Green Bean, Bacon, Mushroom Skillet

Green beans are good and so are mushrooms. Onions and bacon makes them even better. I mean, bacon makes everything better, right?! This green bean skillet is so good, it disappears very quickly. Try to load each fork bite with a little of everything. The combination of flavors is simply delightful.

This is a quick and easy side dish that compliments just about anything. Serve it alongside any protein you’ve grilled or baked in camp. It also goes well with other side dishes. Serve it alongside a casserole you baked in a Dutch oven. It’s fresh and tasty and the recipe can be sized up to feed a crowd. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet that is big enough, you can use a Dutch oven on a camp stove or over coals.

Feel free to adjust the size of your cuts depending on how chunky you want your bacon, onion, and mushrooms and, of course, salt and pepper to your liking. If you wanted to add a little heat to this, try adding some red pepper flakes or a dash of your favorite hot sauce.

The first time we made this, everyone grabbed a fork to taste it and before we knew it, the skillet was empty. Once we started, no one could stop.

Equipment
Cast-iron skillet or a Dutch oven.

Ingredients
4 slices bacon, cut into strips
1/2 medium white onion, diced or half moon slices
12 ounces green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Prep
In a cast-iron skillet, on medium heat, fry bacon until just starting to brown. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add green beans on top of the onions and bacon; do not stir. Let them cook about 2 minutes, then stir. Add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently until the green beans are just starting to blister and mushrooms are cooked through, but still fairly firm. Add 1 tablespoon butter and stir in until melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves about 4

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Kiss My Grits!

That cheeky catchphrase was a favorite of a sassy waitress named Flo on the 1970s sitcom Alice. The actress who played Flo was a native of Alabama and no stranger to grits. Made using ground corn kernels, grits are a southern specialty and the official state food of South Carolina, but you don’t have to be southern to enjoy them.

Growing up, one of my best friends was a southern girl and whenever I ate at her house, grits were almost always on the menu. Grits can be served for breakfast much like oatmeal or cream of wheat and they can be served with dinner much like mashed potatoes, rice, polenta, and pasta.

And for those of you who are wondering, both grits and polenta are made from ground corn, but the main difference is what type of corn. Polenta, as you can probably guess from the color, is made from yellow corn, while grits are normally made from white corn (or hominy). Polenta originated from northern and central Italy. Grits came from the Native America Muskogee tribe. Grits will usually end up being finer and smoother. Polenta has a coarse texture and takes a little longer to make.

And, just like potatoes, polenta, rice, and pasta, grits will go with just about anything, but perhaps the most famous pairing is shrimp and grits. Think of them as mashed potatoes but with a different flavor and texture.

Grits can be made simply with just water, a little butter, and some salt and black pepper or they can be dressed up with milk or cream, chicken stock, cheese, green onion, garlic, almost anything. They are a blank canvas. They are also an excellent source of vitamin B and iron. For a sweet, hot breakfast, omit the black pepper and add some fruit or cinnamon and sugar. Again, treat it like oatmeal or cream of wheat. Today, September 2, happens to be National Grits for Breakfast Day.

Grits can be made on the stove top or in a slow cooker. The only trick is, much like cream of wheat, when you add the grits to the boiling liquid you have to add slowly and stir or whisk the whole time and keep stirring until everything is mixed well; otherwise, they will clump.

The recipe below is easy to make on a stove or in a slow cooker. They are smooth and creamy, and all my southern buddies have given them two thumbs up. When I make these in the scout camp dining hall, on Saturday morning, I’ll set out a large slow cooker with breakfast and they quickly disappear.

Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
3 1/2 cups water
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups stone ground grits
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Instructions
In a saucepan, on medium heat, combine all ingredients except grits and cheese. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently to prevent the milk from scalding on the bottom. Gradually whisk in grits. (Add them too quickly and they will clump.)

Reduce heat to low and cook according to the directions on the container, stirring frequently. Add the cheese and stir until melted in. If grits get too thick add more water or half-and-half.

Serves 6-8

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Spicy Special Sauce

I’ve written on more than one occasion how my son likes spicy stuff. When we go out to eat, he usually orders a spicy burger topped with jalapeños, habanero peppers, ghost peppers and/or a spicy sauce. He wanted to create a spicy special sauce that he could put on his burgers when we grill at home or in camp. Here is what we came up with. Keep in mind that this is tailored to his liking, this is his recipe, but I think you might like it, too. He challenged me to try it with him and I actually like it, when my tongue stops tingling.

