Recipe: Chocolate Banana Campfire Bundles

Just as campfire cooking doesn't always have to mean beans & franks, campfire dessert doesn't always have to mean s'mores. (Although if you like s'mores, go for it!)  But this recipe will blow the pants off even the fanciest s'more - with marshmallows, chocolate, AND peanut butter, your kids will never want to go  back - except for more...of this! You'll like it too - it's simple and easy, and with minimal cleanup since the foil packets serve as the dish.

Chocolate Banana Campfire Bundles

Ingredients:

1 banana per serving
1/4 cup chocolate chips or chocolate bar, cut up
2 Tbsp peanut butter chips
1/4 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 Tbsp cold butter
heavy duty aluminum foil, one square per banana

Directions:

1. Peel the bananas, then slice each banana lengthwise.
2. Place a pat of butter (about 1/2 Tbsp) on a sheet of foil.
3. Lay banana halves on top of the butter and cover with the remaining ingredients.
4. Wrap tightly inside the foil and place on hot campfire coals for about 3 to 5 minutes. 
5. Use a heavy set of tongs to remove package from the fire.
6. Open carefully and eat with a spoon in the foil packet. Makes one per person.

Recipe: Slow Cooked Campfire Pot Roast In A Bag

Relax under the stars and let the delicious smells of this easy meal roasting on the coals stoke your appetite. Like a traditional pot roast, but more fun, the beef and vegetables will form their own rich gravy inside the foil pouch, and you'll dine like a gourmet no matter where you are! And if you just want to bring the campfire to your backyard, this one works great on a regular grill as well.

Slow Cooked Campfire Pot Roast In A Bag

Hot campfire (Photo credit: Murky1)

Ingredients:

1 pkg onion soup mix
1 cup water, heated
2 tsp flour
1 beef roast (3 lbs)
1 small onion, peeled in cut into quarters
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
4 medium red potatoes, washed and each cut into quarters
2 stalks celery, cut into 2 inch chunks
salt and pepper to taste
Large heavy duty foil cooking bag

Directions:

1. Put the onion soup mix in a bowl and pour in the hot water, stirring until the soup mix dissolves; set aside.
2. Sprinkle the flour into the foil bag and shake around. Put the roast in the bag and shake it around to coat well.
3. Add all the veggies to the bag and shake again.
4. Pour the onion soup from the bowl into the foil bag. Add salt and pepper to the bag if you wish, but remember the soup mix has salt in it already.
5. Seal the bag tightly by folding it over several times.
6. Put the bag, open side facing up, on a grate over a campfire over medium coals or on a grill over medium heat.
7. Cook turning once or twice (keeping open side up) for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on the heat of the coals.
8. If you want you can use instead an 8" x 8" heavy duty aluminum foil cooking pan and just seal the pan with aluminum foil.

Campfire Cooking Basics From Setup To Cleanup

Before summer camping season winds down, try a new type of cooking experience that's fun for the whole family. If firing up your gas or charcoal grill at home is your ultimate cooking experience, you haven't tried cooking over a campfire yet!  Cooking over a true open flame is similar to grilling out, but more authentic and thrilling.  Imagine roasting marshmallows and making S'mores as the fire roars. Then, as the flame slows down and forms glowing embers, it's time to throw your meal on. The smoke and flavor from the wood you use acts like a giant hug to whatever food you are about to enjoy. You can almost taste it already, can't you?

Campfire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But, before you get started, there are a few basic things you need to know about how to cook over an open campfire. Once you learn the basics you'll be ready to throw a feast of delectable campfire delights together in no time.

Fire Up, Burn Down

In order to have a great campfire cooking experience, it is important to let your wood or coals get as hot as possible before you try to cook on them. The importance of waiting for the fire to burn down and the embers to start glowing is all of the kindling and starter have burned away.  This means you don't get the nasty newspaper smoke or pine needles smoke on your food while cooking.  If you want to eat sooner, use less material or cleaner kindling to get your fire going initially. The sooner it burns off, the sooner you can begin cooking.

Methods of Cooking

There are a few different methods to cooking over an open fire. Let's take a look at four of the most common ways:

1. Direct heat and aluminum foil - Wrap food such as meat and vegetables in a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place the foil package on a bed of slow embers or coals. You can surround the package with a few more embers for more even cooking.  Allow to cook for 15 to 20 minutes, more or less depending on the food in the packages, and you have a delicious meal in a pouch.

2. Direct heat and long skewers - Place food such as hot dogs on skewers or prongs and roast them over the fire. This can work well with kebabs as long as the pieces are cut in appropriate sizes so they all cook at the same time.  Meat would have to be smaller than a piece of pineapple, for instance.

3. Metal grate - Place a metal grate, such as you have on your grill at home, over the campfire and cook as you would over your grill.  Adjust the height of the grate and the distance from the embers by arranging large rocks or logs to hold the grate up. Then the embers are glowing underneath the grate so you can perfectly cook that dinner.

