Adventures with anrkst.

Discussion in 'Adventure, Hiking, Backpacking and Travel' started by anrkst6973, Jun 17, 2018.

  1. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Mama Noi cooks. Mama Noi is Marion Grasby’s mother. Watching her videos is both fun and a true insight into rural Thai cooking. This (with a few tweaks) is Mama Noi’s Sticky Chili Garlic Pork.

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    Marion has a video, Sticky Chili Chicken, This is my twisted version of that sauce. You could watch the video and learn this in 5 minutes and I’d be happy to share my differences with anyone. :)

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    Mama used chicken thighs. My local grocery stores seem to be having a poultry shortage. I’m going to use pork instead.

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    using about 3/4 of my sauce I’m going to marinate the cuts for a couple of hours…
    This sauce is amazing, you can marinate, use as a dipping sauce for dumplings, steam vegetables. It’s delightfully aromatic and spicy.

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    Whiles it’s doing that I need to prep up a 15” paderno for some roast vegetables…
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2022
  2. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    I would be remiss to try and cook without my fuzzy orange heart.

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    It’s kinda easy though, pre heat the Mauviel 14 good n hot, sear both sides about 3-4 minutes each, pour any leftover marinade over the top, then into a 400f oven for approximately 45 minutes…

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    The vegetables get the rest of the sauce, some pats of butter, diced, Mrs Dash and kosher salt and go in on a lower rack at the 30 minute mark…

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    How can tell you tell you’ve succeeded? When the eaters all want to be in your “Clean Plate Club.” :D.

    Y’all come see me alright? We’ll break out some clanging pans and fix something up.
     
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  3. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    And some left over for a lunch the next day. Perfect amount!
     
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  4. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Performance Testing. Hellllo Esee Mafia, I got rained (flooded) out of my paddling trip so I thought I’d do something else fun. Just like everybody here I expect my cutlery to work. Heck if you’re an Esee fan you expect your knives to both do and survive the impossible. Well because I have a ( shhh super secret) shrine to Jeff Randall in my closet I’m a “Chete-aholic”…and an unmerciful user. I decided to beat my new one and test its mettle. :)

    Ok, A lot of machetes are not full tang, and in those with injection molded handles how much steel strength you get can be concerning. I did some sleuthing and found these for Imacasa.
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    as far as I could tell this was from the factory.

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    This one I found on Google/BF. I used very strong magnet’s to get a feel for this shape under the plastic on mine.
    This inspires good confidence in its survival as a hard use tool.

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    So to put this thing to a good test of hard use…this is oak blowdown from the ice storm last year that’s been drying in my garage.

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    It’s on average of about 2 1/2”, I like to make up lots of this size that I can carry and use when I go paddling.
     
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2022
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  5. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    with me there’s no funny business, no edit software, no u tube majik. Win or lose, live or die. That’s what you get.

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    I gotta admit, this thing is surprising. It’s giving back as well as higher weight cutters.

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    How about crossways. That’s pretty brutal on an edge even in softer woods…

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    No mercy. Just lay into it till something gives.

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    I think I could pretty easily bake a fish or make a pot of coffee with that pile right?
     
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  6. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Afterwards I ran my thumb down the edge, there’s a few spots not perfect, but it’s still decent. I decided to go another step without retouching the edge at all….

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    I’m a packrat. I even keep invoicing slips to play with.

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    Considering that I used this thing to trim some bushes this morning, then battered it thru that oak…I’d say this is pretty good….

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    It will still clean draw cut hair off my arm. I’d say that’s danged impressive indeed.
    My swamp crawler friend and I are hoping we can get out soon. Maybe I can get y’all some slightly more entertaining photos next time. :)
     
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  7. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Just having a bit of fun with carbon steel by trying a little vinegar patina experiment. Wanted to see if I could set a natural looking pattern on the machete. Ideally I’d like it to look like a painted or dyed on grass camo. Let’s see…

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    my set up was pretty simple. I cut a handful of some reedy looking grass, used some brown packing paper and 2 clamping boards +white vinegar.

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    Lay the set up open like a book, random placement of the grass, clamp, and soak with vinegar…go off and forget 20 hours or so.
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    The reveal. This is…interesting….

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    I first neutralized the acidity with dish soap and water, literally wiped most of the black away with a paper towel.. then hot water, soap and a green nylon scrubbie until it felt smooth to the touch.

