Recipes while out in the sticks...

[Guest 300ultramag.]

What would you say is the best and easiest thing to make/eat while out in the great outdoors?

 

I always find myself just eating chicken out of the can or peanut butter and honey sandwiches but....

this year Im gonna try to make something tasty in camp, any suggestions?..... I would like to hear some of the ingenious concoctions you guys come up with> Ive done the frozen burro on the intake manifold before..... or the MRE ( I love! but way to expensive)

 

This year im gonna try this one in the field

 

1 can of white chicken

Green chile (canned)

Mozzarella cheese

Sour Cream

Chicken stock (canned)

Tortillas

and Crown and Coke

 

[johnnie blaze]

Dude...spaghetti. Boil noodles, fry up burger, add sauce. DONE AND DONE! 15min. tops. oh yeah...almost forgot...crown and coke

[Rio]

We always try to have a ribeye steak at least one night, with either lawry season salt or montreal steak seasoning. Here lately we've been doing a lot of fajita's, meat marinated in just about what ever you want, or get the pre marinated from Walmart, and any veggies you want to add with fresh made tortilla's.

 

If we have any left over meat from the previous year, we'll typically make a batch of venison stew, with turnips, potatoes, celery, carrots, onions, meat wrapped in bacon or if no bacon add some pork salt, flavored with salt, pepper, and any other spices you like. Finish off with a little sour cream to think'en up the juices.

 

I'm getting hungry now!

[CouesWhitetail]

Here is a nice one that I learned from Ben Brochu while out doing a wildlife water project. It's very easy, fairly quick and very satisfying.

 

Obviously you can make a smaller batch for fewer people.

 

Also, you can take some of your home cooked chicken rather than canned. Or do like I have done a few times and take a rotissiere chicken from Fry's and use it in the soup. Then it's got lots more flavor than the canned.

 

Tortilla Soup for ~25 people

-12 cans of Swansons chicken broth

- 4 cans of diced tomatoes

- 8 small cans of diced green chilis

- 4 bunches of cilantro - 2 for soup and 2 for topping

- 4 bunches of green onions - 2 for soup and 2 for topping

- 1 large onion

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 12 cans of diced chicken breast from Costco

- 15 limes

- shredded cheese

- tortilla chips

- salt and pepper to taste

 

 

Put all of this together and bring to a boil and cook for at least 30 minutes until the onion is soft. Once this is done, it's ready to serve. Top with cheese, tortilla chips, cilantro, green onions and a squeeze of lime. You can also top with peppers and avocado if you want. I think the soup is actually better the next day after the flavors have combined better.

[CouesWhitetail]

What I am leaning toward doing now after the Marshall Lake campout is getting a nice propane smoker like Gino had. he made bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers and prime rib smoked to perfection. Those kinds of meals can be set to cook and smoke slowly while out on an evening hunt.

 

Amanda

 

[Coues79]

I always cook whatever I want before the hunt, such as roast, spaghetti, homeade chicken pot pie, beans or whatever you can think of.

 

Then I put it in a vacum sealed package and freeze it.

 

Before I head out, I grab em' out of the freezer, put em' in the ice chest and when I am ready to eat the meal, I boil some water and toss in the bag until its warm. It works really nice. Its a good meal with very little time having to stand over a stove or fire after a long day of hittin' the hills. More time in the sack or sittin' around the campfire. I started doing this a few years ago and I love doing it, makes things easy.

 

Gotta be somewhat careful that the bag doesn't open in the water or else you'll get a nice watered down meal. Double bagging it by putting the vacum sealed bag inside of a ziploc bag works well.

 

This is all nice, but I also have to have a nice fat, juicy ribeye one night too.

[singleshot]

On the early season elk hunts, or when camping I like to put a dutch oven dinner in the ground at midday and dig it up at dinner time or after the evening hunts over. Hot food in minutes.

Take a whole chicken, season it up however you like, brown it in your dutch oven and stand it up with a can of opened dark beer stuffed inside, add a quart of water, potatoes, carrots, onions etc.

Brown up a couple of pounds of stew meat, beef or pork, throw in a few cans or bags of fresh green chiles, onions, garlic, two cans of cream of chicken soup, some brown gravy mix or beef boullion and a couple of soup cans of water, great easy green chile.

