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Old 08-02-2003, 08:27 PM   #1
RockyMtnRay
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Default I tend toward the elegant and unexpected "camping" fare...

since TrailManors are elegant and sophisticated trailers with such complete and roomy galley areas, I get a kick out of preparing fairly fancy foods that just aren't expected while camping. For instance, I pretty regularly bake up some Brie en Croute to serve as an appetizer on the 1st or 2nd afternoon of my "camping" trips. Not terribly hard to make (I do the prep before I leave home) but really impresses others in the campground when they see you noshing on an elegant appetizer...served, of course, with imported crackers, slices of pear or apple, and a glass of good white wine. See http://www.cooking.com/recipes/static/recipe5418.htm for recipe.

And, yeah, I gotta admit that without kids it's a whole lot easier to get fancy. And baking is a lot easier when the afternoon thunderstorms often knock the temperature in the high altitude campgrounds I use down into the 40s even in mid summer. (Not only do these storm lowered temperatures make it feasible to use the oven but often virtually necessitate its use to keep the TM comfortable!).

My real trick to let me do all this fancy cookery is planning and preparing as much as possible before I leave home...and packaging the ingredients in a bunch of little bottles and containers. The ones that I also use for backpack camping work great (http://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...&langId=-1)/
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Old 08-06-2003, 09:19 AM   #2
Bill
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Default Re:I tend toward the elegant and unexpected "camping" fare...

Ray -

How 'bout some more elegant ideas? My wife is an excellent cook, and likes to do the same thing. We went to the White Mountains of NH with some friends last summer. We were in our TM, they motel'ed it. They assumed we were going to eat in restuarants, and when we suggested they come to the TM instead, it was clear they weren't expecting much from a folding camper. My wife whipped up tiny scallops (good ones in Maine!) in white wine sauce, a light green salad, and homemade crusty French bread the first night. The next night was a tremendous baked Klamath River salmon that she caught herself a month earlier in Oregon. Our friends left with much more respect for the TM. And we made them wash the dishes!

Bill
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Old 08-06-2003, 11:25 AM   #3
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Default Re:I tend toward the elegant and unexpected "camping" fare...

Our first season in our Trailmanor, we spent three weeks on Cape Cod, and on one weekend, had Ellen's siblings around. We steamed lobsters and cooked up some simple potato home fries (you know, in the foil over the fire with onions, and butter) and they were amazed at what we could do so simply and easily in our unit.
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Old 08-06-2003, 02:43 PM   #4
RockyMtnRay
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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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Old 08-06-2003, 08:54 PM   #5
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Default Re:I tend toward the elegant and unexpected "camping" fare...

Mannnnn -- you folks are killing me with these receipe descriptions... do you have any idea how hard it is to type when you're slobbering all over the key board. I've gained three pounds just surfing this website tonight.

What's that sound? Wait a minute ... I think there's a Hershey bar in our kitchen in need of comforting... bye!

Ed
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Old 08-06-2003, 08:56 PM   #6
B_and_D
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Default Re:I tend toward the elegant and unexpected "camping" fare...

Those "french press" coffeemakers work really well, and are fast. They make great coffee!

Another great recipe if you like shrimp, garlic & spinach, and also a quick and easy dinner:

Shrimp florentine.

Sautee some prawns (in a large skillet with a cover) in a little olive oil, about 3 cloves of garlic (hey you're supposed to be out in the woods, who cares?) and 1/3 cup or so of lemon juice. When prawns are just about done, remove from pan. Put in the spinach (bagged is wonderful) and toss with the remaining juices. When spinach is cooked down enought to get the lid on, put the shrimp/prawns back into the pan on top of the spinach, and cover with several slices of provolone cheese. Put the lid back on and cook slowly (you could almost turn off the stove at this point) until the cheese melts.

Serve with fettuccini (sp?) and (of course) garlic bread.

Yum! And not too many calories, depending on how much olive oil & cheese you use (and bread & pasta you eat).

And the smell will probably keep the bears away (at the very least the vampires). Do bears like garlic?







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Old 08-06-2003, 09:20 PM   #7
kdrickard
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Default Re:I tend toward the elegant and unexpected "camping" fare...

[quote author=B_and_D link=board=17;threadid=1109;start=0#msg7803 date=1060224994]
Do bears like garlic?
[/quote]

Mmmmm....Garlic.....

Seriously, these recipes are awesome! And a coffee press *will* find it's way into the TM before our Labor Day trip.

Now drooling :P ,

Kevin
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Old 08-07-2003, 10:02 AM   #8
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Default Re:I tend toward the elegant and unexpected "camping" fare...

