The Outdoor Princess

Archive for the ‘Fun Food Fridays’ Category

I’ve got a huge garden this year, and I planted about 15 jalapeno plants. The first year I planted jalapenos, I planted 6 and then couldn’t figure out why I had planted so many!  Jalapenos are usually eaten pickled so I wasn’t sure what to do with them…

Now, I know exactly why MORE is BETTER:

Jalapeno poppers!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3-4 raw jalapenos per person
• Brick cream cheese
• Bacon strips
• Toothpicks or skewers

If you’re using toothpicks or wooden skewers, put them in water to soak so they won’t burn when you grill the popper.

Wash the jalapeno s and remove the seeds and stems. (But, keep the jalapeno in one piece!) When you are removing the seeds and stems, be sure not to run any water. The chili oils get into the air when you cut into the jalapeno; running water makes the oils settle so you breathe them. NOT fun to be coughing all the time in the kitchen!

I use a potato peeler to scoop out the seeds. Another tip is to also remove the ribs of the chili: the parts where the seeds attach to the chili wall. That area also carries a lot of “heat”.

Fill the jalapeno with cream cheese.I smash as much as I possibly can into the body of the pepper. You can use the back of a spoon or your fingers to fill the pepper. Just be sure you don’t rub your face at all when you’re handling these bad boys!

Wrap a slice of bacon all the way around the jalapeno (once) and secure with the tooth pick. You might want to cut the bacon strip in half so it’s not as long. This will reduce the cooking time.

Grill the popper on a tabletop barbeque until the bacon is done and the cheese is melted. Because the peppers have a lot of moisture in them, you won’t be able to get the bacon crispy. Be careful handling and eating the poppers, that cheese will be really hot.

Enjoy!

You can substitute any type of cheese you like for the brick of cream cheese. I don’t recommend the spreadable cream cheese (the one that comes in the little plastic tub), because it’s too soft and will melt and run out of the jalapeno before the bacon is done.

When Nicole & I were camping last weekend, we bought 5 ears of corn at the grocery store in Williams. Nicole wanted to try barbequing them! Neither one of us had ever made grilled corn on the cob but we were up to the challenge.

INGREDIENTS

• Ears of corn, in husks
• Butter, salt and pepper (to taste)
• Tin foil (optional)

Begin by peeling back the husks to remove the silk. The trick to this seemed to be to gently peel it away from the corn so the husk doesn’t rip completely off the ear. Tugging firmly on the silk (in line with the ear of corn) seemed to be the best way to remove the silk.

Remove any parts of the corn that are bruised, damaged, or eaten by worms!

Then, we mashed butter along the corn before pulling the husks back into place. (I’m not sure if that HAS to be done, but we did it!) Don’t expect the husks to completely cover the kernels; it’ll be okay.

We cooked the corn directly on the grill over the fire. We probably SHOULD have started the fire earlier so there were less flames and more coals (also less smoke!) but it did work. I kept pushing the burning logs more under the grill so the heat would be more or less even, but every time I did, the flames would leap up and catch the corn husks on fire. But the corn has a high moisture content so it didn’t burn.

Cook about 20 minutes. You’ll want to use metal tongs to flip the corn over half-way through cooking. We also rotated them on the grill at that time too so all ears were evenly over the hottest part of the fire.

The corn turned out tender and juicy! The smoke (and ignited husks) gave the corn a great smoky flavor. If you don’t LIKE the taste of smoke (Nicole doesn’t!) then wrap the corn loosely in tin foil before cooking.

Like any time you’re eating corn on the cob, expect to get dirty! Have plenty of paper towels on hand. Handling the ears also turned my hands (and shirt) black since they were well charred on the outermost layer.

Crayfish are just as easy as lobster to cook and serve. You’ll need to clean, cook, and peel them before eating. I’ve outlined everything you need to do below.

INGREDIENTS:

• Crayfish
• Crab Boil spices (I use Old Bay)
• Cold water

Over your propane camping stove, bring a large pot of cold water to a full boil. While the water is heating (it can take a while) you’ll need to clean the crayfish.

Cleaning:

Pour at least three gallons of clean, cold water into the crayfish-filled ice chest and let it drain out. Be sure that the ice chest can drain easily and in an area that won’t put mud in your camp! This water will rinse off any mud or debris on the crayfish.

If any have died, throw them in the garbage and do not cook them! (Dead crayfish smell and will attract animals, so don’t toss them into the forest.)

Cooking:

Once the water is boiling, season it with Crab Boil spices. You can also add garlic, peppers, lemon, etc to taste, but I find these just get in the way if you have to cook more than one pot of crayfish. Add the rinsed crayfish to the boiling water.

When the crayfish turn bright red, remove from the boiling water.

Peeling:

It’s far easier to peel the crayfish when they are still hot. To peel them, grasp the body section in one hand and the tail in your other hand. Sharply break the body by bending the crayfish backwards. Discard the body section. (There is some meat in the claws and body, but it’s a lot of work to get it out; I don’t bother.)

