Campfire Cooking with the Kelleys

 It’s that time of year, where camping is king. You can make delicious food over your campfire, just like you would at home.  It only takes a little creativity and some elbow grease. Here’s campfire cooking with the Kelleys.

Camping is an inexpensive way to enjoy not only the outdoors, but your friends and family without the distractions of every day life. It’s a big thing at our house, and SuperHubs spends a lot of time finding the right location and packing everything we need. I take care of the meals – the planning and shopping anyway – and while hamburgers and hot dogs are typically a staple of cooking in the great outdoors, we tend to take it up a notch or two.  

One of our favorite meals anytime is our Short Rib pasta, and we decided to try to make it over the fire the last time we went camping. It turned out to be just as delicious as when we make it at home.  Below are the recipes we used for our last trip, and they were really easy to do. I made the salads ahead of time, along with the pasta for the short ribs and SuperHubs put the steak in a marinade. I just tucked it all in the cooler. We took our cast iron skillet, dutch oven and camp stove in addition to using the fire ring. The taste of that delicious food, combined with some cold beer (for SuperHubs) and chilled wine (for me) under that starry sky was just amazing. Let us know what you think!

*BREAKFAST*

BREAKFAST EGG & BACON BAGELS 

Your favorite type of bagels
1 package of bacon (regular, turkey or veggie)
1 dozen eggs
1 cup milk (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and Pepper 

DIRECTIONS:
In cast iron skillet, cook bacon until desired preference. Drain and set aside. Cut the bagels in half and add butter. Place on grill or in cast iron skillet to toast. In a separate bowl, mix three to six eggs and 1/4 cup milk. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until softly done. Stack bacon, egg and cheese on toasted bagel and press down. The heat from the warm eggs, bacon and bagel will melt the cheese. Serve immediately.

SHORT RIB PASTA

 
Follow as listed here, but know that you will need to stoke your coals for it to cook for 4 to 6 hours. The longer it cooks, the more tender the meat. Also, pre-cook your pasta at home and throw it in your cooler.  When your meat is ready, just mix it in and warm it up for a few minutes. We gave some to our campground managers, and they loved it!

 CHERRY COBBLER 

 This is old school Boy Scout recipe cobbler. If you prefer to make your own cherry filling beforehand, with agave instead of sugar, and your own dough mix, that works too!

1 12 oz. can cherry filling
1 box yellow cake mix
4 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS: 
Add cherry filling to heated dutch oven. Top with cake mix and pats of butter. Add coals to the top of the dutch oven so that it bakes evenly. Cook at medium heat for 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

*LUNCH*

CAPRESE-STYLE SANGWICH w. POTATO SALAD

CAPRESE-STYLE SANG-WICH

1/2 loaf Italian bread
1 tbsp. mayo or vegenaise
1/2 cup arugula
2 slices Italian ham (optional)
1 sliced pearl tomato
4 small mozzarella balls, sliced in half
Salt and Pepper 

DIRECTIONS:
Cut the bread in half and add spread.  Add other ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

AUNT CONNIE’s POTATO SALAD

 We don’t profess that this is necessarily healthy, but once in awhile…AND this is our aunt’s secret recipe!

1 bag gold potatoes
1 dozen hard boiled eggs
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 jar Marzetti Slaw Dressing 

DIRECTIONS: 
Boil potatoes and eggs.  Run eggs under cold water to remove shells easily. Add dressing to eggs and potatoes while potatoes are still warm. Add onions and stir. Let sit in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving (or overnight). You may need to add a bit more dressing before serving.

*DINNER*

SKIRT STEAK with PASTA SALAD and CORN ON THE COB 

SuperHubs marinates this skirt steak for a day before grilling, making for a hearty, juicy and oh-so-delicious picnic dinner. We added a simple version of our Mediterranean pasta salad and some grilled corn on the cob to make for a really terrific meal. 

K’s MARINADE 

2 cups soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. minced ginger
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. sesame seed
4 stalks green onion, chopped

 DIRECTIONS: 
Add ingredients to a large plastic gallon bag. Add steak and mix up marinade over steak. Place in refrigerator for at least 6 to 8 hours.

K’s GRILLED SKIRT STEAK 

1 1/2 lbs. skirt steak
Marinade

DIRECTIONS:
Add to hot grill and cook for 3 minutes on each side or to desired preference. Let it rest before serving for 5 minutes.
 

K’s CORN ON THE COB

Ears of corn
Salt and pepper or to make it spicier, cayenne pepper or chile seasoning.

DIRECTIONS: 
Wrap corn on the cob in aluminum foil and add butter pats to your liking. Add to grill as it is warming up and cook for ten minutes on each side.  Add seasoning just before serving.

AUNT SHARON’s PASTA SALAD

1 cup diced cucumber
1 cup diced tomato
3/4 cup diced red onion
1 lb. bow tie pasta, salted, cooked and drained
3 tablespoons Wishbone Italian salad dressing
1 teaspoon Nature’s Seasons seasoning

DIRECTIONS: 
Cook the pasta in a saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes.  Drain and rinse under cold water.  Transfer into a large mixing bowl.  Add all other ingredients, toss with dressing and seasonings and set in refrigerator to chill.  Best if left overnight, but we can never wait that long. 

Let us know if you try any of these recipes when you go camping (or just at home!) and remember, have FUN!