Lol, that was just the start. We filled that 16’ pirogue up. It was our annual family reunion/crawfish boil. The blue crabs were caught fresh this morning in Cocodrie Louisiana And you can’t forget the sides
100 plus year old cast iron stew pot, heated hot and olive oil dropped into it. 3 bulbs of garlic, each clove halved. 1 onion chunked. Sauté and then remove add chunked carrots, parsnips and sauté, getting a caramel like glaze to them. Add chunked celery, sauté, then add chunked potatoes (I used yellow flesh) and sauté more. Add the onions / garlic back in. You can also use potato gnocchi in this stew - they don't get mushy like potatoes do and add a nice texture. sauté more, then remove to a stainless bowl. Add your cubed up Chuck roast beef. Sear well, then add ground cumin, coriander, black mustard seed, fenugreek, black pepper, sea salt, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves. (All ground fine. Mix well, sauté the beef more and then add a package of Pataks Spicy Cumin & Ginger sauce. Fill the packet with water , shake to get all the sauce out, add to the pot. Add 3 cups homemade beef & bone broth. let the beef (alone) simmer for 30 minutes then add all the other ingredients back in and simmer for an hour or so. Serve with 20 grain thick cut peasant bread, well buttered. cost to prepare up here in BC Canada - CAD $: - small Chuck Roast $22 (about 3 lbs) - parsnips (2) $5 - carrots (3 medium) $2 - yellow flesh potato's (3/4 lb) $2 - celery (about 3/4 of a stalk) $3 - pre packaged curry sauce $3 - onion (1 large yellow) $1 - garlic (3 bulbs - large cloves) $1.25 - spices / seasoning $1 total $40.25 CAD. Yields about 8 decent sized bowls of stew. Approx $5 CAD per bowl. Can be stretched even further by serving on a bed of brown rice. You can also stretch this stew even further by using a lot more broth and adding barley. If I had space to grow my own veggies, this stewpot of beef goodness would drop in price to about $25 (meat and pre packed sweet spicy curry sauce) would be free if I had farm animals / garden, and East Indian / South Asian neighbours (they make incredible homemade sauces and love to share) Someday I hope to cook this for the lot of you.....in a giant 100 litre cast iron Potjie cauldron, over a campfire, somewhere in the BC mountains
High protein / calorie / fat Peanut Butter, Date, Oats "pemmican" pretty simple, ground up steel cut oat flakes into flour, added finely chopped dates, several big spoons of peanut butter and used a pastry cutter to mix everything into coarse crumbles. kneaded , rolled between my palms into balls, rolled in more oat flour to coat and they are ready for the trail. slow release energy, fiber, loads of nutrients. Could use a taste enhancer - maybe honey , but these work as is. Might try making a baked "Clif" bar version next.
When it’s 4:30pm, and I have no plan..and no prep done, and she says “I’m kinda hungry.” Pork Fried Rice. (The only actual numerical measurement you see is the water to rice ratio. Everything else is “this much” by feel and instinct.). And people say cooking is hard.