Outdoor cooking in the southwest summer

When the desert breeze feels like a hair-dryer in your face, it's the perfect time to break out - the slow cooker?

The day has passed for this summer where we can turn the air con off for anything other than maintenance. It just stays on now 24/7 until September - or October, when the night time temperatures drop low enough for us to have windows open again.

Yes, we eat a lot more cold meals in the summer, but there's often - I'll even say usually - at least something that gets cooked. And at this time of year, every time I turn on a stove burner, part of me is offended that I'm paying to heat up the room and then paying to cool it down again. Surely we could optimise this better ... So I'm taking a leaf out of the pioneer book. They moved the cookhouse outside for the summer. While I'm not quite taking it to that extent, here are two ways I will be fighting the forces of entropy this summer.

Cook over flame outside

No brainer, right? Take it all out to the patio table and cook on a camp stove or - more obviously - a barbecue/gas grill. We recently bought a gas grill that, while it takes up a substantial proportion of the patio, includes a separate gas burner not that dissimilar to a stove-top one.

Barbecue/gas grill: This way can use more beer, but it also needs less cleanup. Definitely take the trouble to arrange shade for the cook. And at our place we need to watch the temp, as the gas bottle says not to store it hotter than 125 F. We don't usually get it out until the sun's mostly off the yard.

Camp stove/outdoor gas burner: the key here is to have everything ready. Use a tray, containers or a grocery bag to keep it all together. It might get to a point of being left to cook for a few minutes - but only a few! Be really cautious about leaving this unattended - pets, children, squirrels, flies, etc. If you're like me, even if you plan to bring everything you'll forget something. You don't want to be running back and forth into the house to fetch things. Remember utensils and a pot holder/mitt, too. It's okay to just turn the gas right off if you get called away.

Slow cooker outside

If you have outside electricity, use the slow cooker. Set it up on a table, plug it in, and run it as usual. I make sure it's in the shade, though I can offer no good reason for this. Check the food every so often as you normally would. I'm not sure why this invalidates the warranty, nor do I care. It's dry, it has a correctly installed and maintained electrical connection, I'm a do this. If you need an extension lead, use an outdoor rated one - and it need hardly be said, don't do this on wet days.

I have occasionally run the slow cooker in the garage. Where we live now, the garage faces south and it just gets too hot, but that's another possibility for hot days too, depending on your setup.

You could easily extend this concept - try the breadmaker, the rice cooker, the sandwich grill. I like the slow cooker for chili beans and other things to spoon into tortillas, but really, the sky's the limit. Al fresco waffles, anyone?

Hatch chiles for beginners 2: salsa

A lot of Hatch chile recipes seem to require advanced manual dexterity and a free afternoon (e.g. chiles rellenos - heavenly, but ain't no one got time for that). These ones - not so much. Max 15 minutes of active prep time - once you've got your chiles ready.

Having said that, none of these is a whole meal by any stretch of the imagination. (Future posts coming up will be, though, so keep an eye out.)

Salsa tends to be a chop-and-mix dish. The secret to a nice looking dish is to keep all the pieces the same size. That won't matter quite so much with a blended salsa so if you want to practice before blending it, why not.

When adjusting the ingredients to taste, I consider how it will be used on our table. Here are a few adjustments I make:

• low carb - ordinary onion bulbs have quite a bit of carb, so don't use much onion, or none. Instead, green onion/spring onion and a bit more garlic
• people who don't like things. For example, we recently had a guest who doesn't like onion. No problem - check the seasoning carefully though to make sure it's balanced. Without onion it might need a bit more chile heat, salt, or less acidity
• how much is one serving? I choose a different level of chile, salt, and acidity for by-the-teaspoon salsa compared with by-the-scoop salsa. I generally taste it. When a serving is less than a teaspoonful, taste a tiny bit on the end of a finger and you should - as my old cooking teacher said - blink both eyes and squint (not cough and gag!). It should taste a bit glaring. That flavour, once diluted and accompanying, will be correct. When a serving is half a cup, taste a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful and it should taste about right. (These are more the latter than the former.)
• what needs using up? If the coriander/cilantro is starting to wilt, I'll try and find a way to use the whole bunch rather than waste it. Yes, you can put a whole bunch, up to a cup or so, into either of the raw salsas below - add a little more lime juice to compensate and let it stand a few extra minutes to avoid that green dish-scrubber texture

A green salsa, raw or cooked

Raw

1/4 large onion or 2 - 3 spring onions/green onions
2 limes, cut for juicing
3 cloves garlic or to taste
1 cup approx Hatch chiles, peeled and seeded
4 medium tomatillos (or 3 med tomatoes, if you have to)
fresh jalapeno, finely chopped, to taste
2 - 3 T cilantro/coriander leaf, or to taste
1 t salt or to taste
pinch ground toasted cumin seed

• If using onion, start by slicing it thinly and cutting the slices into small strips. Squeeze over about half a lime and mix. Put it in one corner of the chopping board or into a 2 cup bowl.
• Smash the garlic with the side of a heavy knife and cut as finely as possible. Leave it on the board.
• Put the chiles on top of the garlic and cut into strips the same size as the onion.
• If using green onion, chop into small pieces. Keep everything the same size.
• Peel the husks from the tomatillos and rinse under hot water to remove the natural gum from the surface. Chop into small pieces. Sprinkle the salt over and mix. 
• Chop the coriander leaf finely. 
• Mix all ingredients together except limes. Juice the remaining lime over the mixture and mix to combine evenly. Check the seasoning. Serve without too much delay.

Cooked

Canned tomatillos are okay here. Don't sub with tomatoes unless they are green; red ones will spoil the colour of the finished dish.

