As some may know we vacation along the central coast of California
The house we use has a very small kitchen with a Jen-Air electric range (with
grill) and there's a standard Webber charcoal burner out back. Not wanting to
pay resort prices at the local store we stop at a Trader Joe's and an
Albertson's on the way up. The grill came in handy the first night for some
Teriyaki grilled boneless pork shoulder.
Not having a full assortment of herbs and spices one learns to improvise.
Fortunately the local stupid market does sell Mike's Chunks of Red Oak - of
Santa Maria fame.
As far as the meat was concerned the Webber did a low and slow Tri Tip, Chicken
breasts, and several racks of Baby Back Ribs - all these were done low and slow
choking off enough air so the chunks of red oak couldn't burn. The main
flavorings I used were Garlic powder, Onion powder, Paprika, cayenne pepper,
salt, some old thyme, red wine, white wine and some French Vermouth, balsamic
and EVOO. The wine and flavorings make sensational marinades.
For a few breakfasts I used steel cut oat meal a few of the mornings, one
morning I used dried cranberries, mixed in at the beginning, one morning I diced
quite a few slices of dried granny smith apples and some golden raisins. On
that morning I used 2 packets of the Instant Spiced Cider mix for a little
spice - both batches turned out quite well.
They do make a local San Louis Sour Dough Cracked Wheat bread that makes damn
good toast and sandwiches.
When I baked some potatoes one night a added another 6 medium ones. A few days
later they were a great breakfast side dish when chunked, and mixed with S&P,
fresh onion, garlic powder, balsamic & EVOO then fried. A nice complement to
the Salsa scrambled eggs with cheese.
The solids and liquid from a can of Ro-Tel will nicely spike up the basmati rice
medley. An onion and a few ounces of orange juice do quite well to a bag of
frozen French Green Beans, as does the garlic, & balsamic help the frozen
chopped spinach.
If you are ever up that way there is a very good little joint in a one horse
town called Cayucos called the Fish Shanty - they have great white clam chowder,
local fresh fish and chips (or salad) and a mud Pie to die for ( you'll need at
least 2 if not 3 people to demolish one of these slices or should I say
mountains?
Well in a bizarre set of circumstances some day maybe some of this information
will help.
Dimitri