Camping Menu - What to Cook When You're Camping

 I've been back from my camping trip for over a week now, but because I've been busy at work and a few social obligations, I haven't been able to blog about it until now.  As I was writing this post, I realized that I actually had a lot to say, so I think I'm going to break this up into several posts that I'll put up in the next few days.  This first post will be specifically about the best food we ate on our camping trip.  The second post will be a sort of follow-up to the "Tools for Your Camp Kitchen" post I did a few weeks ago and it will focus on food shopping, preparation and storage tips, and things that I forgot that would have been really useful.  Lastly, I'll post the recipe for homemade granola since I think that it's good enough to stand on it's own.

So just to refresh your memory, I just came back from a canoe camping trip to Saranac Lake Islands in the Adirondacks park in New York.  The Saranac Lake Islands have primitive camping sites (primitive meaning they have a fire ring, and an outhouse - no running water or other facilities) around both the Middle and Lower Saranac Lakes.  All of the sites require a boat of some sort to get to, and while I've used a kayak on past trips, for the past two years we've chosen to bring a canoe since you can generally bring more stuff with you. For this trip, since I knew we were planning on staying on the lake for the entire week (8 days and 7 nights) without going back into town for groceries, I planned the menu to have all of the cooler required foods (i.e., meat) in the first few days.  In general, I've found that with block ice, and weather between 40 - 70 degrees, our cooler keeps stuff pretty cold for about 4 days, so I planned a menu around that.

I won't go through the entire menu, but I will talk about a few of the new camp food discoveries I made and some stand out meals that we had. Luckily we had really great weather  (hurricane Danny dumped rain on the city and the beaches, but we were far enough away in the mountains to miss it) and the camp site we reserved was the best one we've ever had on the lake, with a nice little beach on a sort of secluded bay: several pairs of loons, bald eagles, no bears, no biting bugs (though a lot of daddy long legs) and of course, great food.

Update:  Also check out my final camping post on Camp Food Preparation and Storage Tips  and the recipe for homemade granola.

Generally almost all food tastes better when you're camping, these were a few of the standouts:

Best Breakfasts (or in some instances, brunch):  

Scrambled eggs with Spanish chorizo - If we didn't have big plans for the day and were either hanging around camp or doing a smaller canoe trip in the afternoon, we'd start a fire and get out the cast iron pan.  I brought a single package of Niman Ranch uncured bacon (I know, not very much for two people, but I didn't know how warm it would be and how long it it would keep in the cooler) which we had with pancakes one morning (which were good - I used Arrowhead Mills Organic Multi-Grain Pancake mix mainly because you only need water or milk and oil to add to the mix).  Generally with a single pan, I sometimes find that the bother to reward ratio for pancakes is a little high, but I do love pancakes.    My favorite breakfast was scrambled eggs with Spanish chorizo.  I got a vacuum package of four small Spanish chorizos that didn't require refrigeration.  Spanish chorizo is a hard cured sausage - very different from Mexican chorizo.   I sliced up two little chorizos,  sauteed them in the cast iron, drained off most of the very red fat, then added the eggs.  Served with flat bread heated briefly over the fire on the fire grate, and some butter and jam, it was tasty and satisfying.

Homemade Granola (cold or hot) - A few mornings we had plans for day trips to different lakes, and one morning it was really windy so we chose not to start a fire.  I've been making homemade granola for a few years, so I made a special extra nutty batch to bring camping.  Every morning, even when we had a fire, I'd use the little camp stove to heat up water for hot tea,  hot chocolate or hot Tang (or even hot tea with Tang).  On this particular cool windy morning, I heated up some milk to add to the granola for hot granola.  It was a great start to a cold morning.

