Pie Irons and Shrimp on the Campfire

On August 5, 2013 my husband and I left our cozy little domicile on a wonderful road trip with a final destination just south of Tobermory, Ontario before returning home.  We crossed into Michigan mid-morning then made our way to Williamsburg, Michigan.  After a brief stop there, we arrived in Gaylord, Michigan where we spent the night.  The following morning we continued on our journey enjoying several stops highlighted by delicious food to the backdrop of amazingly gorgeous landscape scenery.  We settled in South Baymouth, Michigan for the night where we would catch the Chi-Cheechmaun ferry in the morning to take us across Lake Huron to Tobermory, Ontario.   We arrived in Tobermory just after 11 AM, stopped for lunch then headed to Cypress Lake campground in the Bruce Peninsula National Park.

We began camping when our youngest was just barely out of diapers.  Our first camping trip was to Cypress Lake, a rather rustic campground on Georgian Bay, in tents.  We bought a tent trailer the next spring then a large travel trailer the following year.  We camped every chance we got, always preferring rustic, natural  campgrounds to privately owned, commercialized ones.  We sold our trailer in 2005 so haven't done much camping, mainly hit or miss.  We certainly are well versed in camping during adverse weather conditions yet the weather forecast was cause for concern - rain, cold temperatures and more rain.   This trip was four days out in tents, going back to our camping roots!  This would be a special trip, the first one enjoyed camping with our grandkids.

Cypress Lake campground is very much in bear (black and grizzly), cougar, wolf, and coyote territory.  It is home to racoons, hares, skunks and Ontario's only poisonous snake, the Massasauga rattle snake.  The park has a 'bare' campsite program meaning no garbage or food on the campsite to attract wildlife.  All food and food-related items are to be stored in a hard-sided vehicle when not in use.  Tossing dishwasher into the brush is discouraged as it may contain food bits that can attract wildlife as well.  Paper food wrappings are burnt but there are recycling facilities for newspapers, cans, bottles and plastics.  There is no hydro except at the registration office, no showers, no hot water in the comfort stations (some have composting toilets), and cell phone service is sporadic at best.  It has some of the best hiking trails and amazing scenery ever seen!

We kept our food in plastic covered totes and coolers stored in the vehicles for this trip.  After dinner as part of the clean-up the camp stove, food and coolers were put into each of our vehicles.  Any food we wanted for around the campfire were brought out of the vehicle as needed.  Any food scraps were simply tossed into the fire. 

Regardless of what camping shelter we used, cooking over an open fire was always a must.  There were very, very few times that we didn't cook over an open fire.  We usually build a campfire shortly after rising.  Unless leaving the campsite, the fire is maintained at a low burn ready to cook pie irons, hotdogs or marshmallows over, ever ready to be stoked up for a bit of extra heat.  If we are leaving the campsite, the fire is doused which is proper camping etiquette.

Pictured is the campfire with pie irons (lower left) and shrimp cooking.  Pie irons are a camper's must have.  The name refers to either the tool (aka sandwich maker) itself or the food sandwiched between two slices of bread.  The filling for pie irons can be quite creative.  These were filled with home canned pizza sauce, homemade pesto, sliced rosemary ham and mozzarella cheese.  The pie iron aka sandwich maker can also be used to cook meat and so much more over an open fire.  If it fits in the pie iron, it's fair game!  Shrimp cooks nicely in a pie iron but for larger quantities, an open flat pan with handle works nicely.  Doesn't that shrimp look delicious?

Stay tuned for more tales of our recent road/camping trip....

Bread and Pizza Sub Baked on Outdoor Grill

We are in the midst of a heat wave here with temperatures soaring into the 90's (ºF) but with the humidex it feels over the 100's (ºF).  The air is so heavy that breathing outdoors is difficult.  Environment Canada has issued ozone alerts, smog alerts and humidex warnings.  Cooling centres have been opened in larger communities while anyone who can is staying indoors in the air conditioning.  This is the type of weather that I don't like to do much cooking that will put an additional strain on the air conditioning.

