Outdoor Cooking

How to Stock Your Chuck Box

Having your camp kitchen gear organized makes things easier in the field. The keys to eating good food in camp is preparation, and having the tools you need to make great food in the field. If you put in a little time ahead of your camping trip thinking about food, you'll be rewarded with less hard work when you're there.

Gooey Double-Chocolate Caramel Dutch-Oven Cake Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes 

Cook Time: 50 to 60 minutes 

Servings: 12-14

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 box chocolate cake mix

  • 1/3 cup melted butter

  • 2/3 cup boiling water

  • 2 tbsp. instant coffee

  • 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks

  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

  • 10 wrapped caramels, unwrapped and cut in fourths

Stout Venison Stew

Prep Time: 30 minutes 

Cook Time: 2 hours 25 minutes 

Servings: 8-10

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tbs butter

  • 2 tbs flour

  • 4 pounds (8 cups) venison stew meat, cut into 2-inch chunks

  • 3 tbs vegetable oil

  • 2 onions, roughly chopped

  • 4 garlic cloves, minced

  • 4 cups beef, venison, or game stock

  • 1 bottle Guinness Extra Stout (or other dark stout)

  • 1 tbs light brown sugar

Breakfast Pockets

Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes (if you make your own bread dough); 30 minutes (using pre-made roll dough) 

Cook Time: 25 to 30 minutes per batch 

Servings: Makes 30 to 36 breakfast pockets, approximately 15 to 18 servings

INGREDIENTS

  • Bread dough

  • 1½ cups warm water

  • 1 package yeast

  • 1 T. sugar

  • 2 tsp. salt

  • 2 T. butter

  • 3 to 4 cups flour

     

     

  • Filling mixture

Campfire Flapjacks

Prep Time: 30 minutes 

Cook Time: 30 minutes 

Servings: 2 (5-6 four-inch flapjacks)

INGREDIENTS

  • Step 1 Ingredients:
         - 1 cup all-purpose flour
         - 1/2 tsp. baking powder
         - 1/2 tsp. baking soda
         - 1/2 tsp. salt
     

  • Step 2 Ingredients:
         - 3 tbsp. melted butter, plus more to grease pan
         - 1/2 cup milk
         - 1/2 cup sour cream
         - 2 eggs

Campfire Pasta Puttanesca

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes 

Cook Time: 20 minutes 

Servings: 4

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 medium onion, chopped

  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced

  • 2 tbsp. olive oil

  • 2 28-ounce cans of diced tomatoes

  • 2 tbsp. tomato paste

  • 1 cup water

  • 1/2 cup chopped Kalamata olives

  • 4-5 anchovies

  • 2 tbsp. capers, rinsed and drained

  • 1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning

Frying Pan Fish Fry

When it comes to frying fish at camp, whether camp is as tame as a state park campground or as wild as an Alaskan river, I've always thought less is more.

By that I mean using the least amount of stuff and as little oil as possible, to keep cleanup and storage simple and straightforward. With this approach, deep-frying is out, and pan-frying is in.

It's easy, nearly foolproof, and results in far less mess and cleaning fuss when the bones are picked clean. Oh yeah, and pan-frying either whole fish or fillets results in some of the best camp grub on the planet. Here's how.