Best Lunches:

Hard-boiled Eggs and Saucisson Sec - We didn't have lunch every day, mainly because sometimes by the time we got up, got the fire going and got breakfast made, it was brunch.  But the few days we went out for day trips, we'd take snacks with us - nuts, trail mix, beef jerky and cookies.  The one day we went on a big trip, I realized the night before, that it would be super easy to put a pot of boiling water over the fire while we were making dinner, and hard boil some eggs.  We even cooled off the boiled eggs by putting them directly in the lake.  Our day trip lunch the next day was hard-boiled eggs, a really delicious saucisson sec (dry french garlic sausage), sharp cheddar cheese and crackers.  Super simple but really tasty after an afternoon of paddling.

Best Dinners:

Steak, Baked Potatoes and Baked Beans - How can you not like a nice organic shell stake grilled over a wood fire in front of a beautiful lake?    The baked potatoes were wrapped in tinfoil (poke a few holes in them first) and put directly in the fire for about 30 - 40 minutes, turned and moved occasionally.  My favorite baked beans are Bush's Original Baked Beans.   You can simply open the can (keeping the lid attached so it covers the beans while they are cooking) and put the whole can in the fire for 5 -10 minutes (generally I put it just to the side of the actual fire so the beans don't burn) and stir occasionally.    A little fresh garlic rubbed on the steak, some salt and pepper then on the grill 'til they are done to your liking (I prefer medium rare).  This was a super simple meal, but one of our best dinners, partly because we had really nice steak.

Marinated Lamb Kabobs with Cous-Cous and Baked Yams -  I like lamb, but I actually don't make it that often - I think partly because I never ate it growing up so it's a meat that I'm not really used to cooking.  The lamb was really the only thing that I prepared at home before we left.  I found a recipe for a garlic & cilantro lamb kabobs (recipe below).  I made the marinade, added the lamb, refrigerated overnight, then tossed it in the freezer for the few days before we left on our trip.  I hadn't ever made cous-cous while camping before, but I make it a lot at home, and it's one of the easiest things to make.   Just bring some water to boil (I usually do a 1.5:1 ratio of water to cous-cous - even though some recipes call for a 2:1 or even a 3:1 ratio) add the cous-cous, bring it up to a simmer, then remove from the heat, cover, let sit for five minutes, then fluff with a fork.  Because you don't have to actually boil it over the fire, there is less of a chance of burning it on the un-even heat than there is with rice.  I made the yams the same way I made the baked potatoes the night before - wrap in tinfoil and throw in the fire, moving and turning them occasionally.

Because I actually brought a lot of extra of lamb and really big yams, the next night was leftovers which somehow was even better.  I made a pilaf with the left-over cous-cous and yams: I chopped up some trail mix (almonds, cashews and dried cranberries) sauteed the nuts over the fire until they were slightly toasted, then added chunks of the cooked yams, then the already cooked cous-cous with a bit of water and warmed it over the fire.  The lamb went into the cast iron pan over the fire just until it was warmed through. 

Trader Joes Pesto Tortellini with Marinara Sauce - Really the only credit I can take for this meal is that I bought it at the store, boiled the water for the pasta and heated the marinara over the fire.  This was the last dinner that we had at the campsite.  By this time, we had been out of ice in the cooler for several days and it had been in the 70's and 80's during the day, so it was good that we had this simple meal planned it for the last night.  The Trader Joe's dried pesto tortellini was actually really good considering it's dried pasta.  And their basic marinara sauce is pretty decent as well.  It may have just been the last night of camping, the beautiful sunset and eating outdoors, but this was a simple and satisfying meal.

Desserts:

Sticky Toffee Pudding - I love baking - cakes, pies, cookies, etc. but I've never actually tried baking over a wood fire.  I'm also not actually a big after dinner dessert eater.   As a frequent insomniac, I try to avoid eating sugar and chocolate late at night because it seems to keep me awake (it may be totally psychosomatic, but insomnia is generally all in your head anyway).  Beyond some cookies (Nutterbutters and chocolate covered digestives) we only had one big dessert treat: Sticky Toffee Pudding with warm Devon custard.  I'm sure that there are better homemade versions of these, but for camping they are great once a year treats.  I heated up the custard in a small pot (which was a little risky on the un-even heat of the fire), but the pudding itself stays in it's can in a pot of boiling water for 20-30 minutes.

