sealed them in individual bags pulling the vacuum down to it’s maximum level.
Now what we have is for all practical purposes is shelf stable long life flour. My idea is to smack the unopened bag with my (plastic) machete handle to either break it into approximately US$ nickel sized pieces, or keep going until it’s reduced once more to flour dust that can be used as roux.

In my research I found reports of unopened cases of Hardtack being found that were intended for use during the Civil War in the 1860’s, and upon being examined the food level or suitability for human consumption was unchanged. Aie a food product made to 1860’s standards was undamaged and unspoiled after 165 years. This has…potential.

 

Very cool!

 

“Paximadia”. Greek Bread.
Specifically it a kind of loose term for several versions of a bread that can be stored for long periods without spoilage.
What I learned was in olden times fuel, wood, to heat the brick or mud ovens was sparse. So you didn’t want to do a bake off very often. Large batches of loaves that would keep was the way to go.
In researching it I got the impression it wasn’t just a tough chewy product that you could put some cheese on or a preserved meat section and just eat it. It was something to be added to a shepherds simmering pot or carried on fishing vessels to get carbohydrates and spices into a pot of fish stew.
Did you hear me say “Intriguing….”


The classic recipe will use a mixture of Barley flour and Wheat flour. Cornmeal did not arrive in that part of the world until much later but it’s acceptable for use in the modern era. ( Theirs would also not need to be gluten free but that’s not something I can get around either.) The actual Greek versions I watched and worked from used a “starter” which anyone familiar with Sourdough would recognize.


Most of what I saw was fairly plain. Nothing added beyond salt and pepper. Because I had a particular taste profile I wanted I used pink salt, pungent fresh ground black pepper, and a few spices that I hope will give it a little more “bite” in the end.


The dough was said to be soft but not sticky.
I used 3 cups flour- 1 cup cornmeal-1/4 cup cornstarch-1/3 cup olive oil- yeast packet ( 1 cup warm water, 1 teaspoon sugar)- and a further “1/2 ish” cup of warm water. 1 teaspoon of salt-& the others are heaping 1/2 teaspoon size.

 

Pg 2


I formed the dough into a kind of rough loaf and left it tented by a kitchen towel in my warm workshop while I went to the gym for a couple hours…


Gym, a stop at the store, a shower, ect ect, and about 3 1/2 hours have elapsed. The loaf smells wonderfully yeasty, it’s soft to the touch, but it has only increased in volume by about 1 time…slightly disappointing.
The instruction says to score and bake the bread initially for 30-40 minutes at 400F-425F.


After the first bake. Now you should cut or break the loaf into sections for a second bake of longer time and lower temperature.


What you want to do is dry it out. Like really dry. It’s cooked here, but it’s quite moist. Like about the consistency of carrot cake or crumb cake. For this step the instructions were sort of sparse. You’re supposed to bake it but there wasn’t much information on temperature or length of time to work from. I decided the 250F- 2 hour with a flip the sections halfway would be a reasonable way to start.

 

Pg 3


The 2 hour mark. The pieces are very dry. Slightly “dusty” but I think the gluten free worked against me a little bit.
Smells great though!


The individual pieces are hard, dense. I’m already seeing how this will be used. If I ever get a proper proofing set up I think I can get a softer final product but this sort of “primitive” result is perfectly acceptable to me.


The sections were cooled to safety but warm and once again wrapped in plain brown paper then vacuum sealed to highest possible amount. More “supples” for the recipes I’m writing for the Mess Kit Gourmet book.


I kept the end cuts and some broken bits for a sampling. I used some Moong Dal beans, piece of pork shoulder, an onion, bulb of garlic…What I found is this is a “crush it and soak it in” addition. You should put this in near the end of the simmering stage. Give it time in the cooking liquid to soften and release its flavor into the food. It’s quite good but you can leave it sitting in broth for 10 minutes before it starts to break down. It need to “cook in” as it were.

 

Moong Dal Beans!!!yay you found some in your area! Highly nutritious!!!

good stuff mate!

 

I'd just add some powdered milk and water and enjoy a delicious mash !!!

 

You could certainly do that with Hardtack. It’s very plain in ingredient form, this has olive oil and savory spices so it might not work with milk. I’m pretty sure I can create a version that has warm sweeter spices though..would be like soft grits in texture. I’ll put some thought into it….

 

You can make anything into chowder with some milk