One of our favorite things to do as a couple is to play in the outdoors. By this I mean camping. We love to load up the car with our gear and go somewhere. There is nothing more relaxing than unplugging from the city grind, breathing in some fresh air, and cooking these campfire mushrooms along with some grilled steaks.
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 if you follow our tips. We even bring homemade creme brulee! Or make Paella, over the campfire. The key to planning out your “gourmet” camp excursion is to plan your menu and pack everything before you leave town. We learned the hard way once, by waiting until the last grocery store before we headed into the primitive land; the food choices were grim, and we were disappointed.
We are usually gone three nights, so we have to plan three meals a day, away from home. This may sound like a lot of food, but it really isn’t. A typical camping trip menu for us 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 will bring pita bread, mustard, sprouts or a head of 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 will have cornmeal griddle cakes with sausage patties. Another morning will be eggs with sausage patties, and the last morning will be yogurt with fruit, nuts, and coconut nectar. 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. Coconut nectar, I make beforehand and put it into a small jar for easy transport.
Dinner: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. One evening we usually have steak or tri-trip with Campfire Mushrooms. Another meal may be grilled chicken and vegetables, or 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 to bring along. Coffee and tea for the mornings. As well as some beer and wine for later in the day.
There you have it, a sample menu for one of our camping trips. Our next camping post will be all about how to shop and package your food for your get-away. It is simple!
Do you like to camp? Have a favorite campfire recipe you’d like to share?
In the meantime, check out our Campfire Mushroom recipe. The ingredients pack easily, it is simple to make, and it goes nicely with a grilled steak, tri-tip or even a burger! We recently went camping in the Tahoe area with some of my family, as well as our friends Danielle and M. We only got to spend a couple nights as we got snowed out; but, we still had a chance to make these delicious mushrooms one evening and Danielle’s jerk chicken the last night before the storm.
Campfire Mushrooms
Ingredients:
- 1 pound brown crimini mushrooms, cleaned and cut into thirds
- 1/4 pound portabella msuhrooms, cleaned and cut into thick slices
- 1/4 pound morels, cut the very end off; leave whole
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 small shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- drizzle of red wine or beef stock (about 1/4 cup)
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 on top; add the olive oil and butter. Heat until melted.
- Add the shallots, stir and cook for a minute. Add the garlic and rosemary, stir. Add the brown crimini mushrooms, stir and cook for about 3-5 minutes, until slightly soft. Cooking time will depend on how hot the fire is. Add the portabella mushroom, stir and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Add the lemon juice, stir and cook for a minute. Add the wine and cook down for about 5 minutes. Stir in morels and light heat for 3 minutes.
- Serve over grilled steaks.
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