Hey camp chefs, what's cooking?

[waldenbound]

I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread for the camp chefs to post a meal they fixed, and a brief cooking method (Coleman stove, Jetboil, foil packet over a campfire.)

It would give us van dwellers-in-waiting and newbies ideas on types of food and kitchen equipment to onboard without digging through numerous threads.

So camp chefs, what's cooking?

 

[ZoNiE]

Tinfoil cooking.

Precooked 1/4lb hamburger patty
1/3 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/3 can of veg-all.
Wrap in foil, cook over fire or in pan of hot water.
Yum.

You can make a bunch of them up ahead of time.

Lots of tin foil recipes out there.

 

[Almost There]

My favorite tin foil recipe is:

at least a 1/4 lb of hamburger seasoned as desired
potatoes sliced a little thicker than 1/4"
carrots, cleaned and cut on the diagonal
onions cut in thick slices or wedges.

Double wrap and lay on a medium campfire, meat side down for at least 15 minutes, then turn over to allow the meat juices to season and cook the veggies.

Usually takes about a half hour to 45 minutes to cook through, test potatoes/carrots for doneness.

Other than that, my camping food is no different than my s&b food used to be. Living full time on the road does not HAVE to mean different cooking. About the only thing different is now I'm cooking summer menus almost all year round instead of seasonal menus.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

FWIW, over on the Teardrops and Tiny Travel Trailers forum, they have a whole sub-forum devoted to camping recipes.

Recipes by and for Teardroppers

 

[Hippiechk]

Even my mini van I cooked regular food.

A decent sized frying pan & a good sized general pot is really all one NEEDS. I don't live that simplistic anymore as I am in a C with a full kitchen but a friend I camp with who's full-timed 32 years consecutive now (that's our Willy!) has just that exactly.

***Warning*** Never, EVER eat anything Willy cooks!!! It's not the pots fault...seriously, a two tours front line military buddy of his projectile ejected after one bite. Me...my eyes burn at a distance!

One of my favorite easy summer recipes is mashed potato salad. It skips the whole boil, drain, cut part & tastes just the same. Boil, mash & mix in your favorite ingredients all in the one pot...enjoy warm or chilled. I like eggs in mine so they boil with the spuds & I fish them out to peel & chop.

Cooked either in one of my lovely electric gizmos or over a propane burner.

 

[TrainChaser]

Hippiechk: "Never, EVER eat anything Willy cooks!!! It's not the pots fault...seriously, a two tours front line military buddy of his projectile ejected after one bite."

I think I know his brother... "If it doesn't make your head sweat, you need another spoonful of hot chili pepper flakes!"

 

[NickTheoBennett]

I made hashbrowns today, easy as can be.  I steamed a batch of potatoes in my pressure cooker on the propane stove, shredded/mashed them with a spoon, then fried them up with some red pepper flakes in a little veggie oil.   

The pressure cooker is my most used kitchen gadget.  You can steam potatoes in there, make rice, cook dried beans, steam veggies.  I couldn't imagine cooking in my minivan without it.

 

[waldenbound]

I know my cooking style will change when I get on the road. Right now, when I camp, I got a refrigerator for prep, and I don't care how expensive the food is or how much I waste. That will definitely need to change.

Hobo packets is a classic camp recipe, but I don't see myself doing much hamburger. Too perishable. Now, hobo steaks? Mmmm...

One idea I got from one of the Captain's Log trip reports is to cook out of a Jetboil when traveling and not wanting to eat out a lot, especially in winter. I plan on getting a MSR Windburner, It has excellent wind protection for the desert, and there's a skillet that is sold separate. I can then get rid of a heavy Calphalon pan that I have.

 

[Bast]

I just bought a manual pressure cooker and am having a hard time learning to use it. All of my meat is coming out tough. Any ideas what I am doing wrong.

 

[NickTheoBennett]

Bast (love the name, btw, I assume for the Egyptian goddess), just play with the cooking time. My pressure cooker is manual also and even though I don't eat much meat I do have to adjust cook time depending on what size potatoes I end up with. Smaller ones are perfect at 10-12 minutes at pressure (the knob at the top rocking back and forth just slightly), while larger potatoes need 14-16 minutes. I have cooked pork chops in mine in the past and they came out incredibly juicy and tender, though I don't remember the exact cook times.

It sounds to me like you are overcooking your meat, so try shaving a couple of minutes off of your cook time.

 

[TrainChaser]

Bast, is your meat tough because it's not cooked enough, or cooked too much?

If it's not cooked enough, give it a little more time; keep track of what works and what doesn't. If it's cooked too much, remember to get it up to steaming, then LOWER THE TEMP. Some people think hotter is better -- it isn't.

