Desert Recipes

You’re in for a rude awakening if you think desert recipes is some kind of cake.  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.

Desert Recipes

There can’t be a discussion of desert recipes without mentioning the most important cooking tool in the desert.  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.  Such cookers can reach up to 300°F, perfect for many desert recipes.  Hotdogs, steaks, soups, even spaghetti can be cooked here.  But keep two things in mind.  Number one this is a slow cooking technique.  That’s many hours needed to cook.  As the sun moves you’ll have to realign the cooker.  The second is that it doesn’t work at night or on cloudy days – any time there is no sun.

Desert Recipes

There are positives to solar cooking as well.  When food is cooked slowly it retains moisture.  There is also a lot of leeway as far as burning food because it’s cooking so slow.  Need proof?  Try leaving some French fries in hot oil for an extra 10 seconds after they’re cooked.  Also longer meal preparation time means more time to look forward to that great meal.  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.

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  A quick search on Yahoo will find even more.

Desert Recipes

The sun makes desert recipes a snap to cook.