Edible/Usable

A Digression: The redesign of thesixtyone.com and Listening to Your Users

This post isn't about food.  It's about my favorite music site and what happens when a business doesn't get feedback from their users before they do a massive redesign.

Last year a did a brief stint at AOL.  I worked mainly on their music site, AOL music.  While I was working there, I looked at a lot of other sites in the online music playing, collecting, and discovering spheres.  A lot of my focus was figuring out the best way to do two things:  create playlists of songs, and how to have a good seamless playback experience.  Both are somehow harder than you would think, but there were lots of good and bad examples out there of both. 

Two of the sites I discovered became regular music sites for me after I left AOL (well, 3 if you include the sadly departed original muxtape.com): first, blip.fm.  This site is great for when you have a song in your head, you don't have it handy on you iPod, you can go to blip.co and do a simple search then play it online.  It's also really easy to listen to what other users are listening to, but isn't really that great for discovering new, unheard music.  The second site is thesixtyone.com.  The site features new music, uploaded by the actual artists.  I'm writing the rest of this paragraph in past tense... The playback experience was great - there was a small, unobtrusive but functional player that featured uninterrupted continuous music playback.  By this I mean that if you were on a page listening to a song, and you navigated to another page on the site, the song would continue playing.  I know this sounds simple, but very few sites actually support this. 

I discovered a lot of great new music by small bands from all over the world on t61.  I recommended it to all of my friends.  When I had time at work that I wasn't in meetings, I listened to it for hours at a time.  There was a whole game/reputation element to it that I didn't really understand entirely, but I was still able to easily participate in.  I could indicate that I liked a song by giving it a 'heart.'  I could save songs to my profile so I could listen to them again later.  I was at level 14 - again not sure exactly what this meant, but 14!  When I got bored of listening to my own saved songs, I could listen to other people's 'radio.'  I could 'favorite' people, they could 'favorite' me and musicians that I liked could comment on my profile and thank me for 'hearting' their music.   It wasn't totally perfect, but it seemed to have a lot of promise.  I was really looking forward to the iPhone app so that I could take it with me.

So imagine my dismay when I went to the site yesterday and saw that they had done a total and complete redesign of the site.  Gone was the list of songs on the home page.  Gone was the simple music player.  Gone was the genre list of songs.  And gone was any sense that anybody else was actually using the site to listen to music.   I do think that the new design has it's merits.  It looks REALLY nice.  I brings a really nice focus to the artists on the site - in a way that may be really beneficial to them.  It could be a really nice way to listen to music if you start with a list, then launch the 'visual' version of the player.  But I have two major issues with this redesign:

1.  They removed significant functionality for no apparent reason:

They removed or disabled functionality that was primary to what I felt (and from their previous tag lines and branding indicated) was the primary experience model of the site:  a community where you could discover new music.  By removing this functionality, or in some cases just making it really hard to find, they made the site difficult to use and ruined one of the best music experiences on the web.  In just one day of use, I've discovered specific removed/hidden functionality that have resulted in several usability issues:

Music Discovery:

• The home page is now just an image of one band, and the song starts playing on page load.  It's not immediately clear how you navigate to the next song, there isn't actually any clue given that there IS a next song, and there isn't any way to tell what the next song is.  By removing the list on the home page, they've made it really hard for new users to understand what the site is, and really hard for existing users to browse through songs to find stuff to play.
• Maybe it's a bug, but the same song has been the first one on the home page for the past two days.  This NEVER used to happen on the old version of the site.
• They removed the genre pages.  I used genre pages fairly frequently.  I'd go to the "alt country" or "house" or other genre pages just to find new stuff.  Artists must also be pissed that these are gone because unless music gets promoted to the 'home page' it will be really hard to find music that no one else is listening to.
• As far as I can tell, you can't purchase music from the site anymore.  I didn't buy tons of music from there, but I did buy some.  From what I remember, purchasing music directly from the artists was a big business differentiator for them.  It seems to have gone away entirely.  Were artists made aware of this change?

Music Playback:

• I mentioned before that I really liked the music player they had before.  It was small, hung out up in the upper left corner (at least the most recent incarnation did, there was one at the bottom on the previous design).  From the player I could do these things:  pause, replay, heart, save, change volume, see the songs I've listened to and move to the next song in the list.  Now the 'player' has been separated into two different parts:  one on the left is a flyout layer that shows the band name, the song, lets you heart, comment and share.  To pause, change volume, save, return to playlist (??) or replay, you have to go to the upper right of the screen.  Both actions require a mouseover, and both are annoying.  My most common behavior when listening to a song was to heart it and then save it.  Now I have to go to two different places on the screen to do this.  And now when I save it, I have to specify a playlist - an extra action that I'm not really interested in doing.
• Constant playback doesn't work the same way anymore because they have removed the song list pages.  If you can find the way to get to different 'lists' of music, the song you were listening to stops and a new one starts playing.  You don't have any idea what it will be, and there isn't an easy way to get back to the song you were just listening to.
• Search functionality has been removed entirely.

Community & My Profile

• The sense that there were other people on the site actively listening to the site is totally gone.  I didn't come to the site because I knew other people were there listening, but it was great to discover music through other users.  Radio, followers, listeners. All seem to be gone.
• There was a concept of being able to bid hearts to promote songs to the home page if you were willing to spend the hearts to do it.  I can't tell if that still exists or not.   This is another thing that I rarely did, but I really appreciated when others did it.  It made the home page seem more dynamic and fresh.
• The new user profile on the site is just ugly.  There are CD covers in the middle of the page (I think they show actual covers if you have bought albums from the site - but since I haven't bought full CDs they are just blank covers sitting in the middle of the page). 
• My song lists are relegated to a small module in the bottom right of the page.  I used my saved song list a lot.  Now I have to scroll through a little module to find songs I'm looking for.
• People who follow me and people I follow are gone.  There's a button to follow myself, but I get an error message when I try, and why would I want to anyway?
• My radio is gone as well as the ability to shuffle my saved songs
• They've added the concept of 'playlists' which may be useful for some people, but I think it's a mistake to make them such a priority.  Some people make playlists, others don't.
• There's a really clear "etiquette" link that explains how to be nice on the site, but there's no-one left to be nice to.

2.  They are ignoring their users

They seemed to have done this total redesign without talking to ANY of their actual users.  It's possible that they did talk to some of their users, but when I read all of the backlash against the re-design on their Facebook fan page, and when one of the most active listeners that I know of, writes this on his profile: "I don't have an ipod and the[new]sixtyone is worthless - what were they thinking?" it definitely seems like they didn't.  I've worked at start-ups before, and I know that it's easy to claim that you don't have time/money/resources to have multiple versions of a site available and working for A/B or user/usability testing.  But these aren't small changes.  This is a massive redesign and redirection for the whole site and it deserved to be vetted by some actual users.  I've heard developers claim that they don't have to do usability testing or talk to actual users because they ARE the users (ahem, 37signals...) but it's just not true or right.  And it doesn't have to be a difficult, expensive or time consuming process, especially when there is an ardent and active user base such as with t61. 

But the most damning evidence is that NOWHERE on the site is there a way to give feedback.  Not even a bug reporting link which is highly unusual for a newly launched site.  And with all of the grumblings and rumblings I've read online, I haven't read any response or word from the site developers since they posted a note on their Facebook Fan page saying that saved songs were back.  Not a word.  Where are you guys, and why have you done this to us?

My suspicions are that there is a big business or technical reason they did this.  I'd love to know what it is.

