Your Kick Ass Recipe

Lydia Love · Post by **Lydia Love** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 6:00 pm

In a state of desperation my campmates created Playa Pizza - a grilled Boboli with plum chutney, canned peaches and bacon on it.

I shit you not, it was really really good.

RebA! · Post by **RebA!** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 9:11 am

I make this stuff here at home called "Hearty beef and Rice"

Well I made it before hand and put it all in a baggie and froze it. Was able to get 2 meals out of it for my hubby and I.

Then there is always my tequila fajitas I make every year. Yummmmah!

I think almost half the playa has that tequila fajita recipe.. but I will find it and post it shortly as well as the hearty beef and rice.

olivia · Post by **olivia** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 10:52 am

TOFU SCRAMBLE

1 block medium tofu
1/3 cup olive oil
6 T balsamic vinegar
3 T tamari
4 T good seedy mustard
about 1/2 T grated, shredded or chopped ginger
half a bulb of garlic, chopped or crushed
coarse cracked pepper to taste

method:

mix all ingredients except tofu in a medium sized bowl. drain / squeeze / pat down tofu, then either dice it or crumble it and combine with the goop. stick your hands into the bowl of goop and mush it all around until the tofu is covered. you can marinate this in the fridge for a while if you want to, but it's fine if you don't. stick it into a large frypan and fry on medium - high heat until the liquid is mostly cooked off. don't burn yourself or the food!

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FRIED POTATOES WITH GARLIC AND ROSEMARY

potatoes, unpeeled and quartered
around 1 clove of garlic per 2 potatoes
olive oil
rosemary (fresh and chopped or crushed from the jar)
cracked pepper

quarter and boil potatoes in water until not quite breaking apart. make sure they're not too firm.

heat frying pan on medium - high with quite a bit of olive oil. once oil is hot, toss in the potatoes and garlic. sprinkle rosmary and cracked pepper on top, then fry until potatoes are brown and crispy on the outside and mooshy on the inside.

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serve these two with yves canadian "bacon" and some gimme lean sausage style, and you'll have the best vegan playa breakfast ever!

RebA! · Post by **RebA!** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 11:48 am

Hearty Beef and Rice

1 lb ground beef
1 sm onion chopped
3 cups cooked rice
1 can cream of (you choose, aparagus, celery or even (gag) mushroom
1 can (undrained) diced totmatos 15oz
7 oz (small can) whole kernel corn
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder/salt (either or)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Cook Beef and onion in large skillet over medium high heat; drain fat. Stir in rice, soup, tomato, corn, garlic stuff, chili powder. Pour mixture into greased 2 quart baking dish. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, top with cheese, bake for another 5-10 minutes.

(then for burning man, after baking i scoop it all out into a large gallon sized freezer baggie,(freeze and keep frozen) until I warm it up in our camp skillet and serve it as is.. or rolled up in tortillas) *BEEF accentuated just piss off the vegans and vegatarians (cause i am in a punchy mood right now)

Tequila Chicken Fajita's
Ingredients:
1 pound lean chicken (or more)
1/2 cup lemon or lime juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons tequila (make it 3 you can never have enough!)*
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 sm onion, chopped
1 green pepper (remove stem, seeds slice thin)
1 red pepper (remove stem, seeds slice thin)
8 tortillas (or more)
Preparation: Cut and clean chicken into chunks place in a glass dish. Combine lime or lemon juice, soy sauce, water, tequila, oregano garlic juice in small bowl. Pour over chicken. Add onions stir to mix. Cover and marinate in Fridge for no more than 4 hours! (or else it gets really funky)Spray skillet with cooking spray. Drain chicken add to skillet. Over medium heat cook chicken..add sliced peppers cook till meat is done and peppers are soft. Serve with totillas, salsa etc...

For burning man I prep the chicken at home and drain it as good as i can and then stick it in a baggie in our fridge cooler. I usually serve this either the 2-3rd day out there so the chicken doesnt get funky (read nasty).

