Cooking over the Campfire

[Zyni]

Let's cook something different. It's not all about hotdogs and marshmallows. How about some extra large chunks of sweet, juicy, pineapple? Next, we can make shrimp on a stick with a squeeze of lemon. I can almost smell fresh sweet corn roasting, with just a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. What are your favorite stick over the fire foods?

 

[Northern Dancer]

Let's cook something different. It's not all about hotdogs and marshmallows. How about some extra large chunks of sweet, juicy, pineapple? Next, we can make shrimp on a stick with a squeeze of lemon. I can almost smell fresh sweet corn roasting, with just a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. What are your favorite stick over the fire foods?

The description is so good...I can see it! But alas...it's just an illusion...BUT THEN AGAIN...I could make it a reality.

 

[BMWPOWER]

marinating some chicken and using a skewer to put them on is always welcome in my books

 

[campforums]

I think I can tell that I like your tastes already. Corn on the cob is pretty traditional I think so it wouldn't be my choice if I was looking for something different since I eat it a lot but shrimp and pineapple sounds like a fantastic combination. Usually I eat shrimp cold with some sauce or cook them in with some pasta but I bet they taste great barbecued or cooked over a fire and I bet the pineapple adds a nice kick to the mouthful.

It sounds like you already have a few people convinced. I think pineapple and shrimp skewers would be a good idea.

 

[Zyni]

Vegetables are delicious cooked over an open fire as well. Kebobs of squash, sweet onion, peppers, and cherry tomatoes make a light, tasty meal or snack. Marinade or season with fresh ground pepper, seasoned salt, and parsley.

 

[Northern Dancer]

I agree Zyni...and I do it often. Nothing like corn on the cob soaked is slightly salted water then put on the rack to cook on an open fire. De....Licious!

 

[Profit5500]

I think I can tell that I like your tastes already. Corn on the cob is pretty traditional I think so it wouldn't be my choice if I was looking for something different since I eat it a lot but shrimp and pineapple sounds like a fantastic combination. Usually I eat shrimp cold with some sauce or cook them in with some pasta but I bet they taste great barbecued or cooked over a fire and I bet the pineapple adds a nice kick to the mouthful.

It sounds like you already have a few people convinced. I think pineapple and shrimp skewers would be a good idea.

I like popcorn shrimp but I never had shrimp skewers. There are lots of seafood I have not tried yet that I would like digest.

 

[L_B]

Oh I am definitely going to try some shrimp and pineapple skewers in the very near future. I bet they will taste so good. I have it on my grocery list for my next camping trip. Thanks for the great idea. I never would have thought of that one.

 

[Northern Dancer]

I tend to stay with "Camp" foods that have been well proven and since I'm in the interior I'm cautious of foods that can poison you. I/we don't take coolers.

On my last trip I baked breads, fresh muffins and such using a Dutch oven and my much smaller Rival Crock Pot - don't see them around much these days. (Got mine at Value Village)

I use my can cooker too

 

[campforums]

Oh I am definitely going to try some shrimp and pineapple skewers in the very near future. I bet they will taste so good. I have it on my grocery list for my next camping trip. Thanks for the great idea. I never would have thought of that one.

One meal I really like is Cajun shrimp with rice and some lemon. I think shrimp tastes really good with citrus-ey fruits, it is a good combo

 

[William]

Following this thread

 

[Northern Dancer]

What is your experience @William and do you have any specialties?

I remember once spending a whole weekend trying out various techniques and recipes to improve my skill. I've become a master of the one pot meal plan. I've also learned a lot about what I should take into the interior and discovered that the food weight became a whole lot less when I planned ahead.

At base camp - now that is a whole different ball game. Honey garlic ribs, roast chicken, pork chops on the rocks - you name it we can do it.

 

[campforums]

Sounds delicious, I like the one pot meal as well... Although that could mean a lot of things. I find that as long as you cook it at a low temp and stir evenly you can be pretty creative about what you put inside. And if your stew is not tasting the way you like it, the nature of the one pot means you can just keep adding to it.

