Damper

Spend yesterday in the kitchen trying different damper recipes. Turned out damn good. Much better than the rock-hard-but-still-somehow-doughy loaf I made last time. Here're the details:

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Wonderful moist bread with parched corn, dried onion, chives, walnuts and cheddar cheese

Damper with chocolate chips, pineapple, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, banana, walnuts, pecans, and pecan meal.

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Simple Damper

• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2-3/4 cup water, milk, or reconstituted milk.
• 1 tsp butter
• 2 tsp sugar
• Optional: blueberries and/or raspberries, strawberry slices, pineapple chunks, parched corn, pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, dried onion, almond meal - just about anything you have on hand, and don't worry about using too much! Mine was heavy with fruits and nuts and it still rose perfectly.

Mix dry ingredients. Rub in butter, then add milk or water. Mix slightly, and add any optional ingredients. Knead only until dough sticks together. Add more flour if necessary. Do not over-knead, or the damper will be too dense and tough. Wrap loosely in foil, giving it room to expand, and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Note: I'd advise against putting any fresh fruits or berries into the dough. The juice saturate the dough and cause you to knead more, resulting in a very dense, tough loaf with lots of smashed up berries. You need fruit dry enough to hold it's shape and juices when squeezed.

Thus far, I've only made damper in an oven, and that is all I include on my directions. When I make it over a fire, I'll try a few methods and post what I find to work best. Here are some of those methods I'm planning on trying:

• Wrap dough loosely in foil, giving it room to expand. Bake on a grill over a low fire. Easy to burn it, this way.
• Wrap dough in foil, and put the bundle into a larger pot or other metal container with a few rocks at the bottom to keep the foil from touching. Dig the larger container into hot coals.
• Probably the easiest way - wrap the sticky dough around a stick and roast it like a marshmallow. Might not work with a lot of stuff in the dough, as it would be heavier.

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Lip balm and Sunblock

Lip Balm

Even the ubiquitous tub of carmex may do more harm than good to windburned or chapped lips, due to ingredients such as Phenol which can actually damage your skin - requiring, of course, more lip balm to correct! See how that works? Here is a very basic recipe for a safe, gentle lip balm:

Restorative Lip Balm

• 1 Tbsp beeswax
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 2 capsules Vitamin E

Grate beeswax if using a solid block. Combined and melt beeswax and oil in a double broiler, microwave, or carefully in a saucepan, over low heat. Add Vitamin E capsules, mix well, and pour into a shallow container.

The recipe above is one of the most basic and effective balms for chapped or windburned lips. Forgo the Vitamin E capsules for a simple lip gloss. Add a few drops of peppermint oil for the refreshing, tingly sensation you get from many commercial lip balms. Look here for more ideas. Beware that honey in some recipes may crystalize and harden.

Sunblock

Unlike chemical sunscreen, Zinc Oxide or Titanium Dioxide based sunblocks physically block UV radiation. Zinc Oxide is widely regarded to be healthier, safer, and more effective across a broader spectrum. Gloves and face protection is recommended while working with either - they are safe to use topically, but inhalation is another matter. Sesame and coconut have also been proven to have sun blocking properties, as well. Below is one of many recipes I found, requiring few ingredients and no special equipment.

Sesame-Coconut Oil Sunblock

• 3 oz Sesame Oil
• 2 oz Coconut Oil
• 2 oz Beeswax
• 2/3 cup Water
• 2 Tbsp Zinc Oxide
• 5 tsp Wheat Germ or Jojoba oil

Carefully warm the oils and wax in a double boiler, stirring until wax is fully melted. Remove from heat, stir in water and zinc, then store in an airtight container.

Zinc based sunblock ointments have largely fallen out of favour, but I'm hoping that using nanosized Zinc Oxide powder and oils, it may be easier to wear and apply then the traditionally sticky cream. We'll see this spring, once I try it out.

Ghee Making

As a person who rather enjoys good food and cooking, I've had a few worries about preparing food on the road - largely revolving around how to carry butter or cooking oil. Butters spoils too quickly unprotected from the head, vegetable oil is not economical to carry.

I had imagined shortening to be the best compromise, as it is relatively cheap, light, and travels well. Of course, it's also considered to be a pretty shoddy thing to be consuming on a daily basis. Fortunately, while reading about what a unpleasant substance shortening is, I came across a mention of ghee.

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Melting butter for ghee

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I'd heard of ghee before, and vaguely knew what it was. What I learned was that it, and it's close relative, clarified butter, do not require refrigeration, and in cool, stable conditions can last several months. I would therefore assume that under less ideal conditions, it would still last well past long enough to be eaten.

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Spitting, hissing butter-froth.

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Making good news better, ghee is simple to make. It requires nothing but unsalted butter, a steady heat source, a deep pot, and a filter of some sort. I made it over the stove today, but with careful observation it could be done over hot embers in a fire pit.

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With the upper layer of froth skimmed off, the slightly browned milk solids and golden ghee are visible.

The solids are removed by use of a coffee filtered placed in a colander.

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It remains to be seen if I hit the sweet spot between "too much water content" and "burned butter" correctly. I divided the final product into two jars - one to use, the other to set near my heater, which I will observe over the next few months. If it turns all fuzzy, I'll have to amend this entry, but I'm feeling rather optimistic that I got it right.

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Ghee, freshly strained and still in liquid form.

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CLARIFIED BUTTER, or GHEE

Materials needed:
Unsalted butter(Organic if available), a deep pot, coffee filters or cheesecloth, and some means of securing it over the container for the finished ghee.

• Make sure the pot, jar, and any utensils which will come into contact with the butter or finished ghee are completely dry.
• Melt butter over low heat.
• Once melted, the butter will begin to hiss, splutter, and form a thick white froth. Maintain the heat so that it simmers steadily. Keep the bubbles small.
• Depending on the heat and thickness of the pot, the butter will continue to foam for 30 to 45 minutes. Small nuggets of milk solids will form at the bottom later, visible if the foam is pushed aside.
• Watch and listen closely. The bubbling and foaming will lessen, the audible sizzling will become irregular, and the milk solids may turn golden brown. When any of these occur, remove from heat and cool for a few minutes. Between the solids and foam, the ghee should be clear golden.
• Skim as much of the foam as possible off the top. Pour the remaining liquid through your filter. It may be necessary to replace the filter, or rewarm the ghee if it stops dripping, so don't wash your pot until completely finished.

Note: to make clarified butter, which retains a more buttery flavour but does not keep as long, you would have stopped simmering the butter at an earlier stage and left more water content.

Update: After weeks of being stored next to my heater, the clear glass jar of ghee shows no signs of spoiling. I'm therefore going to declare it "good enough", and use it to saute some taters.