When it was Hell Hot time in New Mexico, you gathered up the Fam and the
fly poles and headed to the Mountains to escape the heat. Our Favorite
escape was the Pecos Wilderness. The best campsites were up a little feeder
stream from the river. In places that little creek was not more than 2
feet across. If you couldn't get the fish to take flys or a San Juan worm,
you could always bounce a couple of salmon eggs on a small hook along the
bottom under a fallen log or in the back wash of a small spillway. 4 or 5 of
these small trout were just about right for the 3 of us. Rainbows,
sometimes a brown and the occasional Cutthroat (those we released, usually
too small and way too rare).

For an evening meal we would sauté up a sofrito base ( tomato, peppers,
onion and garlic) , adding rice for a pot of Mexican rice, heat up some oil
in the Dutch oven, then I would wrap the cleaned and gutted fish in a wet
collar green leaf,(a Desert Banana Leaf), along with a wild Onion if you
could find a few, then seal that in tin foil, throw that on some hot coals
scooped out on the side from the fire, then sprinkle a few coals on top. In
about 10-15 minutes the fish would be steamed to perfection. There is
nothing like a cold water Trout, quickly dispatched and eaten within minutes
of being caught

The wife would have fried up some Bisquick Bread by then in the old Cast
Iron Dutch oven. Sometimes she would make little sopapillas like snacks, if
you will. She would have snuck off a small one topped with a squirt of
honey to placate the young one. Now the Beans would be Ranch Style from that
black can company cause no one sat around the fire during the day to watch
beans cook. When dinner was all cooked and coming together you opened up
those little foil packets up, peeled the skin off, lifted the top fillet off
and pulled the skeleton out. all the fish scraps went in the hottest part
of the fire to burn to ash, this kept the Coons, Skunks and the occasional
Bear away. We would top those little trout with a dollop of green chile
cilantro pesto or put them on a bed of spinach leaves and Pine nuts. After
savoring the meal it was break out the jacket, kick back and listen to the
evening sounds approach in those tall cool pines while awaiting the firefly
dance to start.

Green Chile & Cilantro Pesto

1 bunch cilantro
3-4 cloves garlic, roasted
1/2 c. olive oil is preferred
1/4 c. pinion( pine) nuts, toasted
1-2 green chiles to taste such as a Big Jim or Jalapeno, or one of each,
roasted and peeled
S&P to taste

You can also forego the toasting and roasting, but that step gives it a
different flavor base which I recommend.

Bisquick camp bread

1 c. flour
1 c. Bisquick mix
1/2 c. water
1 tspn salt

Mix it all together to make a dough, save a bit of flour. Knead for about
10 minutes, then rest a bit another 10 minutes or so.
Dust your surface with a bit of bench flour and roll out some small egg size
balls of dough. roll or flatten them out then fry them up in cast iron pan
like Indian Bread or brown em on a comal or griddle, like a tortilla.

On Mar 28, 3:43 pm, "Gunner" <gunner@ spam.com> wrote:
> When it was Hell Hot time in New Mexico, you gathered up the Fam and the
> fly poles and headed to the Mountains to escape the heat. Our Favorite
> escape was the Pecos Wilderness. ...

Thanks for all that, Gunner. One of my big regrets is that I couldn't
keep making a living in New Mexico in the late '80s, but I tried! I
get back as often as possible, but it's not the same when you don't
live there anymore.