With the underside of the tail facing up, use your thumbs to spread the shell. You’ll see what appear to be tiny, clear legs on the underside of the tail and then a ridge. Put your thumbs on this ridge and push out. The tail will crack in the center, on the underside. By fully cracking this, you can remove the tail meat. The last thing you have to do is remove the mud vein from the tail with a thumb nail or small knife.

Serve with melted butter.

Or put into pasta.

Or with eggs.

Or substitute for shrimp.

Or straight out of the bowl.

Or…

If you like fish, then you’re in for a treat when you have lake-fresh trout cooked in camp! Trout is a moist, sweet fish. The flesh is anywhere from white to pink to orange.

You’ll also need a table top barbeque and a fish basket to prepare this recipe. Here are links to a barbeque and a fish basket.

INGREDIENTS

• 3-8 Trout (cleaned)
• Lemon slices (circles, not wedges)
• Onion slices (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

Completely clean each fish. (There is no need to scale the trout because the skin becomes crispy as it’s being cooked, just discard the skin upon serving and the trout meat remains moist.)

Lightly brush each fish with the olive oil on both sides and in the body cavity. Place lemon slices (a circle, not a wedge) inside each fish. This can also be substituted for onion slices. If you’re really daring: try both!

Salt and pepper the inside of the fish, to taste.

Spray the fish basket with a no-stick cooking spray before adding fish. Cook in a fish basket, on a barbeque, until the skin lightly flakes away from the body of the fish. Flip the basket after you’ve tested the fish on one side. The trout will cook faster if you keep the lid of the barbeque closed. Cooking temperatures of barbeques vary, keep an eye on your fish.

Remove the skin and serve. Be careful of the little tiny trout bones!

If your lake trout are small like we get here in Arizona (about 6 inches in body length after cleaning) then you might want to eat them during the day. Trout have a ton of teeny tiny bones so I prefer to eat them for lunch (sunlight) rather than for dinner (lantern light).

Back in January, I hosted a party and served Orange Sangria. In that article, I also mentioned that my main dish was Green Chili Pulled Pork. Since then, I’ve had several requests for the recipe!

Now, I make this in the slow cooker so it’s not technically a camping recipe. But, the next time I go camping, I’m going to try it in a Dutch oven! And, since it heats up well, I think it would be a great dinner to cook before you go and then just heat it up in camp.

Ingredients

• Pork roast (not too lean, and if the fat is marbled through, it’s better)
• 2-3 cloves garlic (my garlic is from my very own garden!)
• No stick cooking spray (I use PAM)
• 2 cans Herdez Salsa Verde

Peel the garlic cloves and cut each clove into 2 or 3 pieces, depending on the size of the clove. Make a few slits in the pork roast and shove the garlic cloves into the roast.

Just be sure you don’t make too MANY slits in the roast since the juice will run out through each slit!

Spray the slow cooker with your no-stick spray. Put the roast in and pour just a few teaspoons of water into the bottom of the slow cooker. Just enough so there’s a thin skim of water on the bottom but not so much the roast is sitting in water! Cook on high for 2-4 hours or until the roast is fully cooked.

Of course, cooking times will depend on the size of your roast and what “high” means on YOUR cooker. I don’t usually cook it on slow since I’m always in a hurry to get it done.

When the meat is fully cooked, remove it from the slow cooker and let it “rest”. When it’s cool enough to handle, shred the roast. You can keep or discard the fat, depending on your preferences.

That’s the part I HATE: shredding! I usually DO keep a bit of the fat for flavor but I discard most of it.

Drain the juice (and bits) from the slow cooker but keep it to the side since you might need a bit.

Return the shredded meat to the pot and add the Herdez Salsa Verde. I always use two cans! You might need to add a bit of the cooking juice back to the pot as well, depending on if the meat is dry.

Heat through on low or warm. Serve with flour tortillas, beans, and rice.

A Note About The Salsa:

There’s a reason I’m recommending a specific brand of salsa here. When I make this, I actually use home-made tomatillo salsa from my garden and the Herdez is the closest to my recipe. That’s because the Herdez Salsa Verde is made from tomatillos, onion, and serrano peppers and not a whole lot else. It’s got a great flavor without being knock-you-down spicy.

(My home-made salsa is all home-grown tomatillos, garlic, jalapenos. Blend and freeze!)

I know we all go camping with graham crackers for s’mores but honestly, how many s’mores can you eat in one sitting? Camping always leaves me with extra graham crackers and here’s how I eat them.

INGREDIENTS

• 3-4 graham crackers
• 1/2 cup milk

Break graham crackers into bite sized pieces and put into a bowl. Cover with cold milk and let crackers become soggy. Eat with a spoon.

This is one of my favorite summer-time breakfasts even when I’m at home! It’s perfect to eat on the back porch and enjoy the pretty summer mornings!

This camping recipe was sent in by Anna D. She says: “my camping recipe was discovered the last time I went camping.”

INGREDIENTS:

• Cinnamon graham crackers
• Peanut butter
• Large marshmallows
• Hershey chocolate bar

Use cinnamon graham crackers instead of regular. Spread some peanut butter on one half of one cracker.

