Campfire Mushrooms

One of our favorite things to do is go camping as often as we can.  Just load up the car and go somewhere.  It is so relaxing to unplug from our daily grind and breath in mountain air.  One of our next favorite things to do once we are ready to enjoy a meal is cooking over a campfire.  This recipe for campfire mushrooms is one of our favorite campfire recipes to make.  

When we camp we do not deny ourselves a good meal, by eating freeze-dried, prepackaged food.  After all, it is car camping, and a cooler full of fresh food is easy to bring along.  A little secret, sometimes we even bring homemade creme brulee!  Or make Paella, over the campfire.  The key to planning out your camp meals is to plan your menu and pack everything before you leave town.  We learned the hard way years ago, by waiting until the last grocery store before we headed into primitive land;  the food choices were grim, and we were extremely disappointed.

We are usually gone at least three nights, so we plan three meals a day.  This may sound like a lot of food, but it really isn’t and we usually do not come home with anything.  

A typical camping trip menu may look like this:

• Lunches:  Friday afternoon (the drive), Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (the drive home).  Turkey or Roast Beef sandwiches and a potato or macaroni salad,  as well as freshly cut carrot/celery sticks.  I will pick up about a 1/2 pound of each meat, thinly sliced, from the deli.  I bring pita bread, mustard, sprouts, or some lettuce, cheese (which has been thinly sliced at the deli), and mustard.  I make the salad the day before leaving, it packs easily.
• Breakfast:  Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  One morning we have cornmeal griddle cakes with sausage patties.  Another morning will be eggs with sausage patties, and the last morning will be yogurt with fruit and nuts, maybe even some granola.  To prepare beforehand, I pre-make my cornmeal griddle cake mix and store it in a large mason jar.  I buy a pound of ground pork sausage, season it with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme leaves.  Fruit, I bring blueberries, blackberries, or bananas, along with either pecans or walnuts.  
• Dinner:  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  One evening we usually have steak or tri-trip with Campfire Mushrooms.  Another meal maybe grilled chicken and vegetables, or maybe grilled burgers.  Sausages also make a great meal, just add some grilled onions with red peppers and put it on a baguette.  I always have grilled vegetables of some sort as well as a salad.
• Dessert and Snacks:  Lots of fresh fruit and nuts to snack on.  Usually, bring either homemade cookies or maybe homemade marshmallows with the fixings for smores as well as our token creme brulee.
• Beverages:  We are not juice or soda drinkers, so we bring a lot of water, as well as some lemons and limes to toss in for flavor.  A bottle of pre-made ice tea is also nice as well.  Coffee and tea for the mornings.  As well as beer and wine for later in the day.

Do you like to camp?  Have a favorite campfire recipe you’d like to share?

Recipe:  Campfire Mushrooms

Ingredients:

How To:

Start your campfire using wood; the smoky flavor will add depth to your mushroom dish.

Once the coals are ready to put a cooking grate over the top of the fire.

Set a large frying pan that can handle the heat on top.  

Add the olive oil and butter;  stir until melted.

Add the shallots, stir, and cook for a minute.

Add the garlic and rosemary, stir.

Add the brown cremini mushrooms, stir and cook for about 3-5 minutes, until slightly soft. Cooking time will depend on how hot the fire is.

Add the shiitake mushrooms, stir and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Add the lemon juice if using, stir and cook for a minute.

Add the wine, stock, or water and cook down for about 5 minutes.

Stir in morels or other tender wild mushrooms, and lightly heat for 3 minutes.

Serve over grilled steaks or chicken.

More Camping Recipes

Campfire Roasted Beet Salad

Grilled Corn

Rib Eye Steaks with Pistachio Butter and Asparagus