Campfire recipes
Try some of these adventurous treats while enjoying the great outdoors
If you’re like me, you love camping. Keep in mind, when I say that I must inform you that the outdoors in general to me is only moderately enjoyable and I’m a bit of a homebody hobbit in the sense that I rarely go outside on adventures and I’ll be damned if I don’t enjoy a hearty second breakfast...but camping has never disappointed me.
This summer has been a hectic one for me with the birth of my son, the loss of a few human connections and making efforts to have/be on a food-related TV show and as a result, I haven’t had a chance to do any camping this summer.
However, that didn’t stop me from coming up with a few campfire-related recipes in the kitchen and wistfully jotting down a few ideas in my food journal. It seems as though there’s a growing summer trend among cooks to try their craft outside of the kitchen in a more primitive setting. Even a quick Google search can bring up quite a few hits on some seriously delicious looking campfire meals in their full recipe grandeur and I’m not immune to the hype of it in the least.
Truth be told, I couldn’t even decide on what to include as a recipe in this column and, in that regard, I’ve decided to add all three campfire recipes in their totality which I’ve come up with since June of this year. Enjoy!
Monster S’mores! (Peanut Butter and Caramel S’mores)
1 box graham crackers
1 small jar of crunchy peanut butter 1 large box (or bag) of single Reese Peanut Butter Cups
1 bag of large marshmallows
1 box of regular Caramilk chocolate bars Smear a thick layer of crunchy peanut butter over all graham crackers. Add next an even layering of Caramilk bar pieces (about half a bar per graham cracker) over half of the graham crackers. On the second half, add a single unwrapped Reese Cup.
Next, using a clean stick or campfire skewer, roast marshmallows to desired doneness and remove it from tool. Next, quickly sandwich the roasted marshmallow between both kinds of graham cracker layers. Press down firmly without breaking the crackers and enjoy. Repeat until satisfied. Total cooking time – 10 minutes.
Stuffed Campfire Peppers!
6-8 bell peppers, topped and cored 1 lb ground beef
2 small onions, diced
1 package of bacon, diced 12 packets (6 tbsp) Heinz ketchup 3 cups instant rice
3 cups water
1 packet Kraft macaroni salad powder
Salt and pepper to taste On a large campfire skillet, cook bacon to desired doneness and remove from pan. Set grease aside in a small jar. Add ground beef and onions to skillet and brown to desired doneness being sure to stir throughout to avoid sticking and to break up the larger clumps of ground beef. Set this aside. In a campfire pot, boil 3 cups water. Add Kraft macaroni salad powder to water and add instant rice. Remove from heat and set aside, covered. In a large bowl, combine rice with ground beef and onions, ketchup, bacon and season with salt and pepper. Core and top your bell peppers in much the same manner as you would a jack-o-lantern (you can even carve a face) and stuff each pepper to the brim of the top with filling. Cover with tops of peppers and secure in place using the sharpened tip of a clean stick or campfire skewer. Roast over campfire while rotating frequently for even cooking and periodically baste the peppers (away from the fire!) using gradual application of the reserved bacon grease with a barbecue brush. Total cooking time – 40 minutes.
Campfire Salmon ala Bursey
1 medium salmon fillet 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard 1 tsp dried dill
2 tbsp honey
Salt and pepper to taste 3 slices of lemon
Skin/scale the entire salmon and using a pair of needle nose pliers, remove as many bones as possible. Unroll a section of tin foil roughly three times the size of your salmon piece and lay salmon down on one end. Using a grill brush, coat the fish with honey followed by Dijon mustard. Evenly sprinkle on remaining ingredients followed by an even layering of lemon slices. Wrap tightly in tin foil and keep directly on edge of campfire. Rotate completely after 4 minutes and set aside to cool for 5 minutes before opening to eat. Cooking time may vary due to fire size and heat so a small fire and your best individual judgment is encouraged.