Campfire Cookery

Cooking in the wilderness doesn't have to mean squirrel stew and hot buttered hedgehog. The author of the Trailside Cookbook reveals his recipes

Don Philpott knows a fair bit about cooking by the camp fire. As a journalist with PA news for 20 years, he has donned his backpack on hundreds of trips across the globe. He’s spent the past 20 years living in Florida and has, to date, written 90 books on wine and travel, including The Trailside Cookbook: A Handbook for Hungry Campers and Hikers.

“On some expeditions we had to eat dehydrated food and it was like chewing twigs,” he says. “It tasted dreadful. So we realised there were better things to be done. A lot of people when they go camping just do eggs or bacon. We wanted to prove you can cook wonderful things. I was a member of the gourmet camper’s club at one point and we had to produce the best meal possible using a stove and campfire. The stipulation was, it had to be prepared at over 10,000 feet. But people were producing gourmet meals – as good as any you’d get in a restaurant. It just takes planning. So my wife, Pam, and I wrote this to show you can eat well when you’re out there.

“She’s been a camper, a skier – she’s a fabulous cook. And everything in the book was field tested. We survived the experience.”

Part of the ‘field testing’ involved the couple taking a canoe trip through Algonquin Park in Ontario. “We were away for 10 days,” Don says. “When we ran out of lake, we just picked up the canoe and carried it to the next one. This could have been 300 yards or 3 miles. And we carried all our food in big plastic bags, which we trailed behind the canoe in the water. It worked like an instant fridge and we had fresh food for 10 days.

“The secret is planning. You can’t afford to take the kitchen with you, so make a menu, and pre-pack the correct amounts of ingredients in advance. Apart from deserts and glaciers, you can pretty much eat for free anywhere. Water is the most important thing. If you can produce pure water, you’ll be fine. In extreme places, you have to live off your wits by fishing, hunting and trapping. Of course, people need to know how to do this first. Or they’ll die.”

Recipes

Nutty Oatmeal Cookies

This is an easy way to make cookies (what they call biscuits in the US) on the trail without having to do any cooking. All you have to do is a little mixing and boil some water.

Serves: Makes 12 cookies
Preparation time: 10 minutes

2 tablespoons of butter or margarine
1 1/2 (one and a half) cups of instant oats
1/4 (one quarter) cup of drinking chocolate mix
1/3 (one third) cup of sugar
2 tablespoons powdered dry milk
1/4 (one quarter) tablespoon of salt
3 tablespoons of peanut butter

Heat 1/4 (one quarter) cup of water in a large pan, add the butter and drinking chocolate and bring to the boil. Add all the other ingredients except the sugar, and mix well. Then shape the mixture into balls (about 12) and then flatten onto a tray and sprinkle with sugar.

Breakfasts

Omelets in a bag

A fun and very convenient way to make omelets.

Serves: 1
Preparation time: 2 minutes
Cooking time: Less than 5 minutes

2 eggs
1 tablespoon diced ham
I tablespoon diced peppers
I tablespoon grated cheese
I tablespoon diced tomatoes
Plus any other ingredients you like in your omelet.

Crack the two eggs into a large sealable plastic bag and add whatever ingredients you want in your omelet. Close the bag then squish with your fingers so that the contents are well mixed. Place all the bags in a large pot of boiling water and allow to cook for three or four minutes, stirring occasionally to move them around. Check to see if the eggs are done. If not, pop the bag back in the pan for a little longer. If the eggs are ready, unzip the bag and pour your omelet onto your plate – no fuss and no mess!

Campfire Stew

A simple but filling stew cooked in the bag so no pots to wash up afterwards. A versatile dish because you can add almost anything to it.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes.

2 medium potatoes
2 large onions
2 large carrots
1 large green pepper
2 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional ingredients

Any other vegetables you want to add as well as chopped sausage, diced chicken etc. If adding meat, ensure it is cut into small pieces to ensure it cooks.

Slice onions and peppers and cut carrots and potatoes into small chunks. Place on a sheet of foil, add garlic, salt and pepper to taste plus two pats of margarine (or butter if you can keep it in a cooler). Fold the foil into a packet and sprinkle with water and steam over a camp fire for about 30 minutes. You can always open the packet to see if the vegetables are cooked or need more time. Steam the packet in a pan of boiling water on a stove if you can’t light a campfire. Eat on its own or serve with rice or noodles.

Pemmican

You can make pemmican the traditional way using buffalo meat if you can get it, or you can use chicken or beef. You can also use reconstituted beef jerky.

Serves: 6
Preparation time: 5 minutes

2 cups (454 g) of cooked meat, shredded
1 cup (227 g) of dried berries or diced green apple
6 tablespoons of beef fat/sunflower oil or coconut oil

Add the oil to the shredded meat, thoroughly mix in the fruit and shape into six equal size balls. Wrap separately. If preparing this dish ahead of time, it can be refrigerated until needed. You can also warm up the pemmican balls if you wish.

Fast Fish stew

This is a quick recipe if you have had a successful day’s fishing and if not, simply substitute dried fish flakes (bought or prepared at home).

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes or less
Cooking time: 25 minutes

1 lb fish (fresh, filleted and cut into chinks) or reconstituted dried fish flakes
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of tomato puree (buy it in a tube for convenience.
4 chicken stock cubes (you can combine chicken and beef cubes or chicken and vegetable)
1 tablespoon of basil
1 tablespoon of parsley
1/2 (half) teaspoon of thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour four cups of water into a large pan and add all the ingredients except the fish and tomatoes. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 10 minutes. Separately blend two tablespoons of tomato puree with a little water to form a paste then slowly stir into the stew. Then add the fish chunks or flakes and cook until ready.

The Trailside Cookbook: A Handbook for Hungry Campers and Hikers is available from bookshops and via Amazon from around £10