Ray -

Are you joshin' us? Just a few days ago you were raggin' on the potluck crowd : of which I'm a charter member....declaring that you can hike all day on a couple of power bars and some Gatorade and really only eat to live, not the other way 'round. (And good for you - I really admire your physical fitness, great photos, and 14er adventures.)

OK, will the real Ray please stand up and 'fess up?

Pam
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Old 08-07-2003, 10:33 AM   #9
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Default Re:I tend toward the elegant and unexpected "camping" fare...

Yea, Pam -- get him!!!

Thought he could survive eating tree bark and cooking rock soup -- French Pressed coffee, oven roasted asparagus, cherries jubilee, not exactly what I'd expect to find in a rucksack. Hey Ray -- those aren't Birkenstock sandals you're wearing when you are mountain climbing?

Here's something else to consider for asparagus:
A couple of years ago I worked at the US Embassy in London. We lived about 3 tube stops from Oxford St (more stories I could tell from this experience). My wife took some cooking lessons at the London "Cordon Blu." She learned a really simple and great way to do asparagus.
Cook the stalks in a skillet with a little water. Don't overcook, be sure they are still "crispy." During about last minute or two of cooking, pour off the remaining water and edd equal amounts of olive oil, djon mustard, and maple syrup. (Use the "expensive" syrup in the small bottles, not the watered down stuff like Log Cabin). You'd never belive how great the combination of those three ingerdients in the sauce can be.

Hope Ray has room for the djon in the ruck sack.

Ray -- only kidding. You're pix that you've posted are great and confirms why we love camping. I'd love to have the finesse and stamina to be doing what you're doing.
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Old 08-07-2003, 11:15 AM   #10
RockyMtnRay
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Default Re:I tend toward the elegant and unexpected "camping" fare...

LOL...I was wondering if anyone would pick up on the apparent disconnect.

Actually there isn't a disconnect at all...for two reasons.

First, the quantities I'm talking about in these fancier recipes are really quite small by most people's standards (especially the standards of the potluck crowd)...for instance in the Brie En Croute, we're only talking 4 oz of cheese total, which on a per serving basis is about 1 oz or only a couple of bites. When I have an ice cream based desert I actually do measure the amount and never have more than the "standard" serving size, namely a pretty small 1/2 cup. (I actually do regularly get 4 to 5 servings of ice cream out of a pint container). The Asparagus & Salmon recipe is based on just an ounce or two of smoked fish per person. Fancy food doesn't have to be large amounts of food and, in fact, usually is based on very tasty but very small servings.

Secondly I highly tailor my consumption to my caloric burn on a day by day basis. If I have a very high burn rate day (like a 14er climb day), I somewhat up my intake. OTOH, if I have a fairly sedentary day (like a travel day), I greatly reduce my eating. So although I can go through an entire climb day on 2 power bars, I will eat (for me) a large meal at the end of that day...but only on that day. That means a 6 to 8 oz steak (instead of my normal 4 oz steak), a nice appetizer and some desert. And the evening before a big climb day, I also slightly up my caloric intake via a somewhat larger serving of pasta to carbo load my system.

So there really is no disconnect at all...I really do look at food as fuel and eat only as needed to live. That said, I see no disconnect in making that fuel/food quite tasty and attractive. Bottom line: high quality food in small (some would say tiny) quantities only sufficient to replace calories burned.

My problem with the live-to-eat crowd (aka potluck crowd) is that the act of eating is the gratification itself and there's little concern about the whether their bodies need the food, particularly in the quantities being consumed. How good the food tastes is of less concern than how much there is. And there's a great tendancy to make the food tastier through fat-based cooking (frying, use of oils and creams, etc.) And the long term result of all that gorging is that most of the live to eat crowd is noticeably overweight, if not outright obese...and eventually suffers the consequences in obesity related diseases: high blood pressure/high cholesterol/cardiovascular problems, diabetes and its side effects (blindness, circulatory problems), even osteoarthritis, and quite likely also Alzheimers.

I have on a few occasions attended potluck gatherings and brought along a very tasty dish cut up into small servings...but with enough servings (usually 1 piece per serving) for the size of the expected crowd. Instead of taking one serving as I would have expected, I was amazed to watch most people take 4 or 5 because "they're so small and I couldn't have just one".

A large reason that I am so fit for my age is that I tailor consumption to caloric burn...yet I don't deprive myself because I'm active enough to have a fairly high burn rate. And I consider myself a fairly typical outdoors-oriented Coloradan...we're the "skinny state" because it's common here to balance intake to output (and have a high output). And potlucks are pretty rare...there are thousands of things to do (mostly strenuous) besides eat. And the differences are sometimes amazing: my friends and I have about a 90% accuracy rate in telling which people in a campground are Coloradans and which are out of state visitors simply by observing their girth. A large girth relative to age almost always means an out of state visitor.



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