If the ground is wet, or it's really cold you have to let your fire burn longer to dry it out and heat it up. About a foot of coals in an 18 inch round, two feet deep hole is enough. Put your dutch oven in with a shovel full of coals on top. Cover it with a piece of plywood or metal, and cover it all with dirt. Make sure it is airtight. Even a small leak lets the heat out and it won't cook. You can leave it all day and it won't burn.

[Chef]

Call me weird, I like grilled brats and pancakes and maple syrup for dinner.

 

dammit...now I'm hungry.

[audsley]

I agree with Coues79. When I'm hunting or fishing, I like to simplify the cooking chores so as to maximize campfire and sack time. Meals that require elaborate preparation, such as smoked pork shoulder cooked slow for several hours over a water pan, or whole chickens or pork roasts grilled and spiced with cilantro, tarragon and Old Bay Seasoning, are strictly backyard and patio fare. Quick and simple is the rule in a hunting camp.

 

Unless it's a backpack hunt, my ice chest always includes frozen ribeye steaks for one night, and a can of ranch style beans that I open and heat right on the coals. Saves dirtying a pan.

 

A can of chili can be heated the same way, and hot dogs are easy to cook over a fire, so chili dogs are usually on the menu for one night.

 

I use grilling baskets. They're good for grilling just about anything, even hot dogs.

 

Frozen chicken quarters, pork chops or ribs with barbecue sauce in ziplock bags is another main dish favorite. You can make garlic mashed potatos just by adding boiling water, or there are bags of cooked and flavored rice that can be heated in a pan or skillet.

 

I also like eggs, bacon or sausage and potatoes that have been pre-cooked in a microwave. That makes a good last-day brunch on a hunting trip, or on just about any day of a trout-fishing trip. (With bass, we don't bother coming back to camp for breakfast.)

 

During the day it's salami, cheese, Wheat Thins, apples, oranges, granola or Nutri-Grain bars, and jerky.

[Chef]

Interesting...most hunters here know the best cut of beef is the ribeye!

[Guest 300ultramag.]

Man, I guess Ive been doing it wrong this whole time... I always eat really easy simple dry food on my hunts.. That is probably why by the 6th day on my personal hunts Im always ready to go home... I went on a guided hunt last year and ate really well, Ive never hunted harder then that hunt last year and eating good food made a HUGE difference!

 

 

Oh, one item I forgot to mention that I always bring....... and Im probably gonna get alot of flack for this but

a case of slimfast... Im not a breakfast eater and I usually throw an Ice cold slimfast in with my bladder It keeps the water in my bladder cold and on those oct. hunts when 10 am. rolls around and your feeling the heat a cold chocolate slimfast goes down good with some even colder water.

 

 

Beau

 

Also how much is a dutch oven? Snapshot that sounds great!

[Coues79]

Dutch ovens will probably start at around $40 for a smaller one and work up in price from there. I like the ones that have a lid with a lip around the edge. It helps to hold coals when you do a dutch oven and want to add some coals on top.

 

Man some Dutch oven peach cobbler sure sounds good right now.

[CouesWhitetail]

I also do the freezing meals in a vacuum sealing bags. Beef or Venison Stroganoff, slow-cooked pork and green chili, or the like is great and easy to reheat. If you precook the noodles also (keep in separate container or they get mushy), then your stroganoff meal takes no time at all to fix at night.

 

Another way to make breakfast simpler is to take a bag of frozen tater tots with you. After the morning hunt, you can come back and scramble eggs, peppers, cheese and tater tots for a satisfying meal. It's lots faster than slicing and browning regular potatoes.

 

Amanda

 

 

[johnnie blaze]

Make sure you remember which way the handle is pointing Beau when you bury the oven. Otherwise you could end up with some mineral supplements when you dig it up.

[Snapshot]

To me, camping and eating well during a hunt is half the fun, so I don't worry about simple food prep.

 

For Breakfast: Bacon, eggs, hashbrowns or pancakes, or corned beef hash and eggs, or hamsteak. I like a big breakfast before I leave camp in the morning.

 

For Dinner : Usually at least one huge meal of grilled Top sirloin steak, fried potatoes, and ranch beans and or corn on cobb.

Homemade chili with biscuits or tortillas

Mexican food night : Burritos with refries and chips/salsa/guacamole

Maybe grilled cheeseburgers another night

Hamsteaks with garlic mashed potatoes and some veggies

Homemade Stews

Marinated and grilled backstrap if the opportunity presents itself

 

Of course there is always a pie or two for deserts along with other snacks and goodies

 

And always lots of cerveza around to wash down dinner with!