For a milder special sauce, please read my blog post: “Thousand Island Dressing is Not Just for Salads.”

In our home kitchen, we stock tabasco, sriracha, and ghost pepper sauce for when we want to spice things up. For this spicy special sauce, we went straight to the ghost pepper sauce because he was wanting some serious heat. We like Dave’s ghost pepper sauce because the primary ingredient is ghost pepper and there isn’t much of anything else in it; however, if you have a favorite hot sauce, by all means, substitute it and adjust the amount for your heat tolerance.

We also need to include a safety warning here. When you are working with really hot peppers or really hot pepper sauces, you need to follow some safety protocols such as wearing gloves and washing your hands thoroughly after handling. For more information on hot stuff, please read my blog post: “Some Like it Hot.”

We tried this sauce on burgers and hot dogs and we like it on both. Since this was our first go around, and I think he was trying to go easy on me, we started with a small amount of ghost pepper sauce. Our plan is to slowly up it until our tongues catch fire, which I’m sure will happen to me long before it happens to him. So, here’s his concoction. Adjust it to your liking.

Ingredients
8 teaspoons sweet relish
8 teaspoons ketchup
4 teaspoons mustard (we used yellow)
1/4 teaspoon ghost pepper sauce

Prep
Combine all ingredients. We recommend storing in a glass container because we were afraid it would eat through a plastic container. Seriously.

Serves about 4 depending on how much you smear on.

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Deviled Egg Potato Salad

 

I grew up with a simple, straight up potato salad. It wasn’t anything fancy and didn’t include any “weird” ingredients, but I loved it for its simplicity. It didn’t matter what else was on the picnic table, it went with everything. Unfortunately, the recipe (if there ever was one) was not passed down so I decided to recreate it.

It took a lot of trial and error to get all the flavors balanced, but I think I got it or, at least, I’ve gotten really, really close. When I’ve made this potato salad for family and friends, they say it has a very deviled egg flavor so that’s what I’m calling it.

I’ve made it with baby red potatoes, mini golds, and russets, and I have to say that I think I prefer the russets, but the others were tasty also. The russets seem to soak up more of the dressing, which is maybe why I like them better. If you choose to use golds or reds, you may find that you don’t need as much dressing. Just eyeball it and you’ll be okay.

I make this at home, the day before we leave, and load it into a hard-sided container for the ride to camp in my cooler. If I think I’m going to set it out for more than one meal then I will portion it into smaller containers so that it’s not going in and out of the cooler.

For the russets, I like to “bake” them in my Instant Pot or I’ll bake them outside in a Dutch oven because who wants to fire up their indoor oven in the middle of summer. If you’ve got an outdoor fire pit, you could wrap them in foil and bake them in coals. I don’t recommend boiling the russets because they break down too easily and you end up with more of a mashed potato salad. The golds and reds could be boiled or baked either in coals or in the Instant Pot.

You could also pre-mix your sauce and chop your veggies at home, and then bake your potatoes in camp and assemble in camp. I like to make it at home right before we go because potato salad is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day.

So, here is my favorite potato salad and I think it’s as close to grandma’s as I’m gonna get. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 1/2 to 2 pounds potatoes of your choice (mini gold potatoes, russets, red potatoes, etc.)
3/4 cup (2-3 stalks) celery, diced
4 eggs, hard-boiled, diced
1/4 cup (2-3 stalks) green onion, sliced
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon parsley, dried or 1 tablespoon fresh
1 tablespoon sweet relish or 1 cup sweet pickles, diced

Prep
Bake or boil the potatoes and hard-boil the eggs. Halve or quarter the smaller potatoes. For the larger potatoes like russets, large dice them down to bite-sized chunks. Mix together the ingredients for the sauce. Slice and dice the celery, green onion, and eggs (as fine or as chunky as you like). Combine all ingredients, stirring gently so as not to crush or mash the potatoes unless that’s your preference. Cover and chill.

Food Safety Tip: Eggs should sit at room temperature no longer than 2 hours.

Serves about 8.

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Cheddar Herb Biscuits

These biscuits are little flavor bombs. They are light and fluffy and super cheesy.  The garlic adds savoriness while the buttermilk adds tanginess, and the cayenne gives it just a bit of a kick. They go well with a hearty stew or chili or jambalaya. Really, I think they could go with just about anything. You can serve them with breakfast or dinner.

They go together really easy and could be baked in a Dutch oven or in a box oven. While you could serve them with butter, they don’t really need anything. They are perfect all on their own. Be warned, once you start eating them, you’ll find it difficult to stop and before you know it, they’ll have disappeared and all that will be left will be that tingle from the cayenne.

