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It was a sweet day out there
in San Onofre, California. The sun was super-radiating
off the Interstate 5 haze and the gray California
ocean. Having been out all day my eyes saw giant
spots on the behemoth nuclear power plant that dominates
the coastal landscape. My tongue was swollen, skin
was burned, each muscle in my arms and back raged
and twitched. The putrid smell of rotten seaweed,
unattended public restrooms and ocean salt was overwhelming.
And we all had smiles that wouldn’t quit.
How could we not? The waves had been rolling in
like glass hills at 5 to 7 feet. My friends and
I had had the “Church”, a coveted long
boarding spot along the San Onofre coastline, to
ourselves for the last seven hours. We caught dozens
of perfect waves. It was one of those perfect days.
One of those days you find yourself dreaming about
even after years of living in Minnesota.
But I remember this particular
surfing session from years ago for another reason
besides great waves. Surfing all day always meant
beer and grilling after. The appetite soars after
hours of paddling and maintaining hyper vigilance
waiting for the next wave to role in just right.
You’d eat just about anything. All of us except
Mike Jones, the first true “foodie”
I had ever met. To Mike, every chance to eat was
a chance to show creative expression, finesse and
refinement. The guy was no snob, no stuffed-shirt.
He just knew how to live. And just because he was
on a beach didn’t mean he didn’t have
the equipment to make a post-surfing meal to remember.
That day, Mike made us pan-seared steak with mushrooms
and onions, complete with a wine reduced pan sauce,
rosemary Yukon gold potatoes, sautéed asparagus,
and a bold wine pairing: A Louis Jardot Beaujolais.
All of this prepared from a small cooler and a few
pieces of essential equipment I took note of and
now call a “San Onofre Kitchen.” Just
a few things you can pack in your trunk weather
you are heading out to surf epic waves in California
or here in Minnesota driving up the road to fish
for walleye. Keep this stuff in your trunk and you
will always be able to prepare a meal to remember.
The
Burton Burner: This Versatile mini stove is
portable and durable and is the back bone to any
mobile kitchen. Using butane cartridges, you get
instant heat with a consistent flame that never
blows out, even on its lowest setting. High heat
is a snap as these burners can generate up to 7,400
BTU’s. You can use any conventional cookware
for this bad boy, and it even comes with a hard
plastic carrying case. If you are cooking on the
road, tailgating, heading to a picnic, boating,
or just serving flambé at the table, one
Max Burton burner is essential, two is sublime.
A multi cooker is a great
way to be able to boil pasta, steam vegetables or
seafood, or prepare a stew or chili. The 8 qt size
is the best for on the road cooking. We often get
asked at Kitchen Window, “If you could just
have one pan, what would it be?” For me, the
answer is the Calphalon multi cooker. All stainless
steel, with a heavy encapsulated aluminum disc for
heat distribution, you could cook, fry, steam, simmer,
braze, and pan sear just about anything you can
think to cook up with one of these. Also, it’s
fits perfectly on your Burton Burner
The
Cast Iron Pan: Okay,
these are heavy, but if your great grandmother could
bring them in her covered wagon you have no excuse
not to stash one in your trunk. The cast iron pan
is ideal for cooking and baking just about anything.
You can make famous camping food like biscuits and
cornbread, or blacken a salmon to perfection. Also,
a properly seasoned cast iron pan can help you ensure
that there are no problems with food sticking or
difficult clean up.
A
Knife Bag: Professional cook’s bring all
of their tools with them to work, just as the mobile
kitchen cook should. Kitchen Window stocks a variety
of light weight bags for your mobile kitchen that
can easily hold all of the tools you will require.
Knife Bags are inexpensive and convenient, but what
you put in them is important to. Here is the ideal
knife bag inventory as I see it:
- 8” cook’s knife:
The back bone to any kitchen
- 3.5” Paring knife:
The back up for small work
- 6” Utility Knife:
For slicing, filleting or carving
- A
Good Quality Peeler: Makes fast work of peeling
potatoes and other vegetables
- A
Microplane Grater: Never underestimate the
flavor potential of citrus zest or even a couple
of grams of grated parmesan
- A
Lamson Sharpe Spatula: Yes, I called this
spatula by name. This is simply one of the great
accomplishments of human kind. Made in the USA,
these spatulas are a joy to work with and make
cooking even more fun than usual.
- Tongs:
Almost as important as a cook’s knife, tongs
are your fingers when your cooking, and are the
preferred “tailgaters” tool of choice.
What else? I’m leaving
it at that, the bare essentials for the mobile gourmet
cook. Just don’t forget to stop by the store
to get the ingredients you need, but I’ll
bet you find that if you are on a beach in California,
a rest stop in New Mexico, or by a remote lake in
Minnesota, you will be able to prepare just about
anything you can imagine from the trunk of your
car. And that is something else to smile about!
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