"Ed's Breads" and other Flour recipies

           In one of my recent posts about mess kits I mentioned that my cooking techniques inspired in my fellow travellers a degree of curiosity and even envy. This was because I travelled with basic ingredients such as flour and porridge rather than (often heavier) pre-packaged meals.

           Most hikers live off packets of rice and pasta until they are sick of it. A mountain hut warden I once met in Iceland claimed he had to resort to cooking his own food in a separate building since the smell of real meat could cause riots.

           My friend Ed is a man of similar traits so I will start today’s blog with some recipes of his in his own words. This is a selection of recipes for flour that he uses when hiking in Wyoming. Some of my own comments and variations in section two. (I once forwarded these recipes to another friend who was a gamekeeper and ex-soldier. Much to his wife's amusement he could not stop making and eating flatbreads!)

Ed's Breads. 

FLATBREAD
Ingredients:  Water, flour
Procedure:  Fill coffee-can approximately half full with water. Shake flour into water approximately one spoonful at a time.
            Stir each addition of flour into water before adding more. When mixture is a thick batter, stir busily for two or three minutes before adding more flour.
            Continue to add flour and stir until mixture is a wet dough. Turn out onto floured cloth and knead with small additions of flour until dough is shiny and stiff.
            Tear off egg-sized pieces of dough and pat flat and thin (1/8" or a bit thicker).
            Bake flattened pieces of dough in greased lid of largest cookpot, uncovered, for roughly thirty seconds per side; turn promptly at the first hint of burning.
           This is the ancient Egyptian pta, older by far than the pyramids, older than agriculture, the first bread. In India, it's a chuppatti, in Mexico a tortilla. Eat it rolled around butter and honey for breakfast (be careful, it drips), or cold sliced turkey ham for lunch, or curried lentils for dinner. Remember to pat out as many cakes as you plan to eat before starting to bake them:-the skillet-time is very short, and you'll quickly run through all your prepared cakes. Don't hesitate to bake more flatbread than you'll eat at one sitting, because they can be carried for days and eaten cold at any time. Or you can re-heat and soften a chuppatti by laying it over the open top of a steaming teakettle for a few seconds. Uncooked flatbread dough can be wrapped in plastic and kept for several days.

SODA FLATBREAD
Ingredients:  Water, flour, one tablespoon baking powder
Procedure:  Fill coffee-can approximately half full with water. Stir in baking powder.  Shake flour into water approximately one spoonful at a time. Stir, knead, form cakes, and bake as for plain flatbread.
           This will make a somewhat lighter flatbread.  If the dough is allowed to sit for a few minutes before rolling out, the cakes may expand as they bake, sometimes developing into regular balloons of bread. If so, good.

RICH FLATBREAD
Ingredients: Water, flour, one tablespoon baking powder, one-third to one-half cup vegetable oil
Procedure:  Fill coffee-can approximately half full with water. Stir in baking powder. Add oil. Add flour, stir, knead, form cakes, and bake as for plain flatbread. These will be crisper than ordinary flatbread cakes.

SORTA BANNOCKS
Ingredients: Self-rising flour, water, small amount of cooking oil
Procedure: Fill coffee-can approximately half full with water. Add oil. Stir flour into water approximately one spoonful at a time.  Stir, knead, and bake as for campbread, but reduce baking time to 45 minutes maximum.
           This is becoming my campbread of choice, just because it's so easy. You can fancy it up with chopped dried fruit, nuts, and so on. Conversely, you can mix in cooked peas or lentils, cooked carrots, cooked chopped onions, etc., and make a serious ration bread for times when you need nourishment but can't build a fire.