Ingredients for Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 tablespoon parsley, fresh, or 1/2 teaspoon dried

Ingredients for Topping
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tablespoon parsley chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Prep
At home, before you go, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. Load into a resealable bag or an airtight container and add it to your food tote.

In camp, melt your butter and then start your coals according to your baking method. For a box oven, 15-18 ought to do. Coals for a Dutch oven will depend on the size of the Dutch oven you’re using. Check my Dutch Oven Size Chart and Temperature Guide on the Resources page. The temperature of your oven needs to be 450°F.

I recommend using parchment paper to bake on because the cheese makes them just a bit sticky.

Dump your dry ingredients into a medium or large bowl. In a 2-cup measuring cup or a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and melted butter. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist. Gently fold in cheese and parsley.

Using a standard ice cream scoop or a 1/4-cup measuring cup, scoop the batter evenly onto the prepared baking sheet or into the prepared Dutch oven. Leave a little space between the biscuits. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.

For the topping, whisk together melted butter, parsley, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Brush the tops of the biscuits and serve immediately.

Makes about 12 biscuits.

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Thousand Island Dressing is Not Just for Salads

I grew up eating salads dressed in Thousand Island. My parents always stocked it in our refrigerator. Not only does it make a tasty salad, it is widely used in fast-food restaurants and diners, where it is often referred to as “special sauce” or “secret sauce” for burgers, hot dogs, and various sandwiches.

Making dressings from scratch is great because you have complete control over the ingredients and can tweak them to your liking. Most of the ingredients are items you already stock in your refrigerator or pantry so they can be whipped up on the fly. You can make as much as you need and don’t have to fear a whole bottle of store-bought going bad in the refrigerator. And, fresh is always best!

For camping trips, this dressing can easily be made a couple days in advance and kept in the cooler. Just be sure to keep it in a plastic container that has a tight seal.

So, for your next camping trip or backyard BBQ, whip up a batch of Thousand Island for a tangy, zesty, “secret” sauce that’s equally at home on a burger or a salad. It is less expensive than store-bought and it tastes, well, a thousand times better!

For more dressing recipes, check out my Raspberry Vinaigrette and Caesar recipes.

Ingredients
½ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
2 teaspoons finely diced onion (I use red onion but yellow or white works also)
¼ teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 teaspoon vinegar (I use apple cider but white works also)
pinch of salt
2-3 dashes Tabasco sauce (optional)

Prep
Add all ingredients to a small bowl, mason jar, or plastic container and mix well. Add additional salt if desired. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to marry. Serve.

Keep refrigerated for 3-4 days. It may keep longer, but mine never seems to last that long!

Makes about ¾ of a cup, which is about 6 (1-ounce or 2 tablespoons) servings.

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Chicken Chow Mein

When we go out for Asian food whether it is dine-in or take-out, chow mein is always one of the dishes we order. It is great as an entrée or as a side dish. It also makes a great camping dish because, for the most part, it is a one-pot recipe. And, I don’t think I’ve met a kid who didn’t like noodles.

We’ve made this recipe a few times and we love it. My son has even gone back for thirds! It is loaded with healthy vegetables and the flavors, particularly the ginger, really pop.

If you need to cook gluten-free, you could easily swap out the Yaki-Soba for gluten-free spaghetti. The flavor and texture will be subtly different, but with all the other flavors going on, you probably won’t notice.

You could serve this as a stand-alone dish or as a side dish. As a stand-alone, it serves 4-5. As a side dish, you could probably double that. If you’re serving as a side dish, you could omit the chicken and do something else with it like Teriyaki Chicken or my Kung Pao Chicken.

You could also serve the chow mein (with or without the chicken) with my Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry. You could serve this with an Asian marinated flank steak. You could serve this with pot stickers, egg rolls or just a simple Asian salad. Really, the possibilities are endless.

A lot of the prep for this could be done at home before you go. In camp, you could make this in a cast-iron wok on a big camp stove or in a Dutch oven on the stove or over coals, or in a large, deep skillet. If all the prep is done at home, you can get this meal on the picnic table in less than 30 minutes, depending on what else you serve with it.

