Dinners

Dinner recipes contained within primarily require cooking, or at least boiling water--that's when we've find we have the most time to prepare the stove/cooking gear required to make hot water. Dinners with meat are listed in the following section (VI) Meat Dishes; we've thrown in two dessert suggestions at the end of this section.

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Those rice-with-sauce, noodles-with-sauce, potatoes-with-sauce, and now rice-and-beans-with-sauce (complete protein) packages you can get in the supermarket form the basis of about 1/3 of my camping meals. You don't need to simmer them, if you're skimping on fuel or if your stove doesn't simmer -- just bring to a boil, take off the heat, put on a lid and wrap it all in a towel, then set it aside. The towel holds in the heat nicely. After about half the simmering time you may want to bring it back to the boil again if it seems to be cold.

We also make skillet pizza -- just buy any pizza mix and top with extra cheese (small slices of Cheddar are fine), sausage (we take a long keeping salami or summer sausage), onion (we take fresh, they're worth the weight), mushroom (rehydrate in minutes -- we dry our own in a $100 dehydrator) etc.

Also wonderful -- just made cornpone (shape into pones, my recipe says, how helpful), anyway we made patty-shaped things and fried them) split like a biscuit and make a cheese sandwich -- the warm bread melts the cheese a little -- *excellent* on a cold morning. Actually *any* made on the spot bread equivalents will be much nicer than a five day old bagel.
{ed: yeah, but the bagel's a lot quicker}

FROM gregory@csri.toronto.edu (Kate Gregory)
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One of the easiest things you can do is to make your own reconstituted beans. Much cheaper and you know exactly what goes in. The recipe can be found in many backpacking food prep books. Basically, it involves cooking beans down in the way you do at home, draining them, and spreading them out on cookie sheet to dry a couple of hours at low heat in your oven until crumbly. Very lightweight, very inexpensive, and it reconstitutes to taste great. Will last at least a month. On the trail I prepare them the same way you do (add to boiling water, let boil for 3-5 minutes; sure beats the 30-90 minutes you would have to wait if you cooked dry beans) but I hadn't thought of the Taco Bell angle. I've been lugging along a big container of salsa. On the other hand, having all the extra salsa is a great way of making failed food experiments or "let's just combine everything we have left on the last day in one big pot" adventures taste great!

With dried beans you can make quasedillas, beans and rice and tortillas, and bean soup.

I've also had a lot of luck drying ground beef and making leathers (tomato, zucchini). You can make your own sauces with the judicious use of leathers, dried milk, oil, fresh garlic and a few of the packets of dried stuff from the store (sour cream, tomato, etc).

When we got backpacking we pretty much rely on dried sauces, dried meat and beans, pasta and rice, tortillas and Pita bread. Very little of it is commercially prepared food. We also tuck in a can of minced clams and the instant cheesecake product. That instant cheesecake stuff is fantastic.

Once we tried a veggie stir fry with dried beef. It worked fine, but we decided the weight of those vegies just wasn't worth it.

FROM vleppert@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Valerie Leppert)
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Ever make refried beans? Ever notice how they kind of dry out at the edges of the frying pan? Well make your favorite and then spread it on a cookie sheet and dry it in a (relatively) cool oven. (Or just by the instant refried bean mixes I see in some health food stores if you insist.) Now you can just add to some boiling water over the camp stove and you have the basis for a Mexican meal.

I usually accompany this by making chapaties:
1 cup of flour (whole wheat is acceptable/preferred by me) 1 tbsp oil 1 good pinch of salt enough water to make a dough (about 1/2 cup depending on your flour and your hand for this sort of thing). Knead until elastic, pinch off ~ 1 inch balls and roll them out thin. Put them on a moderately hot skillet (no oil or butter) to cook. They should form large bubbles/air pockets and if you are not as good at this as most third world people you can pop them into a microwave at this point to finish them off.

They are quite good and indestructible. Of course I would rather have a complex carbohydrate at a rest stop than a piece of chocolate so I'm kind of strange anyway. Anyhow as I say they travel well and fill that void between rye crisps and real bread in my pack.

Anyhow, back to Mexican dinner. Bring some fresh vegies as well, such as tomatoes, onions, etc. Also some cheese and use the chapaties as tortillas (I have better luck with them in the pack than store bought tortillas) and even some salsa if you like. You can make tacos, enchiladas, or roll up the little beasts and heat them to melt the cheese inside in a pot over the stove if so inclined.