I was browsing through the easy recipes on the Life Made Delicious website.   A recipe for cooking a sub sandwich on the grill caught my interest so I decided to put my own spin on it.  I made a batch of French bread dough then divided into two pieces.  After shaping and proofing one loaf was placed in the oven while the other went onto the grill.  I know I should not have used the oven but it was the only way to compare oven baked to grill baked bread.  I've often mentioned here how I use the grill as an oven in the summer months but haven't shown much as to how I actually use it. 

I turned both burners on to heat the grill then turned one burner off so the bread would bake on indirect heat to prevent excess browning on the bottom of the loaf.  I placed the prepared loaf on a heavy, parchment paper lined oven pan.  Our grill is quite old as grills go, now onto it's eighth year of heavy year round use so a couple of things like the auto ignite and thermometer no longer work.  From experience though, I'm able to get the grill to the proper temperature for baking bread.  We've already bought a new dual fuel grill (more on that later) for when we move.  It's sitting safely in the crate in the garage.

Part way through the baking process I noticed the bottom getting a bit darker than I wanted.   So I carefully place a cake rack under the baking pan, raising it just enough from the grates to slow the browning.  The loaf of bread was looking good while filling the air with the wonderful aroma of baking bread.  Meanwhile the kitchen was smelling yummy as well.  I just love the smell of baking bread!

I've always wanted a wood fired outdoor oven for baking breads and pizza.  That just might be a goal for our new house if we ever get this house sold.

I don't bake breads according to time but rather to doneness using the tap test.  Pictured are the two loaves of bread.  The oven baked loaf (top) was a bit smaller than the grill baked bread (bottom).  The oven baked loaf was destined for that night's dinner and sandwiches the next day.  The grill baked bread was just a little over a foot long, ideal for my grilled sub experiment.  The crust was nicely browned on both loaves of bread.  There was no difference in texture. 

Breads baked on the grill have a very subtle smokiness.   It is quite possible with breads baked on the grill to add a touch of additional smokiness if desired.  This is easily done using a small foil smoking packet of soaked wood chips of your choice.  The packet should be small enough to give just a hint of the smokiness, not overpower the flavour of the bread.  The hint of hickory in grill baked bread pairs nicely sliced ham for sandwiches. 

Years ago when my husband and I were dating we used to get pizza subs at a little family run pizzeria, Bella Pizza.  The subs were wrapped in foil and warmed through in their pizza oven. They were delicious!  Unfortunately, the place closed down over twenty years ago so those pizza subs are only fond memories now.  I decided to make the grill baked loaf of bread into a pizza sub with my husband's help.  We sliced the loaf of bread in half the topped each piece with homemade pizza sauce.   We covered the bottom slice with sliced mozzarella cheese and cooked ham.  We wrapped the sub in foil then placed it on the grill to warm through (about 10 minutes).

The pizza sub was quite good!  It was a very quick meal to put together at about 15 minutes from start to serving.  There was minimal clean-up and no heat from cooking in the kitchen, perfect for a blistering hot summer day.  Subs done this way would make for a great camping meal as well.  I will definitely be experimenting with more subs on the grill!

Camp Style Honey Glazed Carrots

We did a fair amount of camping when the kids were growing up.  Two things criteria for camping foods seemed to be consistent in that we wanted simpler foods that could be prepared on the campfire, on the campstove, the propane grill or in the RV and we wanted something just a bit different.  The end result is we ended up with several meals and dishes that can be cooked using one of the four methods that met both of the criteria.  At the same time many of these simpler camp style foods have become family favourites including our family favorite taco salad that started out as a camping recipe. 

Vegetables can present a problem when camping simply because a lot of times you don't want to take the time to set up the camp stove or heat up the RV just to boil up vegetables.  I quickly found foil packets worked nicely as the vegetables could be cooked on the propane grill or on the firepit that quite often was on during the dinner.    I devised several rather simple vegetable based foil packets that gave us nice vegetable sides without a lot of time or effort.  I continue to use these especially during the hot summer months when I cook as much as possible on the outside grill.  One such dish is Camp Style Honey Glazed Carrots pictured.

Camp Style Honey Glazed Carrots

2 c prepared carrots or baby carrots
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp fresh chopped chives
pinch of salt

Place the ingredients on a sheet of tin foil.  Fold long ends together to form a tight seal then repeat with each resulting end.  Wrap a second time.  Place the foil packet on the grill or firepit in indirect heat.  Let cook about 20 minutes.  Carefully remove from heat.  Poke holes in the tin foil to allow steam to escape [careful as steam can burn].  Open the packet and serve.

