Tips & Tricks: Campfire Cooking

We went camping Memorial day weekend and it was glorious! I left my phone at home at there was no Facebook, no texting, no emails - yep, not even work email!

You might have guessed that I really enjoy cooking on the campfire. I love any excuse to cook. I've learned a few tricks over the years about campfire cooking and so I thought I would pass those on to you!

1. Grilling: Get yourself a primitive grill. Ours only cost about $10 at Academy Sports and it really does make life so much easier. I love to use my primitive grill to cook corn on the cob and other veggies, hot dogs, burgers, chicken, steaks, basically anything you would cook on a grill at home! I just make sure to bring along my grilling tongs and spatula.
   
   
   
   
   
   We brought along a bag of charcoals. Depending on what I was cooking, I would throw in anywhere from 5 - 15 charcoals once the fire got going. Then I'd let the fire die out and cook over the hot coals, just like a normal charcoal grill!
   
   I marinated the chicken overnight in some Jamaican Jerk marinade (store bought) then cooked the chicken the first night we were there. That way I didn't have to worry as much about the temperature in the cooler.
   
   
2. Food Safety: And on that note, by this point you probably know how crazy I am about food safety (Tips & Tricks: Food Safety). This is something you need to keep in mind, especially if you are camping for a few days. You will probably need to replace the ice in your cooler at least once per day with about 8 -10 lbs of ice, depending on the size of the cooler. Try to limit the number of times you open the cooler and keep the cooler out of direct sun light, this will keep things cool. Keep foods that need to stay especially cold (eggs, raw meats, deli meat, etc.) toward the bottom where it's coolest. If you're worried about the eggs breaking, you can pick up a special plastic egg carrying case; we got ours at Walmart in the camping section for around $3. Keep the raw meats at the very bottom so they don't drip on anything else. Every morning, drain out the excess water from the bottom of the cooler, then dump a new bag of ice in. Around dinner time, check the cooler to see if it needs more ice. This will really depend on how much food you have, the size of your cooler, and the temperature outside. It was warm but not hot on our trip so we only needed to replace the ice once per day.
   
   In addition to keeping your food cool, you want to prevent cross contamination. Even if you're not cooking raw meat at any point in your trip, the risk is still there from other sources. The way that I mitigate this risk is by bringing along some hand sanitizer wipes such as Wet Ones. That way, if I touch anything that could be contaminated - raw meat, dirt, a piece of fire wood, the dog, etc. - I can just wipe my hands and I'm good to go!
3. Frying: When frying over the campfire, you can use cast iron or just a special campfire skillet. This skillet only cost around $10 at Walmart in the camping section. It's got a special handle that doesn't get hot. If you prefer cast iron, a good pan is going to cost you around $50. But it will last you for life and is worth the investment.
   
   
   I got some hot charcoals going, just like I did for the grill, and put the pan directly on the hot coals. I made bacon and pancakes the first morning. I actually dumped out the grease and used cooking spray to prevent the pancakes from sticking. But you could do it either way. By the way, I used the Bisquick shake and pour pancakes. Yeah, I know, I generally despise Bisquick or any other boxed mix, but they make camping so much easier!!
   
   
   
   
4. Food Prep: For breakfast the second morning I made a little egg bake type dish. I cut up the veggies ahead of time at home because that's way easier than having to bring a huge knife along and try to cut up the veggies at a picnic table. I cut up the veggies pretty small - about 1/2" dice - including the potatoes. Even though you're cooking on hot charcoals, getting adequate heat can still sometimes be a challenge. So if you cut your veggies nice and small, they'll cook quickly, even when the charcoals aren't as hot as you would like.
   
   First I cooked the sausage in my skillet. Then I left the sausage and drippings in the pan and added diced red pepper, onion, and potatoes. Once those were thoroughly cooked and soft, I added some whipped eggs and cooked it all together. Once the eggs were cooked, I removed the pan from the heat then topped the whole thing with shredded cheese and sliced scallions. You could hardly call that roughing it haha!
   
   
   
   
5. Mountain Pies: I first heard about mountain pies from some friends of ours who we going camping with quite frequently. These are so fun and they're great because everybody can make their own with whatever fillings they want. You just put a slice of bread in each side of the pie iron, add your fillings, clamp it shut, then cook it directly over the hot coals. They cost about $10 in the camping section at Walmart or around $20 at Bass Pro Shop. That being said, the ones at Bass Pro Shop are a lot heavier and more durable.
   
