In other Way Back news...I remember roasting sweet potatoes directly in the embers (no foil.) The skin chars away and they caramelize a bit. We'd cut them open and eat them with a big dollop of butter, a sprinkle of coarse salt and a heavy showering of freshly ground black pepper. Smoky, sweet, peppery, buttery, yum.
These days, my favorite camping is not camping, but those potatoes could almost make me reconsider.
@merrill That sounds like a good camp dessert. I would like to try that with a little rum in there and some ice cream. Bananas Foster by the fire would hit the spot on a cool night in the woods.
Similar to Merrill's bananas in foil....when my daughter was in girl scouts, we made "banana boats"....take a whole banana and cut on the edge of the "seam", across one segment and back up the other side. Peel back the "flap" and dig a trough out. Fill in with MINI chocolate chips, MINI marshmallows and some crushed peanuts. Press flap back down and cover with several layers of foil. Place on coals for 10 minutes for a gooey treat that will rival the s'more,
Assuming you have a source of potable water and a pot you can bring quinoa with you as it's light to pack as well as bouillon cubes. Cook the quinoa in the bouillon with what other seasoning embellishments you would care to add.
This is from the Wayback machine: One favorite that I remember from when I was a scout was a Coffee-Can Supper. For each person you'd prepack a clean (of course) coffee can with, in order: One 1/3 pound hamburger patty, 4 chunks of potatoes, 3 chucks of carrot, a fat slice of onion, 2 slices of tomato and a 4-inch piece of corn on the cob, topped with a tablespoon of butter and salt and pepper. Cover with foil and put in the cooler. When ready, you'd put it in a medium-hot spot in the campfire for maybe 45 minutes. When the potato is done, the supper is done!
I remember Melissa Clark writing about a cookbook, Campfire Cookery by Sarah Huck and Jaimee Young on her blog. Might be good for you to check out. http://www.melissaclark.net/blog/2011/06/thats-right-a-camping-cookbook-and-i-love-it.html
Are you car-camping or backcountry camping? How many days are you going to be out in the wilderness? If you're going to be camping for multiple days, you'll have to rely on some foods which don't require refrigeration.
Since campfires make a terrible mess of pots, foil-wrapped food is a good way to go. Doubling or even tripling up is key, ashes are not yummy. Another pointer - if you use root veggies (potatoes, carrots), slice them thinly/chop them small, or you'll end up eating them rather raw.
If you want an easy combination of things that will still be perfectly edible even if things don't go perfectly, try chicken sausage (I think these are almost always already fully cooked), a veggie that's perfectly tasty even if raw (I'm thinking broccoli or green beans), and thinly sliced potatoes.
Yes (years later saw your post)...have had great success with foil. One main dish I really like is a hamburger patty, sandwiched between thin-sliced carrot onion and potato, wrapped in foil, cooked on embers. The ingredients flavor each other and make a great dish.
Potates in foil - sweet and white.
Apples in foil with some nuts and maple or honey.
Fish and veg in a foil parcel with herbs and oil - will not take long.
Basically anything in foil!
Oh fun! I do a lot of camping over the summer since we go to several music festivals. I, however, usually bring a full kitchen (I know, I'm crazy).
I've made some great chowders over a campfire, especially good with some smoked fish, onions, potatoes, and a bit of cream.
There's all kinds of recipes for hobo packs - put meat & veggies in several layers of tin foil with herbs, salt & pepper.
Obvious - any kind of grilled meat, fish, or veggies.
One of my Italian girlfriends always makes a big tomato "gravy". Sky's the limit, or should I say, the size of your cooler is the limit.
Have a great time!
I like to wrap whole peeled bananas in foil, adding a little brown sugar and butter first, and set the packets over the coals/grill for 10 to 15 minutes, until the bananas have softened and the butter and sugar have melted. Make sure to let them cool a little before you unwrap them and dig in!
My boyfriend invented something yummy when we went camping- potato, bacon and onion roast.
It consists of potatoes, onion and bacon roasted in olive oil with salt and pepper- nice and simple.
Dice the potatoes- we used small charlotte potatoes quartered, onion and bacon so they are pretty uniform in size.
Double up some baking foil to make a semi-rigid dish and put the ingredients on this dish, the drizzle the chopped food with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roll the foil to make a seal on one side- like a food parcel. Shake to coat the food inside in the oil.
This package can then be put straight on the embers. It can take a while to cook and i'm not sure how long exactly, just make sure you make a parcel that can be unwrapped unwrapped easily. And some tongs or an oven glove to retrieve it from the fire!
You can add so much to this recipe to make it a bit more inventive- we used the only things we could find in a grocery store that could be cooked on a bonfire.
You could add:
Garlic
Chilli
Herbs and spices
Peppers
Mushrooms
Chicken
Tomatoes
Anything you can roast really!
I think it would be nice to top with a seasoned cream to make it like a pastaless carbonara!
Just make sure you buy a good quality foil as some foils can burn and disintegrate.
14 Comments
These days, my favorite camping is not camping, but those potatoes could almost make me reconsider.
Voted the Best Reply!
Since campfires make a terrible mess of pots, foil-wrapped food is a good way to go. Doubling or even tripling up is key, ashes are not yummy. Another pointer - if you use root veggies (potatoes, carrots), slice them thinly/chop them small, or you'll end up eating them rather raw.
If you want an easy combination of things that will still be perfectly edible even if things don't go perfectly, try chicken sausage (I think these are almost always already fully cooked), a veggie that's perfectly tasty even if raw (I'm thinking broccoli or green beans), and thinly sliced potatoes.
Apples in foil with some nuts and maple or honey.
Fish and veg in a foil parcel with herbs and oil - will not take long.
Basically anything in foil!
I've made some great chowders over a campfire, especially good with some smoked fish, onions, potatoes, and a bit of cream.
There's all kinds of recipes for hobo packs - put meat & veggies in several layers of tin foil with herbs, salt & pepper.
Obvious - any kind of grilled meat, fish, or veggies.
One of my Italian girlfriends always makes a big tomato "gravy". Sky's the limit, or should I say, the size of your cooler is the limit.
Have a great time!
It consists of potatoes, onion and bacon roasted in olive oil with salt and pepper- nice and simple.
Dice the potatoes- we used small charlotte potatoes quartered, onion and bacon so they are pretty uniform in size.
Double up some baking foil to make a semi-rigid dish and put the ingredients on this dish, the drizzle the chopped food with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roll the foil to make a seal on one side- like a food parcel. Shake to coat the food inside in the oil.
This package can then be put straight on the embers. It can take a while to cook and i'm not sure how long exactly, just make sure you make a parcel that can be unwrapped unwrapped easily. And some tongs or an oven glove to retrieve it from the fire!
You can add so much to this recipe to make it a bit more inventive- we used the only things we could find in a grocery store that could be cooked on a bonfire.
You could add:
Garlic
Chilli
Herbs and spices
Peppers
Mushrooms
Chicken
Tomatoes
Anything you can roast really!
I think it would be nice to top with a seasoned cream to make it like a pastaless carbonara!
Just make sure you buy a good quality foil as some foils can burn and disintegrate.
I'll try and think of a few more for you.