Always looking for new things to cook. So, what's your favorite meal to serve your group at camp?
For me it's pretty simple, I like anything on the BBQ. For a long time I lived in a condo and did not have a BBQ. Although I live in a house now (with a BBQ!), nothing beats a burger, steak or ribs on the BBQ (well, maybe ribs on a smoker). I usually make tacos one night as well. This year I plan on par-baking a couple loaves of bread, which I will finish in the oven at camp. Nothing like fresh crusty bread! If you've never made bread, there are some really simple recipes you can try. The easiest is Jim Lahey's No Knead Bread (http://markbittman.com/12-days-of-htce-jim-laheys-no-work-bread/). Try it before you go and you'll see how easy it is.
I'm with Adempsey on the BBQ thing. I too live in a cramped apartment building and not allowed a BBQ. When my kids all moved out I sold my house and used the equity to payoff debts and buy and build my piece of paradise. I miss having a beer in the yard and my BBQ. So whenever I head north it's BBQ time and or battered and fried Pickeral. I like to keep meal time simple and quick.
I'm gonna assume we are excluding freshly caught fish here ;D... Our fare is usually pretty simple and quick since the cooking and cleaning merely take time away from fishing and drinking. I'd have to say there is nothing better than grilling some nice thick steaks while listening to the water lap the shore! Pair it up with some potatoes and a nice fresh salad and you have a great pairing to a cold, tasty beer.
Pre-prepared chili (Texas Hot Sauce to some). Let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days to kick up the flavors and then chow down. The bonus is that you can use the leftovers for nacho dip while playing cards.
@mcsteve what a great idea! Gonna do that this year!
We eat well as all the guys at camp can cook up a storm. Most trips include steaks, beer can chicken, lasagne and E's famous BBQ burgers. When we fire up the charcoal grill or smoker always makes the best meals. Lots of good salads and always potatoes, mushrooms and onions simmering.
It's incredible how much the flavor improves for things like chilli, stews and basic curries after they sit in the fridge for a day or two. My favorite chilli (or I guess it's technically chilli beans) is this Boilemaker Tailgate Chilli recipe (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/78299/boilermaker-tailgate-chili/). It's excellent, especially after being in the fridge for a day or so.
Of course, you can find the recipes for all the winners of the ICS World Championship Chili Cookoff on the ICS website (http://www.chilicookoff.com/Recipe/Recipe_WCCC_Recipes.asp?Cat=1). I might try one of those this year.
I totally forgot about beer can chicken. I haven't made that in a long time. Maybe I'll put that on the menu this year.
Quote from: adempsey on April 09, 2016, 05:05:47 PM
It's incredible how much the flavor improves for things like chilli, stews and basic curries after they sit in the fridge for a day or two. My favorite chilli (or I guess it's technically chilli beans) is this Boilemaker Tailgate Chilli recipe (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/78299/boilermaker-tailgate-chili/). It's excellent, especially after being in the fridge for a day or so.
Of course, you can find the recipes for all the winners of the ICS World Championship Chili Cookoff on the ICS website (http://www.chilicookoff.com/Recipe/Recipe_WCCC_Recipes.asp?Cat=1). I might try one of those this year.
I totally forgot about beer can chicken. I haven't made that in a long time. Maybe I'll put that on the menu this year.
Beer can chicken feeds a bunch, we usually do two birds and chop breasts in half to serve, usually throw some ribs or chops on ask well. Usually chicken left over and Vern makes a mean frittata for breakfast with chicken, peppers, onions and cheese.
We also usually have frozen croissants and have fresh oven baked croissants with breakfasts.
My son and my favorite meal is our first night at the outpost. Inch and a half bone in rib eye steaks on the grill and mashed potatoes. Yum!!!
I've been thinking about this one and I have to admit, I really don't have a favorite because EVERYTHING tastes good at camp. ;D. We use our BBQ for most meals. I've been planning our menu these last few days for our week's holidays in May (39 days to go!). Our meals consist of previously prepared meals such as spaguetti sauce/chili, whole chicken with potatoes and vegies (usually good for a leftover meal the next day), burgers/sausages, steak, and of course, fish and chips..mmm. Menu is carefully written down as to not forget anything. We forgot sweets/desserts on one excursion, that will never happen again! :D
For us, our first meal in camp isTexas style smoked BBQ'ed brisket.
