Good Morning Campers!
Today I’m going to take you through some recipes for camp food, ranging from a camp with proper cooking facilities right down to cooking a meal on a campfire. I have quite a few so lets jump straight in. Each recipe would serve about 1 person, except the fish and soup.
A Good Fry Up
Camp is full of activities to keep you on the go all day so a hearty breakfast is essential. You’ll need a small tin of baked beans, a couple of sausages, a couple of bacon rashers, an egg, a slice of bread, a flat mushroom (or a couple of small ones, quartered) and a little bit of oil for cooking.
1. In a large frying pan, heat the oil on a medium heat.
2. Start the sausages first as they’ll take longest to cook.
3. Add in the mushroom after a couple of minutes, and turn the sausages while you’re there.
4. In a bowl, beat the egg until its all mixed. Then get a plate (with a lip on the sides is best for mess) and tip the egg onto it. Pop your bread on top and turn it to get all the bread coated in egg. Set it to one side.
5. Add the bacon to your pan and turn those sausages again. Also, flip the mushroom. After a couple more minutes, flip the bacon too.
6. When everything it cooked, put it on a plate and cover the plate. I use a saucepan lid or put it in the grill area of my oven. Basically, just keep it warm.
7. Tip the beans into the frying pan and stir constantly. They should heat through in less than 2 minutes. Add them to your plate and replace the lid.
8. Finally, Put your eggy bread in the pan. This should only take 2 minutes each side.
9. Serve up and enjoy.
Overnight Oats
I first heard this idea at a group I go to. I have never been a fan or oats, whether they are in porridge or flapjacks but I tried this and they were yummy. It’s super simple too. You’ll need 35g plain oats, a handful of fresh fruit (I used blueberries and strawberries), a pot of yoghurt, about 120g, any flavour and a lidded container to put it in overnight.
1. Put your yoghurt in your lidded container.
2. Add the oats and mix well until they’re all covered.
3. Put your fresh fruit on top.*
4. Make sure the lid is on tightly and pop in the fridge overnight.
5. Go to bed and dream of bunnies playing in a meadow**
6. Take your oats out the fridge, stir well and enjoy.
7. If you would prefer it warm, stir well, heat in a microwave for a minute at a time, making sure to stir well between each minute and testing until it’s just right for you Goldilocks.
*The fruit tends to soften overnight, I you prefer yours less squidgy, put it on top in the morning.
**Bunny dreams are subject to availability.
Camp Fire Potato
About 13 years ago, I went on a school trip where we had to cook our dinner on a camp fire. My friends and I chose the simplest meal we could and won the challenge. You’ll need a large baking potato, a tin of beans, a small amount of butter and some tin foil.
1. Stab your potato with a fork a few times on each side and wrap it firmly in tin foil, making sure the whole thing is covered.
2. Carefully place (chuck) it in the bottom of the fire. Using some long tongs is best for this because fire it hot!
3. About an hour later, take the lid off your beans and wrap the top half of your can with foil.
4. Extra carefully stand it in the bottom of the fire.
5. After another half hour, get it all back out and very carefully test it. The potato should be soft inside and the beans should be hot through.
Now, timing on this one is hard because camp fires will be different temperatures and potatoes will be different sizes so just be careful around the open flame and check on your food.
Freshly Caught Fish
Imagine you’ve been trekking all day and have come to your base for the night. Luckily, there’s a river nearby and you have your fishing equipment with you, and you know how to fish… Yay you caught one! Lets eat. First, watch this lovely video on how to gut it…
How to gut a trout
Then this one on how to cook it…
How to cook that lovely fish
Ok, so I cheated on this one. Lets move on.
Camp Donuts!
This quick and easy sweet treat will keep any little campers happy; and they’re so simple to make, the kids can do it alone (except the cooking bit!) You’ll need a pancake mixer, water, a slice of bread, butter, jam and a little oil for cooking.
1. Make up the batter mix, but make it slightly thicker than usual, about double cream consistency. If you dont have a shaker, mix 60g plain flour, 1 egg, and 50ml milk together and add water to the right consistency. Set to one side. Heat a frying pan with a little oil to medium.
2. Cut your slice of bread in half. Put butter and jam on one side and fold together. (Basically make a jam sandwich)
3. Dip your sandwich in the batter to cover the whole thing.
4. Place it in the frying pan and cook on each side for 2 minutes, until golden brown.
You can coat it in sugar to make it more donutty, if you wish. It will be hot inside!!
Chocolate gooey bananas
More sweet treats for happy campers. You’ll need a banana, chocolate buttons, tin foil and mini marshmallows.
1. Take your banana, still in its skin, and see which side it naturally rests on. Cut a slit down the side of the banana facing upwards. Leave about a centimetre uncut each end.
