Campfire food

Summer is finally here! It’s time for camping! For those of you who like camping or at least making food on the fire (which can be done in your local park as well), I though I would share some of our family’s favourite campsite dishes. Full disclosure: these are not diet dishes, but somehow when you are in the fresh air you should be able to burn the extra calories. The enjoyment factor makes it worthwhile.

·      Breakfast: on a hot grill heat up your cast iron skillet, add some oil (with high smoke point, for example safflower oil). When the oil is hot, add the whole bag of hash browns (we buy it in the frozen section and keep it is our cooler; potatoes will defrost and that is ok). Stir until the potatoes brown and are crunchy. I can eat this by itself, but my family likes it with ketchup and mayo. Adding fire-roasted sausages of your favourite kind makes it a full breakfast. Frankly, I never make hash browns this way at home as we would cut our own potatoes, but there is something special that happens when these are fire roasted.

·      Lunch: wrap baby ribs (with salt and pepper) in aluminum foil and slow roast (not directly over the fire) for about two hours. Take the meat out, cover with your favourite BBQ sauce and roast for about half an hour. Wrap bell peppers and yams in aluminum foil packets. Roast for about half an hour and an hour, respectively. Add salt. Butter makes yams even better.

·      Dinner: first make a big fire and create a lot of embers. While the fire is burning, in a deep cast iron kettle, layer the following: thick slices of bacon, thinly sliced potatoes sprinkled with salt and pepper, sliced onions, sliced carrots, sliced sausage. Alternate the layers until you almost reach the top. Cover with a layer of bacon. Cover tightly with a lid and hang the kettle above the embers. Keep the fire going but not directly at the kettle, as the food will burn. In about 1-1.5 hr you will have a delicious meal. You will love the  crunchy bacon and crunchy potatoes.