Some of my 'simpler' camp foods

[GrueMaster]

A few years ago, I took my mother camping at Whistler, B.C. The campground was full of rental RVs, and everyone around us was busy cooking the usual (Hamburgers & Hotdogs). No imagination.

While my mother sat at the picnic table reading (she isn't used to someone cooking for her except at a restaurant), I got busy cooking. When I set our plates on the table, she looked and asked what it was. I told her the main dish was grilled-seared Ahi Tuna, chicken fried rice, and cauliflower drizzled in hollandaise sauce (I was a little loud). A lot of heads turned our way, and several campers walking by stopped to soak in the smells.

Last year at Oregon Country Fair, I finally broke down and made a grilled hamburger. It was using ground Elk meat, and stuffed with crumbled blue cheese and salad shrimp, on an onion bun.

Breakfasts can be a little simpler. Pancakes and 6 egg pizza omelet.

For larger groups, I do stews, chicken fajitas, and a meatball dish that a friend showed us in the slow cooker (everyone calls it Kaylee's Balls).

 

[WeRJuliIan]

A lot of heads turned our way, and several campers walking by stopped to soak in the smells.

Herbs and spices are an absolute essential, not just to enhance your food, but to let everyone around you know that your camp cooking is "gourmet style"
Garlic is especially good for this... and it's rumoured to keep insects away, too

Ian, the Foodie from Scotland

 

[tombiasi]

If you want to make a statement with aroma, just melt some butter in a pan and throw in some onions.

 

[BelchFire]

Anything with garlic, followed by cinnamon for desert.

 

[GrueMaster]

When I cooked for our larger Man's Weekend gatherings, I would get up in the morning around 6:30, and throw on a 3 gallon pot of water to boil on my Camp Chef. Once it was boiling hard, I'd move it to a smaller Coleman tabletop stove and throw about 1-2 cups of course grind coffee (a blend of Hazelnut and Cinnamon roasts), and let that slow boil for 20-30 minutes while I started cooking deli cut pepper bacon. After about half a pound of bacon, the rest of the guys would start crawling out of their holes. I have a griddle that covers both burners on my camp chef, so I can cook a full pound of bacon in 20 minutes, in 3 batches. I'd put the cooked bacon into a dutch oven sitting on 4-5 coals to keep it all warm.

Then I would start taking orders for breakfast (12" pancakes, 6 egg omeletes with full trimmings, hash browns, etc). Sometimes I wouldn't finish cooking until after 10:30am, but everyone got full until dinner.

 

[Chloe]

A few years ago, I took my mother camping at Whistler, B.C. The campground was full of rental RVs, and everyone around us was busy cooking the usual (Hamburgers & Hotdogs). No imagination.

While my mother sat at the picnic table reading (she isn't used to someone cooking for her except at a restaurant), I got busy cooking. When I set our plates on the table, she looked and asked what it was. I told her the main dish was grilled-seared Ahi Tuna, chicken fried rice, and cauliflower drizzled in hollandaise sauce (I was a little loud). A lot of heads turned our way, and several campers walking by stopped to soak in the smells.

Last year at Oregon Country Fair, I finally broke down and made a grilled hamburger. It was using ground Elk meat, and stuffed with crumbled blue cheese and salad shrimp, on an onion bun.

Breakfasts can be a little simpler. Pancakes and 6 egg pizza omelet. View attachment 29233 View attachment 29234

For larger groups, I do stews, chicken fajitas, and a meatball dish that a friend showed us in the slow cooker (everyone calls it Kaylee's Balls).

I want to go camping with you! LOL. Sounds delicious. I'm not a huge fan of burgers and dogs, unless in a hurry. Mmmm, ahi tuni... your sides sound yummy, too. Now I'm hungry....

Edited to add: your post above is really making me hungry! Nice to have a generous cook and I bet everyone woke up right quick once those delicious smells reached them.

 

[GrueMaster]

I'm heading out today for a solo tour of SW Oregon. Meeting up with some friends tomorrow (will fix them a great meal). The rest of the time will be just me. Already have a menu planned and a shopping list of stuff to buy. I'll try to remember to post pictures/recipes/reviews, of each meal. May start a new thread and post from camp, or all at once if I don't have network access.

 

[D_Gibb]

I do 90% of the cooking when we camp, and typically that's me, my wife, two young kids (4 & 2), father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law & her husband, and maybe 1-2 friends. I'll cook 2-3 times per day (except this last trip we started going simpler with lunches), and the family is stubborn. I want to cook them something different - make up hobo pouches, make chili, make something that isn't either burgers, hot dogs, steaks, chicken breasts, or pancakes and sausage. I would love to make biscuits and gravy, make a Japanese style curry (it's absolute heaven -- try it), or even make some kabobs and veggies. But my wife is afraid of us getting stuck with all the costs (we usually do anyways) and the prep time to make these (if I was able to prep beforehand, it would be easy.

Sorry. Venting. Want to make some more great camp foods, but family is stuck on the old stand-bys.

 

[SteveP]

I want to cook them something different

Just do it. Declare one meal a day cooks choice. Like I tell my sister, there's an empty burner and she's free to get pans etc. out of the camper as long as she cleans what she uses.

 

[kcsa75]

We were talking about this the other day. DW is an excellent cook and we eat well when we camp, but she spends a lot of time working on meals. I've been after her to simplify things so she would have more time for other things.
So far on this trip we've had burgers with pasta salad and steak with baked potatoes and salad, neither of which I think is boring by the way. We've also made buffalo chicken wings/legs, with homemade slaw and Homemade bleu cheese dressing, pizza, and shrimp on the Barbie (grill) with corn on the cob. These all make great leftover lunches too.
Everything but the shrimp was bought fresh (we're in Kansas after all) and prepared at our campsite and didn't take hours to prepare.
Oh, and she made cheesecake at home that we've had for desert a couple nights.

 

[nineoaks2004]

I carry a lot of dehydrated foods ( vacuum sealed) and just need to add boiling water to re-hydrate, takes very little time, 1st meal is a pre-cooked and frozen meal. (this comes from my hiking and canoe camping days) my time at camp is important and I make the meals easy and quick.

 

[D_Gibb]

Just do it. Declare one meal a day cooks choice. Like I tell my sister, there's an empty burner and she's free to get pans etc. out of the camper as long as she cleans what she uses.

Good point. Maybe this next trip I'll make sure to prep something beforehand different.