There you go, for what its worth. Now you see why I need a copy of your collection? Cheers and happy climbing, hiking, paddling, skiing, etc.

Ian Kay
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Rice thingy

1. cream the sugar and butter. Add flour, baking powder, salt, eggs. beat well.
2. pour batter into 9 inch spring form. Place plum halves skin side up. Sprinkle lightly w/ sugar & lemon juice, depending on desired sweetness of fruit. sprinkle w/ 1tsp cinnamon.
3. bake at 350 , 1hr. remove and let cool, refrigerate. serve w/ vanilla ice cream.

From: gdc1@cornell.edu
(Geraldine Desmoulieres Carter) (dino :)

editor's note: try making ice cream by mixing snow with sugared drink mix or vanilla, brown sugar, and powdered milk.
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Take some canned beans (the kidney beans) and some canned chicken(Swanson premium white) and heat just enough to get contents very warm. Spoon serving into a fajita shell (or something similar)andspray Easy Cheese on the warm contents. Wrap up shell and eat. This is very filling. The drawback is the cans. That's why this is a good meal to eat after the first day of strenuous hiking. You can stuff trash into the cans to help condense your trash. This was first tried in the Daniel Boone National Forest. It has since become a hit meal in the Smokies and in Wyoming on my trips. Hope this helps! If you have any comments, please feel free to mail meat the address below. Thank you,

Brian Hippley
hippley@cn.ecn.purdue.edu
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Mix together, seal in a jar and pack with you - the acid pickles the fish so no cooking is required, and the result is delicious. Serve with a cooled Cous-cous or other pasta to absorb the liquid and spread the flavor out.

Don Barry
don@chara.gsu.edu
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My friends and I, toward the end of a 2 week backpacking trip with heavy amounts of miles, became quite bored with the prepackaged food we had and the blandness of the "just add water and heat" food. We became determined to either have a tasty hot meal, or go hungry trying. We consolidated all our food, sorted out the stuff that obviously wouldn't work, and mixed the stuff left over. We ended up with a few sticks of beef jerky, an apple that was about 65% bruised (which we cut up into very small pieces), and both minute rice and brown rice. While looking for wood for the fire, we happened upon a huge onion "patch" (is that what you call it?) and a while later several healthy mushrooms (yes, they were true wild mushrooms). We mixed all this together along with a couple packets of salt (compliments of MC Donald's packaging) to form the colloquial "rock soup." We had been hiking hard for a solid week and a half over hilly and muddy country. We were tired of the normal food we had been eating. To this day, everyone in the group(5 people) swears that even though the pot was barely full(that'sWITH the water), we all feasted like kings and absolutely could not have ate any more. Now that I think about it, I believe this is the same outcome to the "rock soup" story isn't it?

Jim Patten
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Cooking (with flavoring), then dehydrating in your stove works well--not as good as freeze-dried, I guess. Rice and tomato paste work really well for this. Just cook the rice, add the paste, spread on a cookie sheet or three and leave in 100 degree (or less if your stove goes lower) oven, with the door cracked, for about 3 hours. If this is not the simplest recipe in the world, I don't know what is. Sure, it's just flavored rice, but when you also cook up some chicken tandori you've had marinading since you left home (better eat it the first night unless it's winter!), cook up some pan bread, pull out the bottle of wine and the cheesecake for dessert - OK, maybe I went a little overboard there - it's almost lunchtime and I'm hungry. Buy I wasn't joking about the chicken tandori or pan bread (can't get much more freeze-dried than flower and baking powder - also spices are light enough - though not for people who measure the weight down to the weight of a fork!) is not difficult. For long trips you can cook and dehydrate meats.

from ejh@khonshu.colorado.edu
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Fantastic Foods brand dried chili and refried beans from the health food store are actually pretty good in their own right.

Italian style pasta. These sauces keep and work pretty good:

1. Basil pesto, topped with extra chopped walnuts and loads of Parmesan cheese. If you keep the container topped off with olive oil it won't turn black.
2. Pepper sauce. Saute some garlic, dried parsley and a pinch of red pepper flakes for about a minute in olive oil.
3. White clam or shrimp sauce from a small can of clams. Just warm the clams/shrimp & juice in a frying pan, add garlic, chopped parsley, and a few spoonfuls of dried milk.
4. White clam or shrimp sauce from a small can of clams. Just warm the clams/shrimp & juice in a frying pan, add garlic, chopped parsley, and a few spoonfuls of dried milk.
5. Alfredo sauce. Reconstitute dried milk with somewhat less water than usual, and combine with melted butter or margarine and Parmesan cheese. I don't favor this too much in cold weather, because I find cheesy/creamy pasta gross if it cools off before I can eat it up.
6. A few spoonfuls of french onion soup mix and olive oil also make a good pasta sauce.

