Don’t read this article on desert recipes expecting to get ideas for sweet after dinner treats. Don’t read it for tips on healthy ends to nutritious meals either. If that’s what you expect, there is some confusion. The often sweet end to a meal is a dessert, while a desert is an often sandy and hot but always dry area. Let’s talk about cooking in the desert.
A desert is practically ready-made for food preparation because of one important element. That’s the sun. Temperatures in the desert can top 150°F, that’s good for cooking. If harnassed, it can mean cooking without modern appliances like microwaves, stoves or even gas or charcoal grills.
There are expensive solar cookers as well as homemade ones.. The temperature in such cookers can reach near 300F, which is fine for cooking almost anything that can be found in quick desert recipes. This means hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks, and even stews or spaghetti. Don’t forget two things, however. The first is that this is a slow cooking method. It takes all day to cook. Plus the solar cooker will likely have to be realigned throughout the day as the sun moves. The second is that it doesn’t work at night or on cloudy days – any time there is no sun.
But solar cooking has advantages that make desert recipes a tasty treat. Slow cooking keeps food moist. And it really isn’t possible to burn anything because there are hours of leeway in cooking times rather than minutes or even seconds with other cooking methods. Don’t believe it? Try leaving some French fries in hot oil for an extra 10 seconds after they’re cooked. Another advantage of solar cooking is that it’s a process. Waiting longer for food to cook, doing more while it cooks, adds to the anticipation. Cooking isn’t just cooking and eating, it’s presentation and experience too. And don’t worry about food not browning in a solar cooker. If there’s some fat, the meat will brown.
What are some desert recipes for solar cooking? As mentioned before there are a variety of recipes for everything from eggs to pastas and even casseroles A quick search on Yahoo will find even more.
Solar cooking for desert recipes brings a whole new meaning to people wiping their brow and saying “Phew, I’m cooking out here.” Watch out who hears it. Maybe you really are.