Here are some basics on using one: http://www.wearever.com/hints-and-t...rs/Pages/CookingwithPressureCookers-Tips.aspx

And here is a photo-index of some basic recipes that can get you started right with various types of foods: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/pressure-cooker-recipes/

 

[Odyssey]

What size pressure cooker do you use in your vans? A 4L seems like it takes up a lot of room.

 

[NickTheoBennett]

Mine is 4 quarts. I find it to be the perfect size, but then I use mine every day and it usually just lives on top of my stove.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00002N602/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Bast]

Thanks for the tips. I really appreciate them. I never thought of overcooked meat .

Glad you liked the name. It is for the Egyptian goddess.

 

[highdesertranger]

I have a question I realize you can overcook meat if you cook it dry. like on a bbq. but I would think if you are steaming in a pressure cooker you could not over cook it, unless you let it dry out. I know if I am cooking roast in salsa or liquid(stew) in my dutch oven it's virtually impossible to overcook the meat in wet conditions. that's why I can take the cheapest cut of meat and make bomb shredded beef for tacos, enchiladas, burritos, and taquitos. dang I am getting hungry. highdesertranger

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I've not much experience with pressure cookers but my aunt is an avid fan. When I was asking about them she told me the two biggest rookie mistakes are overcooking and too much liquid. She also said cuts of meat that cook the fastest are usually best left out.......like skinless chicken breasts. But that's as far as my knowledge goes. I had gotten into crock pot/slow cooking so never dived in the pressure cooking world.

 

[NickTheoBennett]

I have a question I realize you can overcook meat if you cook it dry.  like on a bbq.  but I would think if you are steaming in a pressure cooker you could not over cook it,  unless you let it dry out. 

I honestly don't know and there's a good chance you're right here.  The logic certainly plays out.  I don't have refridgeration (yet), so I just plain don't cook enough meat to know.  The vast majority of what I cook is potatoes and veggies, which are very easy to overcook.  My suggestion to Bast still stands though to play with the cooking time, whether that means more or less.  There has got to be a sweet spot for whatever meat she is cooking, it's just a matter of fine tuning the cook time.  

I do miss my crockpot, it was one of my favorite appliances in my S&B.  I think my battery bank is a little small for that these days though.  I'm sure I could get away with it on a sunny day, but trying to do it in the rain or on a cloudy day might just kill me.  I'm relatively new to the world of solar, so this is just conjecture based on the fact that heating anything via solar is power hungry.  I've got 265w of solar and 200ah in my battery and I tend to lean more toward the cautious side re: power usage.  I already run a power hungry laptop 10-12 hours per day, so I prefer not to push it too much.

 

[TrainChaser]

"I have a question I realize you can overcook meat if you cook it dry. like on a bbq. but I would think if you are steaming in a pressure cooker you could not over cook it, unless you let it dry out."

If you're cooking it too long and all/most of the moisture escapes as steam, you could have problems. Some people think that cooking for a short time can't possibly work, so they cook it for a long time.

Also, there is supposed to be a plate with holes in it that sits in the bottom of a pressure cooker, so the food isn't sitting directly on the heat. If you don't have one, get one. Sometimes you can find them in thrift shops.

 

[waldenbound]

Indonesian Fried Rice (Nasi Goreng)

Equipment: MSR Windburner integrated stove system with 8 inch skillet accessory

1Tbsp olive oil
small container of fried rice from grocery deli
chopped red bell pepper
chopped baby bok choy
packet of soy sauce (from take out places)
packet of ketchup (from fast food joints)

Heat oil in pan, add bok choy and red bell pepper. Sautee a few minutes. Add fried rice, cook a few more minutes.
Add soy sauce and ketchup and heat through.
Serves one hungry van dweller.

The Windburner is a fantastic stove. The temperature turns down to a reasonable simmer for cooking. Clean up was easy, no rice stuck to the bottom. I found the perfect stove for fast cooking on the go when it's impractical to drag out a Coleman two burner stove.
And the meal was delicious.

 

[bonnieE350van]

I do skillet breakfast on regular basis...nothing more than a combination of diced potatoes, onions, whatever fresh veggies
there might be left over from supper the night before, bacon,sausage or ham diced, and scrambled eggs all cooked together...
cook meat first to have some grease in the pan, then cook potatoes until golden brown and crunchy, and the veggies chopped into bite-size pieces, beat eggs and add to the pan...cook and stir  eggs are done to your likeness, (we like them soft scrambles)
sprinkle some shredded cheese on top, cover and turn off heat...let sit for a few minutes to let cheese melt...
serve in flour tortillas as breakfast tacos or burritos, or by itself on a plate with taco sauce/salsa...

I also make leftovers  into soup/chowder...when I have any leftover meat/starch/veggies I turn them into soup by mixing together with either broth or canned condensed soup usually tomato or canned  diced tomatoes and water...let simmer til heated through
and serve with crackers or sandwiches...compares to progresso/chunky soups in taste with less salt...