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Never Never Corn and Bacon Pancakes

From Australian Bush Cooking by Cathy Savage and Craig Lewis
Makes approximately 12-15 pancakes

1 cup self raising flour
salt
1 egg
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup milk extra
2 bacon rashers diced
300grm tin of corn kernels, well drained

Lightly fry diced bacon and let cool
Combine flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl
Make a well in the flour and add egg
Gradually stir in 1 cup of milk
Mix to a smooth batter
Add bacon and corn, mix well to a smooth pouring batter. Add extra milk if necessary.
Heat frying pan on hotplate and brush with a little butter.
Cook thin layers of batter on each side until cooked and golden.

Barbecued baba ganoush

Aubergines and tomatoes are two of the most successful vegetables to grill on a barbecue (or a campfire) – they don't even require oil or seasoning; simply throw them on whole. The aubergines will take about 45 minutes to cook, so you will probably need to put these on before any meat that is part of the feast. This is delicious served with barbecued merguez or other spicy sausages and warm flatbread.
From The Camping Cookbook by Annie Bell (Kyle Books) Serves 4

4 aubergines
3 tomatoes on the vine
3 tbsp camping marinade (see below)
1 tsp Middle Eastern spice blend (see below)
A pinch of salt
Extra virgin olive oil
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
For the camping marinade
100ml lemon juice
150ml extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed to a paste
1 tsp sea salt
For the Middle Eastern spice blend
1½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1½ tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cardamom
¼ tsp cloves
½ tsp coriander

Prick the aubergines all over to stop them bursting, and grill over the fire or on a barbecue for about 45 minutes until the skin is blackened and blistered, turning them now and again. Grill the tomatoes on the vine for about 20 minutes, turning them once. Leave both to cool a little.

Skin the aubergines and coarsely chop the flesh in a bowl using a knife and fork. Pour off any excess liquid, pressing it out with a fork.

Skin the tomatoes and add the flesh to the bowl, crushing it with your fingers. Combine the marinade ingredients. If making ahead, store in an airtight container and shake well before use.

Combine the spice blend ingredients and add them to the bowl with some salt.

Splash with oil and scatter with parsley.

Carrot and spelt bread rolls

Make lovely, moist campfire bread rolls filled with spelt and carrot – best served with cream cheese or a dollop of double cream and jam. A Nordic twist on an old campfire classic.
From Josephine Kofod, atastylovestory.com Makes about 20

25g active yeast
250ml lukewarm water
250ml plain yoghurt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp salt
4 medium carrots, grated
100g sunflower seeds
400g wholegrain spelt flour
300-400g refined spelt flour

Dissolve the yeast in water and combine it with the yoghurt, oil, honey and salt.

Add the carrot, sunflower seeds and wholegrain flour and mix thoroughly.

Add the refined spelt flour – a little at a time while kneading – until you have an elastic and moist dough. Place the dough back in the bowl. Cover with a cloth and let it rise for about an hour.

Separate the dough into 20 pieces, rolling each into a ball. Using your hands, roll each ball into a "rope" (thinner for crispy bread, thicker for doughy bread).

Wrap each "rope" around a clean, thin, dry stick (use a knife to remove any loose bark). Hold over the coals of a fire for 5-10 minutes, turning until it is browned on all sides.

Boston baked beef

Inspired by the classic campfire dishes – Boston baked beans and beef stew – this is rich, sweet and warming. Below is the "gourmet" version. Alternatively, you can just throw everything into a cast iron pot and slow-cook among the coals. From Hemsley and Hemsley Serves 5-6

1 tsp ghee or butter
1kg good quality minced beef
8 bacon rashers, diced
2 large onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 tsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp hot smoked paprika (optional)
4 tbsp black treacle
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp tomato puree
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
8 large tomatoes, roughly diced
4 medium carrots, diced
400ml water
A large handful of fresh parsley

Brown the beef in ghee, then set aside. In the same pan cook the bacon for a few minutes until crispy.

Add the onions and stir for 8-10 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and thyme and stir for a minute, adding the hot smoked paprika if you choose.

Add the treacle, vinegar, tomato puree, two pinches of salt, some black pepper and the mustard and fry for a minute, stirring well.

Stoke the coals for more heat and then add the fresh tomatoes, carrots, the browned beef and water. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve piping hot with a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley.

Grilled bananas with smoky chocolate sauce

Smoked paprika adds a little twist to a classic campfire dessert. This hot chocolate sauce is simple to make: chill it and you have fudge, enjoy as is, or stuff into apples and bananas and slow-bake in the embers.
From Hemsley and Hemsley Serves 2

2 ripe bananas
30g unsalted butter
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp cocoa powder
A large pinch of sea salt
100ml full-fat coconut milk
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika

Peel the bananas. Place directly on to the grill for 4-5 minutes on each side, until the fruit sugars bubble and start to caramelise. Slice in half lengthways and arrange cut-side down on a plate.