Put some aluminum foil on the grate over the fire or the coals. In the foil, place the graham cracker (with peanut butter side up), then the Hershey bar and allow it to melt a bit.

While the chocolate is melting, roast the marshmallow. Place the marshmallow on the heated graham cracker/chocolate stack, and top with the other cracker. (If you make the sandwich and THEN pull your roasting fork out of the marshmallow, you’re less likely to get burned!)

Let the s’more cool a bit before eating.

Scrumptious!

Readers Weigh In:

• What’s your favorite s’more recipe?
• Do you have any cooking techniques that you can’t live without?

Trail mix is a camping favorite, either for a fun snack or to take with you on a hike. The goals of trail mix are to:

1. Be yummy
2. Provide a quick energy boost
3. Travel well

Some people use trail mix to replace a meal, especially while hiking. I’ve never been able to do that but I do eat trail mix as an easy, non-messy, portable snack! (And I ALWAYS bring lunch too!)

Fantastic Trail Mix

INGREDIENTS:

• Nuts
• Dried fruit pieces
• Goldfish® crackers
• M&Ms® (optional)

For nuts, you want something that is not too oily and that holds up well in a plastic bag at the bottom of your backpack. I prefer almonds or pecans. Even though pecans are a soft nut and will crumble, they’re easy to eat. I don’t use peanuts or cashews, but I don’t like them anyway!

Dried fruit is the quick, healthy way to get a bit of sugar into your blood stream. Good choices are raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, chopped dried apricots, chopped prunes, banana or apple chips.

Goldfish® or other small crackers will add salt (as will nuts) to the trail mix. Nothing tastes better to me than when my raisins get salty! Goldfish are a good choice because they don’t break easily. Also good would be Wheat Thins® or Triscuits® . I don’t recommend Ritz or Saltines since they will both crumble easily.

M&Ms® are a good candy bet since they don’t melt easily. I don’t like candy in my trail mix- there’s enough sugar from the fruit.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl with a big spoon. Then, spoon into snack size baggies. Store your trail mix in a cool dry place.

Cheesy Trail Mix

This is a quick trail mix that can be thrown together in camp or mixed up at home. Its low in sugar since there’s no candy.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups mini pretzels
• 1 cup cheese snack crackers (either Goldfish® or Cheez-it®)
• 1 cup honey roasted peanuts
• 1 cup raisins

You can also substitute dried cranberries for the raisins. Place all ingredients into a plastic baggie, seal, and then shake.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with the amounts of the ingredients – it’s your mix, fix it the way you want!

The Outdoor Princess’ Favorite Trail Mix

A quick trail mix that I take just about everywhere

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 handful of Ocean Spray® Craisins® Sweetened Dried Cranberries
• 1.5 or 2 handfuls of pecans

I eat about three Craisins® with each nut to balance out the flavors.

Recently, a blog reader, Jacque Gilbert, sent in a recipe for a Beanie Weenie Casserole. Until I saw her recipe I had no idea that that was what people meant by beanie weenies. Beenie Weenies are one of my favorite camping meals. In fact, it’s one of my favorite summer time meals period!

INGREDIENTS

• Flour tortillas
• 1 package hotdogs (we only eat Nathan’s hotdogs, but any type is fine)
• 1 can refried beans
• Green taco sauce
• Shredded cheese

In a tea kettle boil water. While that is going, open the package of hotdogs (full size, not the little snack size ones) and put in a small pot. When the water is boiling pour over the hotdogs. Cover the pot and set aside.

This keeps the hotdogs from getting tough!

Heat the beans in a small sauce pan. Set aside.

Warm the tortillas by toasting over the stove burner. Be careful not to catch them on fire! I do this by laying the tortilla over the flame and then flipping it with my fingers to do the other side. Of course, I learned how to do this by watching my grandmother warm tortillas.

If you’re not comfortable with this, or if your stove won’t let you do this, then warm the tortilla in the bottom of a clean, dry frying pan.

On the tortilla, put down a thick layer of the refried beans, then a hotdog (the hotdog should be warm by now), a line of green taco sauce (or any type of salsa) and some shredded cheese. Wrap the tortilla around the hotdog like a burrito and enjoy!

Readers Weigh In:

• What’s your favorite way to serve hotdogs?
• Do you have a great camping recipe? Email it to me at Info@TheOutdoorPrincess.com

This is a great Mexican soup that is quick, easy and filling. Albóndiga means “meatball” in Spanish and is pronounced ‘all-BONE-dee-gah.’

Ingredients

• 3 cans chicken stock
• 1/4 cup uncooked rice
• 2 4oz cans of chopped green chili (I like the Hatch® brand of green chili)
• Frozen pre-cooked packaged meatballs
• 1 clove garlic, chopped

Simmer chicken stock, rice and garlic until the rice is almost fully cooked. Add the 2 cans of chopped green chili and as many frozen, pre-cooked meatballs as you would like. (We always use Armour® brand meatballs.) This soup also tastes great with leftover cooked chicken or turkey instead of the meatballs. Simmer until the meatballs are heated through.

(This is the recipe The Queen Mother takes for her first dinner in camp!)