Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Day 22 - Left Medford

No free wi-fi and a very weak Verizon signal (no AT&T). Not strong enough for any sort of reliable data service so this post will probably be posted tomorrow.

On Monday evening, I made the same dish that I had tried last week with much better results. It is okinomiyaki, a Japanese dish that I had never heard of before last week. At least I think that's what it's called. It is sometimes referred to as a Japanese pancake and according to the Internet, the name means "anything you want, grilled". The recipe I followed had pancake batter made from flour, eggs and dashi which is a Japanese fish broth. Cabbage, green onions and mushrooms were mixed in and this vegetable pancake was put on a griddle to start browing. The recipe called for a layer of thinly sliced pork belly (I used prosciutto) placed on top then the "pancake" is flipped so the meat can crisp. Also added in layers were scrambled egg, bonito flakes, yakisoba noodles and there was a request for grilled mozzarella cheese. It was served with okinomo sauce which I was able to find at an Asian market in Medford. The recipes also called for Japanese mayo drizzled on top but we passed on that.

On Wednesday morning after doing a small load of laundry, I headed east from Medford towards Crater Lake Natl Park. I decided to look for a campsite early and enjoy the 70°F temperatures. Quite a change from Medford. It was a beautiful ride starting after about 30 miles. The road wind up following the Rogue River with tall trees on both sides of the road. The campground is at just a few feet short of 6000' according to the GPS. Needless to say, it was a slow, relaxing ride up.

Thank you to wonderful friends and their families in Medford. I really enjoyed the visit (not to mention the wonderful air conditioning!).

This is the Annie Creek trail behind the campground. It drops down pretty steeply to the creek and follows it for a while. I followed it for a ways but kept thinking on the steep climb back up to the campground so not too far.

I'll do another post of the ride around the Crater Lake rim road tomorrow.

 

Another shot of Annie Creek from the campground. The sun sets early once you get this far south. It's already into the trees at 7:40pm. And the temperature is in the low 60s (°F) already. The forecast is for high 40s overnight. Isn't higher elevation nice!

 

2 comments:

  1. Ahhh cooler temperatures.

    We attempted okinomiyaki once several years ago but it didn't look as good as yours.

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    Replies
    1. Cast iron pan is a key ingredient. In this case, a cast iron griddle.

      This morning was cool enough to require the heated grips turned on low.

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