This past weekend I was at the last Baronial camping event of the season. It's always so much fun and yet sad because it pretty much means the camping season is over for most people (there are a few others I plan on attending but I don't know if "everyone" will be there).
It was a good time. Saturday I taught my class and that went very well. After my class I started getting the food ready for the potluck at about 6pm.
The last few years, I've participated in the potluck instead of buying the dinner they serve. This year I decided to go all out and try a new recipe over the open fire. Here it is (and how to cook it over an open fire). The recipe is from
Dutch Oven Secrets and damn, is it YUMMY!!
You'll need:
Approximately 5 lbs of potatoes, washed but not skinned and cut into thin slices
1 large sweet onion
2 lbs of bacon
2 cups cheddar cheese
salt, pepper and rosemary or basil (whichever you prefer)
about 20 charcoal briquettes
1 cast iron dutch oven with lid and a piece of heavy-duty tin foil to cover over the lid and down the sides of the dutch oven.
Fire up your coals and get them hot. Once the flames have subsided, put the dutch oven on the coals and begin frying the bacon (you can also fry the bacon over a camp stove if you prefer. If cooking the bacon over a camp stove, fire up the coals when the bacon is about 1/2 way done).
Once the bacon is good an crispy, remove 1/3 of the bacon and the bacon grease and sit aside.
Over the bacon and grease left in the dutch oven, place a layer of potatoes then add a layer of onions Add salt, pepper and other seasonings as desired.
Pour a little bacon grease over this layer and add another layer of bacon, potatoes, onions and seasonings. Continue to layer the potaotes and bacon until the pot is full.
Place the tin foil over the lid of the dutch oven and make a little lip out of the foil. This will keep the coals on the lid and prevent any ash from getting into the food as it cooks.
Place the dutch oven over about 10 hot coals. Put another 8 or 10 coals on top of the dutch oven lid. Let it bake for @ 40 minutes or so (depending on how hot the coals are). When you can smell it, it is done.
When the potatoes are done, take a small broom and flick off the tinfoil with the coals. This will leave your lid clean and no ashes will get into the food.
Remove the lid and add the cheese. Put the lid back on to let the cheese melt.
Enjoy the gooey cholesterol carb laden goodness contained in the dutch oven!
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These were a big hit at the potluck and I have to say I was rather impressed with cooking on the coals. It worked much better than I had imagined.
The menu for Saturday's feast was The Potatoes (recipe above), grilled chops, grilled chicken, grilled bacon burgers, sauteed spinach with mushrooms and onions, corn on the cob and bread. YUM!
Sunday morning's potluck breakfast (because all of that storytelling, joking and debauchery can work up an appetite!) was: Omlettes (I'll give the recipe for that below - it's pretty damned nifty!), bacon (are we seeing a theme here?), sausage, french toast and cinnamon rolls. Oh, and lots of coffee (for those who drink it).
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Omlettes in a bag over the campstove (or fire if you have one hot enough to boil water). You'll need:
2 eggs
salt, pepper
large pot of boiling water
a small ziploc FREEZER bag (MUST be a FREEZER bag)
whatever you'd like in your omlette.
Place a large pot (about 12 quarts) on the stove/campfire. Fill pot with water until about 3/4 full.
Bring water to the boil.
Break the eggs into the freezer bag and mash them up.
Add salt, pepper and any ingredients left over from the night before that you want (bacon, cheese, onion, salsa, spinach, mushrooms, corn - whatever you'd like)
Mix up the ingredients by gently kneading the closed bag.
Open the bag and press all of the air out. Reseal the bag and drop into the boiling water.
In about 2 minutes your omlette will be done!
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Let it be known that we do NOT go hungry when camping! Oh, no. And now that I've discovered some open-fire recipies, I'm sure I'll be having to hit the gym more and more!
Labels: Camping recipes
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