(http://i68.tinypic.com/20r9ws7.jpg)
Cabbage and noodles. Been many years since I've had that (so I don't know how much of a present fave it is now), but I always remember it when I was a kid. It's simple, fills you up...keeps you regular.
Then again...a healthy-dose of Bleues...does the same.... :P
We do what ever is simple. We enjoy cooking here at home but when we are up north nothing that takes away too much time from enjoying Kipawa. Spaghetti is always a staple. Shells and cheese for the kids or hamburger helper. Something that I would only eat at Kipawa... SPAM, and only because I remember it as a kid and it has become a tradition of sorts. The best dinner is always the walleye fillets. Nothing tastes better than enjoying that view, eating the fish you just caught...
Brad
Good big meals is part of our trips. A little different as we're not renting and have everything up there we need. Saw some charcoal today, gonna stock up a few bags for the season. One of our regulars is a fabricator so he made us a nice grill and stand from an old 55g steel drum.
Quote from: Canuckbass on April 11, 2016, 06:41:07 PM
Good big meals is part of our trips. A little different as we're not renting and have everything up there we need. Saw some charcoal today, gonna stock up a few bags for the season. One of our regulars is a fabricator so he made us a nice grill and stand from an old 55g steel drum.
Is that the machine shop pick up I see parked beside Kipawa bait?
I love the smell of Bacon cooking in a cast iron skillet on the camp stove.
Billy from Oswego, NY got me in the habit of bringing "Canadian" bacon (peameal bacon) on every trip. Not the cured ham slices Walmart would have you believe is Canadian bacon, the real stuff.
mcsteve, I love peameal bacon, but it's near impossible to find here, so my wife and I have been making our own. Not that hard and YUM!
Quote from: limacharley on April 12, 2016, 09:34:28 AM
Quote from: Canuckbass on April 11, 2016, 06:41:07 PM
Good big meals is part of our trips. A little different as we're not renting and have everything up there we need. Saw some charcoal today, gonna stock up a few bags for the season. One of our regulars is a fabricator so he made us a nice grill and stand from an old 55g steel drum.
Is that the machine shop pick up I see parked beside Kipawa bait?
No, his shop is in Toronto and he usually jumps in others trucks for the ride up.
Quote from: Oarin on April 12, 2016, 09:48:42 PM
mcsteve, I love peameal bacon, but it's near impossible to find here, so my wife and I have been making our own. Not that hard and YUM!
That has been on my list to try. I use my smoker for a lot of different meats and fish and have often thought about curing my own bacon. Do you have some "secrets" you could share? :)
mcsteve, it's not smoked. We went online and found the recipe. You use different kinds of salts,garlic,water,maple syrup, and a few more things I don't remember.One of the salts was hard to find. I'm at my daughter's in VA now or I'd give you the whole deal. You combine all the stuff and submerge it and put it in the fridge for 3-5 days depending on how salty you like it. When you take it out rub cornmeal on it and you're ready to cook! If it comes out too salty submerge it in water put it back in the fridge for a day or two until it's to you're liking. When I get home I'll post the whole recipe. Oarin.
Quote from: Oarin on April 14, 2016, 12:59:20 PM
mcsteve, it's not smoked. We went online and found the recipe. You use different kinds of salts,garlic,water,maple syrup, and a few more things I don't remember.One of the salts was hard to find. I'm at my daughter's in VA now or I'd give you the whole deal. You combine all the stuff and submerge it and put it in the fridge for 3-5 days depending on how salty you like it. When you take it out rub cornmeal on it and you're ready to cook! If it comes out too salty submerge it in water put it back in the fridge for a day or two until it's to you're liking. When I get home I'll post the whole recipe. Oarin.
I've got a pork cure mixture from cabellas that I use for pork loin. I wonder if that would work the same. I know my wife says it smells like bacon whenever I am smoking a loin.
I like bringing a corned beef brisket with some sauerkraut. Simple to boil over a campfire (or roast if you have an oven) and since the come in a sturdy plastic vacpac, there is no leakage in the cooler.
mcsteve, a pork loin is what pea meal bacon is made from. We're heading home tomorrow and I'll post the ingredients. Oarin.
I am thinking it's time to invest in a vacuum sealer. Seems like a really versatile way to handle pre-made meals for a camping or fishing trip.
Would like to try Sous Vide steak (https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/sous-vide-steak) (basically, steak boiled in a bag) as well - supposed to be amazing.
