Minimalist Kitchen: Quesadillas

I brought the bare necessities when I moved.  That means a camp chair, a skillet, the pressure cooker, the camp silverware and my travel mug.  And two cases of wine...

In keeping with the minimalism, all these photos are taken with my cell phone.  It just felt right.  This is a one pot meal! if you do dishes a couple times while making it.  Start with chicken.  I fried up a chicken breast, about three minutes on both sides over medium heat.  Let it rest for a few minutes, then shred it.

You might want to wash the skillet here, or maybe you want all those chicken flavors to get soaked up by the tortilla.  While the chicken is resting, prep your toppings - chop peppers, shred cheese, slice avocado.

Lightly grease the pan and add a tortilla, then a light layer of cheese.  The stove should be on medium heat.  Cheese is the glue that holds quesadillas together.

Top with veggies, chicken, and salsa. 

Then add another layer of cheese.

And finally, top with a second tortilla.  Around this time, the bottom layer of cheese should be melted and so you only want to wait another minute or so before flipping it - ideally the top layer of cheese will have started melting to hold everything together.

Then flip.

Fry for a couple minutes until the bottom tortilla is browned.  Serve it up with cilantro and avocado!  I saved this plate from free pizza day at work, because I didn't bring any plates with me.  I probably could have done a little better packing my kitchen.

And now for a bonus recipe!  Kyle calls this "cowboy coffee."  The virtue of this recipe is that is requires nothing more than a pot for making coffee.  Although I did buy a couple coffee mugs at a garage sale (can't beat 5 cents each!).

This is very similar to how I make french pressed coffee.  Heat water up in the pot until just before boiling (ideally you're aiming for ~200 degrees F, water boils at 212 F).  When the water has reached this point, take it off the burner and add your coffee.  For 16 oz, I added about three spoonfuls of coffee.

Give it a little swirl, then let it sit for 3 to 5 minutes (more time = stronger coffee).

Slowly pour the coffee into your mug.  The grounds will clump up at the bottom of the pan.  I trickled the coffee into my mug just to see if any grounds were floating, but I didn't see a single one.

Voila!  Easy coffee.

That's it for the minimalist kitchen - all my stuff is here now and I want to wash a lot of it before I use it again, but at least I have it here.  Except for all the silverware, which the movers apparently missed (so did Kyle, until I whined that I'd opened up all the boxes labeled "kitchen" and still hadn't found the silverware).

Bus Discoveries: Meet Sixer

We've been doing a lot of work on the bus, so here's an update of what we've found.  It's pretty clear that the guy we bought it from didn't do any work on it other than to keep it running.  The more we dig, the more work we find.  So it's pretty much a normal VW bus.

Step one was to replace all the fuel lines with Gates Barricade fuel line from O'Reilly auto, because it is resistant to the ethanol in modern fuels.  I'm not sure on the specifics, but faulty (old, cracked) fuel lines are notorious for causing these buses to go up in flames (in Kyle's words, when the lines crack, "they spray fuel over the engine, which has a multitude of sparky things").  In doing that, Kyle found some OEM fuel lines on the bus, and some aftermarket fuel lines that cracked when he pulled them off.  Comforting.

Kyle sent out the fuel injectors to be tested, cleaned and rebuilt, and he cleaned the seat belts.

We washed and waxed her, and therefore got to know all the little nicks and dings in the paint.

The sliding door was sticking, so we unstuck it.  It is still hanging up a little bit but it's functional, and I'm sure more use will make it easier.

Kyle replaced the heat exchangers and added an exhaust pipe.  It's now functional, although there might still be a couple leaks in the exhaust system.  This was a pretty big project that deserves more than the two sentences I'm giving it, but I wasn't really involved in this and also we don't have photos.

We took it on the first real drive - from my parents house to the apartment.  About a mile down the road it died, but we (Kyle) quickly diagnosed a loose wire on the fuel pump.  Later on that drive, the passenger mirror fell off.  We were able to retrieve the fixture but the glass was, of course, shattered.  It had been loose and my dad tightened it up, but the threads were stripped so it had loosened again.

There was a braking issue.  Most obnoxiously, an extremely loud squeal.  But more concerning, when braking hard, one of the tires would lock up and the bus would pull hard to the left.  So one Saturday we pulled the tires off and poked around.  We bought replacement pads, but the pads were still good.  The driver's side was missing a pin - you can see where there should be a second pin in the photo below - so we fashioned a new one and replaced that - it was all we could see that was wrong with the system.  However, the problem persisted.  Some excellent help from the samba leads us to believe we have a collapsed brake line, so we'll be replacing the front brake lines soon.