Ingredients
¼ cup soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger or ½ teaspoon dried, ground ginger
¼ teaspoon white pepper
3 (5.6-ounce) packages refrigerated Yaki-Soba, seasoning sauce packets discarded*
1 onion, sliced into half or quarter moons, depending on your preference
3 stalks celery, sliced diagonally
2 cups shredded cabbage
2 cup carrots , shredded or julienne sliced
4 green onions, sliced with whites and greens separated
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts , cut into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons sesame oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Prep
At home before you go, prep the chicken and load into a resealable bag or container. Prep all your vegetables. If you don’t want to shred all the cabbage, you can purchase a bag of pre-shredded (the kind used for coleslaw). The amount of cabbage will look like a lot but it will cook down. The onion, carrot, and celery could all go into a resealable bag or container together since they will all be cooked together. The cabbage and bean sprouts could also be transported together. The green onion should be packaged separately. Mix together the soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, ginger and white pepper and load into a container that can be sealed. Make sure you pack salt, pepper, and sesame oil. You should also pack some extra soy sauce and a hot sauce that folks can add at the table if they choose.

In camp, add some boiling water to a pot or a bowl and add the Yaki-Soba until loosened, about 1-2 minutes; drain well.

In your chosen cooking vessel (wok, Dutch oven, skillet) over medium-high heat, add a couple tablespoons of sesame oil. Add chicken, season it with salt and pepper and stir fry just until cooked through (it will continue to cook as you add other ingredients). Add onion, carrot, and celery, and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and the bean sprouts until heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in Yaki-Soba, soy sauce mixture, and white parts of green onion until well combined, about 2 minutes. Total cook time in camp is 15-20 minutes.

Garnish with the green parts of the green onion.

Serves 4-5 as a stand-alone dish or 8-10 as a side dish.

*Yaki-Soba is ramen-style noodles and they can be found in the refrigerated aisle of your local grocery store. In camp, all you need to do is place them in a bowl and pour hot water over them and let them rest for a few minutes to “loosen up.”

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Artisan Bread in Camp

There is something almost euphoric about the smell of fresh baked bread. When you smell it in camp it is downright magical.

This is a simple, rustic bread that goes together easy and requires no kneading. Yes, you read correctly, a yeast dough that requires no kneading. I used one of my 12-inch-deep Dutch ovens because I wanted the extra height. You could also use a regular 12-inch Dutch oven, but the top might get a little extra browned. You may have to adjust your coals.

Speaking of coals, I didn’t use the standard 2:1 ratio of coals (2 coals on the lid for every coal underneath). I wanted more heat coming from the top so the underside wouldn’t burn. I used a 3:1 ratio (3 coals on the lid for every coal underneath) and I think that is perfect.

This bread has a nice, crusty outside and the inside is soft and fluffy. At home, you could start it the night before and bake it for dinner the next day. In camp, you could start it in the morning and bake it for dinner that night. If you are making this at home in a conventional oven, bake it in a Dutch oven with the lid on for 30 minutes and then remove the lid and bake another 15 minutes to brown the outside.

Serve it warm, fresh out of the oven with some softened butter, and you’ll have some happy campers.

Equipment
12-inch-deep Dutch oven, mixing bowl, measuring cup and spoons, wooden spoon.

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon dry yeast (active dry or highly active dry work best; I used active dry)
1 ½ cups lukewarm water (110-115 degrees)
Extra flour for your board and hands

Prep
On your propane stove, gently warm some water to 110-115 degrees. If you overshoot, just remove from the heat and allow it to cool. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add the water and stir using a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a shaggy, but cohesive dough. You’ll know when you get there.

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in a safe place protected from critters. Let the dough sit for 8-24 hours. The dough will bubble up and rise.

About an hour and a half before you want to eat the bread, start 40 coals (if you are using 12-inch Dutch oven and not a 12-inch-deep, adjust your coals down). Heat your Dutch oven to 450°F, using 30 coals on the lid and 10 underneath, for 30 minutes.

While your Dutch oven preheats, turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and, with floured hands, form the dough into a ball. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rest. Start a fresh batch of coals.

After the 30 minutes are up, with floured hands, place the bread dough into the preheated Dutch oven. I placed my bread dough onto a piece of parchment paper and then lowered the dough on the paper into the oven. Refresh the coals. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Remove the bread and place on a cutting board, letting it rest for about 5 minutes. Slice and serve!

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Mozzarella Stuffed Pizza Bombs

These are so good. When we made these for the first time, they disappeared in about 5 minutes. They are best hot out of the oven while the cheese is still gooey. I’m not sure how they taste cold or reheated because they never last that long. Make sure you serve them with warm marinara sauce. They are a hit all by themselves, but dipping them in warm marinara knocks them out of the park!

