Share your Kayak Camping recipes

[Chip]

I thought it was time to get this thread going. Share your camping recipes with the group.

Most of what I have done has been for 2-5 day trips. We usually make meals ahead of time and freeze them.
For dinners, we have had beef stew, jambalaya, pulled pork in tortillas, coq au vin, burrittos, pasta and meatballs. The burritos and pasta will last longer for later in the trip.

Breakfast is usually eggbeaters (travel well) with peppers, onion, canadian bacon or bagel sandwiches or pancakes.

Lunch is foilpack tuna or chicken rollups with mayo and celery.

I would be interested in more lighter weight options and not dehydrated Moutnainhouse type meals.

[Briggsy]

Hey Chip,
over the last couple of years I have been using a food dehydrator, this one to be exact....

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75A-700- ... dehydrator

My favorite website and source for a lot of good info and recipes is

http://www.backpackingchef.com/index.html

this one is also good

http://www.trailcooking.com/

I have about 3 books but by far the one with the best recipes is this...

http://www.amazon.com/Fork-Trail-Mouthw ... +the+trail

Of course with dehydrated food you need to carry extra water to rehydrate your food. You have to decide if the weight of the extra water is worth the space saved by the dried ingredients. My last trip I took all dehydrated food for 6 dinners and it easily fit into a small dry bag, but I was able to resupply with water every second day. If I was on a 6 day trip and could not re supply with water I would maybe only dehydrate some things. A typical dinner for one usually requies somewhere around 12 to 16 ozs water to rehydrate. You can dehydrate pasta and rice and it will take hardly any cooking to bring it back, you would use water for that anyway. Using a pot cozy really helps and saves stove fuel.
Just a warning if you get a dehydrator, it takes some experimentation, don't expect to buy one and produce fabulous meals at the first try but its not that hard. You can pretty much cook your favorite meals at home and then dry them, much tastier than the Mountain House meals you mention and without all that salt. Those meals are "freeze dried" which is different than dehydrating. You can also make good jerky too.
Depends what type of trip you are on, some of our annual canoe trips are "full on" steak tips, baked potatoes and dutch oven apple cobbler for dessert type trips, but if you have less space ( a kayak )and as long as you can carry some extra water, the dehydrated food is a good option I think.

I MAY be able to get up to Rockland on 18th and could bring the dehydrator up and discuss it with folks if no one has used one before and there was some interest.

Briggsy

[Johnysmoke]

A few recipes, starting with an easy heat and eat "recipe" that is fairly light weight, fast and easy to make.

-Cheese Potato Bomb. Ingredients: potato pearls (instant mashed potatoes) ramen noodles, and cheese. Mix it in the bowl you're going to eat out of. Add hot water and a little hot sauce and you're all set. Add butter for extra calories if camping in cold weather. Cheap, easy and fast. Great if you're just getting out of the boat after a longish day and need something quick and hot to get warmed back up. A good heat and eat alternative to the mountain house bags full of sodium. If you're feeling particularly healthy discard the Ramen mystery spice bag...

A few of my favorite and fairly easy recipes that are in the mid-weight category as they usually require the use of a frying pan, so they are not one pot wonders, or heat and eat.

-Breakfast biscuits. Ingredients: Bisquick or pancake mix is the main ingredient, and I'll add a few things to make it a little more interesting: nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit, shredded coconut, grape nuts. I've also cooked them savory, with cheese and sliced salami on top.

Mix the bisquick and other ingredients so that it is fairly thick, wants to stand up on the spoon. Heat the fry pan, I use coconut butter instead of straight up butter and it works great, but butter or oil also works well. Drop about a half cup of batter into the pan at a time, and space them evenly so you can cook two or three at a time. Flip when cooked about half way through. The beauty of this recipe is you can make three or four "biscuits" in a batch instead of one pancake at a time, so you can reduce cook time. Does require a mixing bowl, so one more pot to clean, but not a deal breaker. Will cook really well with a lid on the fry pan. They also travel really well for later in the day, work great with jam or jelly on them.

Variation- I've made a varient with equal parts pancake mix, corn meal, and canned tuna fish, makes a tasty little "fish cake"...

-Thai green curry coconut stir fry. Ingredients: a can or jar of thai green curry sauce, a can of coconut milk, an onion, garlic, rice, cooking oil, vegetables suitable for a stir fry that travel well stuffed in the back of a kayak. I've used carrots, peppers, sweet potato, regular potato, broccoli.