She Said (6) - Salmon and Vegetable Packets

If you recall my husband and I are having a bit of a contest with each of us using a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens® New Grilling Book to create a meal. In total there will be 12 recipes, 6 of his choosing and 6 of mine. The contest ends August 31 so the first week of September I will post a poll where you can vote for the meal you liked best. The rules are all the ingredients must be used but the amounts can be altered.

Ingredients

I chose a salmon dish for my 6^th and final recipe of the contest. The recipe indicated that the meal is cooked on the grill then served in its foil pouch which would make this an ideal recipe for camping. I did not serve in the foil pouch choosing to plate the meal instead.

The ingredients for the meal are pictured. I used wild Pacific salmon fillets and homemade chicken stock. The dried rosemary was from my previous garden. All of the produce used in the dish was locally grown some from my garden and some purchased. The recipe said to use 4 small yellow summer squash (zucchini) but I used 3 medium green summer squash instead.

Salmon and Vegetable Packets
source: Meredith Corporation, Better Homes and Garden New Grilling Book, 2005. Pp. 322

1 lb fresh or frozen skinless salmon
2 c carrot strips
2 c red sweet pepper strips
12 fresh asparagus spears
4 small summer squash
½ c dry white wine or chicken stock
2 tsp snipped fresh rosemary or ½ tsp dried rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 tbsp butter
hot cooked white or brown rice (optional)

Thaw fish if frozen. Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. Measure the thickness of the fish then cut into 4 serving-size pieces and set aside. [Foil pack formation method changed by me.] Cut eight 18-inch pieces of heavy-duty foil. Layer in 4 sets of two. Spray the top layer of foil with oil in health mister or brush lightly with vegetable oil. Arrange the vegetables and salmon in equal portions on each top layer of foil. Mix chicken stock, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Drizzle over the fish and vegetables. Top each packet with a pat of butter. Fold the 2 opposite sided together and make a double fold to hold them together. Fold the each end together using a double fold to create a sealed packet. Repeat with the second layer of foil for each packet making it slightly looser than the first. Place on preheated medium heat grill. Cook 12 to 14 minutes per ½-inch thickness of fish. When finished cooking remove from heat. Carefully open each packet avoiding the steam. Serve in foil packet or plate as desired.

Grilling

Pictured is the assembly of the foil packets (top) and on the grill (bottom). Once you have the fish and vegetables ready on the 2 layers of foil it is time to form your packet. This is quite easy using a double fold method that forms a centre seam. The same double fold method is used to form each end seam. The end result is a tightly sealed rectangular shaped foil packet with 3 double folded seams. To made a double seam: As oriented in the picture bring the top and bottom edges of the foil together over the fish and vegetables. Hold the two edges then fold them over about a ½-inch. Press along the fold with your fingers. Fold the first fold over again about a ½-inch. Press with your fingers then press the fold flat across the packet. You have now created a double seam. Repeat this fold on each end to create a tightly sealed foil packet.

Foil packet cooking whether at home or camping is a convenient method for cooking moist, tender and tasty meals with little clean-up. The foil packet itself can serve as the serving dish especially when camping. The food is cooked by the steam produced from the food as it cooks inside the packet. This method results in moist, tender and flavourful meats, poultry and fish. A variety of vegetables and/or sauces can be added to the packets for a complete entrée or cooked in separate foil packets as a side dish.

Salmon and Vegetable Packets

Pictured is the salmon and vegetable packet after cooking served with a side of Calrose rice. Calrose rice is a medium grain rice grown in California. It was developed in California in the early 1970s from a radiation-bred variety of japonica medium-grain rice. The rice is sticky when cooked making it ideal for sushi. My favourite way to cook Calrose rice is in the rice maker with homemade chicken stock and butter.

What I love about using any steaming method of cooking is the colour retention in vegetables. Don't they look lovely? The salmon and vegetable packet did not disappoint. The salmon was nicely cooked, definitely flakey and tender. I liked the addition of asparagus in the vegetable mix. The sauce used was pleasant and not overpowering. I would be tempted to add a bit of maple syrup to the sauce. Overall we found the meal quite pleasing so this is a keeper recipe.