I know times are tough ...

I found this note on the bulletin board at the Missouri Flat Road parking lot for the El Dorado Trail. The address has been removed to protect the innocent.

Flank steak

Flank is one of my favorite beef cuts ...

SEOUL, Republic of Korea (Feb. 28, 2010) -- Chef Trevor Hamilton prepares grilled flank steaks at the Navy Club for single Sailors stationed in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Since 1999, Hamilton has been a part of the Adopt-a-Ship program, a partnership between Naval Supply Systems Command and the American Culinary Federation.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Bobbie G. Attaway.

This old pot

This old pot
Originally uploaded by SeabeeCook

I love these old stockpots. Unlike a new out-of-the-box pot, this one at last week's 1st Annual Hangtown Winter Fest '10 matches the character of many of the competitors.

Rough and unkept on the outside, many are sweet people who have hearts full of kindness on the inside.

The pot's rough exterior -- tarnished from boiling over on top of an untamed propane flame -- shed light on its contents.

Full of simmering water when I shot the picture, I suspect the pot has been used to dissolve salt and sugar for a brine in the past. Or it may be from a lively pot of chili, one that boiled over when the cook's attention turned toward something else.

I didn't get a chance to talk to the owner of the stockpot. I suspect that the team was presenting its entry for beef brisket to the judges when I took the picture.

My only advise to the pot's owner: Please don't clean it exterior. It has too much character to srub it away!

Hangtown Winter Fest '10

Louis and Stephanie Hudson of North Highlands, California pause for the camera moments before turning their beef brisket entry in to the judges.

Lou and Stephanie smoked a 13-pound brisket throughout the early morning hours of Sunday, February 14 for the 1st Annual Hangtown Winter Fest '10 in Placerville.

I first met the couple at Oinktoberfest in Oroville, California last October. Lou is currently a culinary arts student at Le Cordon Blue College of Culinary Arts in Sacramento.

"The only reason I'm going to school is to learn the restaurant and catering business," said Hudson.

A "stage lighting designer" by day, Hudson looks forward to the day that he can open a barbecue restaurant in his native Redding, California.

Broccoli spear cooker

I buy a 24-pound case of broccoli spears from Sysco ever week or two at work. With 12 (2-pound) packages, the case gives me four meals for the residents.

Over my career I've learned that you don't want to dump three packages into a stockpot of boiling water. Half the broccoli will be overcooked. The other half will be underdone

In the fully equipped kitchen, the cook steams the broccoli inside a high-pressure steamer. Since I feed two-dozen residents out of a home-style kitchen, I had to re-think my broccoli cooking process.

As shown in the photograph, I set a steamer up on the range top, as follows:

• Place 4-inch hotel pan with 1-quart water over two burners
• Set 2-inch perforated hotel pan inside the 4-inch pan
• Place 3 (2-pound) packages of broccoli spears inside the pan
• Cover broccoli with lid or aluminum foil
• Turn both burners on high and steam broccoli for 5 to 10 minutes; reduce heat to medium once the water boils
• Gently separate broccoli spears with a pair of tongs
• Continue cooking until done

The 2-inch hotel pan next to the broccoli is baked macaroni and cheese.

Pasta shells with roasted broccoli and walnuts

Pasta salad is currently on the menu at work one time each week. When I started in December, I quickly discovered that the residents had tired of the vinaigrette-based salad.

To offer variety, I often morph the salad into a hot pasta dish every other week. This gives me the opportunity to experiment with a full range of different flavors.

Successful tests will be incorporated into the new menu, which will feature one pasta dish for lunch each week.

Spaghetti puttanesca filled the void twice in the past two weeks. While popular, the sharp bite of the puttanesca isn't universally accepted.

Today's pasta dish came from an article that I clipped in the doctor's office last year. The photograph of the dark green roasted broccoli in a bed of pasta shells caught my attention.

Since I was looking for vegetarian entrees at the time, I clipped the recipe and filed it in my large recipe binder.

As often happens, the recipe sat in the binder for a year. I had intended to use it at Deer Crossing Camp this past summer.

The recipe could've made a good inter-session dish. The crew would've enjoyed the rich blending of broccoli and walnuts roasted in olive oil with garlic.

It's a fair compromise when you feed a significant number of vegetarians, as I did during inter-session at Deer Crossing.

PASTA SHELLS WITH ROASTED BROCCOLI AND WALNUTS

To use frozen broccoli spears, steam until cooked about halfway. Cut the stems off the broccoli. Reserve the stems and cooking liquid for cream of broccoli soup.

Roast as directed. Since the semi-cooked florets will be moist, the roasting process may take a few minutes longer.

2-1/2 pounds pasta shells
6 pounds broccoli, cut into small florets
2 cups walnuts, roughly chopped
1 cup olive oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
1 cup grated Parmesan

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking water, drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

Meanwhile, toss the broccoli, walnuts, oil, garlic, 2 teaspoons kosher salt and 1 teaspoon pepper together. Pour onto a sheet pan. Roast in a 400-degree F oven until the broccoli is tender, about 20 minutes.

Toss the pasta with the broccoli mixture, butter and 1 cup of the reserved pasta water. (Add more water if the pasta seems dry.) Sprinkle with the Parmesan before serving.

Serves 24 portions.

Camouflage uniform at sea?

I worn the camouflage uniform during my last eight or nine years in the Seabee reserve as a chief petty officer.

At the time, Seabee leadership welcomed the change from the olive drab utility uniform. It helped us blend in with the U.S. Marines on the battlefield. This was important during Operation Dessert Storm because our old uniform resembled those of the Iraqi army.

While I comprehend camouflage uniforms for the land forces, I'm puzzled by the Navy's recent conversion to camouflage. Why do sailors, especially those who spend the better part of a career on board ships, require a multi-colored uniform?

The answer comes from New-Navy-Uniform.com:

The concept uniforms are not intended to be ‘camouflage’ uniforms as is the case with similarly patterned uniforms of the other services. We have no need for camouflage. However, by learning from our past working uniforms as well as the uniforms from other services, the Navy realized that a solid cover uniform shows heavy wear areas much more predominantly than a multicolored pattern.

The solid color uniforms also show wrinkles in the fabric more predominantly and often a small stain or spot of paint renders a solid colored uniform not wearable. A multicolored uniform alleviates those problems as well.

This old chief doesn't buy into the whole idea of a pristine working uniform. After all, they're "working uniforms." That implies that the wearer will soil his uniform.

The new Navy Working Uniform -- even with a blue-grey camouflage pattern -- doesn't fit in with naval tradition. Blue chambray starts and dungaree trousers have served the Navy well.

In the photograph, Culinary Specialist 1st Class Richard Rieth, assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), looks through the different components of the Navy Working Uniform at the Navy Exchange uniform shop at Fleet Activities Yokosuka on February 10, the first day the uniform was available in Navy Region Japan.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dominique Pineiro.