CAMP BREAD
Ingredients:  Flour, warm water, two or three packages dry yeast, vegetable oil, honey, one handful raisins, one handful whole or chopped walnut meats
Procedure:  Fill coffee can half full with warm water. Dissolve honey in water. Add yeast to mixture and stir.
           Wait 15-20 minutes or until a layer of brown foam has formed on the surface of the water. Add vegetable oil (about one cup for a large batch of bread), raisins, walnuts, and about two cups of flour. Stir well. Continue to add flour while stirring until dough becomes too thick to handle with spoon. Turn dough onto floured cloth and knead until shiny. Return to coffee can, cover with damp cloth, and allow to raise for about 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in mass. Turn dough onto floured cloth, knead briefly, and form into a loaf by hand.
           Put seven or eight clean one-inch granite pebbles and a half-inch of water in the bottom of the pot. Wrap the bottom of the dough in heavily oiled aluminium foil and rest it on top of the pebbles. Cover the pot tightly.
           Suspend the pot about an inch above a bed of coals and leave it there for two or three hours, or overnight if you mean to let the campfire die down. Depending on altitude, it may be necessary to turn the loaf over about halfway through the baking process.
           An hour and a quarter over hot coals would normally be enough. But once sleet was falling through a black night and I had had enough of standing in my poncho watching the campfire. I gave up and crawled into the tent; fire danger registered zero that night.
           In the AM (bright and sunny, as it usually is in the Big Horns -- and colder'n hell too), after shattering the 1/2" of ice on the tent fly, we crawled out and found that a) the fire was still alive and b) the bread was done to perfection. Luck, I suppose, but I think this approach could work under other conditions too.
           This bread is one of the great staples of the trail. It's best when eaten in chunks torn roaring hot off a fresh-baked loaf.  It's next best when sliced and toasted over a new morning fire.  It's still mighty welcome even when all you're doing is building a cheese sandwich, somewhere on the trail to Nameless Lake.

Section Two.
           Note that lichens can also be used as yeast and in some environments a batter mix will naturally become contaminated with wild yeast, particularly if left in a warm place and originally made with warm water.
           Take a portion of this mix and thicken with flour etc as described above to make your bread or pancakes. Keep the rest of the culture going by regularly adding warm water, a little sugar and flour or uneaten breadstuff. If you have it an occasional teaspoon of vinegar will be appreciated by the yeast. You can transport this culture in a closed top container (the yeast is anaerobic so needs no air) -but allow room for expansion.

Other Doughs.
           The basic dough of just flour and water (with maybe a hint of salt) is much improved by giving it a good kneading. I've seen it suggested that you should add boiling water to the flour, but cold works too and smells a lot better.
           Kneaded for ten minutes or so this is the stuff used to make the pancakes served with Peking Duck and the pastry for potsticker dumplings.
           Call them tortillas and fry them to make crisp tacos, or use more oil to make soft tacos.
           You can also cut this dough into strips and then drop it into boiling water to make fresh noodles -you can add an egg to the mix, but it's not essential. Not the world's best pasta, but I've been served a lot worse. You can also fry your noodles -unlike dried ones you needn't boil them first.

 The other basic mix I use is known as Twister mix:-
           Flour -about half a cup.
           Baking powder -around a teaspoon, maybe less.
           Teaspoon of sugar (or honey or syrup)
           Pinch of salt
           blob of fat, butter, meat drippings etc.
           Water. -couple of tablespoons, often less.

           The sugar and salt are optional and quantities are varied depending on what you are making. You can also do without the fat, or use oil as Ed does, which saves the job of rubbing the fat into the flour (melting the fat beforehand is a good trick too).
           Once all the dry ingredients are mixed, gradually add the water till you have a dough. Ed's method of adding the dry stuff to the water is a good idea since I usually add too much water and have to pile in more flour.
           I've seen it written that once the water is added doughs with baking powder should be handled as little as possible to avoid driving the evolved gases out. My personal experiments with this indicate that my bread is improved by kneading it till smooth -maybe I've just got cold hands.
           This dough can be improved by adding nuts and fruit, adding spices, eggs or using milk in place of the water.
           I've read that fresh snow can substitute for eggs in pancake batter:- I've yet to try it. The white ash left after a fire is supposed to be a substitute for baking powder.
            Made as a dough the above mix can be wrapped around a stick to make twister bread, or as a flattened round (bannock) to bake either in a vessel or directly on the coals. Dropped in a stew or steamed a ball makes a fair dumpling.
           If you have a vessel to cook in you can add more water to make it as a thick batter and avoid the kneading. Just drop a blob onto your frying pan. Made as a thinner batter it makes a pretty good pancake even without any egg added. Knock up some syrup from sugar, water and any fruit juice you may have.

           Several ways of cooking dough have been mentioned already.

