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Save money and eat healthier, cleaner, greener when you cook "at home" in your campsite.
Camping & RV Recipe of the Week
One Pot Chicken Florentine
10-ounce package chopped spinach
8-ounce package wide noodles
3 cups water
1 teaspoon powdered bouillon
1 cup milk*
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon flour
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan or other hard cheese
10-ounce cans chunk chicken, undrained
Optional: Small jar chopped pimentos, drained
Suggested garnish: sour cream
* Or 1 cup water + 1/3 cup powdered milk
Thaw spinach and press it dry. Bring water and bouillon to a boil and cook noodles until tender. Do not drain. Whisk flour into cold milk. Add Parmesan, then quickly stir into the pot. Stir over low/medium heat until it begins to thicken.
Stir in spinach, chicken and pimentos. Cover and cook over low/medium heat, stirring until hot and creamy. If i's too thick, thin with water, white wine or milk. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serves 4 to 6.
Suggested garnish: toasted slivered almonds
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FINGER FOOD OF THE WEEK
Lettuce Cups
Bibb lettuce makes the best lettuce cups but this Asian-influenced filling also goes well in endive leaves or sweet pepper halves.
1 pound ground pork, beef, chicken or turkey
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon chili garlic paste (optional)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
Washed, dried lettuce leaf “cups”
In a nonstick skillet, fry out ground meat with the garlic in hot oil until thoroughly done and crumbly, Spoon off any excess fat. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and cook over low heat a few minutes to blend flavors. Using a draining spoon, place warm filling in leaves and serve at once.
BE PREPARED
Smart campers stay aware and prepared for delays, breakdown, sudden evacuation, can't find ice, fire ban, supply chain interruptions, civil disturbances. How much food will you need for a week in the woods for two adults and two kids? A month in a remote fish camp? A two-week power outage?
See Survival Food Handbook for easy, money saving, workable ways to buy, stow and cook meals made from ordinary supermarket supplies.
See the Pantry Recipe of the Week, made 100% from shelf ingredients at https://www.boatcook.blogspot.com
MAKE-AHEAD RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Basic White Sauce Mix
Whether it’s a sauce or gravy, a flavorful topping can transform any so-so dish. Here’s how to have a velvet gravy any time, any flavor. Vary it dozens of ways with creative additions. (SEE BELOW)
2 sticks real butter
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
Cut cold butter into a mixture of the flour and butter until mealy, Form into four tight little patties or balls and wrap each separately. Freeze for up to 8 weeks. Each will make two cups of white sauce.
To use, thaw one patty of mix and heat gently in a skillet. As it breaks up, gradually add 2 cups milk, stirring constantly until it thickens. Add a flavor ingredient and more milk or water if needed.
Suggested additions: 1/4 to ½ cup grated cheese, ½ to 1 teaspoon curry powder, 1/4 to 1/3 cup ketchup, 2 teaspoons Better Than Beef bouillon, 1 or 2 tablespoons minced parsley, 1 teaspoon dried herb such as tarragon or thyme, 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest or 2 teaspoons Dijon style mustard. For some sauces you’ll also want to add pepper, but I prefer not to put it in the basic mix.
Campground Potluck Dish of the Week
Mexi-Mac ‘n Cheese
Heat it in a stove-to-table vessel and serve it right out of the cookpot.
4 cans macaroni and cheese (such as Chef Boyardee)
6-ounce bag shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 cans, 14.5 ounces each, stewed tomatoes with Mexican flavor
1 tablespoon flour
12-ounce can Mexicorn, drained
About 1 cup crushed corn chips
Put canned mac and cheese in a stove-to-table pan. Drain tomatoes and whisk flour
into the juice. Add juice, tomatoes and corn to the pot. Fold in tomatoes and corn. Cover and heat over low burner until heated through. Sprinkle with crushed corn chips. Serves 10 to 12.
BLACK POT RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Does your camping club have a campfire cook who loves the attention? I’d love to hear about it.
Campfire Corned Beef
4-pound corned beef brisket
Seasoning packet
Water
1/4 stick butter
Large onion, diced
Large rib celery, diced
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup vinegar or dry red wine
2 tablespoons spicy mustard
Put the corned beef in the pot with the seasoning packet, onion and celery. Cover with water. Bring to a boil over hot flames, then cover and move to well-started coals to simmer for 2 ½ to 3 hours until meat is tender. Remove brisket to a carving board and let rest. It will be easier to carve after15 minutes or so. Let liquid cool in the pot and discard it. Do not pour into RV sink.
In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar, ketchup, mustard and wine or vinegar. Heat until smooth and bubbly. Slice brisket, drizzle with sauce and serve. Serves 12.
Suggested garnish: mix 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 cup sour cream and 1/3 cup prepared horseradish to pass at the table.
*******
If the corned beef did not come with a seasoning packet, make your own:
1 tablespoon each peppercorns, coriander and mustard seeds
1 teaspoon each anise seeds and dill seeds
2 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Tie securely in cheesecloth and bruise with a hammer. Add to the pot and discard later with the cooking liquid.
*******
NO BAKE DESSERT OF THE WEEK
Fake Banana Crepes
1. Buy a package of 8 cheap hot dog buns (they are thinner)
2. Slice 4 bananas in half lengthwise
3. Lightly “butter” cut sides of buns with Nutella or peanut butter
4. Put a banana slice in each bun and close
5. Whisk 3 eggs with ½ cup milk and soak the filled buns in it
6. Fry buns in hot butter, as for French toast. Buns should be golden brown on all sides. For easier turning, use tongs.
7. Drizzle with chocolate syrup, maple syrup , marshmallow cream or butterscotch ice cream sauce. Whipped topping optional.
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WHOLE MEAL SALAD OF THE WEEK
Skid Row Cobb Salad
Bologna? It's a delicious bargain meat. This can be a penny pinching meal with plenty of protein.
1 head crisp lettuce, torn in bite size
2 hard-cooked eggs, diced
1 cup grape tomatoes but in half
4 slices Swiss cheese, cut in strips
Optional embellishments: toasted walnuts, sliced avocado, melon balls, chickpeas, real bacon bits
Compose a handsome salad on each plate. Drizzle with homemade or bottled dressing. Bonus points: Sizzle bologna strips in hot butter until toasty and add just before serving.
Bottled dressing or whisk together:
1/2 cup salad oil
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon each salt and crumbled thyme
2-ounce packet real bacon bits
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SKILLET SUPPER OF THE WEEK
I never thought of combining sweetcorn and crushed pineapple until I found this easy skillet meal in an old cookbook from Barbados. This is my adaptation.
Bajan Pork Supper
14-ounce pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon each salt, pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 teaspoon powdered chicken bouillon
Green pepper, diced
Small can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup raisins
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
Cut pork in bite size and dredge in seasoned flour. Brown in heated oil. Add water, bouillon, raisins and green pepper. Cover and simmer until pork tests done. In a small bowl mix pineapple and cornstarch. Add corn and pineapple to the skillet. Heat and stir until thick. If it’s too thick, add a little water or broth. Serve as is or spoon over cornbread, Texas toast, biscuits, rice or pasta, Serves 6.
NIGHTCAP OF THE WEEK
Cranberry Tea
This hot toddy is a bracing drink to sip around a dying campfire. You’ll need a large pan to brew it and a ladle to serve it.
32-ounce bottle cranberry juice cocktail
4 cups water
1 single serve sleeve powdered peach tea
1/3 cup honey
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 bags regular tea such as Lipton
Heat until steamy. Discard tea bags and serve in mugs. Good as is or with a tot of rum, rye or port wine. Refrigerate leftovers. Makes 2 quarts.
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