*Tequila I never measure when I am making this so its probably closer to 1/2 cup or more. Mmmm tequila

Fluffy Pink · Post by **Fluffy Pink** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 1:46 pm

In my daily life I'm a die-hard foodie. I make everything from scratch. I read cookbooks like other people read novels. I love nothing more than planning an elaborate dinner party. . .But on the playa I can't be bothered. My cooler sucks, and I don't want to do dishes. I'm afraid if I cook at home and bring food along it will turn to smelly goo floating in the ice-water. This year we tried "dashboard cooking" which was a smashing sucess:

Choose can-0-food out of the pile,
Place on aluminum foil covered dashboard in the morning,
Open can and spoon the hot food out of the can into your dusty mouth when hungry.
No fuss, no muss.

Mmmmmm, turkey chili and corn chips. . .

Tiara · Post by **Tiara** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 5:49 pm

The first few days are a snap. . . as long as the coolers stay in the shade, the ingredients are fine. But later in the week, the challenge grows.

I'd love to hear from others (individuals or theme camps) about recipes that use mostly dry, canned, or other non-perishable ingredients. If they're veggie-friendly, so much the better. . .

Tiara · Post by **Tiara** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 5:54 pm

This has become our "traditional" first meal on the playa, served the night that most camp members have arrived:

Buy pre-boned salmon fillets and freeze in individual gallon-sized zip loc bags. I generally get a half pound per person, or slightly less.

About an hour before you want to cook, thaw the salmon fillets.

Place each fillet on a big sheet of foil. Completely coat the top side with your choice of flavored mayonnaise (doesn't need to be refrigerated until the bottle's seal is broken). Then layer over with slices of white onion and thin slices of lemon.

Fold the foil into a pouch, sealing in the salmon with all those yummy flavors.

Cook on the BBQ grill until cooked in the middle of each fillet.

I'm thinking about giving dinner invitations to next year's salmon roast as playa gifts next year. . .

The Bass · Post by **The Bass** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 10:53 pm

playa chili: a recipe for substantively enhanced cooks on cold nights:

cut some beef into little cubes

salt and pepper it

fry it in some oil and butter

add spices -- cayenne pepper, chili, cumin, garlic powder

when it's brown, set it aside

now fry up a bunch of onions pretty slowly, until they're golden

meanwhile, soak some dried chile peppers in hot water

now add those plus the beef to the onions

and also add some canned tomatoes with the juice squeezed out, and some tomato paste, and some water if you need to.

bring it all to a boil.

throw in any other shit you have around that might be good - sausages, leftover chicken, turkey breast, jerky, hot sauce, etc.

and of course, add more chiles and chile powder and black pepper and cayenne. if you think it's enough, taste it and then add a teeny bit more.

when it boils, cover it and simmer

for a long while

until it's done

then put into bowls and serve to strangers wandering by in the cold.

enjoy.

The Bass · Post by **The Bass** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 11:00 pm

Roast tandoori lamb - playa style

- in reno, while high, before arriving on the playa, buy a jar of tandoori paste at some random supermarket

- then find a guy in your camp who happens to have a gas grill

- and another guy who's driving to reno and back, on like thursday, when you have nothing fresh left. tell him to get you a leg of lamb.

- when he brings it back, cover it with tandoori paste and leave it lying around under tinfoil, kind of in the shade, but actually kind of in the sun and probably not that cool, for a couple of hours

- and then crank up the grill in like the late afternoon

- and grill that fucker

- kind of hot first to sear it, and then turned down and re-covered with tinfoil, for a long time, until it's done

- and then on high for the last bit just to crisp the fucker up a little

- then serve it with rice and bread, and yogurt with cucumber and garlic in it, and let your whole camp rip it up with their hands.

mmmmmmmmm....

The Bass · Post by **The Bass** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 11:15 pm

Playa Chicken Curry

bunch of chicken thighs. brown them.

now slice up an insane amount of onions. no, more. so many you can't believe it. a great volume of sliced onions.

and put them in the biggest pan you have, with butter and oil, and cook them insanely slowly.

until they basically start to melt. and form a kind of sludge.

add a whole jar of curry paste, which you got in SF, or somewhere. cook it in for a while.

now add the chicken back, and some chicken stock if you have it, and water if you don't, and cover it. and bring it to a boil, and turn it down, and simmer it, for a long time.

and you can add some raisins, and let them get plumped up, and some almonds, if you have some lying around, and coconut, if you have that. or coconut milk would be ok, too.

and then you serve it with rice.

and they fucking love it.

olivia · Post by **olivia** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 1:19 pm

RebA! wrote:*BEEF accentuated just piss off the vegans and vegatarians (cause i am in a punchy mood right now)

oh my god, you said beef! i am so pissed off!

