The Wild Brambles cooking advice thread (1 Viewer)

[Wild Brambles]

This thread is for me to be given advice by experienced RV cooks. My knowledge is a bit limited, and I want to increase it. Right now I am pre-conversion, so I am cooking on a couple of camping attache cookers, and I tend to fry of boil everything. My choice of food tends to be driven by the end of day bargains that I buy. I've just bought a couple of chunks of white Stilton and a pot of live natural yogurt.

Starting with the yogurt. I could just eat it as it is, or maybe add some soft fruit, but has anybody got any interesting or imaginative ideas for alternatives?

I have a cauliflower that I will boil, and I'm thinking of chopping up the cheese, and sprinkling it on top. I've been researching the benefits of quality extra virgin olive oil, and I've decided I should start to drizzle it onto some food. I use coconut oil for cooking. Do you think the oil will mess up the cauliflower?

[Part 2]
After spending some time on YouTube, it looks as if the best way to consume the yogurt is to add honey. Fortunately I have been given a jar of home produced honey, so I am going to try this. How long can I keep live yogurt in a van, it's quite a large pot?

 

[Shrimp]

Soften a sliced onion in pan, add chopped Chicken breast & cook, add some chopped red Pepper (for colour) and some part cooked Broccoli florets (or raw if really small) cook all-make sure Chick is cooked thru.
Near end of cooking add some soft cheese (plain or with garlic & herbs) and some plain thick Greek Yoghurt, stir thru well add more Yog if needed, season with pepper, no salt.
Serve on top of drained Pasta shapes with a dressing of Parmesan cheese on top.

 

[Janine]

Convenience foods do not always have to be unhealthy.
Have a look at Jack Munroe's Cooking on a Bootstrap website. She has also now written a book based on using canned foods.
My staple food both at home and in the van is Aldi's microwave wholegrain rice. I chuck it into a pan with whatever I have to hand - tinned tomatoes, chicken, sausage, onions, peppers, mushrooms, Chinese sauces - even scrambled eggs!
It keeps for 3 days in the fridge, in case you don't have a huge appetite. (Bizarrely, most other microwave rices insist that you use immediately)

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[Wild Brambles]

I've got a couple of large plastic boxes full of tinned and dried stuff, and I really out to use and replace some of it. It's part of my prepping store for emergencies. I'm completely hooked on bargain buys, and I find it difficult to buy stuff unless it has a yellow price reduction sticker. It is possible to find other bargains though. I've just bought two 400g jars of coconut oil, and the price was 80 pence less than the 200g jars. It does pay to compare the labels and check prices.

The honey yogurt mix seems to meet with approval, so I'm going to be trying that.

I'm told that adding olive oil to a cauliflower cheese is a rubbish idea. I could add to the cauli without the cheese, but not with the cheese. I'm taking that advice. I picked up some Welsh goat's cheese as well. This was just an ordinary bargain, and not a stunning deal, but I enjoy goat's cheese, so I treated myself to a pack.

 

[scotzsue]

Get yourseld a 3 tier steamer, one you put on the stove not electric, do your veg in that gives a much better taste and you aren't loosing all the goodness in the boiling water, Unless you use that as a base for soup. Isometimes use the microwave rice, I don't have microwave in the van but it cooks well in a little oil or water. often do loads of vegetables then pour a ready made sauce over and add a bit of cheese.
You could do the cauliflower as a 'steak' thick slice cooked in butter and melt the stilton on top.

 

[Wild Brambles]

I love the cauliflower steak idea. I've been discussing it with a friend, and she thinks it is great as well.

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[MANGOFORTH]

Bang some spices in the yogurt, pour it on the whole cauliflower, bake it, sprinkle the cheese on top. Boom

 

[Helen Ariel]

Yogurt is good in curry. Cauliflower curry if you have some spices? It will keep a long time past it's use by as it is a fermented product i eat it until it goes mouldy don't bother with dates.

 

[DBK]

This thread is for me to be given advice by experienced RV cooks. My knowledge is a bit limited, and I want to increase it. Right now I am pre-conversion, so I am cooking on a couple of camping attache cookers, and I tend to fry of boil everything. My choice of food tends to be driven by the end of day bargains that I buy. I've just bought a couple of chunks of white Stilton and a pot of live natural yogurt.

Starting with the yogurt. I could just eat it as it is, or maybe add some soft fruit, but has anybody got any interesting or imaginative ideas for alternatives?

I have a cauliflower that I will boil, and I'm thinking of chopping up the cheese, and sprinkling it on top. I've been researching the benefits of quality extra virgin olive oil, and I've decided I should start to drizzle it onto some food. I use coconut oil for cooking. Do you think the oil will mess up the cauliflower?

[Part 2]
After spending some time on YouTube, it looks as if the best way to consume the yogurt is to add honey. Fortunately I have been given a jar of home produced honey, so I am going to try this. How long can I keep live yogurt in a van, it's quite a large pot?