   
   
   
   We filled ours with cheese and pepperoni then dipped them in pizza sauce which I heated up in my little skillet. Yum! We also made some for dessert and filled them with canned apple pie filling.
   
   
6. Roasting Forks: One of the best tools we've picked up so far is roasting forks. They're just metal forks with long handles. They're great for roasting hot dogs or toasting marshmallows. That way you don't have to go hunting around for a long stick and pray that it hasn't been contaminated with poison ivy or animal urine. Yuck! They range in price anywhere from $1 per fork to about $3 per fork, depending on if you want a nice handle, etc. We got the crappy $1 ones haha.
   

   

   Lola & Matt toasting Marshmallows!

   
   

   
   
7. Bug Screen: Ok, this last one has more to do with eating than cooking but it's relevant. This is another tip that we picked up from our friends who told us about mountain pies. This 12' x 12' bug screen cost us about $50 at Academy Sports and it is the best investment we have ever made! We set it up around the picnic table and it makes eating so much more pleasant. No worries about bugs and it provides some shade too. There's even a hook on the ceiling so that you can hang a lantern for when you're eating in the evening.
   

   

   
   

Believe it or not, between all of that cooking we still found time to go hiking and peddle boating haha!

Bacon Cream Cheese Bites

I had some phyllo dough left over from my post about Spanakopita so I thought I would put it to good use. Phyllo is a traditional Greek pastry dough that is super thin, even thinner than paper. It folds really nicely into triangles and makes a great party appetizer. You can stuff pretty much anything in there as long as it doesn't have too much moisture. I think bacon and cream cheese fit the bill, don't you? ;-)

Bacon Cream Cheese Bites
Makes: 24 triangles

1/2 lb bacon, chopped
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 scallions, chopped
4 oz (1/2 brick) cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Pinch of salt
8 sheets of phyllo dough, thawed
1 tbsp butter, melted

• In a skilled over medium-medium-high heat, brown the bacon until it is crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. Reserve one tablespoon of the drippings.
• In the same pan, cook the onions and garlic in the bacon drippings over medium-low heat until the onions are soft but not brown, about five to six minutes.
• In a stand mixer, or with an electric hand mixer, on medium whip the cream cheese until it is light and fluffy, about two minutes.
• Add the bacon, onion mixture, scallions, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, and salt. Continue to beat on medium until well mixed, about 30 seconds. Set the mixture aside.
• Brush a large baking sheet with the melted butter.
• Now you'll need to assemble the triangles. If you read the next few steps and you have no idea what I'm talking about, see my post about Spanakopita which includes photos.
• Take one sheet of phyllo dough, use a barely damp paper towel to cover the rest so they don't dry out.
• Cut the phyllo dough into thirds length-wise with a pizza cutter.
• Place a small spoonful of the filling at the top and off to the right of one of the strips.
• Now you'll need to start folding. You fold these like you would a flag. Grab the upper left corner and fold it down to the right so that you form a triangle at the top.
• Now take the top right corner and fold it straight down.
• Take the top right corner again and fold it down and over to the left.
• Take the top left corner and fold it straight down.
• Repeat until you get to the end and have a perfect triangle. Place it on the buttered baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough and filling.
• If you're making these a day ahead, you can stop at this step, cover it up with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it. Then place it in the oven the next day about an hour before you're ready to serve.
• Bake at 350° F for 30 minutes.

A few tips:

If you haven't invested in a spatter screen yet, I highly suggest it. They're relatively cheap and will save you from getting popped when you fry stuff such as bacon.

If you're not sure what to do with the rest of the bacon drippings, here's what I do. I line a bowl with aluminum foil then pour the drippings in. Once the drippings are cool, fold it up and chuck it in the trash!

Buffalo Wing Pizza

I struggled with the name for this post. I wanted to call it "Man Pizza" because it definitely meets the definition of whatMatt considers man food. But I decided that "Man Pizza" wasn't descriptive enough. So here we go with Buffalo Wing Pizza!

I made this pizza with pre-made frozen popcorn chicken. I'm normally not too keen on frozen food, but we had a coupon for these and I decided to try them. They were actually really good! That being said, if you don't want to get frozen chicken, you could make your own buffalo wings with my recipe for Boneless Buffalo Wings or you could even grill some chicken and cut it in to strips.