There is a lot of chatter and feedback about the new redesign, most of it negative.  Here's a few good links with other thoughts.

http://www.iusedtolikethesixtyone.com/ - site calling for the boycott of the new t61 with several good links
http://www.movementsixtyone.com/ - collection of links about the new redesign
http://t61place.freeforums.org/ - original forums on how to use t61
http://trinitylast.com/a-letter-to-thesixtyone/ - An open letter from an artist
http://www.thedevilsfeet.net/archive/the-rise-and-fall-of-t61-com/ - with some good links to other articles about the redesign
http://www.reddit.com/r/web_design/comments/as9ql/when_you_do_a_site_redesign_please_dont_do_this/ - great list of the basic usability issues of the new redesign

Thanksgiving Success Including Apple Sour Cherry Pie

Just a short post about some of the great food I had this Thanksgiving.  We went to a friend's for dinner where they made their famous turkey on the BBQ which is a fast and delicious way to make a turkey that I'd never seen done before.  There were also some delicious parsnips roasted with Parmesan, fantastic roasted potatoes and carrots with ginger.   I made brussel sprouts roasted with pancetta, one of the few ways I like brussel sprouts, and I spent literally 2 hours peeling pear onions for balsamic roasted pearl onions from The Cutting Edge of Ordinary blog which were fantastic.  Since I was dining with Brits, they requested that I not make the normal American version of sweet potatoes (the marshmallow ones), so instead I made Sweet Potato Gratin from Smitten Kitchen.  I made a few changes/substitutions since some of the 200+ commenters (!!) mentioned that it was a little watery: I used fresh spinach instead of chard (the chard at Fairway looked uninspiring), I baked it twice - once the day before, then I reheated it right before dinner.  And before I reheated it, I sprinkled some bread crumbs on top along with another sprinkling of Gruyere cheese.  It was a huge hit and definitely a keeper.

For desert, rather than the standard pumpkin or pecan pie (apparently Brits don't like Pumpkin) I made the Beet Pie which has become a new favorite, and since I had about 2 cups of sour cherries left from what I'd frozen this summer, I made an Apple Sour Cherry Pie.  Although it came out a little 'juicier' than I'd like, here's the recipe exactly as I made it.  I may try it again (next year when I have sour cherries again) and I'll drain the sour cherries before adding them, and I'll add a bit more flour and corn starch - corn starch being something I only use in berry pies that I know will be really juicy.

Four things I've been experimenting with lately with pies and pie crusts that I've been happy with: First, I've been making the pie dough in a food processor up to the point where I add the first half of the water (a few tablespoons), then turning it out on the counter and adding the rest of the water.  And I always make each top or bottom separately (it just seems easier to me that way).  Second, I've been using my standard recipe for pie dough (flour, butter, ice water, salt, sugar) but for sweet pies I've started adding about 1/4 cup of very finely chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans). Third, after reading the section about flour in Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking"  where he talks about gluten and how it develops in pastry dough, I've been making the dough a day in advance and letting it sit overnight in the fridge.  Fourth, I've been using at least half raw or turbinado sugar http://www.sugarintheraw.com/ in the fruit filling, the other half regular granulated white sugar.  So far, my experiments have been successful.

Apple Sour Cherry Pie

4 apples - mix of baking types like Rome, Macintosh or Cortland
2 cups pitted sour cherries
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 T lemon juice
Lemon zest from one lemon
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves
2 T flour
2 T corn starch
1 T Port or Whiskey (or 1 t of vanilla if you prefer)

For crust: (makes one top or bottom crust)

1 C plus 2 T flour
1 stick cold butter, cut in pieces
2-4 T ice cold water
1 t salt
1 T sugar
1/4 cup walnuts or pecans

The day before you are going to bake the pie, make the crust recipe twice:  add the nuts to the food processor, and pulse until nuts are very finely ground.  Add flour, sugar and salt to the processor and pulse briefly to mix dry ingredients.  Add pieces of very cold butter and blend until it looks like cornmeal with a few bigger lumps.  Add about 2 tablespoons of cold water and mix briefly just until the dough starts to come together.  There will still be loose bits of flour/butter mixture.  Dump mixture into a bowl or onto a floured surface and add the remaining ice water and gently knead together until it easily forms a ball.  Don't over knead!  Pat it into a round disk, wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

For the filling: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Peel and core the apples and cut into slices or chunky pieces (or both), adding lemon juice as you go to keep apples from turning brown.  Add sour cherries, port and lemon zest.  Mix all dry ingredients together in a small bowl, then add to the fruit mixture.  Mix well and set aside.

Roll out bottom crust into 9 inch pie pan.  Add filling and cover with top crust.  Cut small holes in the top crust and sprinkle with raw sugar.  Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 375 and bake for 55 - 60 minutes until filling is bubbling and crust is brown.  You may need to put foil or a pie crust ring around the edge of the crust to keep it from getting too brown.  You may also need to place a pan on the rack below the pie pan to catch any escaping juices.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Beet Pie

I am actually working on blog posts about UX and usability (really, I've got two in the works...) but this is an emergency recipe posting!  A few weeks ago, we went to visit some friends in Pennsylvania.  They live in the northern part, past the Poconos - a really nice part of the state that I'd never been to before.  They have a beautiful hill-top apple orchard that they are in the process of reviving.  It's all organic, so I picked some apples and planned to go home and make an apple pie (which I did last weekend).  I forget why it came up, but I think I started going off on how much I love beets and how wonderful they are.  Our friend volunteered that she had a great recipe for a beet pie.  Not a savory beet pie, but a sweet beet pie.  I was intrigued and asked for the recipe.

I wasn't really sure what to expect.  But when I did get the recipe it sort of made sense.  It's officially called "Ruby Red Fruit and Nut Pie" which is really disingenuous because the only fruit it has in it according to the original recipe is raisins.  Maybe they thought people would be scared to make it if it was really called what it is.  Rather than being cagey about it, I'm officially renaming it Beet Pie.  I'm not sure what newspaper it was cut from, so I can't take full credit for it, but I did make a few changes to the recipe as it was sent to me (I used dried cranberries instead of raisins, and maple syrup instead of dark corn syrup).  It's actually similar to pecan pie, and it turned out much better than I expected.  I think it is now one of my new favorite pies.  It may even be on the desert line up for Thanksgiving.

Beet Pie

1 single unbaked pie shell (9 inches)
2 medium beets
1/2 cup grade B maple syrup
3 eggs
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t ground cloves
1/4 t white vinegar
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
2 T butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 T flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Cut tops and bottoms off beets and boil for 20 - 30 minutes until tender.  Cool and peel.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Chop roughly and put into a food processor.    Pulse until beets are in small pieces, being careful not to puree them (you could probably also shred them with a box grater to get the same effect).    Remove the beets from processor and set aside.  Add all other ingredients except walnuts and cranberries to the processor and blend well.  Add 1 cup of the chopped beets (you may have some beets left over), the walnuts and dried cranberries.  Pulse until just blended.  Pour into the unbaked pie shell.

Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.  Reduce temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes or until pie is firm.  Cool on a rack and serve still warm with vanilla ice cream.

Sweet Tomato Chutney

 

I'm having a blog identity crisis.  I've been ignoring my other half.  I'm not married, so no, I don't mean my husband.  I mean the other half of what this blog is supposed to be about.  I've been having a nice summer creating lots of salads, canning stuff when I can (and freezing it when I can't can) and doing a bit of baking here and there.  But I haven't been writing at all about usability and user experience.    Definitely part of is has been that I've been taking advantage of all of the social media, promotion and blog marketing tools that I've discovered in the food blog world, so I've been focusing a lot on writing recipe posts.  I'm pretty amazed at the sheer number of food blogs there are out there, many of them excellent and inspiring.   But it's also a little overwhelming.  I definitely feel like I need to both step up my game in the quality of food photos (which means investing in a decent digital SLR) and the variety of recipe posts.   But I also need to really find my niche and differentiate my blog from others.  I still think that the differentiator should be a focus on usability and user experience with cooking, so I plan on focusing on that a little more down the road.  Those kinds of posts are more difficult to write, and generally not as much fun, but really, I'm not doing this to have fun.

But for now, here's a fun chutney recipe.   At this point you must think that I'm chutney crazy.  I sort of am, but my real reason for making chutneys this summer/fall rather than jam, jelly or simply freezing fruit has been twofold:  first, I've made jams and jellies all of my life and I don't find them particularly challenging anymore.  Chutneys have more ingredients, have more complex flavors and the end result can be used in ways other than just spread on toast.  I serve this chutney with curries, with a cheese plate, as a condiment for egg rolls, on a sandwich, with chicken, fish or pork.  Yesterday, I was making some chicken soup, so I added a teaspoonful of the chutney, and it added a nice acidic sweetness that really added to the overall flavor of the soup. 