I would use the yoghurt in a Bircher Muesli. To make a basic version take 60g of rolled oats and add twice as much water, so that would be 120g of water. You don't need scales to do this. Just put what you think are enough oats in a dish, level them off and then add water so it only just covers the oats. Leave for at least an hours or even overnight.

When you are ready to eat, add some chopped fruit to the oats then add the plain yoghurt. Eat and enjoy as they say.

You can obviously tweak this with say honey and nuts etc. The fibre levels are very high. You can almost get your daily needs from this dish. I have it several days a week.

If you are after saving money have a look at tins. You will almost certainly find it cheaper than even discounted stuff if you go for the basic brands.

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[Mrsambulancekidd]

You could cook your chicken with some coconut oil, add whole grain mustard, honey, yogurt & seasoning too taste. Put some nice veg either in it or on the side and enjoy.

 

[Wild Brambles]

I've never been a fan of curries, but recently I have changed my attitude, and I'm starting to enjoy a mild curry. The herbs and spices added to them seem to be beneficial, especially turmeric, ginger and the like.

I visited Waitrose last night just before closing. I love that store, the staff are friendly, and the food quality is high. They often reduce prices for me as well. I bought a segment of ox tail for 27 pence, and I need to decide what to do with that. The obvious is to use it to make a soup, but I wonder if I can be a bit more adventurous given that I only have a camping stove for cooking at the moment.

 

[DBK]

I've never been a fan of curries, but recently I have changed my attitude, and I'm starting to enjoy a mild curry. The herbs and spices added to them seem to be beneficial, especially turmeric, ginger and the like.

I visited Waitrose last night just before closing. I love that store, the staff are friendly, and the food quality is high. They often reduce prices for me as well. I bought a segment of ox tail for 27 pence, and I need to decide what to do with that. The obvious is to use it to make a soup, but I wonder if I can be a bit more adventurous given that I only have a camping stove for cooking at the moment.

I think you'll struggle to do much with oxtail on a camping stove because of the difficulty of simmering with one. Soup will take at least two hours. You could try making a curry with it if you first cut it into small bits, fry them, then cook in a tomato sauce. The curry side can be added as a paste. Still might take an hour of simmering though. You'll know when it's cooked when the meat comes away from the bone.

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[Wild Brambles]

This is where the wood burner would be useful. There seems to be more meat than I expected on the joint, but I think it would be difficult to remove it all. 2 hours of simmering is probably going to create a fair bit of condensation, and I don't want that at this time of year.

 

[MANGOFORTH]

I just realised my suggestion was stupid due to you not have having an oven to hand?‍

Maybe put one of those camping ovens up your list of priorities. And a clay pot with lid... You can put oxtail with loads of root veg, onions, can of tin Tom's, bottle of ale or wine, stock cube. Stick that in the clay pot in the oven... Cheap simple and tasty

 

[Richard n Ann]

I sometimes boil a chicken breast for 10 minutes, then chop it up for sandwiches. The water keeps it from drying out ?

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[barsteward]

As I no longer have an oven in the new M/H and don't have a microwave I have just bought one of these.
If you like a bargain there's £10 off at the moment.

Welcome to the Double Skillet Pan Company

cooking on a hob wihout an oven

www.thedoubleskilletpancompany.com

I understand quite a lot of people use them on here and when I set off in January I'v'e no doubt I will be giving it a good test.

 

[Grianan]

I would use the yoghurt in a Bircher Muesli. To make a basic version take 60g of rolled oats and add twice as much water, so that would be 120g of water. You don't need scales to do this. Just put what you think are enough oats in a dish, level them off and then add water so it only just covers the oats. Leave for at least an hours or even overnight.

When you are ready to eat, add some chopped fruit to the oats then add the plain yoghurt. Eat and enjoy as they say.

You can obviously tweak this with say honey and nuts etc. The fibre levels are very high. You can almost get your daily needs from this dish. I have it several days a week.

If you are after saving money have a look at tins. You will almost certainly find it cheaper than even discounted stuff if you go for the basic brands.

interesting ... not long back from a week staying warm th a German friend. We had Bircher muesli for breakfast every day but different method ...

Evening before mixed rolled oats and 2 grated apples plus seeds, fruit, nuts etc with tub of low fat 1.5% fat yoghurt. Fridge overnight ... no water added. Maybe thicker than your version?

 

[Wild Brambles]

I've had an idea. I'm thinking of buying a bone grinder, and grinding up the ox tail - bones and all. Then I can make this into a soup. The ground bones will be a good source of calcium. I'm having trouble determining if a so called grinder is really strong enough to grind up the bones though.

[ADDED}
I've just watched this video, and maybe I should just chop it up. I'm probably going a bit far for a one off project.

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[Richard n Ann]

I've had an idea. I'm thinking of buying a bone grinder, and grinding up the ox tail - bones and all. Then I can make this into a soup. The ground bones will be a good source of calcium. I'm having trouble determining if a so called grinder is really strong enough to grind up the bones though.

