Is it just me or does anyone else find it difficult to find a camping "cook book" that isn't just filled with recipes that you could find in any other cook book? Recipes that call for lots of fresh ingredients and many pots and gadgets?
Maybe I'm just a lazy cook while camping but I don't want to try to find room in my cool box for creme freche after using one tbsp of it and I don't want to throw away or take home the rest of a bunch of fresh rosemary either
Don't get me wrong, I've made spaghetti bolognese from scratch while camping but I'd love a book with simple ideas. Anyone know of any good ones?
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Nope, not just you SumerSky! I borrowed the Cool Camping cookbook from the library and thought no way is this easy camping cooking and I am a pretty adventurous cook too given half a chance. We might well be better off looking at one of those 3 or 4 ingredients books for simple ideas. One trick I realised last time (the only time so far!) we went camping was to par cook the rice / pasta, remove from the single burner and leave it in the boiling water covered and covered with a tea towel or similar and while the whatever sauce / meat etc cooking, it continues to cook and they are both ready at same time but only using one burner - this is probably obvious to all you seasoned campers but it was new to me and I actually now do this at home.
All campers use different technology levels of food storage and cooking. If you can't chill food then fresh products have to be eaten within hours on a hot day. If you are using disposable gas cylinders you must cook quickly but if you have a wood fire you could build an oven and roast a hog.
Since campsites tend to be near villages rather than cities you will be shopping in village stores instead of supermarkets, your menu will be based on what is available rather than what you have planned.
No single cook book could cope with all this variation.
Since everyone will be too hungry to complain throw together unusual dishes and hope no one notices.
If you go abroad you won't even be certain what you have bought until you start cooking it, no cookbook can cope with that, life is an adventure ....
I keep reminding myself that TV chefs have used 'suitcase stoves', Coleman Dual Fuel cooker, and the one-burner cast iron jobby that doesn't have a brand name it seems, to create amazing meals al fresco.
...And then I go and do a 'one pot wonder' with half-cooked rice, half-prepared meatballs, and a jar of spaghetti sauce!
We have 'The Camping Cookbook' by Annie Bell which has some nice ideas, and another one (sorry, can't remember or find it, but it's from the series that does county cooking too, e.g. Devon, Kent...).
My tip is to forget you're camping. You have a burner or two, so does your cooker at home. You have hungry people. What do you cook at home? Does it translate to outside? Could you take shortcuts for speed/fuel economy?
Pressure-cooker? Semi-cooked food (if cost-effective for numbers) all-in-one to save on washing up?
Look in your own recipe books or repertoire and see what you can adapt or do in the field. I think that's half the fun TBH. You can get right posh with Beef Stroganoff if you wish, do a basic chilli and French bread.
Get everyone involved (including the no-cook OH) and enjoy it. Filling and sustaining and minimal fuss is what you're aiming at but high on flavour and satisfaction.
And BBQ if you can
There are a couple of threads on here with recipes if you search for them
------------- Camping - emotional resilience in action, a triumph of hope over adversity and antidote to virtual reality.
I think the idea of most of those books is that you plan what you'll be cooking in advance then take only what you need with you. eg 1 tbsp. of crème fraiche in a small pot and one sprig of rosemary off the bush, leave the rest at home.
I did pick up a good book for camping recipes from one of the supermarkets a couple of years ago called "one pot cooking". Still use many of the recipes from it.
we only have a double burner stove and a bbq and whilst camping prefer to cook everything that we'd normally cook at home using predominately fresh ingredients...having some crème fraiche left over for later wouldn't be a problem for us...we are always adapting our meal plans at home to use up ingredients and it's no different on holiday...in the tent we'd simply adapt our follow up meals so that we could use up whatever we had in our cooler box...we can keep stuff like crème fraiche or fresh herbs perfectly chilled in our Coleman Xtreme for quite a few days, so nothing ever goes to waste or gets thrown away...
I should write a camp cook book lol . No refrigeration No chopping board a swiss army knife 2 pans and a single ring petrol stove . = a different meal most days . For 3 years cycling round the world
Indeed when backpacking two of us eat off a trangia, have made all sorts on that, pretty much what we eat at home just takes some adaptation. eg last time made some fish cakes, used smash and tinned salmon instead of fresh. wasn't as good as at home but for trangia cooking whilst camping was pretty good.
When basecamping we eat pretty much the same stuff as at home, just probably use the BBQ a bit more
Chappers - you reminded about the fish cakes I made with Smash about 30ish years ago when my folks were on holiday and left me home alone... they found them years later when selling the freezer. They had religiously moved them when defrosting but curiosity got the better of them. I made them with Smash and, wait for it, tinned pilchards
Your salmon ones sound much better and will now be on my list along with Spam! I made some fritters (with batter) the other day and they were actually really good.
I suppose the repertoire rather depends on the stove, carrying capacity, cooking pot option and personal taste. Perhaps a book with a section for 'small one burner one
pot wonders' and for gourmet meals on luxury double burners with grill. Oh, and for BBQs (real or gas) and for good old-fashioned over the fire cooking, Dutch oven or without.
Use the non-camping months (for me anyway) checking out cookery books and compiling possible adaptations for alfresco dinners next year?
------------- Camping - emotional resilience in action, a triumph of hope over adversity and antidote to virtual reality.
Brown Stew Chicken is an easily adaptable camp meal of ours. We now take it ready prepped in a zip lock back and just chuck it in the Dutch pot to bubble away and serve it with micro rice that we heat in a pan. Quite spicy and fantastic for chilly nights!
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Topic: Camping cook books