The second reason is economic.  I think it can be argued that price isn't an issue if you are learning something about preserving food, so it doesn't matter how much you spend on home canning.  But it can also be argued that the main reasons to preserve food at home is to control the quality and sources of what you eat and to save money.   I didn't can tomatoes this summer.  The late blight on the east coast and New England drove up the price of organic tomatoes, and it didn't make sense for me to pay $50 for 11lbs of tomatoes (nice organic tomatoes run about $4.50/lb at the farmers market) which would translate to probably 5 or 6 pints of canned tomatoes - a cost of roughly $8/pint.  I didn't get out of the city often enough to canvas rural farmers markets for cheaper tomatoes.   I wanted to do something with tomatoes before they all disappeared from the farmers market, so I decided to make this chutney.  I bought some cheaper, non organic tomatoes at $2.00/lb from the farmers market.  I got a little over 5lbs of tomatoes for the chutney, which in the end resulted in 8 half-pints of chutney.  Figuring in sugar, vinegar, spices and raisins (organic where I could, all cost approximately $4.00) each half-pint ended up costing me about $1.75 each. 

The magic of fruit chutney is to have idiosyncratic yet complimentary blends of fruit, sugar, spices and acid.  The amounts of each vary depending of if you are making a spicier chutney or a sweeter one.  This chutney is pretty sweet, but it's also very acidic, with equal parts of sugar and vinegar.  You probably could make this chutney spicier by adding fresh chilies or more cayenne, but I think I'd rather have a hot chutney (like lime or a specific spicy chili chutney) as a separate condiment.   This chutney is fairly easy to make - it doesn't require a lot of preparation besides peeling and cutting the tomatoes, chopping garlic and ginger.  It calls for garam masala, a ground spice blend which you can make yourself by grinding your own spices (cinnamon, cumin, clove, pepper, ginger, anise, etc) which I did with the last chutney I made.  One of the great things about living in NYC is that you have close access to specialty stores that carry fresh spices and spice mixes.   I found some already mixed garam masala from Dual Specialty Store  on 1st ave and 6th street - their custom house blend is great.

Three notes on this chutney.  First, it WILL make your apartment/house smell like vinegar while it's cooking (but in a nice way, of course).  Second, you really do need to cook it for longer than you think you do.  It should get to the point where it is dark, thick and shiny, about 90 minutes.  Third, the recipe below makes approximately 8 half-pints so I processed them in a boiling water bath.  If you don't feel up to processing them, cut the recipe in half, and after cooking put the chutney in glass jars while it's still hot, let cool and refrigerate.

Sweet Tomato Chutney

Adapted From Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking

• 5 lbs of fresh tomatoes
• 4 cups white sugar
• 4 cups white vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh garlic (about 10 cloves or 1 medium head)
• 1 teaspoon ground fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek seed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 t cayenne pepper
• 3 t salt
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 cup raisins

Peel tomatoes by scoring the tomatoes and blanching for 20 -30 seconds in boiling water.  Chop into large chunks.  Place all ingredients, except raisins, in a large non-reactive heavy bottomed pot.    Cover and bring to a boil.  After 30 minutes, remove the lid, add raisins and adjust the heat so you have a low boil.  Continue cooking uncovered for approximately another hour, until it  has reduced by half, is thick, dark and shiny.  You will need to stir it more frequently towards the end as it will be thick and you don't want it to burn on the bottom.

If you are going to can the chutney, prepare your jars by sterilizing in boiling water.  Fill jars with hot chutney, gently tap to remove air bubbles, wipe jar edges, and place lids on the jars.  Process in a  boiling water bath for 20 minutes.  Confirm all jars are sealed.  Chutney will last for approximately 1 year in sealed jars.

Homemade Granola

As promised, at long last, the granola recipe.  Granola is one of those things that can seem really difficult and intimidating, but really, it's very simple to make, and is almost limitless in the way you can customize it.  I've been making this granola off and on for the past 3 years or so, experimenting with different levels of liquid, sweets and oats, and I feel like I've finally found a good base recipe to which I (or you) can add your own personal favorites.  I've actually been seeing a lot of 'homemade' granola for sale around Brooklyn lately (Early Bird Granloa is usually on sale at the Brooklyn Flea).  But at $8 for a 12oz bag, it's not cheap (disclaimer: I haven't actually tasted their granola).  This recipe makes about 24oz, and depending on the quality of ingredients you use, can cost as little as $5.00 to make.

So first, some notes on my methodology that affect the outcome: 

• Use thick cut oats - I use Bob's Red Mill organic thick cut rolled oats, so this recipe is formulated I think with the right amount of liquid for this type of oats.  It would probably work with regular cut oats (Quaker or another brand), but I wouldn't recommend using quick or instant oatmeal for this recipe. 
• You can add your own mix of nuts - I generally use sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds (pepitas)  and one other kind of nut - usually pecans or walnuts.   But really, you could use any kind of raw nut in pretty much any proportion that you like.   Make sure you use RAW nuts. The recipe below has a 2:1 oats to nuts ratio, but you could add more nuts if desired.  If you add more oats, I would increase the amount of liquid.
• Dried fruit - I also usually make this with dried cranberries, but recently made it with dried cherries, coconut and dried apricots.  Just be sure to add the dried fruit AFTER you've cooked the granola or the fruit will be really hard and chewy.  I most recently added coconut after I baked it, but next time I might try baking the coconut and see what happens. 
• Go organic - I try to use organic ingredients whenever I can, including organic nuts and seeds and dried fruit. 
• Sweetness - This recipe doesn't have any refined sugar (unless you use sweetened fruit juice), so if it's not sweet enough for you, either add more maple syrup or add some brown sugar to the dry ingredients.  Obviously, if it's too sweet, decrease the amount of either maple syrup or honey, or use entirely unsweetened fruit juice.
• It's not clumpy - This granola doesn't really cluster together - but I like this way.  If you want more clustery granola, you could probably add more juice (or other liquid) and stir it less often while baking.

Homemade Granola

3 cups thick cut rolled oats
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pepitas
1/2 cup raw peacans
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 t salt

1/3 cup canola oil (plus 1 T for the pan)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 c fruit juice (apple, cranberry or a mix)
2 T honey

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a large, shallow roasting pan with canola oil and set aside.  In a large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients including spices.  In a smaller bowl or a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup, mix together all of the liquid ingredients.  Tip: If you measure out the oil first and use the same measuring cup, the maple syrup and the honey will slide right out of your measuring cup.  Mix all of the liquid ingredients well, then pour over the dry ingredients.  Mix well, and pour into the greased roasting pan.  Spread evenly across the bottom (ideally it isn't more than an inch or so thick at the bottom of the pan.)

Bake for 45 - 60 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so, making sure to bring the granola from the edges of the pan to the center so that it all browns evenly.  You may need to stir more frequently towards the end of baking, and keep a careful eye on it so that it doesn't burn around the edges. 

Granola in the baking pan before going in the oven

Granola after baking

Breakfast!

What to Eat When Your'e Camping: Shopping, Preparation and Storage Tips

Part of my  menu preparation for our camping trip required some deep thinking about what foods were "camping friendly" and convenient to have on a 8 day trip.   This meant food that didn't require more than the three days of the refrigeration we would get from our collapsible cooler, food that was relatively lightweight and compact, had minimal but sturdy packaging, and food that could be prepared before-hand so it was fairly easy to prepare in camp.  And it also had to taste good.

