Camping Recipes and Cooking Tips
rec.food.cooking/Kate Connally (1995)

One of the things I like to do is make packages. I got the idea from a Greek dish called Arni Exohiko (which means "hidden lamb") in which you place all the items in a phyllo wrapped package and bake it. The contents are 1 or 2 lamb chops, a few small new potatoes, peas, some Greek cheese. Everything is precooked except the cheese. Season with oregano and olive oil, etc. Seal the package and bake. Each person gets a package on their plate and cuts open the top to find their whole meal inside.

I adapted this idea to campfire cooking but I use foil instead of phyllo. Of course, you can't eat the foil, but then it won't burn either! :-) You can put anything you want into the packages. Make them up at home and freeze them. At your campsite put the package(s) somewhere safe to thaw a few hours or more before dinner. Then just heat them over the fire on a grill. Turn to heat both sides.

The other thing I do is make one-dish meals at home and freeze them. It's usually something like Hungarian Sauerkraut Soup or an Indian curry of some sort, Brunswick Stew, etc. Stew-type dishes and hearty soups are always great. I just dump it into a pot and heat it on the propane stove or over the campfire.

I used to make Teriyaki steak once in a while, too. Just put the steaks in the marinade in a plastic bag at home and then grill over the campfire. Success rice is perfect for camping as it doesn't leave a gummy pot to clean and it tastes just like "scratch" rice. (Do not confuse Success rice with Minute rice. Minute rice is precooked and is an Abomination, IMO, whereas Success rice is merely parboiled for faster cooking.) With the Teriyaki steak I serve Japanese-style cucumber pickles. It makes an excellent meal.

Popcorn popped over the campfire in an old-fashioned wire basket popper is great for a late snack.

Instead of regular hotdogs on buns I like to make pigs in a blanket. Make up a biscuit dough (I mix up the dry ingredients at home in a plastic bag and then add buttermilk when I'm ready to make the biscuits) and form long snake- like pieces and wrap them around the hotdogs which are on long forks or sticks and toast over the campfire until the biscuit is cooked and the hotdogs are hot. Kids love this but I do too. (Note: do not use sticks in areas where is it forbidden to collect down wood. Mainly in desert areas, but check the Forest Service or park rules where you are. Also, be sure you know what kinds of wood are safe for this use. Some may be poisonous. Also, if you do use sticks make sure the wood is green.)

I like to bake bread when I am camping. I just make up some yeast dough and put it in a greased skillet with a greased lid. Bake over the campfire. When the bottom is nicely browned (or in some cases nicely blackened :-)) slide the loaf out onto the lid and flip over into the skillet with the top side down. Put back on the fire to brown the top (now the bottom). Even when I burn it a little it is the best tasting bread there is. Hint: In order to make sure your bread dough rises properly park your car in a sunny spot and set the mixing bowl or plastic bag on the dash (with the car windows closed). The heat from the greenhouse effect will make the dough rise in a timely manner on even the breeziest day. If you are camped away from your car a large ziplock-type bag will work to achieve the greenhouse effect.

The main point to most of this is do as much as you can at home and freeze it. You get the added bonus that everything in your cooler will stay colder longer if you start out with everything frozen. (Just don't forget to thaw in time for dinner!) This saves you lots of work at camp so you can spend more time enjoying nature.