These would make a great pre-dinner appetizer or as a side dish or as part of an evening cracker barrel. If you’re making these for an evening cracker barrel and want easy clean up, you could foil line your Dutch oven, but be sure to liberally grease the foil.

If you made enough of these, they could even be a main dish. To make them even more pizza-like you could wrap the mozzarella in a slice of pepperoni or Canadian bacon before wrapping them in the pizza dough. I just might have to try that.

They are a bit messy to make. Your hands end up covered in the butter-garlic mixture. I would have some hot soapy water standing by or use disposable food serving gloves.

You can make these using fresh oregano and garlic cloves or you can use dried minced garlic and dried oregano. I use dried oregano and dried, minced garlic and hand mix it.

I make a single batch in my 10-inch Dutch oven in camp or in my cast-iron skillet at home (it’s about the same size). I have not tried larger batches yet, but I imagine that if you doubled it, you could squeeze them into a 12-inch Dutch oven. They’d be cozy but it’s okay if they touch. If you do and it works, let me know.

I wonder how many I could squeeze into my 16-inch Dutch oven?! Hmmmm….

Equipment
10-inch Dutch oven or cast-iron skillet.

Ingredients
8 cloves of garlic, fresh, or 2 teaspoons dried, minced
1 tablespoon oregano, fresh, or 1 teaspoon dried
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
9 ounces of pizza dough or 1 tube of refrigerated pizza dough
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
10 ounces of mozzarella, cut into ¾-inch cubes, or 8 mozzarella sticks, quartered
Extra olive oil and butter for greasing the Dutch oven or skillet
Marinara sauce for dipping, warmed

At home in a food processor, combine garlic cloves, oregano, melted butter, olive oil, and salt until well mixed. Load into a container for transport to camp in the cooler. You could do this in camp without the food processor by just mincing the garlic and herbs by hand or using dried, minced garlic and dried oregano.

In camp, using a mixture of olive oil and butter, liberally grease a Dutch oven (if making these at home, you could use a cast-iron skillet).

On a flat, floured surface, roll out the pizza dough into a 9-by-9-inch square that’s a ¼ inch thick. Brush with the melted garlic-butter mixture and sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 equal-sized squares. Place one piece of mozzarella or ½ of a stick (2 quartered pieces) into the middle of each piece of dough. Wrap the mozzarella up in the dough and seal the edges completely. In the Dutch oven or skillet, arrange all the balls, seam side down, so they’re touching. Brush each dough ball thoroughly with the garlic-butter mixture.

Bake in a 375°F oven, using 16 coals on the lid and 7 underneath, for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and puffed up. Serve with warm marinara sauce for dipping.

Serves about 5 as an appetizer, 3-4 as a main dish (because we can’t eat just 3 or 4)

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Cran-Apple Coleslaw

I grew up on a cranberry farm and, every once in a while, I get a craving for cranberries. I also like to find excuses to add cranberries wherever I can, so I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to enjoy them with apples.

This non-traditional coleslaw is perfect for when you’re looking for something a little different. The apples and cranberries are a classic pairing of sweetness and tartness. The almonds add just a bit of crunch along with the cabbage and carrots. And the dressing is both sweet and tangy, and brings it all together.

As the base for the dressing, I used Fage Greek yogurt for its richness and thickness. Whatever brand you choose, be sure it is Greek; otherwise, the yogurt will be too thin and your dressing will be too sloppy.

I’d recommend assembling and serving immediately to keep everything as crisp as possible. The dressing could be made ahead and brought to camp for when you’re ready to assemble.

As always, tweak it to your liking. If you’re not a fan of dried cranberries, you could substitute raisins. You could use a different variety of apple. We like gala apples.

I love the fruity freshness of this salad. You could easily pair it with most anything. Last weekend, we served it with our chipotle pulled pork and it was fantastic. Look for the chipotle pulled pork recipe soon!

Equipment
Large mixing bowl, small mixing bowl, whisk, knife, cutting board, measuring cups and spoons..

Ingredients
¾ cup Greek yogurt
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
6-7 cups cabbage, shredded (about 1 small cabbage)
1½ cups carrots, sliced into matchsticks
3 cups gala apples, sliced into matchsticks (about 2 apples)
½ cup green onions, sliced (about 4 stalks)
1 cup almonds, sliced or slivered
1 cup dried cranberries

Prep
At home or in camp, in a small mixing bowl, whisk together Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, honey, apple cider vinegar, and salt and pepper until smooth.

In a large bowl, toss together cabbage, carrots, apples, green onions, almonds and cranberries. Add the dressing and toss to evenly coat.

Serves about 8.

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