On our fourth day camping, we decided to take a longer day trip from the Middle Saranac Lake where we were staying, over to the Upper Saranac Lake.   On our way back, we met a family of 5 (two parents with 3 kids aged probably 9 - 15) who were on a long Canoe trek from the Raquette river to the Middle Saranac (part of the Northern Forest Canoe Trial  that goes from New York to Maine).  They were at the second of two canoe portages of the day (first one was 1.5 miles and the second .5 miles).  They had two canoes and had all of their gear packed in 5 backpacks for easy portage.  I was duly impressed with the hard trek they had, but I was really wondering what food they had to eat.    I assumed they had packaged, dehydrated backpacking/camping food and I felt really sorry for them - that after doing all of that hard work they wouldn't have any good food to eat for dinner.  As you can see from some of the menu highlights of our trip, I think we ate pretty well.  Part of it was planning, part of it shopping and part of it was actual cooking.  So here are my tips for better camp food:

Planning Your Menu & Shopping

Generally speaking, the most convenient foods for camping are foods that don't need refrigeration, that pack and store easily and that are simple to cook or heat up.  Smaller packages or single servings help reduce food waste and mean that you don't have to refrigerate leftovers.  A few of my favorites:

• Boxed milk - I bought Horizon organic in the 8 oz packages.  We used it for granola, making pancakes and occasionally for tea.
• Cured meats - Salami and other cured sausage doesn't need to be refrigerated, don't require cooking and only require a knife to cut and eat.  And they are usually delicious.  I got some Saussion Sec (french style garlic sausage).  I also got some beef jerky from Trader Joe's, (I'm actually finding it really hard to believe that here is a site of JUST reviews of beef jerky, but here it is) that we both found it overly sweet and didn't really like.
• Flat bread - I prefer this rather than loaf bread because it's easy to pack and doesn't get smashed.   It's also easy to warm directly on the fire, on the grill or in a pan.
• Instant noodle soups - Annie Chun's Korean Kimchi Noodle Soup only requires boiling water, comes in a re-usable, biodegradable bowl with a lid that you can eat the soup out of, doesn't have MSG and tastes really good.
• Tuna - We didn't actually eat any tuna on this trip, but I always bring a can or two just in case.  Cans are good for day trips, as long as you remember to bring your pocket knife and know how to use the can opener.  I've recently seen tuna packed in flat plastic envelope type packages, but I haven't tried them.
• Crackers - Alhough you have to be careful with packing, crackers go with cheese, tuna, salami or other stuff for snacks.  I brought Trader Joe's wheat crackers (similar to Triscuits) because they come in a bag in a box and don't crush easily.
• Nuts & Trail Mix - A must have for day trips and for snacking around camp.  Not to mention Trader Joe's too much, but they have great trail mixes at decent prices.  You can also make your own by buying nuts, seeds and dried fruit.
• Peanut Butter - I'd like to say that I don't go anywhere without peanut butter, but it's not really true.  I would if I could. 
• Sweet stuff - I planned on making homemade cookies, but didn't get around to it with all of the other packing and preparation I was doing.  So I just brought some Nutterbutters and some Raspberry Newtons.
• 'Smores - If you are one of those people who MUST have 'smores when you camp, a great tip that a friend passed on to me.  Instead of buying graham crackers and chocolate separately, buy some Petit Écolier - either milk or dark chocolate, warm them by the fire, then put the toasted marshmallow between two chocolaty cookies.

Keeping Food Cold

I had planned for there to be about 3 days worth of cooler coldness on this trip, but I think because of the preparations I did before-hand, and because the weather wasn't too hot, we got about four days from our small collapsible cooler.    These are a few tips that I found helpful for this trip:

• Block Ice - It's really important that you use a block of ice rather than individual cubes.  One great way of doing this is to freeze a gallon (or several if you have a larger cooler) of water (thanks Camping Blogger for this idea)  and use these as ice blocks in your cooler.  For one thing, it stays cold longer because it keeps the water close to the ice.  It also means you don't have tons of water in your cooler as the ice melts, and if you are carrying your water in, you can drink the water after it melts. 
• Make a 'Freezer Chest' -Freeze anything you can before hand (all of your meat, bread, butter).  Get a plastic container with a tight lid that fits snugly in your cooler.  The day you leave, put all frozen food together in the plastic container.  Your food will defrost slowly and will retain some of the cold as it does so.  When you want to defrost something, remove it from the plastic bin and place it at the top of the cooler, away from the ice.
• Butter, cheese and eggs keep fairly well as long as it doesn't get too hot and you have a shady place to keep a cooler.  I moved the butter and cheese into the 'freezer chest' after we defrosted and ate some of the meat, keeping all of the coldest things together.

Keeping Food Away from Animals

Unless you are camping in your living room, you will most likely encounter some sort of animal - be it insects, mice, raccoons, or god forbid, a bear.  I've been on previous trips to Saranac Lake where we were practically attacked by marauding mice, so I try to be tidy, clean up any dropped food, and store food in tight containers or put it out of reach.   Some tips for keeping animals away from food:

• Buckets with lids - Last year we hit upon the solution of bringing along two 3 gallon plastic buckets with tight fitting lids.  We use them to store food at night (I used them for the especially tempting animal favorites like trail mix, peanut butter, crackers and cookies) and they can do double duty as water gatherers and a dish sink. 
• Tree Hang - For food that doesn't need to stay dry, or simply doesn't fit in your bucket, we rigged a rope between two trees that could easily be lowered and raised.  We put food in plastic bags, clipped a carabiner clip  to each bag, then clipped the bag to the rope and hoisted it up into the air out of reach.  We hung up our trash each night and when we left camp in the daytime this way as well.
• Ziplock bags - whether it's in your cooler, the plastic buckets or just in your backpack, ziplock bags help keep moisture, dirt and insects away from your food. 
• Use your kayak - if you have a kayak with a closed hatch in the front or back, you can generally store food there away from little animals.  Just make sure that you park your kayak out of the sun so your food doesn't get too hot and spoil.

Two important notes about bigger animals:

1. It is highly recommended that you don't keep food in your tent (this actually applies to small animals as well).  I could imagine what a horrible thing it would be to wake up in the middle of the night to find mice, racoons or bears rummaging through your tent.    If possible, keep your food cooking and storage area on the other side of your camp away from your tent.  Luckily, I've only once had a bear encounter in camp (when I was a kid, and I slept through it), not including hitting one with my car a few months ago on the Taconic parkway (it was his fault, and he was OK enough to run off into the woods)
2. If you are going into an area where bears have been sighted, it's a good idea to bring a bear safe or metal food locker.   And just to be even more service-y, here's some info on what you should do if you encounter a bear  and other bear proofing tips   (excellent tip here: "Never try to move a grizzly bear!")

There are a few things that I forgot to bring for my kitchen set up and that aren't included in my previous post on Tools for Your Camp Kitchen:

• TONGS! - I can't believe that I forgot this super important utensil.  From turning meat to grabbing hot things from the fire, tongs are a must for any camp kitchen.
• IKEA blue tarp bags - If you haven't ever been to IKEA,  you may not know what I'm talking about.  But those of you who do, may understand the utility and value of the blue tarp bag from IKEA.  You used to only be able to use them when you were shopping in the store, but a year or so ago, they stopped using plastic bags for purchases and 'make' you purchase a blue tarp bag.  They are super handy and versatile.  We used them for collecting wood, storing food, and carrying tools.  You could probably also use them for collecting water if you needed to.
• Stove canister stand - Also in my previous camp kitchen tools post, I mentioned that the small camp stove I have is a little difficult to use because it's unstable.  I found this canister stand at EMS before I left, and it came in very handy.  It fits on most gas stove canisters and provides a little bit more stability than just using the can alone.

Up next, the very last camping post, the recipe for Homemade Granola.

Camping Menu - What to Cook When You're Camping

 I've been back from my camping trip for over a week now, but because I've been busy at work and a few social obligations, I haven't been able to blog about it until now.  As I was writing this post, I realized that I actually had a lot to say, so I think I'm going to break this up into several posts that I'll put up in the next few days.  This first post will be specifically about the best food we ate on our camping trip.  The second post will be a sort of follow-up to the "Tools for Your Camp Kitchen" post I did a few weeks ago and it will focus on food shopping, preparation and storage tips, and things that I forgot that would have been really useful.  Lastly, I'll post the recipe for homemade granola since I think that it's good enough to stand on it's own.

So just to refresh your memory, I just came back from a canoe camping trip to Saranac Lake Islands in the Adirondacks park in New York.  The Saranac Lake Islands have primitive camping sites (primitive meaning they have a fire ring, and an outhouse - no running water or other facilities) around both the Middle and Lower Saranac Lakes.  All of the sites require a boat of some sort to get to, and while I've used a kayak on past trips, for the past two years we've chosen to bring a canoe since you can generally bring more stuff with you. For this trip, since I knew we were planning on staying on the lake for the entire week (8 days and 7 nights) without going back into town for groceries, I planned the menu to have all of the cooler required foods (i.e., meat) in the first few days.  In general, I've found that with block ice, and weather between 40 - 70 degrees, our cooler keeps stuff pretty cold for about 4 days, so I planned a menu around that.