[ADDED}
I've just watched this video, and maybe I should just chop it up. I'm probably going a bit far for a one off project.

? Sounds like a Bush tucker trial ?

 

[Brockley]

Good cuisine on the move with limited resources really isn't as difficult as people think. Not sure why most continental targeted vans are distinctly lacking in the kitchen area, hobs oven size etc. but we take pre-prepared spices with us. For example and with no kick back from them - Curry frenzy is a great online place to get reallly good priced authentic Indian pre-prepared spices to recreate great Indian dishes. We really like the chicken tandoori mix (includes simple instructions on how to mix in fresh simple ingredients) bang it it the oven for 35 minutes - whallop!

That and a very small pressure cooker - mint !! ..... not saying add mint as a herb like.

 

[Wild Brambles]

We don't talk about pressure cookers. I had a really good small stainless steel one stolen.

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[Viennese]

Convenience foods do not always have to be unhealthy.
Have a look at Jack Munroe's Cooking on a Bootstrap website. She has also now written a book based on using canned foods.
My staple food both at home and in the van is Aldi's microwave wholegrain rice. I chuck it into a pan with whatever I have to hand - tinned tomatoes, chicken, sausage, onions, peppers, mushrooms, Chinese sauces - even scrambled eggs!
It keeps for 3 days in the fridge, in case you don't have a huge appetite. (Bizarrely, most other microwave rices insist that you use immediately)

Janine, I am a great fan of microwaveable rice packets and buy usually Tilda's wholegrain rice with quinoa and pumpkin and sunflower seeds. The packet says keep (opened) up to 2 days in the fridge but I have kept a half packet clipped shut for several days with no problem. There is a huge range of flavoured ones now, and as you say, very flexible as to what you can put with it.. ..

 

[Shrimp]

Unless you have EHU and a Slow Pot or a Pressure Cooker I would steer clear of Oxtail! It is lovely but really needs a long slow cooking time!
Build a fire outside and wrap Oxtail in foil, bury it in the embers & cross your fingers!

 

[Wild Brambles]

I'm going to try to cook the oxtail today. If I remember correctly, I only paid 14 pence for one tail segment, so I'll just cutout the meat and fry it. I'm accepting that I need to expand my cooking facilities for future culinary delights. I'm hoping that it will still be OK, the van is like a fridge anyway.

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[Rob and Val]

Curry frenzy is a great online place to get reallly good priced authentic Indian pre-prepared spices to recreate great Indian dishes.

Many thanks for this recommendation - we love curry! The website http://www.curryfrenzy.com/ecomm/curryfrenzy/asp/curry-kits.asp
gives some mouth-watering recipes and you can also watch the chef's videos on YouTube

 

[Brockley]

Hi Rob, we carry them in the van in small jars, the labels pull off the plastic bags the spices come in and you can re-apply them to the jars. The tandoori one has the recipe including the fresh ingredients needed. Put the chicken (trimmed thighs cubed ?) along with all the other ingredients into a large plastic zip lock bag and mix together rolling the bag around. They taste better left a day or so in the fridge.
Spread them out on a baking tray in a hot oven - get the rice on - easy.

Saves so much time if you make them at home, freeze them and take them with you on weekends out.

They sell Punch Paroon (not sure about the spelling) geat aromatic tiny seeds to add to stews.

Dansak is great in a stew with a few punch paroon seeds.

Can also recommend their Rogan Josh ?

 

[Wild Brambles]

Well I cooked the oxtail, and I'm pleased to inform you that the centuries old method of adding it to a stew is best. After spending more time than I should cutting out the meat, and frying it with onions, the result was minimal, and a bit tough. The onions were really nice though.

Whilst cutting out the meat, I watched a video about the antarctic climate, and I had been wondering why the climate changers never mention it. It seems that the land and air temperatures are dropping, and the ice is increasing. Obviously stupid people who can't even cook oxtail, wouldn't understand how global warming causes the temperatures to drop.

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[Armytwowheels]

I'm going to try to cook the oxtail today. If I remember correctly, I only paid 14 pence for one tail segment, so I'll just cutout the meat and fry it. I'm accepting that I need to expand my cooking facilities for future culinary delights. I'm hoping that it will still be OK, the van is like a fridge anyway.

As Shrimp said, oxtail should be slow cooked for a long time. If frying it I hope you have a good set of teeth!

 

[Wild Brambles]

I hope you have a good set of teeth!

I did have yesterday.

I won't buy it again until I have the wood burner installed. Then I can use a cast iron pot. Does anyone know how to season cast iron cooking pots without an oven?

 

[Armytwowheels]

Why don't you get a pressure cooker instead, then you can take advantage of the cheaper cuts of meat now, rather than when your conversion is finished.

The modern pressure cookers are quieter and safer than the old fashioned ones.

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