Juju · Post by **Juju** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 5:34 pm

Playa gazpacho:

starts at home... cut 5 or 6 lbs of really ripe tomatoes in half, squeeze out the seedygunk into a strainer (save the juice), chop roughly
chop 2 red onions
pulse 4 cloves of garlic in a food processor
chop/seed 2-3 large red peppers

toss all that shit in a blender to liquefy, then add 2-3 cups fresh bread crumbs
add 1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 c white or red wine vinegar
pulse pulse pulse, taste. MMMMM

I froze mine in gallon ziploc bags and tossed em in the coolers to keep my carne asada cool. Pulled out a bag on tuesday afternoon, sliced up a cucumber and served it to the thirsty folks at storytime shisha in a nice plastic pitcher.

Thursday we drank the rest with what was left of the cheap vodka.

It goes well with grapes, too.

nymphgonebad · Post by **nymphgonebad** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 9:19 pm

Tiara wrote: I'd love to hear from others (individuals or theme camps) about recipes that use mostly dry, canned, or other non-perishable ingredients. If they're veggie-friendly, so much the better. . .

for breakfast this year, i made bodygeek wonder food smoothies:

tools needed: a blender
for every smoothie: one cup soy milk, milk, or juice ( i use soy milk in the vaccuum sealed containers ). 1 scoop bodygeek wonder food ( soy based protein powder with 1 gram spirulina, 1 teaspoon soy letchithin granules, and a scoop of vitamin powder. i like to use frozen berries - good anti-oxidants and no need to add ice. the wonder food is heavy in amino acids, which is like high test gasoline for your body's engine, and each smoothie contains at least 50% of your bodys\'s drv for protein.

the princess

if you'd like mor einfo about bodygeek wonder food, please let me know

antron · Post by **antron** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 9:35 pm

booker made some killer chicken, cheese and dried tomato (maybe smoked dired tomato) quesadillas for the eplaya meatngreet.

a miracle of playa cuisine.

maybe he'll share his recipe

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 11:20 am

Fluffy Pink wrote:In my daily life I'm a die-hard foodie. I make everything from scratch. I read cookbooks like other people read novels. I love nothing more than planning an elaborate dinner party

Fluffy Pink: We will HAVE to get together and do a dinner party sometime...you guys have the best farmer's market up there...

I did raisin paste tollhouse cookie bars out there on Temple Burn Sunday. Basically it's your standard-issue "back of the chocolate chips package" recipe with half the butter subbed out for raisin paste. Supremely tasty and nobody missed it. The butter can be entirely replaced by the raisin paste.

If you don't happen to frequent trade shows like I do, you can make your own raisin paste by running a passel of raisins through a Cuisinart or blender. The stuff is so sugary it keeps in the cupboard: no refrigeration necessary.

Note that you'll either need a Coleman stovetop oven, a woodfired oven or a baking chimenea+cloche to do something like this. I stuck the stem of my digital thermometer in the dough, covered the pan I baked them in with aluminum foil to keep it from burning, and kept turning it towards the fire until the inside temp read 180º.

clandyone · Post by **clandyone** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 1:04 pm

I posted a version of this on the late, lamented Old Eplaya. Here it is, in a more organized form. It's a combination of a recipe of my mother's and something one of my campmates dreamed up.

End-of-the-week antipasto pasta salad

Things in jars:
little button mushrooms
hearts of palm
asparagus tips
artichoke hearts
sun-dried tomatoes (dried ones work good if you soak them in olive oil for awhile to plump them up)
pepperoncini
red peppers
kalamata olives (lots)
Any other canned or bottled antipasto-y things that look good
Little cubes of mild cheese, if there is any around, or a sparing crumbling of feta

Meat ingredients (optional)
Prosciutto, pepperoni, and/or salami (I find that dry preserved meats keep well in an only moderately cool place)
Tuna
Anchovy fillets, if you like anchovies

and:
Bow-tie pasta

Chop into bite-size chunks everything except the bow-tie pasta. Cook pasta. Drain. Toss it all together with olive oil, lots of garlic, and very little vinegar (the things in jars will be pretty vinegar-y already, so go easy.) Add pepper flakes if you like them, and parsley if you still have some that hasn't gone all black and slimy. This does not need salt.