I won't go through the entire menu, but I will talk about a few of the new camp food discoveries I made and some stand out meals that we had. Luckily we had really great weather  (hurricane Danny dumped rain on the city and the beaches, but we were far enough away in the mountains to miss it) and the camp site we reserved was the best one we've ever had on the lake, with a nice little beach on a sort of secluded bay: several pairs of loons, bald eagles, no bears, no biting bugs (though a lot of daddy long legs) and of course, great food.

Update:  Also check out my final camping post on Camp Food Preparation and Storage Tips  and the recipe for homemade granola.

Generally almost all food tastes better when you're camping, these were a few of the standouts:

Best Breakfasts (or in some instances, brunch):  

Scrambled eggs with Spanish chorizo - If we didn't have big plans for the day and were either hanging around camp or doing a smaller canoe trip in the afternoon, we'd start a fire and get out the cast iron pan.  I brought a single package of Niman Ranch uncured bacon (I know, not very much for two people, but I didn't know how warm it would be and how long it it would keep in the cooler) which we had with pancakes one morning (which were good - I used Arrowhead Mills Organic Multi-Grain Pancake mix mainly because you only need water or milk and oil to add to the mix).  Generally with a single pan, I sometimes find that the bother to reward ratio for pancakes is a little high, but I do love pancakes.    My favorite breakfast was scrambled eggs with Spanish chorizo.  I got a vacuum package of four small Spanish chorizos that didn't require refrigeration.  Spanish chorizo is a hard cured sausage - very different from Mexican chorizo.   I sliced up two little chorizos,  sauteed them in the cast iron, drained off most of the very red fat, then added the eggs.  Served with flat bread heated briefly over the fire on the fire grate, and some butter and jam, it was tasty and satisfying.

Homemade Granola (cold or hot) - A few mornings we had plans for day trips to different lakes, and one morning it was really windy so we chose not to start a fire.  I've been making homemade granola for a few years, so I made a special extra nutty batch to bring camping.  Every morning, even when we had a fire, I'd use the little camp stove to heat up water for hot tea,  hot chocolate or hot Tang (or even hot tea with Tang).  On this particular cool windy morning, I heated up some milk to add to the granola for hot granola.  It was a great start to a cold morning.

Best Lunches:

Hard-boiled Eggs and Saucisson Sec - We didn't have lunch every day, mainly because sometimes by the time we got up, got the fire going and got breakfast made, it was brunch.  But the few days we went out for day trips, we'd take snacks with us - nuts, trail mix, beef jerky and cookies.  The one day we went on a big trip, I realized the night before, that it would be super easy to put a pot of boiling water over the fire while we were making dinner, and hard boil some eggs.  We even cooled off the boiled eggs by putting them directly in the lake.  Our day trip lunch the next day was hard-boiled eggs, a really delicious saucisson sec (dry french garlic sausage), sharp cheddar cheese and crackers.  Super simple but really tasty after an afternoon of paddling.

Best Dinners:

Steak, Baked Potatoes and Baked Beans - How can you not like a nice organic shell stake grilled over a wood fire in front of a beautiful lake?    The baked potatoes were wrapped in tinfoil (poke a few holes in them first) and put directly in the fire for about 30 - 40 minutes, turned and moved occasionally.  My favorite baked beans are Bush's Original Baked Beans.   You can simply open the can (keeping the lid attached so it covers the beans while they are cooking) and put the whole can in the fire for 5 -10 minutes (generally I put it just to the side of the actual fire so the beans don't burn) and stir occasionally.    A little fresh garlic rubbed on the steak, some salt and pepper then on the grill 'til they are done to your liking (I prefer medium rare).  This was a super simple meal, but one of our best dinners, partly because we had really nice steak.

Marinated Lamb Kabobs with Cous-Cous and Baked Yams -  I like lamb, but I actually don't make it that often - I think partly because I never ate it growing up so it's a meat that I'm not really used to cooking.  The lamb was really the only thing that I prepared at home before we left.  I found a recipe for a garlic & cilantro lamb kabobs (recipe below).  I made the marinade, added the lamb, refrigerated overnight, then tossed it in the freezer for the few days before we left on our trip.  I hadn't ever made cous-cous while camping before, but I make it a lot at home, and it's one of the easiest things to make.   Just bring some water to boil (I usually do a 1.5:1 ratio of water to cous-cous - even though some recipes call for a 2:1 or even a 3:1 ratio) add the cous-cous, bring it up to a simmer, then remove from the heat, cover, let sit for five minutes, then fluff with a fork.  Because you don't have to actually boil it over the fire, there is less of a chance of burning it on the un-even heat than there is with rice.  I made the yams the same way I made the baked potatoes the night before - wrap in tinfoil and throw in the fire, moving and turning them occasionally.

Because I actually brought a lot of extra of lamb and really big yams, the next night was leftovers which somehow was even better.  I made a pilaf with the left-over cous-cous and yams: I chopped up some trail mix (almonds, cashews and dried cranberries) sauteed the nuts over the fire until they were slightly toasted, then added chunks of the cooked yams, then the already cooked cous-cous with a bit of water and warmed it over the fire.  The lamb went into the cast iron pan over the fire just until it was warmed through. 

Trader Joes Pesto Tortellini with Marinara Sauce - Really the only credit I can take for this meal is that I bought it at the store, boiled the water for the pasta and heated the marinara over the fire.  This was the last dinner that we had at the campsite.  By this time, we had been out of ice in the cooler for several days and it had been in the 70's and 80's during the day, so it was good that we had this simple meal planned it for the last night.  The Trader Joe's dried pesto tortellini was actually really good considering it's dried pasta.  And their basic marinara sauce is pretty decent as well.  It may have just been the last night of camping, the beautiful sunset and eating outdoors, but this was a simple and satisfying meal.

Desserts:

Sticky Toffee Pudding - I love baking - cakes, pies, cookies, etc. but I've never actually tried baking over a wood fire.  I'm also not actually a big after dinner dessert eater.   As a frequent insomniac, I try to avoid eating sugar and chocolate late at night because it seems to keep me awake (it may be totally psychosomatic, but insomnia is generally all in your head anyway).  Beyond some cookies (Nutterbutters and chocolate covered digestives) we only had one big dessert treat: Sticky Toffee Pudding with warm Devon custard.  I'm sure that there are better homemade versions of these, but for camping they are great once a year treats.  I heated up the custard in a small pot (which was a little risky on the un-even heat of the fire), but the pudding itself stays in it's can in a pot of boiling water for 20-30 minutes.

Drinks:

Wine - Having a beer in the afternoon hanging out in the sun and the water, can be one of the great parts of enjoying the outdoors, but beer isn't a great thing to take on a longer camping trip for several reasons: first, it requires cold (or at least the beers that I like do), and second, bottles and cans add to the bulk of items you bring into camp and to the trash you need to carry out.   I remember back in the 80's that boxed wine made a big splash in the states, but in general it was cheap, sweet and not very good.  A few years ago I discovered the "From the Tank" boxed wine, which I can highly recommend.  A box is approximately 3 bottles.  We got one of these and then a smaller box of French Rose which was also really good.  Boxed wine is great to bring camping because you can burn the box after your done and all you have to carry out is the plastic or mylar bag that the wine is actually packaged in.

Bourbon - Some people require bourbon.

Brandy - There was also a bottle of brandy for sipping on cold evenings in front of the fire.

Tea - I drink coffee sometimes (and I really love coffee) but I'm mainly a tea drinker.  My favorite these days is P.G. Tips - a classic British tea.   Tea doesn't require any special equipment to make and since I drink mine black, you just need a way to boil water.  I didn't bring any herbal teas on this trip, but definitely plan on bringing some on my next camping trip.  A nice cup of hot peppermint or chamomile tea can be a great way to end an evening.

The aforementioned Tang - I generally don't drink soda, and this is something that I would never drink at home, but for some reason it just fits with camping.  Since we were filtering our water from the lake, which requires adding chlorine based purification tablets, a little spoon of Tang in your water bottle adds a little flavor and covers up any strange tastes that I'm not normally used to.  Hot or cold, Tang is good.