We discovered an issue with the headlights the first time we drove her a little after dusk - they seemed to point straight up.  So I started investigating the headlights, and we found that they were both installed upside down.  The bracket for the license plate is also installed upside down.  These are the most minor of annoyances caused by an ignorant painter.  The really scary one is below.

Kyle worked on the wiring.  He found a ground that wasn't attached, and after he fixed that we were practically street legal (up to that point, the right turn signal didn't work).  The left signal still flashes at 2x speed, but is working in both the front and the rear so that still needs some work.

Does anyone have a spare tire they want to sell us?

Lastly, Kyle discovered that the windshield was not properly installed after the bus was painted.  It was basically just sitting in front of the bus, not really attached to anything.  This was truly horrifying because we had hauled the bus from Milwaukee and drove it at least 40 additional miles by this point.  I guess the worst case scenario is that it would have fallen out while driving, but since there is a huge crack in the windshield it already needs to be replaced.  Kyle has written up a great tutorial on how to install these windshields, because it's known for being difficult but the method he researched made it pretty easy.  I think he will post that in a couple days (as time allows).  I don't really have a good photo of the cracks, but you can see it a little here.

May Goals

So April happened.  I lived through it.  I turned my apartment upside down, I bottle fed some lambs, I moved a thousand miles, I got the crap scared out of me by a cockroach, I started a new job.  I'm exhausted.  Isn't May supposed to bring flowers?

Here are the goals I picked out for April.

• A lunch date w/ the fam.  April included lunch dates with both grandmas on my side of the family, Kyle's mom and brother, brunch with friends, and numerous weekday lunches with coworkers.
• A block party w/ the friends.  With 99 beers on tap, Short's Brewery had their hands full. 
• I recreated a recipe for awesome seared tuna tacos that I had on my first trip down to Charleston.
• Some montepulciano wine needs to be bottled.  I was skeptical, but this one is really great!
• Plants!  They are growing so well!  They survived a thousand mile car trip and are flourishing.
• I wanted the lake to melt.  It melted - and then we got that gorgeous sunset pictured above.

May is undoubtedly going to be full of ups and downs.  I really just want to get through May with a positive attitude.  But other things that should get done this month:

• Live without A/C until Kyle moves down.
• Get my plants into bigger pots.
• Move all the furniture down here.  It's been two days and I already can't wait to see a real mattress again.
• Ship the bus down here.  It would be great to drive it down, but the logistics haven't been easy - we'd have to avoid freeways, we'd have to take it through the mountains, and even if it didn't break down it would still probably take five days to do.  So it's getting shipped.
• Move Kyle down here!  This one is really easy for me because I don't have to do anything for it.
• Find a good place to get coffee.  With no coffee pot, I'm having a hard time getting my morning caffeine fix.  This is kind of moot, I guess, since I will have the coffee maker here by the end of the month.

 And as always, photos from my month.  The montepulciano, bottled and ready to be put away.

 A tiny friend gets a tiny bus ride.

Tasting ALL the beers at Short's.

The halfway point of my drive:  Uncle Mike and Aunt Kim's farm!  I got to help out with the cutest chores.

And then drive.

And then drive.

And then move into an apartment with basically an air mattress and a camp chair.

My forest of tomatoes, basils and peppers!

How many photos is too many photos?  I feel like that's enough.  Hopefully this month will end with me sleeping on a real bed again.

Veggie Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

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Salted Caramel Turtle Cinnamon Rolls

I'm not big on breakfast foods...or sweet foods...or caramel.  What on earth am I doing with this recipe?  Lately I've been using any flimsy excuse for gathering people, and I can't remember the last time I had brunch.  So we had people over for brunch!  And what better way to tempt people to brunch than by wafting a delicious dessert breakfast cinnamon roll under their noses?

Since I was short on time and used pre-made dough, this recipe has a grand total of seven ingredients.  The caramel can be made the night before, leaving about 20 minutes of working time + baking time the next morning.  The caramel sets up on the cinnamon rolls, giving them an easy crunch - it's not as hard as rock candy, but does add a fun textural element to these cinnamon rolls.