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    Ran the edge over ceramic and wiped the spine with old automotive sandpaper. Ready for use again.

    it didn’t turn as dark or hold as good as I expected based on the earlier reveal photo. I suspect the markings will turn darker with time and use which is fine. It’s going to do some “kitchen duty” later so there might be an update on the appearance next time. :)
     
  8. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Ive had better luck with a hot vinegar soak when going for darker color. Maybe its just me. Give it a try.
     
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  9. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    That’s a good idea actually…I may see if I can work up a way to do that on this long arse thing!
     
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  10. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Make an aluminum foil boat thing?
     
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  11. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Evening Everybody, Happy Easter my friends. This time I wanted to work up a real feast. I found a couple of recipes for
    Cuban Roast Chicken that sounded promising. Using that as a start I decided to use the 18” machete to give it a real feel of common people in the rural tropics. (Boy did the weather cooperate..it’s was hot soup humid in this ao today! :). )

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    First a braising sauce. This is similar to adobo but it uses dried guajillo peppers, orange juice, and white wine to meld its flavors. (I would have used rum but I’m depleted of it.)

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    step back, look down. There’s something satisfying about it. literally, look at the table ingredients. He was just out of camera range.

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    I took this to be a rural food, the kind a commoner might eat. I opted for turnips as a thing such a people might have or farm. ( plus I like the buttery flavor better than potatoes.)

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    this is a good one. Quality steel with a good heat treat. It’s easy to see how it’s the tool of choice for vegetation.

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    these needed to be peeled. I fiddled a bit until this technique popped out. Is it authentic or correct? I have no idea. It’s definitely feels intuitive and natural and works well.
     
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  12. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    for this feast I’m going to use a mountain of chicken, slicing the pieces both allows flavor to penetrate and insures through cooking in a full pot.

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    Away with ye..to Station 1!

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    Let’s do this! A quick 5, flip, 5 sear on the meat. Don’t be stingy with the spices either. (There almost no salt in this, 1 full turn of the grinder in the entire pot. ;) )

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    if you’re the cook, and you don’t have at least 1 furry assistant…I’m not sure we can be friends anymore. :D

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    kill the fire, layer in veg mix, sauce as you go, add in 1/2 cup of chicken stock, 2 bay leaves, and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2022
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  13. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Then off to Station 2, for an hour in the 375f range. Crikey it’s humid out here!

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    Well this might maybe be enough so I get lunch tomorrow….maybe!!

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    You might wanna bring a spoon and be quick about it…this is not going to last long around here. Pretty sure of it.
     
  14. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Now that looks amazing!!
     
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  15. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    After my cookout yesterday I noticed that some of the vegetation had darkened the edge on my machete, so I saved some of the scraps and used the advice from @Strigidae to play around with the patina a bit more.
    I used nearly the same set up, 2 boards, brown paper, the vegetable trimmings, but I made a sort of envelope from foil that went in the boards as well. I also used apple cider vinegar at just under boiling to start and this went 4 hours…

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    When it came out I just washed it with soap n water and a green scrubbie. Here is the new color out back against the environment you would normally find it in.

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    This technique was a real win and I’m certainly going to be using it again. :). Thanks Strig.
     
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  16. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Evenin Friends. I’m gonna call this one “Makeah Soup”. It’s sort of an amalgamation of things I’ve seen and partially just stuff pulled out of my head.

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    Hey! Finally got a decent lid for my 11” DeBuyers Chefs Pan…it’s Italian, go figure. Had to notch the lip to get a perfect fit but so worth it.

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    So I’m standing there…and there’s soft and quiet movement by my feet. Awesome.

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    You just know you’re gonna like something that starts with bacon and garlic.

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    Then use those renderings to make the most perfect egg patty pancake you’ve ever seen…

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    then promptly tear it into bite size pieces! :D
     
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  17. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Then a little sauté, some spices, a splash of stock, a bit of time and wa-la. Makeah Soup.

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    serve it hot over rice, might ought to hustle…she’s looking real hungry like over there.
     
  18. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    Love your dog man !
     
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  19. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    My best bud, always right under me, laying on my foot even as we speak. You still keeping the house panthers fed?
     
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  20. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    you know it. Nothing but high end game , poultry , fish , range animals etc.
     
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