Camping Food: Lessons Learned

We've done quite a bit of car camping lately, usually with large groups of 15-30 people. Ken organizes the trip logistics (activities and campsite) and I tend to be in charge of organizing the food. Divide and conquer.

Making burgers and brats for a large crew is easy but gets old quickly. So I've been thinking of new meals for camping that can be made with at least a few of the following characteristics (in no particular order):

1. easy to make
2. parts of the dish can be made ahead of time
3. ingredients easy to transport
4. entertaining to me
5. tasty
6. easy to clean

Some dishes that I've done in the past that are great for a group are:

Thai curry (veggie and/or meat) over rice - A few cans of coconut milk, a premade curry paste and then the veggies/meat that you want to add. The hardest part is the rice, which is why I'll use instant rice if I'm worrying about it or want to relax. I imagine this could be expanded to indian food, like a simmer sauce, but I haven't tried that yet.

Shrimp and grits - Shrimp and bacon are packed frozen. Veggies and grits are easily stored without refrigeration. Cook the grits over a low heat while you're making your shrimp gravy... Saute bacon until crisp, remove and crumble. Saute onions, bell peppers and garlic in the grease until soft. Add your flour to make a roux. Season the peeled shrimp with salt and cayenne and add to the mix. Adjust seasonings of shrimp gravy and grits to taste. Yum.

Low Country Boil - Another south carolina dish that is awesome for feeding a large group while camping. Plus it's easy to prepare and super social to eat. To make for 20 people, I use 2 sacks of little red potatoes, 7 sweet onions, 8 lbs sausage, 20 ears of corn, 8 lbs frozen shrimp. Shrimp and sausage are frozen. Everything else can be kept at room temperature. I make the dipping sauces ahead of time: cocktail sauce, tartar sauce and a honey mustard. Everyone helps chop and those who don't like cooking (or if you run out of jobs) can decorate the sauce containers. I cook it in a turkey fryer pot and dump it out onto newspaper. Simple cleanup.

Omelettes in a bag - an old boy scout trick. Perfect for a breakfast on the last day and great for using up leftovers. A sharpie allows each to mark their own bag. Dump in eggs and desired ingredients. Cook in simmering water until cooked through. (Note: I'm starting to steer away from this though since eating food cooked in heated up plastic probably isn't good for the body)

Reubens - This is a decadent treat. Pastrami can be pricey, but if you can find a great deal on it, these are so fun to make. Rye bread, thousand island dressing and sauerkraut can be pre-purchased and kept at room temperature. Pastrami and cheese need refrigeration, but they don't take much room. Easy to bang out a bunch of them on a griddle. I find that slicing them in half and serving halves is easier. People can come back for more and they're hotter/less soggy than if you gave each person a full one.

Burritos - Nothing fancy but they sure are delicious after a long day and everyone can choose their own toppings, so everyone is happy. Perfect for the lone vegetarian in a sea of meat-eaters. I used 3 lbs of ground beef for 20, which I froze ahead of time. Season it in camp. Toppings include: iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, avocados (decadent), salsa, sour cream (critical) and as a great touch of sweetness, some chopped nectarines. The latter may sound crazy, but it brought out a flavor that was unexpected and exciting. I brought the nectarines to make a fruit salsa, but I left all of the other salsa making ingredients at home. Other note: I also had taco-sized flour and corn tortillas, but everyone preferred the burritos because you don't have to get up as much and it's less messy. Good to know. I'm skipping the taco sized tortillas next time.

Things I recently tried that were a huge hit:

Arepas - Venezuelan english muffins, if you will. They're cornmeal that's similar to the masa of tamales. It is cooked on a griddle on both sides until it sounds hollow, then it's split and filled with deliciousness like shredded chicken, cheese and avocado. Served hot off the griddle -- people add their own fillings, so it's similar to burritos in a sense. The Arepa dough is made from equal parts of P.A.N. precooked cornmeal (at latino stores, not the same as masa harina) and warm water. The cornmeal was kept at room temperature and I made the chicken & caramelized onion filling ahead of time. The only thing I had to do after setting up camp was warm up the fillings and make/cook the arepas. I will cook them on a griddle next time instead of a small pan. People loved them and were staking them out.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches - Perfect for breakfasts and a nice change from sausage and scrambled eggs. You'll need bread, some ham, cheese (I used provolone) and a few eggs. Make your ham & cheese sandwiches and then dip them in an egg mixture (a few eggs mixed with a touch of milk or water and some salt/cinnamon). Cook them in a pan like you would french toast. I cut and served halves for the same reason as the reubens above. I also learned that a little bit of jam on the bread before closing up the sandwiches brings out a great sweetness -- think cranberry sauce on a turkey sandwich. People ate them with their hands and then came back for seconds. Not messy and easy to prepare.

Mussels or Clams - I've done mussels for a large group before. Sara brought littleneck clams this weekend. Both were cooked in a pan a little bit of butter and beer (or wine if you have it). It is amazing. Didn't serve either with bread, but I bet it would be delicious. Folks go nuts for these. Perfect for a first night of camping. Especially if you have a fast river/ocean/dumpster to throw the leftover shells.

Irish Cream - I know this isn't exactly food, but I always bring milk and sugar for my morning coffee. A friend brought a bottle of baileys this weekend. Needless to say, a little irish cream in your camp coffee is totally luxurious and covers a multitude of bad camp coffee issues... overbrewing/too hot/lots of grounds in your cup, etc. I don't do this at home, but it's a great change when camping.

New ideas for camping food (but I haven't tried them yet so take them with a grain of salt):

Korean BBQ - This past weekend, I was all set do do a Korean BBQ with chicken for the group (marinate it in gallon bags and put it in the freezer a couple of days before you leave -- the frozen chicken serves as ice packs until it thaws and then marinates some more). However, they had fire restrictions so I decided to cancel the BBQ since I didn't want to do it over a small propane camp grill (too messy). I have 10 lbs of chicken waiting in my freezer right now, but I digress. Even though it's essentially the same as normal BBQ chicken, I thought it would be a nice change to adjust the seasonings.

Indian Food - sooo many options. A spinach/paneer dish over rice? A tandoori chicken? A korma? I think there are a lot of options that I haven't even begun to explore yet. Plus, if you can do some of these indian dishes in a crockpot, you can do them in camp. Plus, it's outside the normal realm of typical camp cooking and can be spicy, both things people tend to like while sitting in camp chairs.

Grilled Pizza - I think this could be a great campfire dish, but I would need to test it out before recommending it. Expanded metal grates could work well for this -- or cast iron griddles. I see them sitting over hot coals. I hear that pizza dough needs only a few minutes on each side before it's topped with cheese and some easy toppings. If you keep the toppings pre-cooked and simple, this could be a winner.

Chicken and Dumplings - could be a nice alternative to chili on a chilly, fall evening.

I'm sure there are more things, but that's all I can think of at the moment. Feel free to post your favorites. I'm always looking for something new and fun.