It starts with a homemade caramel:  butter and sugar.  This caramel freaked me out because it set up as soon as it hit the cinnamon roll pan, but that worked out okay.  Don't freak out.  Just let it be free spirited and lumpy.  This needs to be refrigerated until set (minimum 2 hours, can be done the night before).

I used a pre-made seamless dough sheet.  Judge away - I can't make everything from scratch.  Two canisters of dough made the perfect amount of cinnamon rolls.  Start by unrolling them, then paint on a butter-cinnamon mixture, then sprinkle on chocolate chips and pecan pieces.  Roll the dough up.  I rolled it up with the long side facing me so that the cinnamon rolls would be smaller - they're very rich, so smaller is better.

Slice into 1.5-in. to 2-in. pieces, then set upright on top of the caramel, leaving space for expansion.

Bake until the dough is golden brown (the directions on the dough canister called for 11 minutes, but these cinnamon rolls needed about 15 minutes).  Then comes the scary part.  Get a big serving tray or cutting board and flip the whole thing over while the caramel is still warm and pliable.  Everything holds together pretty well, so this step is pretty easy, but I know it doesn't sound like fun.  Just trust me - it will turn out okay.  I had a lot of caramel still in the bottom of the pan so I spooned it out over the cinnamon rolls, then sprinkled them with more pecans and sea salt flakes.

Salted Caramel Turtle Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients:

• 3/4 c sugar
• 6 tbs butter
• 2 canisters crescent seamless dough sheets (8 oz. each)
• 4 tbs butter
• 2 tbs cinnamon
• 1 c chocolate chips
• 3/4 c pecan pieces
• 1 tbs sea salt flakes

Instructions:
1.  In a saucepan, heat up the sugar and 6 tbs butter over medium heat.  Keep and eye on it and stir frequently.  After about ten minutes, it will start to brown.  Continue stirring until caramel has a copper hue.  Pour the caramel into a 9x13 baking pan (caramel may set up quickly - just spread it as best you can and do not worry).  Refrigerate caramel for at least 2 hours.
2.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3.  Get caramel out of the fridge.  Melt the 4 tbs of butter and mix with the cinnamon in a little bowl.  Open and unroll the first dough sheet.  Paint the entire dough sheet with the cinnamon-butter mixture.  Sprinkle on half the chocolate chips and half the pecans (reserve some pecans for garnish).  Roll up the dough sheet with the long side facing you (so that you get a long roll rather than a short roll).  Slice the roll into 1.5-in to 2-in slices.  Set them upright on top of the caramel, leaving a little space in between each.  Repeat with the second dough sheet.
4.  Bake for 15 minutes or until the cinnamon rolls are golden brown.
5.  While the pan is still hot, flip the pan over onto a serving tray or cutting board.  Scrape extra caramel out of the pan onto the cinnamon rolls if necessary.  Sprinkle with reserved pecans and sea salt.

These are a special-occasion type of cinnamon roll, but absolutely worth it.  Like a turtle sundae...for breakfast!

Seared Tuna Tacos with Pico de Gallo

I'm assuming you like tacos, because...tacos.  But maybe you haven't yet tried any tacos del mar, in which case it is time to change that.  Pick your fish.  I chose tuna, because it's kind of tangy and just a little bit fishy and 100% delicious.

Tacos are best when you carefully choose ingredients from the ground up.  Fresh corn tortillas from a tortilleria in Mexico are the best.  I found some corn / wheat tortillas that looked similar and while they are nothing like the real thing, they are pretty good.  Next layer is the tuna, seared then fully cooked with some cumin and garlic.

You will definitely need some pico de gallo in the mix, which is basically a salsa fresca with fresh tomatoes, onions, a jalapeno, and cilantro (a little salt and garlic powder are good too).

Don't skip the queso.

Avocados might go out of style, but not in my kitchen.  A little salsa verde seals the deal.

And there you have it:  a meal fit for a king.  Or at least fit for a beach side shack, on a warm day, with your toes in the sand, listening to the waves lazily hitting the shore.

I won't embarrass myself by telling you how often we've had tacos for dinner in the past two weeks, but suffice it to say we've gone through more tortillas than is socially acceptable.

In other news, today is my last day of work.  We're trying out another Carolina - this time the southern one.  In two weeks, I start work down in Charleston, SC.  I'm sorry to leave my friends and family - we've had such a great time here - but I'd like to live somewhere where summer is more than just a memory for nine months of the year.

Spicy Chicken Vindaloo

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