Cook rice and set aside. Cut vegetables into uniform pieces so they cook evenly. I bring a flexible cutting board and small parring knife to make this an easier process. Heat oil and drop in vegetables, cook on medium heat until they start to get tender, then add the thai green chili. I add the coconut milk last of all, give it a few minutes on lower heat to coalesce. Serve rice into the separate bowls, then top with coconut curry stir fry. Pretty tasty meal, a little heavy weight wise with the can of coconut milk, but usually a crowd pleaser.

-Fried mac and cheese. Ingredients: noodles, onion, cheese. Boil noodles until tender, drain and set aside. Heat up fry pan, add cooking oil, sliced onion and saute. When onions are done, throw the noodles back in, add some diced cheese, mix it all up, and let it cook until it gets a little crusty with the cheese frying. Flip or stir everything and cook until you get a nice prevalent cheese crust. Depending on the size of fry pan this may require a few batches. Simple but good.


Briggsy,

I wouldn't mind getting that peanut butter bar recipe you had last week out at Monomoy, pretty tasty. Also interested in the dehydrator, seems like so much potential there, and sounds like you've already got it dialed in. I may have to convince the wife we should get one...

[pat]

Chip, if you want to try that direction, I believe Jim has TWO dehydrators, and I'm sure he'd be glad to give you a long-term loan of one.

[Chip]

I have been thinking about a dehydrator for a while. Wasn't sure I would get enough use out of it. It might be worth borrowing Jim's for a while. Thanks Pat.
Thanks Briggsy and John for the ideas.

[Briggsy]

Chip,
The dehydrator is a lot of work before you go on the trip, but when you're sitting out on a beach in the middle of nowhere enjoying a fine tequila or whatever and it only takes a few minutes for a one pot dinner, with only your cookpot/bowl and a fork to wash up, thats when the work pays off !!
OR when its pouring with rain outside and you really don't want to prepare some elaborate meal.

Whatever I make, I will do 3 or 4 portions of the same thing in one go, portion it out after its dried and I store all the meals in the freezer, they say it lasts longer. When you do a spur of the moment overnighter somewhere you are ready. I think having used one for a while now I would always take some dehydrated meals on a multi day trip for emergencies or miserable rainy days.

Briggsy

[pat]

Handy household tip: dehydrate ice cubes to use in mixed drinks at the campsite.

[Ken R]

Just add water to dehydrate ice cubes 3 minutes prior to use

[Birdseye]

Hey Pat,
How about that black bean soup recipe.

[pat]

How about that black bean soup recipe.

Well, I don't know that it's very kayak-camping sensible, but it IS a great way to re-enact that Blazing Saddles scene around the campfire.

2 onions
2 cloves garlic
4 carrots (1 lb)
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
4 cans (15 oz) beef broth
4 cans (15 oz) black beans (rinsed)
1 15 oz can corn (drained)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 can (28 oz) stewed tomatoes

In dutch oven with some oil, fry up onion, garlic and carrots for 5 minutes, or until onion is softened.
Add Chili powder and cumin. Stir for 1 minute.
Add ¾ of the broth, 1 can of beans, corn and pepper. Bring to boil.
Meanwhile, in a food processor, puree remaining beans and tomatoes. Use remaining broth to thin the beans in the food processor. Add to pot.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes

[Birdseye]

How about that black bean soup recipe.

Well, I don't know that it's very kayak-camping sensible, but it IS a great way to re-enact that Blazing Saddles scene around the campfire.

2 onions
2 cloves garlic
4 carrots (1 lb)
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
4 cans (15 oz) beef broth
4 cans (15 oz) black beans (rinsed)
1 15 oz can corn (drained)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 can (28 oz) stewed tomatoes

In dutch oven with some oil, fry up onion, garlic and carrots for 5 minutes, or until onion is softened.
Add Chili powder and cumin. Stir for 1 minute.
Add ¾ of the broth, 1 can of beans, corn and pepper. Bring to boil.
Meanwhile, in a food processor, puree remaining beans and tomatoes. Use remaining broth to thin the beans in the food processor. Add to pot.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes

Good to cook ahead of time and bring in a thermos. Thanks Pat.