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Old 08-06-2003, 02:43 PM   #4
RockyMtnRay
TrailManor Master
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 816
Default Re:I tend toward the elegant and unexpected "camping" fare...

Bill wrote:
Quote:
How 'bout some more elegant ideas?
Okey dokey.

For breakfast:

Don't make ordinary coffee...or if boondocking and can't use a electric drip coffee maker...use a "French Press" instead. Add ground coffee, pour in boiling water, wait a few minutes, the shove the plunger down to separate the steeped coffee from the grounds.
Tres Elegant

Just a laze-around-the-campground day? Then start with Mimosa...half high quality orange juice, half champagne or other sparkling wine (or sparkling grape juice if traveling with youngun's) . A half bottle of champagne will fit in the TM's refer just fine and chill overnight.

Make mushroom or other fancy omelettes...small omelette pan, a carton of Egg Beaters (travel better than eggs), a pre-measured amount of grated cheese, and a small can of sliced 'shrooms. Serve with some Pillsbury refrigerated Cinnamon rolls baked fresh in the oven...the small cans of dough fit very nicely in the TM's refer.

Dinner...

Bring (or buy locally) a bag of Baby Spinach (now available in most supermarkets). Before departure make up a nice bacon or other served-hot dressing. Bring a hard boiled egg or two in the refer. Put spinach leaves in a large bowl (one that can handle heat), heat the dressing to boiling and toss over the spinach to wilt the leaves. Top with the egg...I have a tiny egg slicer that always cuts perfectly and takes up almost no room in a cupboard or drawer.

Spiff up a grilled steak with a few dabs of Tarragon (or other herb butter). Mix the herbs and butter at home, then rollup in foil and freeze. Bring a small amount along...will fit between larger items in the refer, under the coils/drip pan in back, etc. Get even fancier and bring along a few sprigs of fresh parsley in a zip bag..."presentation" is a big part of elegant cookery.

Serve Oven Roast Asparagus with Smoked Salmon (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/da...wi_67548.shtml)...smoked salmon is admittedly pricey but oh so tasty and a little goes a long way (and doesn't take up much space in the refer). The asparagus only takes about 10 minutes to roast to tenderness.

Dessert...Both Cherries Jubilee (http://www.whatscookingamerica.net/CherJub.htm) and Bananas Foster (http://www.thedenverchannel.com/cook...07/detail.html) are pretty easy and very impressive (mainly because they're both served flambé. The TMs freezer nicely holds pint ice cream containers (and keeps the ice cream frozen). For best results be sure to use premium ice cream...Ben & Jerry's; Haagen Daaz, etc.

That oughta get you pointed in the right direction. The key to this is to use recipes that can be prepared with fairly common base ingredients (like the ice cream) and bring along pre-packaged small containers of the "special" ingredients (like the herb butter). A little menu & meal pre-planning goes a long way.

A final note...although these are fairly high calorie recipes, that's not a problem if you, like me, engage in very strenuous physical activity for the majority of the day while camping. In my case, a 14er climb typically burns 4000 to 6000 calories on top of my normal base metabolism. With that kind of calorie burn, I can eat a lot of high calorie food and still lose weight big time.
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