To make the sauce, melt the butter on a gentle heat. Add the maple syrup, cocoa powder, salt and coconut milk, then bring to a gentle simmer to reduce and thicken the sauce a little. Add the smoked paprika last and simmer for a further 30 seconds before removing from the heat. Pour the hot sauce over the caramelised bananas.

Alternatively, you can make the sauce as above and chill it in a small bowl or ice-cube tray – it can then be transported easily. Leaving the skin on the bananas, use a sharp knife to make a split down the middle, being careful not to cut all the way through. Push wedges of the chilled, fudge-like sauce into the split and wrap the bananas first in baking parchment, then in foil, and push the package into the hot coals for 10 minutes or so, until it's soft. Unwrap carefully – it will be extremely hot! – and scoop the pudding out from the banana skins with a spoon.

MUSSEL POT

This makes for great communal eating, and a beach is the perfect place where the mussels can either be cooked on a tripod or in a pan over a portable gas stove.

mussels about 500g per person
white wine 1 glass
shallots a few, finely chopped

Wash and pick over the mussels in the usual fashion, pulling off the beards and discarding any that don't close when sharply tapped. Bring a glass of white wine to the boil with a few finely chopped shallots in a large saucepan or casserole, add the mussels, cover, and steam them open for 5 minutes or so, stirring or shaking the pan halfway through.

FISH BAKED IN NEWSPAPER

This way of cooking small whole fish has the same austerity as steaming them between long wild grasses: it keeps the flesh moist and traps every ounce of flavour within the paper shell. Like so many simple dishes, however, it is not the easiest to get right. Some suggest baking the parcels in the embers of a fire, but the dividing line between embers and ashes is a fine one. It's not the kind of dish you can test halfway through as once the parcel is open you have to eat it, and I reckon the grid of a covered travelling barbecue is a better option.

Any small fish are candidates, but I have a soft spot for gilthead bream, which combines everything that is good about plaice and sea bass – buttery sweetness with a firm succulence.

whole gilthead bream, trout, organically farmed sea bass and grey mullet a couple weighing in at 500g each will do 4 people, though that said, you'll probably polish them off even if there are only 2 of you. You probably want about 150g per person of filleted fish, so allow double that for a whole unfilleted fish

Kit: barbecue, newspaper

Season each fish liberally all over with sea salt, including the cavity, and wrap in about five sheets of paper, wetting each sheet first. Cook the parcels for about 15 minutes a side in a covered barbecue – there is no likelihood of the paper bursting into flames, but you may need to flick some water at the parcels now and again if the edges start to smoke. By the end, the paper will be blackened, but once cut open the skin of the fish should come away with the paper, revealing beautifully cooked milky white flesh.

Whole mackerel with herbs, garlic and lemon

Mackerel are fantastic fish to cook on the barbecue – their oiliness means they take well to charring, and their skin gets super-crisp. From Ben Tish; http://www.theguardian.com Serves 4

4 large or 8 small mackerel, gutted
Salt and black pepper
Olive oil or rapeseed oil

8 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 bunch of dill, roughly chopped
1 bunch of oregano, chopped
2 unwaxed lemons, sliced

Heat a grill or barbecue to maximum heat. Score the mackerel with a sharp knife in 4-5 slashes.

Season the fish and rub with oil. Insert garlic into the slits and place directly on to the grill.

Cook for 2 minutes on each side to caramelise/char, then place each fish on a foil square and scatter each with the chopped herbs, some olive oil and a slice of lemon.

Fold up the foil in an envelope and then place back on the grill for 4-5 minutes to finish cooking and absorb the flavour.

Campfire potatoes

After some quick prep work, this simple recipe requires little more than enclosing garlic, herbs and potatoes in foil packets and grilling. Recipe adapted from http://bonappetit.com/ Serves 4

16 medium potatoes, halved
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
½ tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, smashed

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain. Return to saucepan. Add the oil and herbs to the potatoes, toss to coat and cool.

Divide the potatoes among four foil squares and place one garlic clove atop the potatoes on each square. Crimp the foil to seal.

Prepare your barbecue to a medium-high heat. Place the packets on the grill over the embers and cook until heated through and sizzling, turning occasionally (about 15 minutes). Transfer the packets to a serving plate and pierce the foil to release the steam.