           You'll notice that Ed bakes his bread in a billy, and this can be a good way if you can pile coals around and on top of the vessel, or better still place it in an "Imu" (cooking hole).
           You'll also notice that the dough is not in direct contact with the sides of the vessel :- you'll have a merry time trying to get the bread out if you let this happen!
           Personally, I like to cook my bannocks in a frying pan since I usually have to use a stove rather than a campfire.
           Lightly grease the base, or if you have no fat, dust with flour. Place the dough or thick batter into the pan and cook over a gentle heat, turning as necessary.
           If cooking on a fire, once a crust is formed the pan is propped up beside the fire to brown the top of the loaf. If firm enough the bread is propped up to stand on its own. Placing a metal plate or pan lid over the frying pan and placing coals on top is another method.
          Dough mixes can be therefore baked, fried or boiled and can be used as either sweet or savoury fare. They can also be used for sauces and gravies.

           Ed makes his doughs up in a coffee can while mine ends up being mixed in one of my billies, but what if you just have a source of water and a bag of flour as proposed above? Well, you could possibly peel a sheet of bark or use the foil in your emergency kit, but there is an even simpler way.
          Sit your bag of flour down and make a well in the centre of the flour. Add a pinch of salt if you have it. In one hand you have a stick, in the other a handful of water, or a bottle. Gradually pour in the water while keeping the stick moving. You'll see a blob of dough begins to form on the stick. Flour your hands and remove the blob for kneading. You can also do this for the full twister mix, though rubbing in the fat can be a chore.

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The Books

Combat Relevant Physical Training.

              In many armies the basic fitness test is based on the ability of the soldier to run a certain distance within a given time. Pheidippides notwithstanding, endurance running has very little relevance to the operations of most modern soldiers. The ability to march for hours with equipment is more relevant, and has decided the outcome of many conflicts. When a soldier does run it is a fast dash between pieces of cover, a sprint of a few metres and only a couple of seconds.
              A few years back an article appeared on the web about how experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan was making some units rethink their approach to fitness training and exercise.

              “Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!”

              Yesterday I mentioned the book Arwrology, published during the Second World War. This is an interesting book in many respects. Notable is that the first section covers combat relevant calisthenics. 

              “Regarding army calisthenics we should abrogate a lot of the hands up, hands in every direction “P.T” exercises as absonant. Instead of the knee bending with arms up, arms forward, arms sideways and then arms down exercises, teach the Arwrology upward thrusts of the arms, which the soldiers and students should be told, may reach up with trained accuracy and speed into the neck of a Nazi, some night in the jungle or concentration camp…..Silent, crawling exercises in assault positions could do more to stimulate circulation, imagination and fighting ambition that all the “Ceremonial Drill” ever used to fill the time.”

              The book includes a number of suggestions for new exercises. Raising the knees is transformed into practice for knee strikes. One of the more novel suggestions is “shortening the neck”. This exercise can be performed while marching and is intended to strengthen the neck against attacks. 

              Crawling is an important skill for a modern soldier, his very survival being dependent on the ability to exploit microterrain or move silently or unseen. Rather than restricting practice of this to the assault course it should become an integral part of PT. The Arwrology manual includes a number of crawling techniques, some of which might be familiar from more modern field manuals intended for snipers or scout-snipers. There is also a “Silent Semi-Crawl” intended for sentry stalking.

              Being able to fall or go prone without injury is another useful skill for a soldier. It is a quick way to begin crawling and a prudent reaction when suddenly coming under fire or to a nearby explosion. Breakfalls should also become an integral part of PT. The book suggests practicing breakfalls or other Arwrology techniques as a way to “amuse yourself during a Black-Out”. To the more traditional repertoire of breakfalls I would suggest adding the PLF and cartwheel, as detailed in my book. Arwrology includes a number of exercise techniques that begin with the student seated cross-legged and rising up to execute a blow. Rather reminiscent of the sempok/ depok sitting moves of some Indonesian martial arts. Other conditioning techniques included practicing throws on a large number of comrades.

              More than 70 years ago it was suggested that military physical training should be combat relevant. Once again we hear this suggestion, and if our valuable soldiers are unlucky, there may be a need to make it again in another 70!
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The Books

Crash Course in Close Combat.

          I spent this weekend reading an interesting book that a friend lent me. “The Battle of Sidney” by John Vader is a hypothetical history of the invasion of Australia by Japan during the Second World War.
         In this book an officer called “Brain Murray” proposes a way that the training of soldiers can be streamlined to produce relatively competent fighting men in about a week. Some of this method was about eliminating what the recruit did not really need. There is little point in training a man to salute perfectly and then trying to train him not to salute when in combat. (Saluting identifies leaders as targets!)