Drinks:

Wine - Having a beer in the afternoon hanging out in the sun and the water, can be one of the great parts of enjoying the outdoors, but beer isn't a great thing to take on a longer camping trip for several reasons: first, it requires cold (or at least the beers that I like do), and second, bottles and cans add to the bulk of items you bring into camp and to the trash you need to carry out.   I remember back in the 80's that boxed wine made a big splash in the states, but in general it was cheap, sweet and not very good.  A few years ago I discovered the "From the Tank" boxed wine, which I can highly recommend.  A box is approximately 3 bottles.  We got one of these and then a smaller box of French Rose which was also really good.  Boxed wine is great to bring camping because you can burn the box after your done and all you have to carry out is the plastic or mylar bag that the wine is actually packaged in.

Bourbon - Some people require bourbon.

Brandy - There was also a bottle of brandy for sipping on cold evenings in front of the fire.

Tea - I drink coffee sometimes (and I really love coffee) but I'm mainly a tea drinker.  My favorite these days is P.G. Tips - a classic British tea.   Tea doesn't require any special equipment to make and since I drink mine black, you just need a way to boil water.  I didn't bring any herbal teas on this trip, but definitely plan on bringing some on my next camping trip.  A nice cup of hot peppermint or chamomile tea can be a great way to end an evening.

The aforementioned Tang - I generally don't drink soda, and this is something that I would never drink at home, but for some reason it just fits with camping.  Since we were filtering our water from the lake, which requires adding chlorine based purification tablets, a little spoon of Tang in your water bottle adds a little flavor and covers up any strange tastes that I'm not normally used to.  Hot or cold, Tang is good.

So now, the recipe:

Lamb Kabobs with Garlic & Cilantro  (adapted from Serious Eats)

Marinade
1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
4 medium garlic cloves
1/4 cup dried cranberries (or dark raisins)
1/2 garam masala
2 T lime juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 t salt
Freshly ground pepper

2 red onions, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 1/4 lbs of lamb leg center slices or arm chops, cut into 1-2 inch squares
Metal or bamboo skewers

Add all marinade ingredients to a food processor or blender and pulse until completely blended.   Cut lamb into 1-2 inch squares, removing any excess fat.  In a large bowl, place meat and pour marinade over it, mixing together and making sure that all meat is covered.  If you are cooking the same day, let marinate for at least an hour.  Otherwise, place lamb and marinade in a ziplock bag and refrigerate until ready to use.

If you are using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 1 hour before you prepare the kabobs.   Cut the onions into large chunks and make the kabobs alternating meat and onions. (You can add other vegetables to these if you like - peppers and cherry tomatoes are good additions).  Grill over a hot charcoal or wood fire until medium rare. 

Stay tuned for my next post on Camp Food Preparation and Storage Tips.

Comments

[Erika from The Pastry Chef At Home]

Wow,great camping food post! I wish I had seen this a few weeks ago when my sister went camping upstate and asked me what she should cook....I am not an outdoorsy kinda girl and had no answers for her. I'm sending her a link to your blog for her next camping trip!

[Kim (Edible/Usable)]

Thanks for sharing the link! My timing was a little off this year because we went camping a little later than we have in the past, and it took me about a week to unpack and write the post once I got back.

I really like your new blog and I'm looking forward to trying some of your recipes when I get back into baking.

[Kelli]

It's nice to meet you today at the UPA event. I had to laugh at this post - I love sticky toffee pudding while camping too! (I call it "cake in a can" - it's perfect to take on a trip without refrigeration). I'll definitely check back to the blog - it's rare to find someone who combines usability and cooking. Thanks!