Recipes

Author Sarah Kirkconnell ( Trailcooking.com) has revised and expanded her excellent book Freezer Bag Cooking with the addition of many, many great new recipes. Freezer bag cooking is a simple technique that is perfect for Scouts, hot water is added to dry ingredients in freezer bag much like one adds hot water to a prepackaged freeze-dried meal. (No, this is not like boiling an omelet in a bag (don’t) and there are no BPA worries with these techniques....

I was introduced to huevos rancheros or “rancher’s eggs’ by one of my Scouts (Jesus Torralba) nearly twenty years ago when Jesus was our grubmaster for a cabin camping trip. Since then it’s been one of my preferred camping breakfasts. A lot of recipes call for toasting whole tortillas and serving whole fried eggs on top of them, but I like this version (where the tortilla is torn up and sauteed with onions) much better....

‘Bannock” is a name for quick flat bread that originated in Scotland and was adopted by most Native Americans, voyagers, mountain men and pioneers. With a minimum of fuss and bit of practice anyone can bake a bannock loaf in a frying pan or wrapped around a stick. Bannock is simple, cheap and always welcomed after along day of paddling or hiking. Bannock Base (this recipe can be increased, just keep the proportions right....

Steven Karoly’s blog Round the Chuckbox features this recipe with a story about camping with his family: After a quick inventory, I realized that flour was in short supply in camp so I prepared the hotcake batter with ingredients on hand. Quick cooking rolled oats filled in for most of the flour. OAT HOTCAKES IN CAMPThese are approximate measurements as I eyeballed each ingredient. For a richer flavor, substitute molasses or dark brown sugar for the white sugar....

If you want to serve a memorable campfire meal I can’t imagine a much more flavorful or impressive dish than this paella. Dave Herzog (the chef who developed this recipe) is a real dutch oven impresario – you can get his recipe collections through the Cook’n recipe organizer, this requires purchasing the Cook’n software – something you may consider if you are a dedicated cook. Make sure you like Dave’s Facebook page to keep up with his excellent advice and recipes....

Freeze-dried food is convenient, lightweight and packs well for extended trips. A hybrid menu of bulk freeze-dried food and grocery store ingredients is a more versatile and less expensive alternative for a patrol or high adventure crew. For our week-long canoe trips we’ve developed a hybrid menu of freeze-dried and grocery store food that our Scouts enjoy. Cost A traditional freeze-dried meal costs about $3-5.00 per serving (slightly less per serving if you can find group sizes)....

Here’s a great idea for making campfire potatoes wrapped in foil. Alternating slices of onion and potato? Why didn’t I think of that? Campfire Potatoes Ingredients: large baking potatoes whole onions, red or yellow dill, parsley, bacon bits Directions: Slice potato almost all the way through, but leave enough to hold it together. Slice the onion, and put one slice in between each potato slice. Sprinkle with bacon bits and a little dill....

Cook wild is not a new concept; cooking over anything other than a wood fire is a relatively new development for the human race. A recent study showed that 43 percent, or some 3 billion members, of the world’s population rely on wood fires for their primary source of cooking and heating. Gas or electric stoves are great but we are in danger of losing the knowledge and skill required to cook over a fire....

There’s nothing quite like baking a pineapple upside down cake in a dutch oven. It’s easier than you think! Preheat the dutch oven until a hand held inside gets uncomfortably warm in five seconds. While the oven is heating mix a box of white or yellow cake mix according to the instructions on the box. Spread margarine around the whole inside of the oven. Melt about 1/3 of a cup of margarine in the bottom of the oven, add about 2/3 cup of brown sugar and mix well....

Steve Karoly writes about Dutch oven bread revisited on his blog ‘Round the Chuck Box. This isn’t quick bread, no, it’s slow bread – bread that takes hours to make with kneading and rising and kneading and proofing and yeast. Real bread, not the store-bought lifeless loaf that they strip mine somewhere out there – real bread. The smell of this bread alone is so good that (in the words of the mountain men) it will ‘make you slap your daddy off a creek bank....

Roger Edison has collected a lot of lore and useful information about Chuckwagons and Cowboy Cooking. Here’s a plan for building a cowboy fire box. Admittedly not for leave no trace camping or backpacking the fire box is intended for serious grub! Take a look around Roger’s website and you’ll find things like this recipe; Chuck Wagon Beans Beans have been a hearty food that can be cooked in a variety of ways....

The folks at Packit Gourmet offer some evidence of the indestructible nature of the humble tortilla. My favorite tortilla ‘recipe’ is peanut butter and jelly on a whole wheat tortilla for a quick, filling trail lunch. Tortillas are an incredibly versatile and easy-to-pack bread. They hold up well in your pack and can be used for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We’ve dined on tortillas with everything from breakfast tacos to ‘sandwich’ wraps to quesadillas – not to mention the more...

Just to be extra clear about this freezer bag cooking has nothing in common with the well known ‘omelet in a bag’ technique where you crack an egg into a plastic bag, add some veggies and cheese (or whatever) and then put the bag in boiling water. (If you haven’t tried the omelet in a bag you haven’t missed anything – it doesn’t work all that well and a boiled omelet has a very different taste and texture....

Blogger Steve Karoly is a camp cook in California who shares some great group recipes on ‘Round the Chuckbox‘. Here are a couple that caught my eye: Corned Beef Hash Prepare this camp version of corned beef hash in an uncovered 12-inch Dutch oven over a gas camp stove. Place a pre-heated lid on the Dutch oven to quickly cook the eggs just before serving. 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice...

Each year 3000 students spend two weeks to three months in the backcountry on National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) courses. Thats a lot of backcountry cooking! The folks at NOLS have developed a simple, varied and inexpensive diet that is based on staple foods that can be found at any grocery store. There’s also a wealth of information on planning, packing and preparing meals for extended trips or just a weekend....

Campfire Cafe is a television show about campfire cooking. Lots of information on their website including recipes, tips and podcasts. If you really want to do it right, you need to learn about different firewoods, cooking gear, cast iron pots, and accessories that will make the job easier and the cooking experience successful. There are weather conditions that will have a direct impact on cooking time, like wind. You’ll need to learn how to maintain your equipment, as well as the fire itself....