Thursday, July 2, 2009

Camp Recipes by Fish: Penne Seafood Marinara
by Chef Louie Lee Castro (UPM)Starting June 2009, Chef Louie Lee "Fish" Castro of the UP Mountaineers will give us practical tips and zesty recipes for an outdoor culinary experience!Some climb buddies have the penchant for being spectacular when in comes to campsite cooking serving meals out of the ordinary which makes the climb experience truly a gastronomical adventure as well. Pasta meal has grown to be an alternative to rice. Probably due to the reason that watching the group cook as he prepares the pasta meal is already socials and group bonding in itself.Searching the internet for the story behind ‘marinara’ led me to this website which gave a very simple story. As the name implies, it is from the Italian ‘marinaro’ or ‘sailor’ and the sauce is supposedly made in Naples for the sailors when they returned from the sea bringing with them fresh seafood as ingredients for the sauce.Penne Seafood MarinaraINGREDIENTS500 gram Penne pasta1 medium canned or 500ml whole peeled tomato200g onion2 cloves garlic (minced)40g white sugar1/2 tsp. dried oreganobayleaf/laurelginisa mix optionalcooking oilyour choice of seafood, it can be dory, prawns, mussel, scallops etc.COOKING THE SAUCEsaute onion and garlicadd the mashed whole peeled tomato bring it to boil.add laurel,sugar, dried oregano, ginisa mixlet it simmer for about 30 minutes to reduce liquid.add your seafoods and add 5 nimutes simmering time, then add your pasta.COOKING THE PASTAsee label on how long it will take to cook your pasta to make it al dente.cooking rice or pasta to the "al dente" stage without over-cooking requires a certain amount of practice and skill, since both have a relatively brief midway stage between the under-cooked phase, where rice or dried pasta stays hard in the middle and where fresh pasta tastes "floury", and the over-cooked phase, where the dish lacks texture and is considered too soft. Using plenty of salt helps achieve the "al dente" texture.Poaching is particularly suitable for fragile food, such as egg, fish, poultry and fruitswhich might easily fall apart or dry out. For this reason, it is important to keep the heat low and to keep the poaching time to a bare minimum, which will also preserve the flavour of the food.

Ordinary Folks doing Extraordinary things for the Environment

Caragasan Coastal Clean-up

Coca Cola and ZAFMOS team up for Coastal Clean-up of Caragasan Beach

Some forty personnel of the Zamboanga Coca Cola Bottling Company, together with members of the Zamboanga Fearless Mountaineering Society undertook the coastal clean-up of Caragasan beach last Saturday, Sept. 19,2009.

The activity is in line with the celebration of the World Coastal Clean-up day, an activity which is observed all over the world las Saturday, to drum up consciousness about the need to conserve our coastal aread from human debris.

An entire dump truck was filled up with sacks of debris, trash collected from the beach area left behind by irresponsible picnickers who throw their plastic bottles, food refuse, candy wrappers and even their clothing in the area.

The amoung of trash collected should be a wake up call to all, of how much we contribute to pollution of our oceans.

For those interested in purchasing new equipment, T3ck Outdoor might be a worthy place to scout

T3ckoutdoor.com now ships outdoor gear nationwide!
Teck de Leon, the amiable owner of online outdoor store T3ck Outdoor and Adventure Shop, has informed me that their online outdoor shop now has a nationwide delivery service. This is a blessing for our countrymen who do not have access to a nearby outdoor shop - or to those who want the convenience of online shopping. T3ckoutdoor.com has a great selection of outdoor goods, virtually the whole spectrum from backpacks to ropes, of course tents, and even cameras. Local and imported brands are both offered. I've tried their service once when I ordered a Deuter bag and the item shipped as scheduled."Our goods are all duly-registered and we do issue official receipts for all transactions,"" Teck says, adding that their products are sourced from reputable suppliers. "And we do replace items if they are returned properly."Check out T3ck Outdoor and Adventure Shop at www.t3ckoutdoor.com.

Recommended Reading for Mountaineers

Hey guys, I picked this article up from the Pinoy Mountaineer blog with Gideon Lasco's permission. I believe this book is a must read for all of us who seeks some inspiration in our dreams of reaching the highest summit. I hope you take time to purchase this book for your own personal reading