 

[CherylTorrie]

Open fire cooking is more than hotdogs, you are absolutely right. As a matter of fact I can't think of the last time I took hotdogs on a camping trip, perhaps when my son was little and all he would eat was hotdogs. I am fond of shrimp but it's usually out of my budget. Some times I stop at the lake a catch a fish but I don't skewer those, just place them on the grate. I guess my camp skewer meals are pretty limited but I do enjoy veggies and beef or chicken skewers. Perhaps on my next weekend trip I will change from my typical cast iron skillet dishes to skewer dishes. But alas what would I make for breakfast on a skewer? Maybe I could wrap cinnamon dough around the skewer and make cinnamon twists.

 

[Northern Dancer]

Love the suggestions @CherylTorrie. When I'm instructing the arts of camp cooking I'm always amazed at the resistance I get when I insist using a cooking fire and not a camp fire. For this reason I often send out an equipment sheet - one item to bring is one large can, i.e: tomato juice tin. I show them how to make a simple camp cook stove. When I get that done we can now proceed to simple cooking assignments. The first one is boiling water. Wha..... you say? Boil water? Yep...if you can't boil water correctly the chances of cooking well are diminished considerably - I kid you not.

 

[CherylTorrie]

I'm always surprised when I hear that some campers don't cook or if they do cook, they only cook hotdogs and smores. A fire is more than a light source for ghost stories after all. I would love to attend the arts of camp cooking. I would imagine that you teach more than boiling water because I already know how to do that and more. I even have film canisters full of spices and a cast iron skillet in my weekend pack. No large can but I can always get one of those.

 

[Northern Dancer]

When I instruct the newbies to boil water - surprisingly they don't know how to do that. You see - the first step that they need to have down pat is - boiling water must be at a rolling boil and not a few moments that permits a puff of steam to gently meet the cooler air. I want them to know that the first method (an reliable method) to purify water is to boil water for not less than 3 minutes; I prefer 5. If they can do that they tend to have the patience to learn how to really cook. The next item they "cook" is soup - without burning it. Does that make any sense?

Though I enjoy hotdogs (made with real meat) and beef (or chicken) burgs when you canoe trip for 14 days you better have more imagination.

I saw that word skillet - like it. As well as having cast iron (heavy as it is) stuff, I have an old fashion cook canister that I regularly bake bread for meals. I can make monastery muffins in about 45 minutes. Just using a small can of cheap stove fuel. I miss the summer.

 

[CherylTorrie]

My camp pan and my Dutch oven are the heaviest things in my weekend pack but they are well worth the haul. I am going to take my skewers next time though just to test my versatility at camp cooking. I do a variety of quick breads while camping and I have a baby cast iron skillet for cookies and brownies. Not diet food but delicious non the less and you can pack the dry ingredients in a baggie.

 

[Northern Dancer]

Mann....where are you located...I can smell the aroma of fabulous food but can't find the camp site.

Yep...those cast irons thingamajigs are heavy but what excellent meals and baking can be made.

I learned how to bake "bread bread" a few years back using a dutch oven over an open fire without bricketts. It helped when I purchased a glass top to take a peek inside. For quick stuff when tripping I use my little cook canister. I use those Better Crocker Bisquick mixes; just add water kind.

Like you I pack my own ingredients into a baggy and of course I often use baggies to cook my eggs. Just use your own recipe and drop the baggies into the boiling water - saves a lot of clean up.

Baden Bear says, "ND is a fabulous tripper cooker!"

 

[happyflowerlady]

I like that idea of cooking food in boiling water with baggies. We did that kind of thing when I was working at one of those Leisure Time Resorts.
I was the weekend breakfast and lunch cook, among other things that I did there.

The eggs came in one of the gallon sized bags, and we just dropped them in boiling water until we had scrambled eggs. The hot water kept the eggs ready for me to dish up with some of the hot pancakes and bacon that I cooked to go with it.
The only time that I used the fresh eggs was when someone wanted an easy over egg, and most of the time, people happily enjoyed the scrambled ones.
One of the perks of working there was that the leftover pancake mix and scrambled eggs had to be thrown out, and I was allowed to take some home if I wanted, and give it to other workers when I didn't want it.
My dogs and I had lots of pancakes and scrambled eggs to eat !