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Vacation Dining Adventures: The Camping Chef Pt. 1
Post #11 | 8-29-09
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The Food To Bring
When putting together meal plans and recipes what are some smart 'must have' staples to build from? It's been said that the classic 8 camping food staples are: fish, steak, eggs, bacon, potatoes, fry pan bread, flapjacks, and coffee. And whether always nutritional or not, what is camping without the perennial favorites of hotdogs, hamburgers, brats, chicken, sandwich meats, beans, soup and the accompanying spices and condiments? A nice supply of fruits and vegetables along with plenty of fresh water to keep all hydrated is a necessity. Milk and fruit juices are nice to include while you try to keep the soda to a minimum. You'll need to determine how many refrigerated items you'll have room for, if you need to buy more storage for these, and if you can replenish supplies through local shopping once camping somehow.
In planning meals you'll also want to search for things to pack that also don't expire or perish quickly. These are also the foods that one grabs when backpacking or traveling light. Rice, pasta and oats, couscous, dehydrated hash browns, trailmix, granola and dry baking mixes are all good things to bring. For your fruits, veggies and proteins, dried or dehydrated fruit and veggies are best, preferably ones that are unsweetened. Dried legumes, nuts, beef jerky and powdered items such as eggs, milk or falafel are also great. Canned sardines or tuna are favorites. And don't forget a few snickers bars or two for energy.
Let's cover some nutritional guidelines next. In your daily meals plan some sort of protein as your entree, and use plenty of fruits and vegetables as side dishes to ensure maximum energy for your outdoor adventure. As a guideline when camping you should have one to three large servings of whole and processed grains and starchy vegetables per day depending on your activity, five to eight small servings of beans, nuts, seeds, vegetables or fruit and one to two servings of meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy. Fats and sweets should be used sparingly. When planning your meals for a camping trip, make sure to keep the food pyramid in mind. Water should be at the top of your list. Most days you are out you will want to drink at least two quarts of water in addition to having sports drink mix, tea or cocoa in camp. And what is camping without the snacks? Smores, marshmellows, chips, and trail mix come to mind. By including snacks just make sure the nutritional requirements are met by your main daily meals first and you'll be fine. For additional camping fun, not to be forgotten is the liquor, wine, or beer.
Planning Tip: Always pack enough for 3 healthy, square meals a day plus the snacks when camping. Tip: Don't count on including what you may catch on the trip as one of those meals, if you do get lucky, that would be a bonus situation.
In Conclusion
There are many recipes for easy camping meals online, and it's up to you to figure out what your group will love AND what will power them through the camping trip. This is your job as camp chef! Drawing on your nutritional value knowledge and making smart choices is how you get it done. We'll get into preparation in more detail in part 2 but quickly now mention some things you should have to work with for some of the cookery. For the campfire having a dutch oven, grill rack, cast iron skillets, coffee pot, skewers for shishkabob, heavy duty aluminum foil to wrap food in to then throw on the coals to cook would be a good place to start with. Having some type of stove as a backup is a good move. And don't forget the fun of just putting food on a stick over the fire. You gotta plan some stuff for that. There's some great stuff you can do with bread for example. Hey, that's the best part about camping food, right?
These are just some of the ideas you can do to organize and prepare your meals. Thanks to your smart planning and organization It may look to everyone like everything just "magically" comes together once out there but you know the real deal. It involves a lot of work and you did it for your group. Now have some fun, put your feet up and have a drink as you enjoy everyone's good company, the awesome meal that tastes amazing, and the beautiful day or evening just ahead.
Recipe: George River Salmon
Camping and Fishing are just made for each other with fish most definitely being a camping staple. What's better than getting to eat what you just caught from a fresh stream or lake while camping? Enjoy this one. It's a simple recipe that comes from *Brook Elliot at the website Chef Talk. Include a vegetable and beverage of your choice.
*George River Salmon
The Atlantic salmon guides on Canada's George River used to make this right on the river bank as a treat for their sports. I've done the same with Pacific salmon in the Great Lakes. It actually works with any fish that can be cut into steaks.
4 salmon steaks cut about an inch thick
3 tbls Dijon mustard
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt & pepper
Mix the oil, mustard, wine, salt and pepper in a zipper bag. Add the salmon steaks and marinate, in the cooler, for two hours. Oil a grill rack set four inches over hot coals. Lay the steaks on the rack and broil a total of ten minutes, turning and brushing with the marinade at least twice during the cooking.
Camping and Fishing are just made for each other with fish most definitely being a camping staple. What's better than getting to eat what you just caught from a fresh stream or lake while camping? Enjoy this one. It's a simple recipe that comes from *Brook Elliot at the website Chef Talk. Include a vegetable and beverage of your choice.
*George River Salmon
The Atlantic salmon guides on Canada's George River used to make this right on the river bank as a treat for their sports. I've done the same with Pacific salmon in the Great Lakes. It actually works with any fish that can be cut into steaks.
4 salmon steaks cut about an inch thick
3 tbls Dijon mustard
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt & pepper
Mix the oil, mustard, wine, salt and pepper in a zipper bag. Add the salmon steaks and marinate, in the cooler, for two hours. Oil a grill rack set four inches over hot coals. Lay the steaks on the rack and broil a total of ten minutes, turning and brushing with the marinade at least twice during the cooking.
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