4. Hanging racks - Construct, or buy, a tripod or rack and put it over the fire. Now you can hang pots from it or even hang a grate.  Many are adjustable so you can arrange the food to cook at the time and temperature you desire.

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cleanup

When cooking on a campfire in the great outdoors, the option of leaving the dishes go until the morning is just not available.  Bears and other predators can smell food and will come exploring to find it.  In order to keep your campsite safe, it is important to keep your fire and food at least fifty yards from your tent and to keep your cookware and dishes clean.  You can clean cookware by placing a grate over the fire and filling two metal pots with water. When one is warm, remove it from the fire, add soap and wash dishes. When the other pot of water is hot, place soapy dishes in a mesh bag and dip into the hot water several times. Dry with towels, paper towels, or hang to air dry.  Put ALL the food into closed containers and store safely away from your tents.  Save your dishwashing water for the next step.

When you are ready to turn in for the night, don't just kick a little dirt on the fire and go to bed.  Instead, take your dishwashing water and extinguish the fire with it when you are through. Stir the fire around and add more water if necessary, until you see every ember go out.  Now, shovel dirt over the top and stir again.  Remember:  “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.” - Smokey The Bear.

With a little preparation and the right tools, you can have a wonderful cookout at your campsite while enjoying the great outdoors!

Recipe: Cheesy Grilled Chicken Cutlet Veggie Wraps

This fast and tasty grilled meal makes a great quick weeknight dinner, or a nice lunch for a lazy weekend afternoon. Simple and easy, just a few fresh ingredients make this a snap to prepare, and grilling in packets makes the cleanup just as easy - and it's low-carb too!

Cheesy Grilled Chicken Cutlet Veggie Wraps

(Serves 4.)

Ingredients:

4 chicken cutlets, pounded thin
1/2 cup Italian Dressing
4 slices Provolone cheese
1 lb fresh cleaned asparagus
1 red bell pepper, cleaned and sliced into thin strips

Directions:

• Prepare grill to medium-high heat.
• Put cutlets into a bowl with Italian dressing and toss to coat well.
• Tear off 4 big sheets of aluminum foil and lay on work surface.
• Lay out a cutlet on each foil sheet; top with cheese slices, then divide asparagus and the red bell pepper pieces evenly between the packets.
• Roll the cutlets up like a burrito over the vegetables, then roll up in the foil and seal tightly.
• Put the foil bundles on the grill over indirect heat, close grill, and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, turning over 2 to 3 times during the cooking time.
• Remove and let stand for several minutes, then unroll the foil and serve.

The Best Way To Cook Your Freshly Caught Fish

A freshly caught fish can be cooked in a thousand and one ways. Any fisherman worth his salt has his own unique way of cooking a freshly caught trout, salmon or whatever fish he caught. But even if you're not a fisherman, you can reap the healthy benefits of a meal of tasty fresh fish. Most markets nowadays offer a wide selection of fish to choose from. Here are some tips to get the best out of your fish, no matter which cooking method you choose.

Image via Wikipedia1. Frying

Breading and frying a freshly caught fish is as good as it gets. The smell of butter emanating from the frying pan and the flair a fisherman puts in flipping his catch is worth its weight in gold, almost. For the novice cook, make sure that the butter is hot but not burning. Also, make sure that the fish is well coated in batter. Season your batter to your heart's content, salt and pepper never goes wrong. You may want to try other herbs and spices with the batter for a more delicious fish.

2. Grilling

At first glance, grilling would seem to be the easiest way to handle your fish. A newbie might assume that grilling fish is the same as grilling steaks or burgers. However, unlike fowl or cattle, fish tends to secrete most of its juices when cooked. On a grill the delicious juice drips into the coals.

Image via WikipediaTo prevent losing the moisture, first coat the fish with oil. The oil will seal a part of the moisture inside. Second, keep an eye on the fillets and turn them as soon as a cut would reveal that the fresh fish is cooked halfway through. After being flipped, watch the fish carefully. Remove the fish as soon as it is cooked through.

An option to basting the fish with oil is to wrap it in aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will keep the moisture and marinate the fish in its own moisture. Placing herbs and spices inside the foil with the fish enhances the grilling process and the fish itself. Plus this provides for easy cleanup which is great if you are grilling outside or at a campfire.

3. Baking

Baking is the best option for the cook who does not want to watch over the fish continually during cooking. You can prepare the marinade and pre-heat the oven, then pop the fish into the oven for a predetermined amount of time. You may want to check on the fish from the time to time, ensuring that you don't overcook it.

Whatever fish you caught or found, a good recipe and proper cooking will for sure enhance your find. But always remember the first rule of cooking - don't overcook your fish.

And be sure to check back later this week for some tasty fish recipes!