We vacuum seal most everything,even the spaghetti sauces. It makes them flat and easier to transport. All of our fillets get sealed too. They say nice in the freezer for a long time.
Pea meal bacon.
2-4 lb. pork loin
4 cups water
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
3 tbsp Prague powder #1
3 tsp slightly crushed pepper corns
5 slightly crushed garlic cloves
Remove visible silver skin and excess fat from loin.
Mix all ingredients together and heat until salts and sugar are dissolved.
Cut loin in half or thirds.
Put mixture into large zip lock bags and submerge loin sections completely, removing as much air as possible. Place bags into pot and place in refrigerator for 3.5- 5 days. We did 5 days and it came out too salty.
Remove , rinse, and pat dry. Coat with coarse ground corn meal.
If bacon is too salty rinse off corn meal and soak in water in the refrigerator (in plastic zip lock) for a day or however long it takes to reach your taste.
Redo the corn meal and you're ready to cook it ! Yum!!
The Prague powder was tough to find, but a local spice store had it.
Thanks Oarin.
That recipe is similar to corned beef recipes. Probably because both are preserving/pickling processes.
I'm going to have to try that, sounds yummy.
Side bacon, sliced about 1/8" thick and very, very slowly cooked in an open pan until crispy.....UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
The key is not to rush it......low heat, long time but well worth the rate.
Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper as your cooking....both sides.
Also, if anyone if feeling a touch experimental, "batter" up your pickerel or pike with some crushed up cool ranch Doritos. No I'm not kidding.
My brother "invented" this one on a trip up at our old moose hunting camp........a few years later he had a gang of us up to his camp for a fish fry.
He stepped it up a notch and had all sorts of "chip" related batters for us to sample...dill pickle was a good one if memory serves me correctly.
My goodness cant wait to get into the bush and cook up something nice:)
Fish fry, take a bottle of Italian Seasoning with you and sprinkle lots before serving... Awesome and easy
Salt and vinegar chips work very well for a breading also !
Quote from: mcsteve on April 14, 2016, 08:13:54 AM
Quote from: Oarin on April 12, 2016, 09:48:42 PM
mcsteve, I love peameal bacon, but it's near impossible to find here, so my wife and I have been making our own. Not that hard and YUM!
That has been on my list to try. I use my smoker for a lot of different meats and fish and have often thought about curing my own bacon. Do you have some "secrets" you could share? :)
Here you go. http://www.nwedible.com/how-to-make-canadian-bacon-at-home/
I've done it twice in the last six months in my big chief smoker. Store bought would seem bland now. It is excellent to say the least. Pork loins go on sale pretty cheap. Trim. marinate for 4-5 days, air dry, then into smoker for 6-8 hours. Both times I've had to finish them in my gas oven and bring them up to 150. I freeze chunks of it too. Slice as desired and a short fry is all that's required. Remember, there is no fat. The camp will smell great too as it cooks. :)
Make sure to use the proper strength cure.
Cheers
As a mid day snack for the troops, I clean out about two dozen Jalapeno peppers , stuff them with a mixture of cream cheese, crab meat, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce etc. set them in my rack, cover them with bacon , then grill for about 20 minutes ( until bacon is cooked) then serve
Warms you up on those chilly June afternoons
Rhyback----------that sounds good but do you serve it with an after dinner mint like........... Rolaids?
Quote from: limacharley on May 04, 2016, 12:14:46 PM
Rhyback----------that sounds good but do you serve it with an after dinner mint like........... Rolaids?
LOL.... Stay out of the kitchen if you can"t stand the heat ;)
@RHYBAK my mouth is literally watering...
Quote from: NortonJoe on May 04, 2016, 01:28:13 PM
@RHYBAK my mouth is literally watering...
If the thought doesn't get your mouth watering, the poppers will.
Sounds very good. Another cook like I cook.
Besides baking in oven, try smoking them, helps warm ya up on chilly august days too.
I don't bake them.
I put them on the BBQ.
I had a special rack made at work they sit in.
Those poppers do sound good. I might have to try making that! I find that with cooked peppers the heat gets toned down a bit.
We have a couple Italian guys in our camp, fall trip is amazing as they have awesome peppers from their garden that we grill up. Yummy!
Quote from: adempsey on May 05, 2016, 05:39:49 PM
Those poppers do sound good. I might have to try making that! I find that with cooked peppers the heat gets toned down a bit.
