Fun and fancy food ideas?

[Dan Magdoff]

I am taking my girlfriend on a quick one nighter with dogs this weekend. Since its only one night and low miles, we will have plenty of space, weight and time for some fun fancy cooking. Open to ideas for breakfasts, lunches, dinner and desserts. My girlfriend is a vegetarian….so good vegetarian options would be a plus. Also ok to do things with meat if I can cook it without the meat and add it to my portion after.

[Charley White]

My favorite, from back when I cooked, is fresh bread. Well, I kept it to fry bread, but that's still nirvana. Dress it one way and call it pizza. With enough linger-time it's great for dinner, otherwise, you can let it rise overnight (in a ziploc) in your sleeping bag and have it for breakfast/lunch. Key for me was when I realized I could do all the mixing and kneading right in a sturdy ziploc–once I got all proportions exact–and keep me and the dough clean. Only need to handle it at the end to form the portions.

I was also partial to camp-made yogurt. Just a little vial of starter poured into a quart of heated instant milk, and it will form overnight if kept to temp in the 90sF. (Again, the sleeping bag.) Will be a runny, drinking kind, but good for re-hydrating dried fruits.

[Bob Gross]

What you could do is to start a meal with two sets of appetizers. One is meat, for you. One is vegetarian, for her. Then the main course is vegetarian.

We used to use summer sausage for this purpose.

–B.G.–

[Rebecca Canode]

There was a thread a few months ago about fondue while backpacking. We did this on a canoe trip and it was a big hit. We melted chocolate in a double boiler (cup within a cup). I served the chocolate with marshmallows, rice krispies, and some pound cake. It was a big hit.

[Dan Magdoff]

Anyone ever make foil packet dinners? Put veggies, meat and seasonings together, double wrap in foil and then freeze. By the time you get to your first night camp spot it should be close to defrosted. Make a fire and then place packets on coals?

I know its not super lightweight, but can be awful tasty.

[Jim H]

If you'll have a fire, kebabs are fun. You can bring ingredients to suit you both, and bamboo skewers, spices, olive oil. At dinner time, chop/toss ingredients in oil/seasoning in a freezer bag, then build/roast your kebabs. You could do big portobello chunks for her entree ingredient, and meat for you.

For dessert, I've twice now done steam-baked Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (the ones that come in a tube), and they're great. For even more decadence, consider Nutella instead of the included icing. You could dry-bake these too if you'll have a fire.

[Ben H.]

We do foil packets when car camping all the time. They are fun; I'm not sure I would call them fancy though. If you have a fire, grilled asparagus is wonderful (with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper). Boil some noodles then toss with olive oil and red pepper flakes. Add the asparagus and you have a wonderful meal. Summer squash is great too. Portobello's add a bit of meatiness. If you really want some meat bring along a sausage or some seafood (shrimp, scallops) to grill separately.

Fondue (mentioned above is another great idea), though for dessert I can't think of anything better than a well roasted marshmallow turned into a s'more (though I grudgingly admit it is a bit low brow).

[Nick Smolinske]

Recipe here:

http://smozilla.blogspot.com/2013/08/sourdough-apple-pancakes.html

For an overnighter you could mix everything right before you leave and it'll probably work just fine. The only downside is that it would likely over-knead itself while being carried out there, so they would be a little bit tougher than pancakes ought to be.

Not the easiest camp recipe, but certainly fancy and good! Now that you've reminded me, time to resurrect my neglected sourdough starter . . .

I've also been wanting to try this recipe, but haven't gotten around to it yet:

http://www.creative-culinary.com/mexican-hot-chocolate-with-tequila-and-cayenne-pepper/

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