Glazed pork skewers and mango chutney

Perfect served with piles of freshly warmed flatbreads and seared asparagus, topped with butter, a squeeze of lime juice and sea salt.
From: Feed Me Now: Simple Food for All the Family by Bill Granger (Quadrille). Serves 4-6

1kg boneless pork shoulder, trimmed
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
80ml water
1 small onion, grated
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
For the mango chutney
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1½ tbsp root ginger, grated
2 mangoes, peeled and diced
75g sugar
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1½ tbsp lime juice

Cut the pork into 4cm cubes. Place the pomegranate molasses, 80ml water, the onion, ground coriander, salt and sugar into a shallow non-metallic bowl and stir until combined. Add the pork and stir to coat in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours, preferably overnight.

To make the mango chutney, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan, add the mustard seeds and stir until they start to pop. Add the ginger and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the diced mangoes, sugar, chilli and salt to taste. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes until syrupy. Add the lime juice, check the seasoning and set aside to cool.

Drain the excess marinade from the pork, then thread the meat on to 12 metal skewers. Grill on the fire or barbecue for 2-3 minutes each side or until lightly charred and cooked to your liking.

Baked campfire apples

A sweet, smoky, satisfying camping treat – and a welcome change to the ubiquitous banana. The nuts and dried fruit add depth of flavour and texture to the apple as it cooks on the coals. From http://spoonful.com/

For each serving
1 apple
2 tbsp dried fruit
2 tbsp nuts
½ tsp cinnamon sugar (made from 60g sugar: 1 tsp cinnamon)
½ tsp butter

Core the apple, leaving the bottom intact. Stuff the cavity with fruit and nuts of your choice, packing it fairly tight. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and dot with butter. Wrap the apple in a double thickness of foil, twisting the ends to form an easy handle for gripping from the top.

Place the apple upright on the coals. Bake for 12-18 minutes, turning occasionally, or until the apple yields slightly when pushed with a gloved hand.

Before serving, open the foil and let the apple cool for a few minutes.

GLASTONBURY JERK CHICKEN

The smell of jerk chicken sizzling on a grill is more likely to get me to Glastonbury than any other aspect of the festival. But if you get to have a little dance with dinner, so much the better. Or just grill it up at home and have a little dance in any case. Chicken fillets or "mini" chicken fillets are ideal, as they cook through with ease, whereas legs and drumsticks take longer and need care to prevent them from drying out before they are cooked in the centre. From http://www.theguardian.com/ SERVES 4

camping marinade 4 tbsp (see below)
jerk seasoning 2 tsp (see below)
mini chicken fillets to serve 4

Up to a couple of hours before grilling, combine the marinade with the jerk seasoning in a bowl or airtight container, then add the chicken and coat it. Cover and set aside if not cooking straightaway. Barbecue over hot coals for a few minutes each side – the chicken should feel firm when pressed, and don't worry if it isn't deep gold all over, pale will do. The important thing is to catch it while it's still succulent.

CAMPING MARINADE

This marinade is perfect as it stands – you need go no further in dressing meat or fish for the grill. But equally you can use it as a building block, by adding thyme, oregano or marjoram, rosemary or herbes de Provence. Serves 3–4

lemon juice 100ml, 2–3 lemons
extra virgin olive oil 150ml
garlic cloves 3 peeled and crushed
sea salt 1 tsp

Combine all the ingredients in an airtight container and shake before use. Store in a cool place.

JERK SEASONING

It's worth packing this for making jerk chicken alone, but it will be fab with any meat or fish.

onion powder 3 tsp
black pepper 2 tsp
light muscovado sugar 2 tsp
allspice 1 tsp
dried thyme 1 tsp
dried chilli flakes 1 tsp
ground nutmeg ½ tsp
cloves ½ tsp

Mix together all the ingredients.

COWBOY COFFEE BEEF

Coffee is the greatest of small camping luxuries. Hang on to the rest of the pot for this beef, a curiosity, though by the end there isn't the slightest hint of what lies behind the copious rich beef broth, it just has a delicious cowboyish savour. This is more liquid than I would normally start off with, allowing for cooking over a slightly higher heat – very low flames have a habit of blowing out. The gravy won't go to waste with some buttery spuds, while noodles and macaroni are also fine sops. From http://www.theguardian.com SERVES 4-6

braising beef about 1kg, cut into
pieces, ideally the size of a plum
coffee 1½ tin mugs
red wine 1½ tin mugs
garlic 1 head, top cut off, papery skin removed
bay leaves a couple
sea salt
dried chilli flakes or black pepper a large pinch
carrots 4 large, peeled and thickly sliced
shallots a couple of handfuls, peeled

Place the beef in a large saucepan or casserole with the coffee, wine, garlic, bay leaves, salt and chilli or black pepper. Bring to the boil, skim off any foam and simmer covered for 2 hours, adding the carrots and shallots halfway through. Everything should be meltingly tender by the end. The insides of the garlic can be squeezed out and mashed into the juices. Serve with buttered macaroni or spuds.