@adempsey .... The trick is to leave a few seeds in the pepper . That way there is a very warm treat waiting for you at the bottom of the pepper on your last bite ;) ;) ;) ;D ;D ;D
:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( sitting at my desk sweating just thinking about those peppers
Quote from: RHYBAK on May 06, 2016, 07:37:15 AM
Quote from: adempsey on May 05, 2016, 05:39:49 PM
Those poppers do sound good. I might have to try making that! I find that with cooked peppers the heat gets toned down a bit.
@adempsey .... The trick is to leave a few seeds in the pepper . That way there is a very warm treat waiting for you at the bottom of the pepper on your last bite ;) ;) ;) ;D ;D ;D
YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM:)
Big breakfast with blueberry pancakes, eggs over easy, bacon, and fried walleye. All drizzled in a lite dose of maple syrup. Goes best at 11am on those lazy camp morning following a late night card game and washed down with a bit of the hair of the dog that bit ya!
I just got back from a fishing trip and tried two new-to-me dishes. Absolutely a must try!
1) Buffalo Walleye with Blue Cheese Linguine
Fish: Bread and cook the Walleye however you want. However, I recommend you cut the Walleye into chunks and: 1) Light dusting of flour, 2) Egg dip, 3) Panko bread crumbs and then deep fry. So amazing.
Sauce: Bottle of Franks Original Red Hot Sauce (680mL) and 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter. Melt butter in sauce pan, add sauce, heat but don't boil. Do not overheat or the sauce may separate. Coat fish in hot sauce like you would chicken wings.
Linguine: Melt a few Tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan. Add a heaping teaspoon of flour and stir vigorously until cooked (a couple of minutes), the color should darken a bit. You can skip this step (making the roux), but it might take a bit longer to thicken. Add a pint of heavy cream (or half/half) and stir. Add a hunk of Blue Cheese (8 oz./225g) and some Gorgonzola if you want. Stir until melted and simmer until it's thickened. Stir regularly. Cook the Linguine (1lb/500g) according to package, drain WELL. Add sauce to Linguine, mix and let set 5 minutes or so. If the sauce seems watery, just let it sit with the linguine for a bit and it will all work out.
2) Walleye Wings
These things are fantastic. Must try. I cut the wings off of 17" to 18" Walleye and had plenty of meat. Prepared them the same way as the other meat. Totally awesome!
(http://community.walleye.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1234&stc=1&d=1382057892)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPPIr_P_674
Not a full meal, but one thing I enjoy up there that I never eat otherwise is kippered herring. Put on a cracker with some onion and a Bleue and you are all set.
Quote from: adempsey on June 03, 2016, 10:26:02 AM
I just got back from a fishing trip and tried two new-to-me dishes. Absolutely a must try!
1) Buffalo Walleye with Blue Cheese Linguine
Fish: Bread and cook the Walleye however you want. However, I recommend you cut the Walleye into chunks and: 1) Light dusting of flour, 2) Egg dip, 3) Panko bread crumbs and then deep fry. So amazing.
Sauce: Bottle of Franks Original Red Hot Sauce (680mL) and 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter. Melt butter in sauce pan, add sauce, heat but don't boil. Do not overheat or the sauce may separate. Coat fish in hot sauce like you would chicken wings.
Linguine: Melt a few Tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan. Add a heaping teaspoon of flour and stir vigorously until cooked (a couple of minutes), the color should darken a bit. You can skip this step (making the roux), but it might take a bit longer to thicken. Add a pint of heavy cream (or half/half) and stir. Add a hunk of Blue Cheese (8 oz./225g) and some Gorgonzola if you want. Stir until melted and simmer until it's thickened. Stir regularly. Cook the Linguine (1lb/500g) according to package, drain WELL. Add sauce to Linguine, mix and let set 5 minutes or so. If the sauce seems watery, just let it sit with the linguine for a bit and it will all work out.
2) Walleye Wings
These things are fantastic. Must try. I cut the wings off of 17" to 18" Walleye and had plenty of meat. Prepared them the same way as the other meat. Totally awesome!
(http://community.walleye.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1234&stc=1&d=1382057892)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPPIr_P_674
Walleye wings are great.
We haven't wasted them in the last six years.
A must on a fishing trip.
I know some of you look at that and start salivating with lustful craving; I look at it and start salivating, but the kind you get right before you barf.
Dag...that's disgusting.
Throw'emback-Bone. :P
55.55...
Did 6 chickens in the smoker for 6 hours.... Delicious!!!