So now, the recipe:

Lamb Kabobs with Garlic & Cilantro  (adapted from Serious Eats)

Marinade
1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
4 medium garlic cloves
1/4 cup dried cranberries (or dark raisins)
1/2 garam masala
2 T lime juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 t salt
Freshly ground pepper

2 red onions, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 1/4 lbs of lamb leg center slices or arm chops, cut into 1-2 inch squares
Metal or bamboo skewers

Add all marinade ingredients to a food processor or blender and pulse until completely blended.   Cut lamb into 1-2 inch squares, removing any excess fat.  In a large bowl, place meat and pour marinade over it, mixing together and making sure that all meat is covered.  If you are cooking the same day, let marinate for at least an hour.  Otherwise, place lamb and marinade in a ziplock bag and refrigerate until ready to use.

If you are using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 1 hour before you prepare the kabobs.   Cut the onions into large chunks and make the kabobs alternating meat and onions. (You can add other vegetables to these if you like - peppers and cherry tomatoes are good additions).  Grill over a hot charcoal or wood fire until medium rare. 

Stay tuned for my next post on Camp Food Preparation and Storage Tips.

Carrot Blueberry Salad

After a rainy, chilly June and July, August has been hot and steamy (and rainy again).   It's really seemed like a short summer for me.  I live near from Pratt Institute  in Brooklyn and this weekend seemed to be the weekend that all of the new students were being dropped off by their parents and were attending orientation. That means that summer is nearly over.  For me, starting college was such  a great time in life - starting a whole new chapter in a totally new place.  And even though I haven't been in school for longer than I will reveal, I still get an unsettled and yearning feeling each fall - like I need to be starting something new.  But at the same time, I'm really sad that summer is over.

I love summer, I really do.  Even though it gets really hot in my apartment and it is uncomfortable to bake or cook or do laundry, there are tons of fresh fruit and vegetables available from the farmers market for making simple salads and simple fruit based desserts (I will get either my rooftop garden going or will find that perfect country house at some time in the future - it's just not happening yet).   We go on trips to the country.  I don't have to wear sweaters and jackets and gloves.  Everything is lush and green.   So before fall really kicks in, and before I go away for my camping trip where I'll be eating lots of meat and nary a green thing, I'm going to celebrate summer by making and eating a lot of salads.

I like odd food.  I don't mean food that is in itself odd, but taking different normal foods and pairing them in ways that  you had never thought of before.  It's so revelatory.  Watermelon feta salad was the salad revelation for me two years ago.  This year it's been this salad - the carrot and blueberry salad.  Two very simple and tasty ingredients, tied together with some lemon and roasted sunflower seeds.  I think nuts (or seeds) go well in almost any salad, and this salad is testament to that.   It's from the NY Times 101 Simple Salads article by Mark Bittman that I've mentioned before.  Last week I got as far as number 1.  This week it's number 7.

Carrot Blueberry Salad (from the NY Times)

3 Cups shredded or matchstick carrots
1 Cup blueberries
1/2 T olive oil
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
Juice of half a lemon
Salt
Pepper

In a shallow pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add he sunflower seeds.  Stir constantly for 3-5 minutes until most of the seeds are brown and toasty.  Watch them very carefully since they burn easily and remove them from the pan immediately when they are done.  Set aside to cool.  Either grate or matchstick the carrots and mix with the blueberries.   Add the cooled seeds, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Mix thoroughly and enjoy immediately.

Fennel Salad

It seems like all summer I've been on a feta/mint combo salad bender:  I'd walk through the farmers market or rifle through my fridge and everything that I bought or pulled out seemed like it would be a perfect fit with mint that I have growing in a big pot in my window, and my new favorite feta cheese.  But yesterday at last, I got a craving for a great summer salad that has neither feta or mint - Fennel Salad.

I adapted this recipe from something that a good friend of mine used to make at her regular summer Williamsburg Brooklyn backyard BBQs.  She is an amazing cook, and was a great hostess, but has unfortunately (for me) moved to London  so I thought I would make this nice salad in her honor.  

It's actually funny that I like this salad - or that I like fennel bulb.  I don't generally like the anise-y licorice flavor that comes from anethole, an aromatic compound in fennel that is also found in anise and star anise. I don't like Pernod or Absinthe or black licorice, but I really like fennel.  Raw or cooked the flavor of fennel is complex and goes well with other vegetables, meat or cheese, but holds its own. 

Two notes about this salad: It is actually very easy to make, especially if you have a mandoline.  I actually don't currently have a mandoline, so I partly used my box grater and partly sliced it very thinly with a knife.  I'm planning at some point on doing a 'mandoline off' where I compare 2 or 3 mandolines and rate them accordingly.  I think I've read all of the reviews of different ones on Amazon, and they all seem to have some issues (dull blades, cut fingers and awkward orientation to name a few).  Any recommendations on which ones I should try would definitely be appreciated.  But even if you don't have a mandoline, you can still make this salad fairly easily.  It just takes a little longer.

The second note is that the recipe calls for pistachio oil.  If you haven't ever tried pistachio oil, you are totally missing something.  Like many nut oils, pistachio oil has a strong toasty flavor that goes really well with both sweet and savory foods.  I raved about how delicious it was to my fennel salad friend the first time I had it, so she generously brought back a bottle of it from France the next time she went.  Unfortunately, like many good things, it's very expensive - especially if you buy it here imported from France.  But I think you can easily substitute another nut oil like walnut or hazelnut oil (or even dark sesame oil) and get a similar flavor.  Just now, as I'm writing this, I'm thinking that this salad would be really amazing with the addition of some toasted nuts - hazelnuts would be nice.  You could probably get away with using a good strong olive oil and some toasted nuts and get a similar effect.

Fennel Salad

2 fennel bulbs
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
2 T finely chopped fennel greens
3 T pistachio oil
Juice from 1 lemon
Shaved parmesean cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

Cut the tops off the fennel, reserving a few of the greens.  Clean the fennel, and lightly peel any spots off the outside.  Slice very thinly using a mandoline  or a sharp knife. Finely chop the Italian parsely, the reserved fennel greens and mix into the sliced fennel.  Add the lemon juice, pistachio oil and salt and pepper and mix well.  Using a vegetable peeler or a cheese slicer, shave thin pieces of cheese over the top.  Crack fresh pepper over the top and serve.

Tomato Peach Salad

This week's Summer Fest is all about tomatoes.  I thought long and hard about what tomato recipe I could share - I have so many  favorite ways of eating tomatoes, but very few actually written down or codified.  One of my favorite events of each summer is the first tomato sandwich:  some sort of nice white bread toasted, mayonaise, heirloom tomato, salt, pepper.  Super simple and super delicous.  Or, there is my favorite sweet tomato chutney - but that is actually long, hot and complicated, so I'll save that one for later.   

It's finally been hot here in NYC - August hot.  Humid, sweaty and smelly.  That means I've been cooking a lot less and just making salads or simple dinners of toast and cheese for dinner at home.  Since I've been working in an office near Union Square, I've been able to shop for food the way I like to - just picking up a few things that I'll need in the two days until the next market happens - rather than doing a big shopping trip once a week and lugging tons of bags home.  I've been getting lots of peaches, carrots, zucchini and radishes.  Sunday afternoon, I ventured on to the NYTimes site for the 101 Simple Salads article to get some inspiration.  I remembered seeing something about a tomato peach or tomato watermelon salad, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  The recipe called for tomatoes and either peaches or watermelon, a simple vinagrette and basil.  I didn't have any basil on hand, but I did have some mint, so I used this as a starting point and mixed it with the basics from my favorite watermelon salad and made a tasty peach tomato salad:

Tomato Peach Salad

2 ripe tomotoes, cut into chunks
3 ripe peaches, cut into chunks (I left the skins on)
1/3 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped mint
Fresh ground pepper

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl and prepare the dressing:

Basic Vinagrette
2 T white wine vinegar
1 T balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 T pistachio oil (this is kind of difficult to find - but it is amazing oil if you can find it.  If you don't have it, sub olive oil)
4 T olive oil
Salt

Whisk together, taste for salt.  Pour half over salad - you may not use all of the dressing - toss and taste before adding more.  Grind fresh pepper and toss again.

