Campfire Cooking

story by Mary Aho

Fall is the season for camping. When it comes to camping, it’s all about simplicity and ease. One of the things that is the most challenging while roughing it in the great outdoors is cooking. Whether you are cooking over an open camp fire or outdoor grill, here are some tips, tricks, and meal planning ideas to make your stay in the wilderness easy and enjoyable.

There is more to camping meals than sandwiches and hotdogs. Most people feel like they are quite limited when it comes to meals while camping. However, if you go prepared, you can have a variety of delicious and filling meals. Prepping things like fruits, vegetables, meat, and eggs, not only saves time but space in your cooler as well. Dice your vegetables and meats before your trip and store them in zip lock bags for space saving storage. Crack your eggs in a bowl, whisk, and pour into a container like a recycled coffee creamer container. That allows you to take more eggs and have a mess free pour at breakfast time. Freeze gallons of water and place them in the bottom of your cooler. The jugs will act as ice packs, when they melt you have extra drinking water. Store spices in a pill dispenser. That way you can take several spices without taking up extra space.

When it’s time to cook, there are several essential supplies for cooking outdoors. The first is a cast iron skillet. Cast iron is a wonderful heat conductor. Since it stays seasoned, you don’t really have to clean it. Just give it a good wipe after eat use and keep it nice and oiled. The possibilities of what you can cook in a cast iron pan are endless. The other camping cooking must-have is aluminum foil. The easiest way to cook dinner is to take all of your ingredients, wrap them up in foil, and then put them over heat. You can put the foil packs on the grill or directly in the coals of the camp fire. In around ten minutes, you’ll have complete individual meals with almost no clean up.

Whether you’ve fired up the grill or hanging around the fire, camping meals are easy to make and take no time at all to cook. Not only are these ideas perfect for camping but anytime of the year on your grill or in the oven at home. From vegetables to shrimp these recipes are going to have people flocking to your campsite this fall.

Hawaiian Chicken Foil Pack

INGREDIENTS:
2 chicken breasts
1 cup bbq sauce your favorite
1 can pineapple slices drained
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon garlic minced
1 sweet bell pepper chopped
1/4 onion sliced
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the grill to medium or 350°F. In two thin (or 1 heavy) sheets of aluminum foil, place 1 chicken breast each and season with salt and pepper. Place 2-3 pineapple slices on top of each chicken breast. Divide and top pineapple slices with the onion and sweet pepper. In a bowl, combine the bbq sauce, soy sauce, and garlic. Pour the sauce evenly over both foil packets, but reserve ¼ cup and set aside. Seal the contents of the foil packets and place on the grill. Grill the packets for 10-13 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Flip the packets halfway through grilling. When cooking time is up, open the packets and drizzle in the rest of the sauce remaining.

Campfire Cobbler

INGREDIENTS:
6 peaches, chopped
2 cup raspberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup chopped strawberries
2 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of kosher salt
2 1/3 cup Bisquick Mix
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar, divided

DIRECTIONS:
In a large resealable plastic bag, combine fruit, 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt. Seal tightly and shake bag until fruit is evenly coated. In another large resealable plastic bag, combine Bisquick and milk. Seal and mix, kneading with your hands, until completely combined. Butter a large cast-iron skillet. Add fruit mixture and top with Bisquick topping. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Cover with foil and cook over a campfire until biscuits are no longer doughy and fruit is warm and bubbly, 50 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes, then serve.