David

Gunner wrote:
> When it was Hell Hot time in New Mexico, you gathered up the Fam and the
> fly poles and headed to the Mountains to escape the heat. Our Favorite
> escape was the Pecos Wilderness. The best campsites were up a little feeder
> stream from the river. In places that little creek was not more than 2
> feet across. If you couldn't get the fish to take flys or a San Juan worm,
> you could always bounce a couple of salmon eggs on a small hook along the
> bottom under a fallen log or in the back wash of a small spillway. 4 or 5 of
> these small trout were just about right for the 3 of us. Rainbows,
> sometimes a brown and the occasional Cutthroat (those we released, usually
> too small and way too rare).
>
> For an evening meal we would sauté up a sofrito base ( tomato, peppers,
> onion and garlic) , adding rice for a pot of Mexican rice, heat up some oil
> in the Dutch oven, then I would wrap the cleaned and gutted fish in a wet
> collar green leaf,(a Desert Banana Leaf), along with a wild Onion if you
> could find a few, then seal that in tin foil, throw that on some hot coals
> scooped out on the side from the fire, then sprinkle a few coals on top. In
> about 10-15 minutes the fish would be steamed to perfection. There is
> nothing like a cold water Trout, quickly dispatched and eaten within minutes
> of being caught
>
> The wife would have fried up some Bisquick Bread by then in the old Cast
> Iron Dutch oven. Sometimes she would make little sopapillas like snacks, if
> you will. She would have snuck off a small one topped with a squirt of
> honey to placate the young one. Now the Beans would be Ranch Style from that
> black can company cause no one sat around the fire during the day to watch
> beans cook. When dinner was all cooked and coming together you opened up
> those little foil packets up, peeled the skin off, lifted the top fillet off
> and pulled the skeleton out. all the fish scraps went in the hottest part
> of the fire to burn to ash, this kept the Coons, Skunks and the occasional
> Bear away. We would top those little trout with a dollop of green chile
> cilantro pesto or put them on a bed of spinach leaves and Pine nuts. After
> savoring the meal it was break out the jacket, kick back and listen to the
> evening sounds approach in those tall cool pines while awaiting the firefly
> dance to start.
>
> Green Chile & Cilantro Pesto
>
> 1 bunch cilantro
> 3-4 cloves garlic, roasted
> 1/2 c. olive oil is preferred
> 1/4 c. pinion( pine) nuts, toasted
> 1-2 green chiles to taste such as a Big Jim or Jalapeno, or one of each,
> roasted and peeled
> S&P to taste
>
> You can also forego the toasting and roasting, but that step gives it a
> different flavor base which I recommend.
>
> Bisquick camp bread
>
> 1 c. flour
> 1 c. Bisquick mix
> 1/2 c. water
> 1 tspn salt
>
> Mix it all together to make a dough, save a bit of flour. Knead for about
> 10 minutes, then rest a bit another 10 minutes or so.
> Dust your surface with a bit of bench flour and roll out some small egg size
> balls of dough. roll or flatten them out then fry them up in cast iron pan
> like Indian Bread or brown em on a comal or griddle, like a tortilla.
>
>
Sure sounds better than El Paso Brown Trout... Seriously now, we went
camping up in the Cascades and forgot to bring flower... I gutted the
fish and did an impromptu marinade with olive oil, soy sauce, lemons,
onions, and some crushed red chili. Grilled them over the fire and they
were delicious without the frying or the flour.

"Sonoran Dude" > wrote in message
. ..
> Gunner wrote:
>>
> Sure sounds better than El Paso Brown Trout... Seriously now, we went
> camping up in the Cascades and forgot to bring flower... I gutted the fish
> and did an impromptu marinade with olive oil, soy sauce, lemons, onions,
> and some crushed red chili. Grilled them over the fire and they were
> delicious without the frying or the flour.

"Sonoran Dude" > wrote in message
. ..
> Gunner wrote:


Cascades, as in the PNW Cascades? where? I live less than 30 miles as the
crow flys from Rainier. Its 63 and sunny today and was similar yesterday,
Rain is back tomorrow and expected thru all next week as well .

Gunner wrote:
> "Sonoran Dude" > wrote in message
> . ..
>> Gunner wrote:
>
>
> Cascades, as in the PNW Cascades? where? I live less than 30 miles as the
> crow flys from Rainier. Its 63 and sunny today and was similar yesterday,
> Rain is back tomorrow and expected thru all next week as well .
>
>
I'm jealous... you live in some beautiful country. We were at a lake on
the other side of Mt. Bachelor on that trip. I lived two months in Lake
Chelan and loved it. One of these days my daughter and I will pack up
and move up there for good.