Allow it to sit arond for fifteen minutes or so, so it has a chance to compose itself. Eat. Yum.

The problem with this is that it's kinda spendy, and there's all that glass. But it's a civilized thing to eat (valuable at the end of a long week) and the jars can always be reused as cocktail glasses.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:42 pm

I caught this on the Epicurious site, sounds positively divine. I didn't get a chance to use it this year but it's on my menu for next year.

Skillet Corn w/parmesan and cilantro
4 ears corn
6T olive oil
1/3c fresh Parmesan
1 garlic clove, minced
1T lime juice
1/4c cilantro, chopped
1t cumin
.5t hot sauce

I'm not a hot sauce fan so I'm thinking of subbing it out for either fresh-ground pepper or curry. And of course, MORE GARLIC! MORE GARLIC!! MORE GARLIC!!! =D

Cook corn in a pot of salt water for 5 minutes. Drain.
Whisk 5T oil, cheese, garlic, lime juice, cumin and hot sauce to make a vinaigrette. Heat remaining oil in a large skillet over medium high.
Sauté corn until heated through, turning frequently, for 2 minutes.
Brush with cheese mixture, cook until brown.
Mix cilantro w/cheese and brush over corn. Serves 4.

TazGrl · Post by **TazGrl** » Sun Sep 14, 2003 10:58 pm

Since this was my first year at the Burn, I really didn't know what to expect in the way of food preparation. My boyfriend (who went last year) assured me that the heat and excitement made you not very hungry and that all you want to do is munch snacks and stuff, if at all. Bulls***!! We took 2 packages of bratwursts, 1 package of breakfast sausage, and mostly snack foods like natural unsalted trail mix, dates, high-density organic trail bars, Pop Tarts (apparently they were in high demand last year for gifting purposes...?) and I was sooooo sick of all that (except the meat) that by the middle of the week I really *did* lose my appetite...I never want to look at another raw nut, raisin or Pop Tart again! I'm copying down all the mouth-watering recipes everyone's contributed through this board and we're going to eat right next year. I want FLAVOR, dammit!

The Bass · Post by **The Bass** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 6:08 pm

this is of course obvious to all the cooks on here...but in case someone isn't much of a cook and is going to BM for the first time...NOTHING says lovin' to your campmates like cooking them breakfast.

and by breakfast, i mean a huge mess of eggs, with more cheese in them than you would ever put in real life, served with flour tortillas warmed in the oven, chopped tomatoes, sliced avocado, and plenty of firey salsa. and very strong coffee.

they will be happy for a good long while.

nymphgonebad · Post by **nymphgonebad** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 6:13 pm

don't forget a big heaping mass o refried beans.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 7:49 pm

Oven: 500º F
Serves 3-4, at lightning speed :9

Ingredients
1 Boboli crust (or make your own)
6oz. brie, ambient temperature
3 apples, sliced
4 oz. sliced almonds, untoasted

Method:
- Scatter polenta on pizza peel (that big wooden paddle-like thing)
- Place pizza crust on peel
- Crumble brie over pizza crust.
- Slice apples and place randomly
- Scatter almonds
- Slap greedy, hyaena-like campmates away and chase them out of your kitchen, on pain of conscription. Be fierce and relentless.
- Peel into a pre-heated hearth.
- Your campmates should be making their way back by now. Hold them at bay with the peel and tell them to go sit at the table, NOW, and be quiet!
- Pizza should be ready by now. The crust will be golden, the cheese melted, apples al dente and almonds toasted. Take out and offload on table in the midst of campmates. Get clear.
- Return to kitchen. Repeat process

Now you know why I never got out of camp this year

Juju · Post by **Juju** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 9:35 pm

Yum.

Please o please let me know where you'll be camping next year!

