After a long day on the water, you and the rest of your float trip party are beyond hungry and an ordinary meal of hotdogs won’t suffice. So you need to kick things up a notch, creating a culinary camping extravaganza that’s sure to please the hungriest of campers. Here’s a float trip feast that will satisfy famished campers of all ages on your next float trip.
Tonight’s menu is Sausage and Bean Dutch Oven Stew, Campfire Mac ‘n’ Cheese and a Campfire You Can Eat for dessert. For the Sausage and Bean Dutch Oven Stew you’ll need one 15.5 oz. can each of cannellini beans and chickpeas (garbanzos). Before you leave home, measure 1/3 cup olive oil and store in an airtight container. Bring 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves, ½ red bell pepper sliced, ½ yellow bell pepper sliced, a sliced poblano chile, 1 and ½ pounds cooked Italian sausage cut into 1-inch chunks, 1 teaspoon minced garlic and ¼ cup fresh oregano leaves. Store these ingredients separately in Ziploc bags or airtight storage containers. You’ll also need a 4 to 6 quart cast-iron camp Dutch oven.
Once your campsite is set up, get a fire going. Drain the cans of beans and mix ¾ cup water and all ingredients except the oregano into the Dutch oven. With the campfire going, move any large pieces of burning wood to the side and level the hot coals to fit the size of your Dutch oven. Set the Dutch oven on top of the hot coals and pile the rest of the coals on top of the lid. Check the food and temperature every 15 minutes, adding more water if the stew gets dry and removing or adding wood or coals to adjust the heat. This savory stew is ready to eat in 45 minutes.
Nearly every kid in America loves Mac ‘n’ Cheese and if they can have it while camping, so much the better. With their parents’ supervision, making Mac ‘n’ Cheese is a breeze with disposable aluminum pie pans, a sturdy stick that’s not too dry and some pre-camping preparation. Before you leave home, pack enough disposable aluminum pie pans, and the following per serving ingredients: ½ cup cooked elbow macaroni, ¼ cup shredded Cheddar, 1 tablespoon Parmesan, 1 tablespoon milk, ½ tablespoon butter, salt and pepper to taste and 12 by 16 inch piece of foil. Let the kids combine all the ingredients in their pan, seal it in foil (double the layers if cooking over an open flame) and fold the extra foil over the top to make a sturdy handle for a stick or tongs. Hold the packet over the campfire for 7 minutes to allow the cheese to melt. Remove from the fire and give the packet a few minutes to cool. Open carefully and stir the Mac ‘n’ Cheese before eating.
Learning campfire safety is an important part of camping, especially for pint-sized campers. Why not teach them about campfire safety over dessert with this fun “Campfire You Can Eat” recipe? You’ll need 12-inch flour tortillas, red licorice rope, peanuts, peanut butter, Fried Chinese noodles, Tootsie Rolls, Mini pretzel sticks, White grape juice, hot cocoa powder and Candy corn. Clear some space on a picnic table and have your kids lay down a tortilla fire base. Wrap a licorice rope safety circle around their tortilla an inch from its edge. Then have the kids build a peanut rock ring halfway between the center of the fire base and their red licorice safety circle. Spread a small circle of peanut butter for the fire base and top with a small handful of fried Chinese noodles for kindling. Now the fire is ready for the Tootsie Roll logs. Lay four logs around the peanut butter circle. Then use mini pretzel sticks, forming a tepee inside the ring of logs and over the Fried Chinese noodle kindling, sticking the pretzel sticks into the peanut butter. Form a box around the tepee with more Tootsie Roll logs and pretzels for another layer. Be sure you have the glasses of grape juice (representing the buckets of water) and hot cocoa powder (representing dirt) to put out the fires if necessary. Have your kids light their fires with Candy corn flames. When you, the camp director, approves the fire kids can throw dirt on their fires to put them out. Once the fires are out, it’s the moment everyone’s been waiting for – time to eat your campfire!