         I intend to scan the relevant sections of the book and they may be the subject of a future blog or web article.

         No mention of unarmed combat is made in the “Murray system” but it seems prudent to give a recruit at least a modicum of instruction. If I was given this task and only had a few hours of instruction scheduled what would I choose to teach?

         For a quick course Fairbairn’s “Get Tough” course seems a good place to start. “Arwrology” has some good ideas on combat relevant calisthenics. Initially what I would teach would not be unarmed combat. A soldier is most likely to need close combat techniques if his firearm jams or is out of ammo. Lesson one would be how to use a rifle as a melee weapon. Firstly the swinging and thrusting strikes with the butt. Since modern soldiers seldom fix bayonets I’d next teach thrusts with the naked muzzle. As an impact weapon the rifle muzzle can be very effective on various parts of the body. Defensive moves with the rifle are basically the outward and inward parry, which is a good introduction to later sections.

          Mention would be made of the use of entrenching tools and knives for defence but more detail of that might be reserved for a later lesson.

          Next would come the instruction on unarmed techniques. Since it is most familiar to most men we would start with the closed fist. Emphasis would be made that punches with the closed fist are best suited to targets below the ribs. Hook, shovel hook and low reverse punches would be taught and practiced.
          After this the palm heel strikes would be taught. This would include the palm heel uppercut (Fairbairn’s “Chin jab”), jabs, crosses and high hooks. This would be followed by knife-hand and elbow techniques. Leg techniques would include the side kick/stomp, knee strikes and “broncho kick”.

           The defensive component of the first lesson would include some instruction on Long Har Chuan and Ginga. Finally there would be some basic grab release lessons as in Fairbairn’s book, although I would include the “under and outside” method of wrist escape in addition to those he used. The day would finish with some “Milling” to get the recruits accustomed to engaging an opponent at close range. Possibly the Milling should be at the start of the program? If good progress has been made breakfalls will be introduced on the first day.

           The second lesson would be on another day and would start with a quick recap of some of the techniques and introduce the finger jab and other distraction techniques. This would be followed by instruction on the knife, entrenching tool, machete, helmet and riot baton. The second lesson would include using the entrenching tool as a shield to make openings for the use of the faster knife. There might be some instruction on breakfalls and quickly regaining your feet. Once breakfall techniques have been taught they are incorporated into other activities such as PT or route marches. The second session will include instruction on sentry stalking and introduction to techniques such as the garrote, naked strangle and “the Moshe Neck Roller”.

          For more in depth descriptions of all of these techniques and more, buy my book!

         If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.
The Books

The Kiyoga.

      Continuing my tradition of making Friday posts a little more “out of the box”...

      I have been researching a number of things recently but I am unsure exactly why I had an urge to take Anthony B. Herbert’s “Military Manual of Self Defense” down off the shelf.

      The book is mainly simple line illustrations. Some sections are obviously pulled from John Styer’s “Cold Steel”. A short passage at the start of the book admits that some content was taken from “Cold Steel”, “The Complete Book of Knife Fighting” and “Black Medicine Vol. 1 & 2”. Some sections  of “Get Tough” are also reproduced. Although uncredited the razor fighting section is obviously taken from Bradley Steiner’s “Close Shaves” and includes Steiner’s ludicrous comment that the sharpened corner of a cut-throat razor can penetrate an eye deep enough to reach the brain. 
      A lot of the text is of better quality, however. Note that Herbert describes the result of many techniques as “kills”. I believe he is using the more specialized military definition of the term which means “out of the fight” rather than an actual lethality. 

      What caught my eye today is that on the back cover the listing of sections mentions “The Kiyoga ™”. Telescopic batons are rather familiar now. When Herbert wrote his book this was evidently a new idea, although similar Japanese weapons date back at least a century or two. The section on use of the Kiyoga is relatively short but comprehensive and logical, covering applications of both the closed and open weapon. The reason I am featuring the Kiyoga today is this wonderfully over the top contemporary magazine advert for the weapon. I can remember the great comedian Kenny Everett reading this out in one of his early television shows.
         If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please
feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.
The Books