Corn Pie - Local Food from a Country Fair

I love country fairs.  They are one of the few things left from the 'olden days' when a huge percentage of the American population lived in rural areas and fairs were the way that people came together from far-flung places to show their talents, do business, learn the latest agricultural techniques, and socialize.   I used to show my horse in my local county fair, and for me it was all about winning ribbons and meeting boys.

This weekend, I went out to Kutztown, Pennsylvania to the Kutztown Fair.  I've been going out to this part of Pennsylvania for a few years now, but I really don't know much about the area or Pennsylvania in particular.  The area around Kutztown is fairly rural - a lot of big and small farms and active Mennonite communities.  The fair offered plenty of country fair highlights - a midway with carnival rides and games, livestock judging, a demolition derby, craft shows and 4-H exhibits, tractor and hit-and-miss engine displays and, of course, plenty of food. 

There was the standard fair fare - hot dogs, hamburgers, funnel cakes, cotton candy, etc., but there were also several local specialties made and served by surrounding town granges, fire houses and social clubs.  I've encountered several local Pennsylvania Dutch delicacies that I have yet to try (scrapple, chipped beef on toast, fried balogna, chow-chow, shoo-fly pie, whoopie pies) but something caught my eye that I hadn't seen before, but was billed as a 'fair favorite:'  Corn Pies.  While my friends had locally made sausage sandwiches from the Virginvile Grange, I got myself a Corn Pie made by the ladies from the Kutztown Firehouse. 

A Corn Pie is exactly what it says it is:  sweet corn with some butter and salt, mixed with a hard boiled egg and baked in a double pie crust.   Generally, it's served with warm milk poured over the top, but I chose to have it plain (it was so good that my friends went and got one with milk after we all ate the first one).  It sounds a little heavy, but because the corn was so sweet, it was a perfect compliment to the flaky crust and the salt & pepper that I added on top.

Fair food isn't really known to be healthy food.  And I often hear people complain about the street fairs in NYC - they are essentially all the same vendors that travel from fair to fair during the summer serving  lemonade, fruit drinks, roasted corn, Italian sausage and selling socks, bags and t-shirts.  To me, a fair is all about local.  It's the opposite of what it used to be where people came to the fair to see what was going on in the world outside of their own small town or farm.  Even though there are still the traveling fair/carnival vendors that set up at fairs across the country, you can still find local, small town food made to benefit the local organization like the grange or the firehouse.  That's what I seek out when I go to country fairs.  And that's what I got with the corn pie.

In general though, my experience with food in and around Kutztown hasn't been the best.  It's odd to me that in a place surrounded by farms, most of the food you get at restaurants - even locally owned non-chain restaurants - most likely comes frozen in a box, delivered by Sysco.  At one diner, we asked the owner why he didn't put granola and yogurt on his menu so that people had a healthy choice for breakfast.   After admitting that he didn't actually eat breakfast, so he didn't really think about what was on the menu, he said that he would ask his Sysco representative what he would recommend.  He didn't say he'd talk to his chef, his cook or his customers.  His Sysco rep.  This was an eye opener for me, and something that I'll definitely be writing about in the future.

A few more fair photos:

Going Camping? Tools for Your Camp Kitchen

We're going camping in a few weeks, on what has become the annual canoe/kayak trip to Saranac Lake Islands in the Adirondaks.  The Saranac Lake islands have really nice, rustic campsites that require a boat to access.  You can take a motor boat, but we're taking a canoe, as usual.  This year we're staying on the middle lake which has much less traffic than the lower lake, and I'm really looking forward to it.   

After reading Jhumpa Lahiri's piece about vacation home kitchens in the NYT earlier this week, I started thinking about all of the organizing I'm going to have to do to pull together my 'camp kitchen.'    Camping, like many pastimes, is partly about stuff - who's got the best, most useful, most multi-purpose get-you-out-of-a-jam type stuff.  Friends and I used to joke about someone's 'kit.'  Like if someone brought a really great multi-purpose gadget, we'd all say, only somewhat jokingly, "nice kit."  So I take my camping gear very seriously and I have strict criteria about what I bring.  Especially for the camp kitchen.

My general rules are these: Each item has to have multiple purposes, or has to be something where some other object cannot do the same function.  Compactness is important, as is weight.   It has to be sturdy, hopefully unbreakable, and ideally re-usable.  The less garbage you bring in, the less you have to carry out.   I haven't gotten to the state yet where I make fancy stuff like bread or cakes, and we generally have a fairly meat-based menu, but having the right kitchen gear can make the difference between good and bad camp food.  Just to be clear, I'm talking mainly about tent camping where you are cooking on a camp fire, not in an RV or trailer with a kitchen.

The thing that I really like about canoe or kayak camping is that you have the ability to bring some of the comforts and conveniences of home - much different than backpacking, where you need to winnow down your belongings to fit in a little, heavy bag that you have to carry on  your back - but you still can get pretty far out in the woods and away from it all.  I grew up in Colorado, and we used to go on camping trips with horses - either carrying everything on our own horse, or having the luxury of a pack horse that could carry even more stuff.  The guy who used to lead our 4-H camping trips (pack trips we called them), Tom Butterfield, a true horseman in every sense of the word, had all sorts of amazing camp gear including a hand made sheepherders' stove made out of a 5 gallon drum cut in half, with a piece of cast iron welded on to the top that could be used as a cooking surface and a hot water pot that hooked on to the side that would provide hot water on demand once the stove was hot.  I went on a trip one year with some professional outfitters in Montana, and they had a fold-up kitchen that included a stove, wash basin and counter space.  Every day we moved, they would fold it up and pack it on the mule.  

I don't have a fold-up kitchen, but here's my list of what I'm planning on bringing to outfit my kitchen, and what I recommend to make any camp cooking experience a little easier. 

First, the essentials - These are all things that I consider to be mandatory in a camp kitchen:

