By desert recipes we don’t mean sweet treats to eat. No it’s not a healthy after dinner riposte 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. This article is about desert cooking.
There can’t be a discussion of desert recipes without mentioning the most important cooking tool in the desert. That’s the sun. It’s a tremendous source of heat, particularly in hot deserts where temperatures can reach 150F and even higher. That heat can be used in the place of an oven, microwave or other modern cooking appliances.
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 desert recipes. Everything from eggs stakes can be cooked on this. But keep two things in mind. 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.
Solar cooking has some unique advantages too. Slow cooked food is melt in your mouth 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. Have your doubts? Try rice on the stove for an extra minute. 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. Anticipation can make the meal taste better when it’s finally time to eat. Contrary to what many people believe solar cookers can and do brown foods.
Is it time for the desert recipes? Try desert spaghetti squash with sausage, spaghetti sauce and Parmesan cheese. Another possibility is a delicious Chile casserole. That’s not Chile with meat and beans, that’s hot Pablano Chiles, by the way These and others can be found with a quick Google search.
The sun makes desert recipes a snap to cook.