2. Stuff the banana with as many chocolate buttons and mini marshmallows as you possibly can without splitting it.
3. Wrap it tightly in tin foil and pop on a BBQ, grill or in a dying fire. Leave for 5 minutes and turn it. Leave for 5 more minutes.
4. Carefully unwrap the foil and remove the skin. You should be left with a plate of hot, gooey banana-choc-mallow loveliness. Enjoy.
Nettle Soup
Grab some thick gloves and go nettle picking. Once they’re cooked they taste a bit like spinach. You’ll need a little oil, 400g stinging nettle leaves (or dead nettles – they look the same but don’t sting), an onion, a carrot, a leek, one large potato (maris pipers are good for this), a litre of vegetable stock, 50g butter and 50ml double cream OR cream cheese.
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan on medium. Finely chop the onion, carrot, leek and potato and add to the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes until they soften.
2. Add the stock and leave to simmer for another 10 minutes.
3. Add the nettle leaves and stir in until they wilt, about a minute.
4. Blend the mix until it is smooth. If you don’t get it quite smooth it can taste pulpy, which isn’t pleasant.
5. Bring the soup back up to a simmer and stir in the butter and cream (or cream cheese, it makes it a bit richer).
6. Season to taste and serve.
Pitta Pizza
Another great recipe for camping with kids. By making individual pittas, everyone can choose their own fillings, saving arguments. You’ll need pitta bread, a pizza base sauce (you can buy it in jars – or jut some passata), 30g grated cheese, your favourite pizza toppings – I like pepperoni and mushroom -, tin foil and a little oil. If you are going to use meat, do not use raw meat, pre cook it or buy it cooked. If your are using vegetables, cut them small as they wont have much time to cook, or pre cook them first.
1. Cut your pitta in half and wiggle your (clean) hand inside to open it up. Spread a generous amount of sauce inside. I like a lot of sauce so I do it top and bottom but just one half is more normal.
2. Evenly distribute your cheese and other toppings. I cut my mushrooms very small so they cook through very quickly.
3. Wrap in tin foil and put in fire/oven/on BBQ for about 15 minutes. Check the cheese has melted and any toppings are cooked.
4. Unwrap the pitta – it will probably be a bit soggy from steaming in the foil. Heat your oil in a pan and fry the pitta until the outside it nice and crispy again. Be careful not to tip your fillings out when flipping it.
Chili and rice
Sometimes you need a good heartwarming meal, and my favourite one is chili. You’ll need 100g mince/veggie mince, 45g kidney beans (drained and washed), 1/4 onion, finely diced, oil, 200g tin chopped tomatoes, 1/2 beef stock cube, 1 teaspoon chili powder (more or less to taste), 1/4 teaspoon drinking chocolate powder, 1/2 teaspoon mixed herbs and 60g rice
1. Put a little oil in a saucepan and add the mince. Fry until brown. Add in the onion and fry for 5 minutes, stirring a few times.
2. Add in the tomatoes and kidney beans and bring to the boil for 1 minute then reduce to a simmer.
3. I like my chili fairly thick but if you’d prefer yours thinner, stick your stock cube into boiling water. I sprinkle mine straight in the pan and mix it in.
4. Add the drinking chocolate, chili powder, and herbs and stir well.
5. Leave to simmer on a low heat while cooking your rice. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
6. Dish up and enjoy!
Boston Beans
When I was younger my mum worked some evenings. She usually prepared dinner for us before she went but if she hadn’t that day, my dad would make Boston Beans. He used to tell us it was the only thing his father ever cooked for him and he had always loved it. My dad always used bacon in it, and it wasn’t until years later that I discovered it’s meant to be made with pork belly. I hate pork belly so I shall stick to bacon, but if you like it, use it! You’ll need 200g baked beans, 1 onion, thickly sliced, 100g porkbelly/bacon, 2 slices bread, 1 tablespoon black treacle, 1/2 tablespoon soft brown sugar, salt and pepper, 1/2 teaspoon english mustard powder.
1. Fry the bacon/pork belly and onion until it is cooked through and nicely browned.
2. Add the beans to the pan and bring almost to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
3. Stir in the treacle, sugar and mustard powder. Be careful with the mustard powder – it’s hot!!
4. Toast your bread!
5. Get a large plate and put your toast on it. Grind salt and pepper over the bread. Not too much, just to your taste.
6. Spoon the beans mixture over the toast and enjoy.
That’s all my recipes. I hope you try some out, and enjoy them!
If you want an ACHIEVEMENT code, tweet me your creations @lomwod or email me at igglestuff@gmail.com
Photo credits: Some are mine, some are my family’s (I didn’t catch a fish but my little cousin did!) and some are from Google.
For ‘A Good Fry Up’, I only have baked beans, sausages, eggs, and bread (for toast). Will that still count?
Yes! Chuck it in a pan and sizzle it up 🙂