I'm enjoying the info and having fun posting so I'll ask this one too. I know there are some foods that can be cooked directly in coals and come out amazing, but I've not actually cooked any for anybody...
Plus, if I do this, I would like to keep the ashes from smelling extra tasty to the local fauna in the process.
Has anyone had success with a particular food or recipie that they'd be willing to share? Also, any heads up on stuff not to do would be highly valued as well! ;-)
I like to wrap a potato in part of a brown paper sack, dampen the sack, and toss in fire. This will burn on the outside, but inner portion is delicious.
I have never tried the sack/potato trick but have just wrapped them in tinfoil. Use the heavy duty foil to keep intact. Also core an apple fill with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Wrap the apple in foil and set on coils. Camp favorite.
I don’t take too much fresh food to the BWCA, but I have cooked many things on coals while camping, but mostly wrapped in foil. The only thing I’ve cooked directly on coals without foil is soaked unhusked fresh corn. It tastes the best that way. Baked fish and precooked sausage work well wrapped in foil because it doesn’t take long. Ham cubes or Spam with pineapple chunks are quick too. Packets of chicken strips, tomato and pepper slices are great for fajitas. Packets of hamburger, onion, chopped carrots, and potatoes work well if the vegetable pieces are smaller.
I like the corn on the cob for first night - just soak for a long time. An egg in a half of orange rind is suppose to be pretty good. Favorite foil packs - baked banana with some chocolate bar - mmmmmm!
Dad taught us this one when we were very young. went on every trip.
Campers stew - layout three sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil (about 14in long X 12in) one atop the other.
1. cut potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, into 1/2 dice and place on middle of foil ( about 1 -1 2/ cups total).
2. season ground beef with French onion soup mix and patty into about an 8 ounce patty. lay atop veg/pot mix.
3. add 2 tbsp Campbell's cream of mushroom ( or celery) soup atop burger patty.
4. fold sides of foil up atop mix, then fold ends. you would like to be able to roll and seal the last fold if possible. freeze for at least one day.
5. Day of meal, pull from cooler during lunch/late afternoon so that it will be thawed. Make a good fire and let burn down to coals. place in coals (not cherry hot though) and cover for about 20 - 25 minutes.
6. carefully remove from coals and let sit for a couple of minutes for foil to cool slightly. unroll top of foil, check to make sure hamburger is cooked throughout. (if not roll back up and continue to cook)
7. grab a fork and spoon and enjoy.
my wife makes the same and uses browned off stew meat. I suppose you could use just about any protein/vegetable/soup combination that you like best.
Courage is being scared to death... but saddling up anyway....John Wayne
If you've got some aluminum foil,butter/oil & seasonings? The possibilities are endless!
Just about any combination of meats, vegetables, & seasonings will work. Use whatever you like. Just add a gob of butter, season them up a bit & you're good to go. I double wrap & never had a problem.
I'll make them up before a trip and freeze them so they'll last longer into a trip. (If you use one? Outfitters will let you keep stuff in their freezer overnight before your trip) It's a great, EASY way to have real, great tasting, food out in the wilderness.
Ha ha. So far we've never had a really bad meal in the woods, but hopefully my first attempt at foil packets don't leave me with burns and/or a group mutiny!
quote realandrea: "I'm enjoying the info and having fun posting so I'll ask this one too. I know there are some foods that can be cooked directly in coals and come out amazing, but I've not actually cooked any for anybody...
Plus, if I do this, I would like to keep the ashes from smelling extra tasty to the local fauna in the process.
Has anyone had success with a particular food or recipie that they'd be willing to share? Also, any heads up on stuff not to do would be highly valued as well! ;-)"
Grandfather's method for cooking fish: Fillet fish 1/2 inch thick, salt and pepper fillets, hang them on hazel brush (to dry). Get up fire and let it go to white ash. Lay fillets on white ash, check underside using a couple of sticks - when you see brown spots, flip fish. When that underside has brown spots - they are ready to eat. If you do it right, the ash blows off and they come out with a great smoky flavor.
White ash fire works well for a number of things. Whole potatoes are what we most often cooked.
quote TuscaroraBorealis: "If you've got some aluminum foil,butter/oil & seasonings? The possibilities are endless!
Just about any combination of meats, vegetables, & seasonings will work. Use whatever you like. Just add a gob of butter, season them up a bit & you're good to go. I double wrap & never had a problem.
I'll make them up before a trip and freeze them so they'll last longer into a trip. (If you use one? Outfitters will let you keep stuff in their freezer overnight before your trip) It's a great, EASY way to have real, great tasting, food out in the wilderness. "
Super easy dessert I learned in boyscouts. May not work well in bwca due to the banana, but still great for camping cooking.
Take a banana and and cut a v shape notch along the top length and hollow a portion of it out. Kind of like a canoe, but leave some banana along the sides.
Stuff the hollowed out portion with small marshmallows and m&m's.
Place the banana (peel down) right onto the coals. Wait for the marshmallows to start getting melty.
Dig in. Tastes like a warm banana split. The m&ms shell holds their shape, but the inside is melted chocolate. So good and easy.
Sounds like our bush pasties from a recent post. Traditional Finnish pasties typically include rutabaga. I will also include cabbage leaves, onion, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, venison (or beef), butter, S&P, and a scoop of cream of chicken. Eat with Ketchup.....yum
Anything my wife cooks...and she would be the first to agree as would our kids. It works out okay, however, because I get to cook and she gets to clean up the mess!
"He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious." Yogi Berra