I had notions to hook up with some of the other playa chefs as to make use of ovens & the like, but that didn't quite happen. I would LOVE to be able to use someone's giant oven next year, to reduce the amount of baked goodies I have to keep fresh through the week.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 9:42 pm

Someone on the old eplaya contributed what i thought waas the most disgusting fucking thing I'd ever heard of.

A sandwich with sliced sour apple and sliced onion and a few other things.

On a dare I made one but added mango chutney and brie.

And I ate it.

And then I made another one.

And I ate that one too.

The Bass · Post by **The Bass** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 2:04 pm

this is sheer fantasy - i already have a big camp to worry about so i can't do it - but i wanna see some of you guys go head to head in a BRC Iron Chef competition! someone please build Playa Kitchen Stadium!

OregonRed · Post by **OregonRed** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 3:23 pm

Tiara wrote:The first few days are a snap. . . as long as the coolers stay in the shade, the ingredients are fine. But later in the week, the challenge grows.

I'd love to hear from others (individuals or theme camps) about recipes that use mostly dry, canned, or other non-perishable ingredients. If they're veggie-friendly, so much the better. . .

These are a couple of my favorite camping recipes, Sorry, only one is veggie

Chicken 'n' Rice
1 can canned chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup condensed
2 cups uncooked instant rice
2 cops shredded jack or pepperjack cheese (optional)

Prepare rice according to package directions. Add soup and drained chicken. Mix well.

Cheese can be stirred in or sprinkled on top.

Eat and enjoy!

Black Beans and Rice (playa style)
2 cups uncooked instant rice
1 can black beans
7 oz. Emerald Valley salsa

Prepare rice according to package directions. Add beans and salsa, simmer 10 min.
Serve on tortillas or with chips.

clandyone · Post by **clandyone** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 3:25 pm

The Bass wrote:this is of course obvious to all the cooks on here...but in case someone isn't much of a cook and is going to BM for the first time...NOTHING says lovin' to your campmates like cooking them breakfast.

and by breakfast, i mean a huge mess of eggs, with more cheese in them than you would ever put in real life, served with flour tortillas warmed in the oven, chopped tomatoes, sliced avocado, and plenty of firey salsa. and very strong coffee.

they will be happy for a good long while.

If you do all this, you will have extraordinarily happy and grateful friends.

If you do all this and serve it forth with a big-ass pitcher of mimosas, you will have extraordinarily happy and grateful SLAVES.

And if you are unable to apply heat to food at all, a wonderful breakfast for the masses is bagels with lox and cream cheese and tomatoes and sliced onion, all set up in a "sandwich station" buffet arrangement. Don't forget the mimosas....

jbelson · Post by **jbelson** » Fri Sep 26, 2003 3:58 pm

The Bass wrote:this is sheer fantasy - i already have a big camp to worry about so i can't do it - but i wanna see some of you guys go head to head in a BRC Iron Chef competition! someone please build Playa Kitchen Stadium!

Someone (else) please do this.

Tiara · Post by **Tiara** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 4:13 pm

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone. . . Diane, I think I'm going to try your apple/brie/boboli pizza for dinner one night this week!

Another very cheap/easy/non-perishable/end of week meal:

one bag dried tortelloni (generally available from trader j's)
one jar pasta sauce.

boil pasta.
drain.
pour sauce into pan.
serve.

if you have a stash of extra parmesan cheese packets from pizza delivery places, they can come in handy as garnish.

Juju · Post by **Juju** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 6:10 pm

the pesto-filled tortellini from TJs are awesome and yummy and comprised our monday eve meal. Tossed em with freshly packaged pesto in a giant bowl, voila. I'm faincy so I grated a block of parmesan on top before letting people dig in. The leftovers got stuck in the cooler in a big ziploc, and were mighty tasty around 3 am when we wanted an easy snack.

Kinetic · Post by **Kinetic** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 7:09 pm

This sounds easy enough but I'm looking for a kick ass salsa or pico de gallo recipe. Everything I find is like soup or gruel, I want something chunky and with a little bit of a kick. Does anyone have any recommendations or am I stuck with more On the Border salsa?

Your Kick Ass Recipe

Your Kick Ass Recipe

Keeping It Simple

Easy roast salmon

oh yeah, this is also a really good one

last one, i swear

Re: Keeping It Simple

Skillet Corn

Brie Pizza

aah Trader Joe's...