Buffalo Wing Pizza
Makes: 1 large pizza

1 package pre-made pizza dough
1/3 cup wing sauce (such as Frank's)
8 oz package of shredded pizza cheese (mozzarella and cheddar blend)
2 oz crumbled blue cheese
8 oz popcorn chicken
8 oz bacon
Cornmeal

• On a surface coated with cornmeal, roll out the pizza dough. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet or pizza pan that has been lightly greased and coated with cornmeal. Set aside and allow the dough to rise for about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, crisp the bacon. See my Tips & Tricks about how to cook bacon. Once cooked, chop up the bacon then set aside.
• Cook the popcorn chicken according to the directions. Mine took about 20 minutes. Once cooked, chop up any pieces of chicken that are too big. You want them all to be bite sized.
• Prick the pizza dough with a fork to prevent bubbles from forming in the dough (FYI: this is called "docking").
• Spread the wing sauce evenly over the pizza dough. Feel free to use more or less, depending on how spicy you want it.
• Sprinkle the entire package of pizza cheese over the pizza. Top with blue cheese, then bacon, then the chicken. If you're really crazy (like my husband) you can even toss the chicken in some wing sauce before you put it on the pizza.
• Bake the pizza at 375° F for 25 - 30 minutes until the cheese is melted and the dough is golden brown.
• Allow to cool for about 2 minutes before serving.

If you're not sure what to do with your left-over blue cheese, check out my recipe for Black & Bleu Cheeseburgers.

Open-Faced Cowboy Burger

I had to find a way to use the left-over ciabatta bread from my BLAT sandwiches. What a terrible problem to have hehe. Ciabatta bread makes such a nice home for a cheeseburger. And so, the cowboy burger was born!

Open-Faced Cowboy Burger
Makes: 4 burgers

1 lb lean ground beef
salt
cracked black pepper
onion powder
garlic powder
2 ciabatta rolls
4 slices cheddar cheese
4 slices bacon
barbecue sauce
burger toppings such as lettuce, tomatoes, onions, etc

• Cook the bacon until crispy (see my tip for perfect crispy bacon). Set aside.
• Form the hamburger into four patties. Sprinkle the patties with some salt, pepper, onion, and garlic.
• Grill the hamburgers until well done and no longer pink. Meanwhile, cut the ciabatta rolls in half and place them on the grill to toast.
• Place a slice of cheese on each burger about one minute before they are finished cooking to allow time for the cheese to melt.
• Top each ciabatta roll with desired toppings such as lettuce, tomato, onions, etc. Then top with the cheeseburger, then barbecue sauce, then bacon. Serve!

I know I say this every time I post about hamburgers, but it's because it's important. Click here for an explanation on why you should always cook ground beef to well done.

B.L.A.T.

That stands for Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, & Tomato - in case you were curious! This is a classic sandwich that's great for a picnic, entertaining, or even just a lazy Saturday. For this sandwich, I used some ciabatta sandwich rolls, but you could also use a nice crusty bread cut on a bias. Most people like to put avocado slices on this sandwich, but I like to make an avocado spread to take the place of mayonnaise. As for the lettuce, I chose romaine lettuce because it's a little bit better for you than iceberg. Lettuce tends to be pretty nutritionally devoid, but in general the darker ones usually have more nutrients - romaine, green leaf, etc.

B.L.A.T.
Makes: 2 sandwiches

1 ripe avocado
1 tsp lime juice
1 small clove garlic, finely minced
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch salt
2 ciabatta rolls
4 strips bacon
2 roma tomatoes
4 leaves romaine lettuce

• Make the avocado spread. With a fork, mash together the avocado, lime juice, garlic, olive oil, and salt. Set aside.
• Cut the ciabatta rolls in half. Toast the rolls either on the grill or under the broiler.
• Spread some avocado spread on both halves of the rolls. From the bottom up, layer the lettuce, tomatoes, then bacon.

If you have any left-over avocado spread, feel free to dip some tortilla chips in there!

Tips & Tricks: Perfect Crispy Bacon

Bacon Bacon Bacon!