1. Folding grill - Most campsites I've been to promise a fire ring with a grill, but you would NEVER want to cook on the grill they provide, usually because they are bent out of shape and filthy.  A grill with fold-down legs lets you grill directly over the fire, and you can also put pots and pans on it above the flame.   It's true that you can always sharpen a stick and stick your meat directly in the fire, but after a few days, that gets a little old.
2. Cooler - It doesn't have to be a big one or even one with fancy wheels and cup holders. I usually try to use the stuff that needs to be refrigerated on the first few days and nights so that we aren't dependent on the cooler when all of the ice is gone.  One important thing we learned last year - get block ice rather than ice cubes.  It lasts MUCH longer.  Camping Blogger had the great idea to use 1-gallon milk jugs to make ice blocks which seems really smart.
3. Can opener - Even if it's just the one on your Swiss army knife, you need a can opener.  Canned food is very convenient for camping.  It's heavy, but it comes with it's own cooking pot and serving dish (hobo style) and doesn't need refrigeration.  After you're done with it,  you can compress it and easily take it with you when you leave.  That said, I like to use canned food to supplement the regular menu, not just as the main dish.
4. Leather work gloves - These were a recent discovery for me.  After years of bringing a grungy old pot holder, last year I brought leather work gloves for gathering wood.  I quickly realized they are a MUST HAVE for cooking and working around the fire.  You can easily add wood, move the hot grill, move hot pots, turn food over the fire and generally just be around the camp fire doing stuff all without getting burnt.  Leather work gloves are a must.
5. Heavy duty tinfoil - Multi-purpose and often re-usable, you can wrap potatoes in tinfoil and bury them in the coals for excellent baked potatoes, you can make a makeshift pan to cook bacon, meat or vegetables, you can store and carry food in tinfoil (as long as it's not acidic like tomatoes).
6. Pocket knife - At the very least, you need a good, sharp pocket knife, like a Swiss Army knife or a Leatherman.  One with a can opener, an awl and a small pair of scissors is great.  But mainly you just need a good sharp knife.
7. Kitchen knife -  A good sharp basic cooking knife is a necessity if you plan on doing any sort of 'real' cooking besides just throwing meat on the grill.  I have a small-ish chefs knife that I made a cover for (cardboard and duct tape!) to reduce the likelihood of accidental cuts.
8. Small cutting board - Another necessity if you plan on doing real cooking that demands chopping or cutting.  Most picnic tables are pretty dirty.  I have a small plastic one with a handle that can also be used to serve food.
9. Multi-purpose lighter - One of the long ones that allow you to start fires (or light candles) without burning your fingers.  I've actually yet to find one of these that doesn't break easily or stop working after a few times, has easy-to-use child-proof features (most of them are adult-proof as well) and is refillable.  So bring a few in case you have trouble. And always bring a back-up of water-proof matches.
10. Utensil set - There are lots of different varieties of these, I have the MSR Alpine Kitchen Cupboard  which includes a plastic bowl into which the utensils fold away for storage and carrying.  Note: the utensils are heat resistant, but the bowl they come in is not.  The spoon/ladle has measuring cup markings (convenient for making pancakes), and it includes a pasta strainer and a spatula (also convenient for pancakes).  I added a metal pot grabber to my kit to grab and lift cans and metal pots off the fire or grill.  It also includes some small plastic containers, but I haven't found these to be very useful.
11. Small gas backpackers stove -  I have another MSR product, the Super Fly stove.   I definitely have some usability issues with this stove - it's just a burner that you screw onto a butane canister - so the balance is very iffy if you don't have it on a completely flat surface, and actively stirring something isn't a great idea.  You also really need a wind screen of some sort to block any wind so it heats properly.   I primarily use it to heat water for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, soup, and hot Tang (yes, hot Tang).  It's great to have in the mornings when you don't feel like starting a fire, or it's raining and you can't start a fire and you want something hot to eat or drink, and it's really small and light.  Always bring an extra butane canister since it's difficult to tell how much fuel each of them contain.
12. A small kettle/pot that fits on your gas stove - Something small and light that has a lid and a handle of some sort for pouring.
13. Paper towels - At home, I try to use cloth kitchen towels more than paper towels.  But when you're camping, it's kind of pointless to bring cloth towels that may end up getting ruined.   Paper towels can be disposed of in the fire, and can also be used as kindling in a pinch.
14. Paper plates - I know this isn't very eco of me, but I much prefer to have paper plates camping than metal or plastic ones.  First, they are multi-purpose: use them to eat off of, fan a slow fire, start a recalcitrant fire, leave notes for fellow campers.  Second, you don't have to wash them.  Third, you can burn them when you're finished with them so you have less garbage to carry out.  I just get the plain paper ones rather than the wax covered ones.  If you want a truly multi-purpose plate, consider bringing a Frisbee.  You can use it as a plate (with a lip so your food doesn't slide off) or for many other things besides tossing back and forth.
15. Spoon and fork - In general, everyone is responsible for their own knife, fork and spoon.  But it is nice to have a few extras hanging around in case you have company drop by.
16. Stanley cup - I don't mean a hockey trophy.  I mean a 2 in 1 cup and bowl  made by the tool makers Stanley.  It has an interlocking cup and bowl, a tight-fitting lid and it's big enough to hold a satisfyingly large amount of tea, coffee or soup.  It also insulates drinks if you use it while the two parts are interlocked together.
17. Plastic garbage bags - Some camp sites have garbage service, but many of them don't because the garbage attracts animals.  Plastic garbage bags are a must for any multi-day camping trip.  Be prepared with some rope and hooks to hang your garbage in a tree overnight so animals can't get to it.
18. Ziplock bags and plastic deli containers - Both for keeping leftovers and for storing food in a watery cooler. 
19. 5 gallon plastic bucket with a tight lid - We actually have two of these that we bring:  1 for getting water and/or washing dishes and the other for storing food in a place that prying little animals can't get to it.
20. Cast iron pan - For eggs, bacon, pancakes, any kind of sautéing, a well-seasoned cast iron pan is the best.  Obviously, they aren't light, but the versatility is worth it.  I don't recommend cookware with Teflon, especially if you are going to use it over the fire.  There's a lot of information about toxic chemicals that are released by Teflon cookware, especially at high temperatures.
    
    Nice to have items:
21. Plastic table cloth - Where we're going, all of the camp sites have picnic tables, but they are pretty grungy.  A plastic tablecloth gives you a clean surface and adds a bit of homey-ness.  It can also double as a rain tarp in a pinch.
22. Biodegradable soap - You can actually get away without having this if you are going on a shorter trip, or if you just use your grill.  If you do get soap, just be sure that it's biodegradable and wash your dishes away from the water.
23. Candles - Not just for light, but for romantic ambiance as well.
24. Larger pot  - I'm not a big pasta while camping fan, so I generally don't bring one of these.  But pasta is really easy to make, either over the fire or using the camp stove, so a pot big enough to boil enough water for pasta for 2-4 can come in handy.  It’s also good for keeping some warm water on the go for washing and cleaning up.
25. Sponge - When you go camping, you're never REALLY clean, but you can pretend you are if you have a sponge handy.
26. Water filter - Last year we went out for a full week without making any trips back in to town to get supplies.  This meant that we either needed to bring all of the water we would need for 7 days, or find a way to filter our own.  We got the Katadyn Camp filter  that you simply fill up and hang from a tree and let gravity do the rest (many other filters require you to manually pump water).  It worked really well and I'm a big fan of this type of filter.
27. Collapsible water jug - The counterpart to the water filter.  We use a collapsible plastic jug since it's easier to pack and carry.
28. Fuel sticks - In case you haven't practiced your survivor fire starting skills, or if it's rainy and damp, these fire starters can mean the difference between having a fire and not having one.
29. The Stanley cups work well around camp, but if you will be hiking or out on the lake, a thermos is a great thing to bring to keep warm drinks while you are out exploring. 
30. A Tree Huggerz.  No, I don't mean a hippie.  A Tree Huggerz is a camp organizer that you wrap around a tree so you can keep stuff off the ground.  It has pockets and hooks that you can use to store tools, hang towels and keep stuff organized.

Here's a decent site with some tips on starting a fire for cooking and some easy campfire recipes. 

Now I just need to put together a menu...

*I've linked to a lot of products on the Campmor site because I LOVE Campmor (not because they are paying me anything).  They have a great selection of products, a nice website and really great catalogs that I get in the mail twice a year with hand drawings of many of the products they have available.  They've always been really good with customer service, and they aren't a chain store.

Summer Salad: Haricot Verts

Another Summer Fest Post!  This week is beans and greens.

I never made it through the 101 Simple Summer Salads article in the NY Times a few weeks ago.  And by "made it through" I don't mean making them all.  I mean reading them all.  I didn't even get past the first page.  There were so many great salad ideas on the first page that I got a little overwhelmed and didn't go any further.  But that doesn't mean I haven't been making salads for dinner this summer. 

I've been inspired by two recent discoveries in the farmers markets.  First, radishes.  I've realized that I really love radishes - even just cut into chunks, lightly salted, eaten right off the cutting board.  But they are also a great addition to almost any salad.  The second thing is the goat cheese feta that I found at a stand at the Brooklyn Borough Hall farmers market.  It's sweet and salty and not too overpowering. 

Earlier this week I found some haricot verts (French green beans that are longer and thinner than most American varieties) at the Union Square market on my way home, so I put together this simple salad with my new favorites.

Haricot Vert Salad

1 lb haricot verts (or young, thing regular green beans)
2 small gherkin cucumbers
3 medium radishes
2 small spring onions or 4 scallions
1/3 cup crumbled feta
Salt
Pepper


Dressing*
1 clove garlic, smashed
1/2 small shallot, minced
1 T dijon mustard
1/4 cup white wine or rice vinegar
1/2 t salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 T olive oil

Trim the beans and place in a vegetable steamer over boiling water.  Steam for 4-6 minutes, stirring a few times until the beans have changed color and have a nice aroma.  Don't steam them too long (to the point where they are flimsy) You want them to be crunchy and crisp.  Immediately run under cold water and set aside.  Slice the gherkins, radishes and the onions in thin slices with a mandoline.  Place in a bowl with the cooled beans, crumble the feta cheese on top.

For the dressing, smash the garlic in the bottom of a small bowl.  Mix in the shallot, mustard, vinegar, salt and lemon juice.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil.  Pour half of the dressing over the salad and mix well.  Let it sit and marinate for 15 -20 minutes.  If desired, add more dressing, and taste for salt.  Crack fresh pepper over the top just before serving.

*This is actually the same dressing I made for the Fava Bean Salad I posted awhile ago (with the addition of some shallots).  I had some left over, so I thought I'd try it here.