1/4 large onion (preferably) or 2 - 3 spring onions/green onions
3 cloves garlic or to taste
fresh or pickled jalapeno, finely chopped, to taste
1 cup approx Hatch chiles, peeled and seeded
4 - 6 medium tomatillos
1 t salt or to taste
1 t ground toasted cumin seed
2 limes, cut for juicing, or a lemon, or cider vinegar, to taste

• Take everything except the limes and prepare into similar size chunks. 
• Put together in a wide pan and bring to a fast boil, stirring to prevent sticking. 
• Boil quickly until much of the liquid evaporates - again, stir as needed. 
• Remove from heat and scrape into a blender jug or bowl. Let cool according to your comfort level of blending hot things. 
• Blend until all one texture and mostly smooth (there will be tomatillo seeds.) 
• Check the seasoning, adding lime juice to sharpen the flavour.   

Will keep in fridge for ten days.

Guacamole with Hatch chiles

Okay, non-canonical ... but unlike the green pea travesty, avocado and Hatch is pretty good. You could call this an avocado dip, sauce or salsa if it's not your idea of guacamole (that which we call a rose ...) And there's another guacamole recipe here without peppers.

1/4 large onion or 2 - 3 spring onions/green onions
2 limes, cut for juicing
3 cloves garlic or to taste
fresh jalapeno, finely chopped, to taste
1/2 cup approx Hatch chiles, peeled and seeded
2 medium ripe, soft, avocados
2 - 3 T cilantro/coriander leaf or to taste
1 t salt or to taste
pinch ground toasted cumin seed

• If using onion, start by slicing it thinly and cutting the slices into small dice. Squeeze over about half a lime and mix. Put it in one corner of the chopping board or into a 2 cup bowl.
• Smash the garlic with the side of a heavy knife and cut as finely as possible. Leave it on the board.
• If using green onion, chop into small pieces. Keep everything the same size.
• Put the chiles on top of the garlic and cut into little strips or dice.
• Chop the coriander leaf finely. 
• Halve the avocado(s). Peel; remove the stone(s). Use a fork to crush them into a paste.
• Sprinkle over the salt and juice of one lime and mix all together. 
• Juice the remaining lime over the mixture and mix to combine evenly. Check the seasoning. 

Best to serve without too much delay, but will keep okay for lunch the next day. Keeps better with more lime juice rather than less.

Jubilee Close: a cherry gin cocktail

Earlier in the year Simon and I saw Jubilee on its closing night. It was a terrific night out, and we closed it with a cocktail at home on the deck. Cherries Jubilee is a classic dessert, so I wanted cherries in my commemorative cocktail. Apart from that, I just used what was in the house ...

Jubilee Close

• 2 T honey - I used this Colorado honey, with a moderately strong flavour and a floral aroma
• 4 oz Dà Mhìle* Farmhouse gin 
• 1 T sour cherry noyau
• 2 T moonshine from the cherries
• Icecubes
• 6 moonshine cherries

To garnish: twist of lime, or lemon verbena sprigs

Warm the honey; stir in the noyau, moonshine, and gin. Put a few ice cubes into cocktail glasses. Strain into glasses. Garnish with cherries and lime twist.

Sour cherry noyau

Fresh sour cherries, unpitted
Vodka to cover
Pack sour cherries into a glass jar and cover with vodka. Keep as thoroughly airtight as possible. Use sparingly after 6 months, when the almond flavour of the cherry pits will have come out into the liquid.  

*Dà Mhìle also make a stunning seaweed gin. I have an idea for a strange salty oystery limey cocktail. Just waiting until oysters are back in season!

Hatch chiles for beginners 1: prep them up

It's nearly chile season again, so the last few packages in the freezer are fair game. And since I was writing elsewhere about the happy-making experience of having Hatch chiles fresh roasted, I thought I'd also write about how to prepare and use them.

Strictly speaking it's optional to remove the seeds. I do, though, as they can taste bitter and at the best of times don't add much to a dish other than heat. To peel and seed half-thawed chiles is pretty quick once you get in the rhythm. Here are two ways.

If you're finicky about that kind of thing or if your chiles are spicy, you may like to wear gloves while you do this.

1 Under running water

Easier, but it does use a lot of water and it does also lose some of the flavour ... good for beginners, though.

• Hold the chile by the stem end with one hand. 
• Under water, pull the skin off with the other hand. 
• Use your fingers to pull the stem end off
• Split the chile lengthwise with your fingers
• Hold it by the pointy end and open it out into a wedge. Wash away the seeds, removing bits of membrane if you can without breaking the whole chile. 

2 With water at hand for rinsing

A bit messier, goes fast once you've got the knack. Basically it's a similar  process, but you're going to keep one hand clean as you only use it to hold the chile by one end. The other will get covered in blackened bits of chile skin, juices, and seeds. Dip or rinse your hand in water when it gets too grubby to do the job.

• Hold the chile by the stem end with one hand. 
• Use your other hand almost like a squeegee to scrape the skin off
• Use your fingers to pull the stem end off
• Split the chile lengthwise with your fingers
• Hold it by the pointy end and open it out into a wedge. 
• Squeegee away the seeds by running the flesh of the chile between two fingers. Pick away large bits of membrane if you can without breaking the whole chile. 

Substitutions

If you aren't fortunate enough to have these specific peppers in your area, you can use other peeled and roasted green chiles or even regular bell peppers (I'd go with red rather than green there). The flavour will be different but probably still pretty nice. Hatch chiles are a vegetable rather than a condiment, so if you're substituting some other capsicum, choose accordingly. Maybe not ghost peppers, for instance.

Coming up: Hatch chile recipes for beginners.