Wednesday, May 26, 2010

cooking while camping

Hey guys-
what do you think are some good things to cook while camping? I am lazy about cleanup and I don't want anything that can contaminate the cooler water!! What's your go-to camping dish?

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you saw me make these when we went camping last summer, but I swear by spinach-mushroom quesadillas. Everything packs flat or is squishy enough to fill in the holes among the other food in the ice chest and it's a one pan meal. Saute up some sliced mushrooms, add in the spinach to wilt, move that mix to a plate, then warm the tortillas and top with cheese. Once that starts to melt, add some spinach-mushroom mixture and you have a kind camping meal.

Niki

beckler said...

p.s.-
congrats to summer al!!!!!!! and summer jed!!! and summer tammy!!! and summer patrone!!! and by that i mean "congrats to patrone for being done with teaching for the year" not his celebrity couple name, which everyone knows is "sputrone"

Anonymous said...

double bagging stuff in good zip lock bags prevents cooler water nasties entirely. Also keep the cooler inside one of the buildings at p town , the ice will last so much longer that way.

When I am camping I want rare steaks, beans cooked with bacon and brews. Cleanup couldn't be easier , scrub one fry pan.

ec

beckler said...

i am jumping on this steak trend that is sweeping poinsettia.

there have been so many times when i think the cheese bag is sealed and then i end up with water cheese. it's probably because i am always drinking a brew the entire time i'm camping.

Anonymous said...

Remember when I double bagged that weed cookie? Let's just say that if I wanted a buzz I would've had to drink the cooler water.

-miller

Anonymous said...

double bag! get the expensive kind with the big plastic zipper thing that turns blue when it's sealed or whatever. I am drunk the whole time, but even drunks can use that kind.

ec

Anonymous said...

Hey - maybe you guys actually need a better cooler? igloo extreme dude. the ice lasts for days and days and days.

ec

beckler said...

yes, we do need a better cooler. no, we will not buy a better cooler. we'll talk about buying a new cooler for the next five years and then find a cool vintage one that barely works and buy that instead. i would say that's how we roll but that would not be funny.

Anonymous said...

it's coleman extreme and it keeps ice for up to six days in 90 degree heat. it works really well.

ec

beckler said...

BUT DOES IT LOOK COOL? that is all I care about.
j.k.-the cooler we have now is totes ugly and does not work

oh yeah, just remembered, there's an artist lecture at the center for contemporary art (on 19th st) with the artist youngsuk suh tomorrow at seven. i'll be checking that out, for sure.

slaliberte said...

canned corned beef hash, eggs and hot sauce
tuna mac and hot sauce

mmm

Anonymous said...

I really love both those dishes! also what about the deviled chicken in a can for sandwiches?

ec

Liv Moe said...

yes! please go to young's lecture. i can't make it tomorrow night and am way bummed about it. young is super neat.

Snufkin said...

Frijoles de la olla. Canned black beans, tortillas, epazote, salsa & cheese. You can also throw some bacon and beer into the mix while it's cooking.

mt.st.mtn. said...

Beckler:

A) disregard my emailed question about your weekend plans

B) Borrow my giant-ass great cooler for this weekend

C)... or leave all coolers at home and pack your stuff in one of your many, many vintage popcorn bowls.

har har

DKK

Caroline said...

a few of my lazy standby's are biscuits (pre-baked at home) and baked beans. i'm also a big fan of pasta (esp. gnocchi since it's more substantial) because there is pretty much no clean up from boiling the pasta and then you just pour room temp sauce in it and voila. none of these require any temperature control!

beckler said...

I don't like black beans. I decided that for real the other day when I made them from scratch, with epazote, and they were still not nearly as good as pintos. Great, now I'm going to start a bean fight.

Canned, deviled meat brings me back to my childhood. What does it mean when a food item is "deviled"?

Snufkin said...

If there's any kind of foodie one upmanship when it comes to black beans versus whatever, I'm outta the loop. I learned the recipe from an friend whose hippie parents dragged her off as a kid to rural Mexico to teach the campensinos about permaculture. She makes them with black beans, which is pretty much why I used them in the recipe. But it would work equally as well with other bean varieties.

nortagemdar said...

Camping staples:

~Weiners to roast over the campfire (sounds like you're not a vegetarian so cheddar wurst are the way to go, imho). You can buy those metal wire stick thangs for a couple o' bucks and they're great for roasting 'mallows, too.

~Trader Joe's has various super spicy indian food packets that are in foil so you boil up some dang water and then just set them in there in the package. The only clean up is the dish you eat the stuff out of. I can not stress spicy enough.

~Zataran's beans n rice - various flavors. They take some time on the camp stove but only require one pot. Good for having up with roasted weiners.

It's possible I just like saying weiners.

Anonymous said...

I have no idea why it's deviled. there is a devil on the can....

it probably sounded better than the more accurate Potted Meat and at that point Pate probably sounded too foreign.

ec

Liv Moe said...

what the devil!?!

captcha = canancod as in i'm bringin' a canancod camping...

olivia and trisha said...

Lazy about cleanup? If I remember correctly you guys brought a dutch oven on the last camping trip I went on. A 35 lb, heavy as shit, dutch oven. Trisha and I brought beers and protein bars. Nada clean up.
-olivia

Jeff M. said...

Sometimes I've cooked chicken breasts the first night. I grill extra chicken and chop up the leftovers. The next night we have chicken street tacos, with onions and cilantro as garnish. I've done pre-cooked spanish rice and refried beans as sides.

slaliberte said...

i've always wanted to try making bacon and eggs in a brown paper bag. Get the bag wet and throw the food in. tie the bag to a stick and put over coals for 10 minutes. add hot sauce!

Anonymous said...

That dutch oven will never come camping again!

-miller

beckler said...

that bag idea is a million dollar idea!

good news: i'm leaving the dutch oven home
bad news: i'm bringing the anvil.

Count Mockula said...

I like pancakes for breakfast when camping. Make the batter, double-bag it, and in the morning, just pour the batter onto a griddle.

undercover caterer said...

1) Deviled: Highly seasoned, often containing mustard; frequently topped with bread crumbs and grilled.

2) I like to eat stuff that you can put on a stick and cook over the fire. Hot dogs, sausages, marshmallows, etc. I believe some outdoorsy types also like to catch fish and cook them in cast iron pans over the fire.

beckler said...

I feel like I made that anvil joke before. Deja joke?

I'm making blueberry pancakes. I like to mix all the dry ingredients before I go, but I'm not so bold as to bag the batter. I would worry too much about the bag busting.

mt.st.mtn. said...

The best camping meal of my life was steak and a panzanella salad. We cut up salad fixings before we left, and then just mixed them together and let them marinate a bit while the steaks were cooking.

If you're going camping in the Yosemite area, you can get good steaks at the House of Beef in Oakdale.

DKK

beckler said...

mmm...that sounds great. we're having steak the first night, so maybe i'll bring some pre-cut salad stuff