What's not to love about bacon? It's smokey, it's salty, it's just plain good. The only downside: the greasy mess it makes when you cook it. After some experimenting, I've found that baking bacon (say that 10 times fast!) is the best method. And here's why:

1. It makes less mess - no greasy mess on your stove and counter tops.
2. The bacon can be cooking while you're making the other parts of the meal such as pancakes, hamburgers, etc.
3. It will all be finished at the same time instead of having to make it in batches like you would with a frying pan.
4. It comes out nice and crispy without being burnt. There's nothing worse than burnt bacon!

Method:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cut the package of bacon in half. This step is optional but I find that cutting it in half makes the bacon easier to handle. Plus, I only ever make half a pound at a time.
• Place the slices of bacon on the parchment paper in a single layer. Make sure that none of the slices are touching. Any areas that touch will be stuck together after cooking.
• Bake at 375° F for 15 - 25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the bacon.
• It's best to start with 15 minutes (if you're using turkey bacon, start with 10 minutes), most bacon will be done after this amount of time. If the bacon looks like it still needs more cooking, add 2 or 3 minutes at a time and check the bacon each time before adding more time. You want the bacon to be golden brown, not dark brown.
• Once the bacon is completely cooked, remove from the oven. Immediately transfer the bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel. This will help to drain off some of the excess grease.

Chicken Quesadillas

This is another recipe that took me a while to perfect. Even now, I still make little adjustments to it, depending on what I'm in the mood for. As you know by now, Matt and I love Tex-Mex style food and really anything spicy. Quesadillas are a great, easy Tex-Mex style recipe that's also very budget friendly. We used to eat these all the time in college and right after college when we were flat broke. In fact, my Quesadillas might be the reason Matt married me! haha

Chicken Quesadillas
2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Tsp adobo seasoning
3 Strips bacon
6 Medium flour tortillas
4 oz shredded cheese such as mild cheddar, monterey jack, pepper jack, etc.
Hot sauce (We like Frank's - if you're a Texas Pete's kinda person, it's ok, nobody's perfect!)
Butter (I use Smart Balance)

  

• Trim the chicken then cut into very small pieces - about 1/4 inch cubes.
• Place the chicken in a bowl, toss with the adobo seasoning, then set aside.
• Chop up the bacon into small strips (this is called a "lardon" in case you're curious), then cook over medium-medium high until crisp. Set aside.
• Drain the bacon fat from the pan and wipe clean. Spray the pan lightly with cooking spray oil, then brown the chicken on medium high heat until completely cooked through.
• Once cooked, set the chicken aside in a new, clean bowl.
• Place the pan back on the heat and turn the heat down to medium low.
• Very lightly butter 2 flour tortillas on one side.

• Place one tortilla, buttered side down, in the frying pan over medium low. Then top with 1/3 of the cheese, 1/3 of the bacon, then 1/3 of the chicken, then shake on as much hot sauce as you like. Top with the second tortilla, buttered side up.
• If you want to go really crazy, you can spread some salsa con queso on the second tortilla.
• You can also add some roasted red peppers, avocado slices, or I even like to add broccoli and cauliflower in mine, crazy as that sounds.

• Cook until golden brown and the cheese is melted, then flip and cook the other side until also golden brown. 
• Using a pizza cutter, cut the quesadilla in half, then thirds so you have 6 slices.
• Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have 3 quesadillas.

These are great served with salsa, guacamole, olives, sour cream, etc.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites

If you haven't given up on your New Year's resolution yet, you might want to avert your eyes. This isn't even close to health food. I got my inspiration from a Paula Deen recipe. As much as it pains me to say anything bad about Paula Deen, I had to make some improvements on her recipe. The chicken came out dry and the bacon was chewy. Here's my version with some changes to the cooking method:

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 Pound bacon
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Tsp cayenne pepper

• Cut the package of bacon into thirds. Place the bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 375° F for 10 minutes until cooked about half way. (This method of partially cooking an ingredient is called par-cooking and will ensure that the bacon finishes cooking at the same time as the chicken). 
• While the bacon is cooking, mix together the brown sugar and cayenne pepper then set aside.
• Remove the bacon from the oven and increase the heat to 400° F.
• Once the bacon has cooled enough to touch, wrap the bacon around a piece of chicken, secure the bacon with a tooth pick, then toss in the brown sugar mixture.
• Place the chicken bites on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.