Camping cookoff reveals tasty results

Everything tastes better on a camping trip, but that doesn’t mean camp food can’t be improved.

After spending last summer in a camp food rut, eating mostly couscous and hummus, I asked friends for inspiration for the 2015 camping season.

We could have done a recipe exchange. Instead, nine friends gathered for a spirited camp cooking contest. We held it under a tarp on a rainy Saturday night in a campground. Perfect.

We assembled about a dozen dishes, from hanger steak sandwiches to bean- and quinoa-stuffed peppers to corn on the cob with butter and spice. All were tasty, but I’ll share the recipes for the top three offerings based on our voting.

Noodles with spicy peanut sauce, adapted from a Backpacker Magazine recipe, was the top hit in the campground cooking contest, where ingredients could be bulky or heavy and out of coolers. But the meal gets extra points because it also could be used on a backpacking trip. The sauce based on dried peanut butter was spicy and rich.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter (chunky or creamy) (Monte used dehydrated)

2 tbs Tamari (Monte’s version skipped this and it tasted great)

4 tsp crushed garlic

3 tbs cider vinegar

2 tsp brown sugar

3/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or 1 tbs dried cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

12-oz soba noodles or your favorite pasta

At home: Mix together all ingredients in a bowl except noodles. Pack in plastic container or bottle (recipe makes 1 3/4 cups sauce). Note: Sauce will keep for 2 days unrefrigerated; the vinegar in the recipe acts as a preservative.

In camp: Cook noodles or pasta; drain one-half cup hot water into measuring cup, and discard the rest. Empty sauce into pot, add hot water, and toss thoroughly. Serves two.

This cook-in-a-fire muffin recipe got compliments for both taste and the presentation. Hollow out a half-dozen oranges and use the peels as muffin tins for blueberry muffins.

The recipe came from the blog apronstringsblog.com.

Ingredients:

6 oranges

1 package blueberry muffin mix, such as Krusteaz

In camp: Cut oranges in half and scoop out insides to be used for orange juice or another recipe. Don’t worry about being too thorough in cleaning out peels. The orange bits infuse flavor.

Prepare muffin mix according to package directions.

Fill each orange half with prepared muffin mix. Put halves together and cover with aluminum foil. Put oranges in fire for about 10 minutes, rotating occasionally.

While campfire-baked potatoes are a perennial favorite among camping families, the potatoes in this dish are stuffed with ham, cheese and tomato and cut into bite-sized wedges.

A trick to this recipe is to pre-cook the potatoes, so they need to re-heat but not cook entirely in the fire.

The recipe came from the blog echoesoflaughter.ca.

Ingredients:

6 large potatoes (baked or microwaved at home)

6 pieces of bacon, cooked

6 slices of ham

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

1/2 pound of cheese of your choice, sliced

2 green onions, sliced (for garnish)

1 tiny Tupperware or other container of sour cream (for garnish)

salt and pepper to taste

At home: Cook potatoes and cut into about six sections. Cut through the meat of the potato, but leave the bottom and sides of the skin intact. Fill the spaces with stuffings, season with salt and pepper and wrap in aluminum foil.

In camp: Bake potatoes in fire or campfire for about 20 minutes. Top with sour cream and onions.