Asian style pasta.

1> Sprinkle a few drops of sesame oil and soy sauce over Italian or Asian style noodles.

2> Thai peanut sauce. I don't have the recipe handy, but it's basically peanut butter, plus honey, sesame oil, soy sauce, and red pepper. Maybe ginger and garlic as well.

Angel hair pasta, or fresh, is a lot easier to cook right at high altitudes.

FROM jreece@sousa.intel.com (John Reece)
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A few things I usually eat in the bush are:

1) Knorr cream soups then I add pasta, has to be stirred quite a bit however quite a nice meal. These soups are particularly good.

2) As far as meat goes, I bring sausages, they last a month. Hit any butcher shop. I have also tried some smoked meats, they last about 2-3 days.

3) Mashed potatoes with Parmesan cheese (standard stuff.)

4) This year I tried cheese fondue. The packages can be bought fora few dollars and last forever, (vacuum packed). They are very easy to make on stove or fire. The only bad thing is they are a little heavy, but without question worth the weight, and I will include this in many trips in the future. What you dip in fondue is up to you. (There is booze in cheese fondues.)

FROM mefels@triples.math.mcgill.ca (Mark Fels)
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besides the obvious macaroni & cheese, there is a surprising number of dehydrated foods in the grocery store. For pasta, there is a company that sells fancy little pastas in small plastic bags for making soup, but you can add less water and just make pasta. The packages come with dry peas, carrots, tomato base, and things like that (depending on the version you choose). A little overpriced if you were cooking at home, but cheap compared to freeze dried stuff. Knorr makes all sorts of soups that can be used as sauces or a source of cheap dehydrated vegetables. Betty Crocker makes dehydrated scalloped potatoes. You can get packets of brown gravy mix, a Knorr package of vegetables in a tomato base, add some dry mushrooms from a Chinese grocery store, and cook them with the potatoes for a yummy stew. One of the nature food type companies(the one that makes Nature Burger I thing) makes a refried bean mix and a black bean mix, as well as a polenta mix. For the cooking-impaired, there are directions on the package and everything. (Try a health food store, or bread&circus if you have such a place if your local supermarket doesn't carry them). Take a walk in the grocery store, visit some unusual ones (Chinese, Italian, health food) for more obscure items, and think creatively.

FROM ST402676@brownvm.brown.edu
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Lipton makes these dehydrated rice and noodle dishes that are pretty good. The rice ones take 2 cups of water and boil for 10 minutes. The noodle ones say to use half milk so I add some dehydrated milk.

To make them a little more nutritious I add green beans, carrots, sun dried tomatoes, or other vegies that will last a while in a backpack.

At around $1.50 for a package that will serve two, they are a hell of a lot more economical (and almost as good) as the gourmet freeze dried stuff.

From bergen@milton.u.washington.edu (Scott Bergen)
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Dumplings
Ingredients: 1 c. biscuit mix

Trail Directions:
1. Mix up by biscuits directions
2. Form the dough into balls the size of ping-pong balls. Set these on top of a stew or soup and simmer covered for 15 -20 minutes, or until the middle of the dumplings is dry.

Doughboys
Ingredients:

1. Add .5 c. cold water too 2 c. mix. Do not add more water than this or the doughboy will fall of the stick.
2. Mix and pat the dough around the ends of 4 sticks. Make each doughboy about 4 in. long by .5 in. thick.
3. Hold the doughboy over the fire to toast them slowly for about 10 min. or until the inside is done. Turn them as you would a marshmallow you were roasting to perfection, and occasionally pat the dough to keep it evenly distributed. (If it gets lopsided, it will tend to crack and fall)
4. Pull the doughboys off the sticks gently and fill their cavities with butter, jam, or honey; add other ingredients according to whim.

Trail Directions

1. Add 3 cups water to the lentil mix in a pot. Cover and bring to a boil; then take the pot off the heat to sit for 15 min.
2. Boil again, simmer for 15 min. Add potato buds and cook a few more minutes. Add 1 tsp. butter or margarine or cut some Parmesan cheese into the soup.
3. To make dumplings: add 1/4 c/ water to 1 cup biscuit mix and make stiff batter. Follow earlier directions. Cover so they steam and cook until done during the last 20 min.

Black Bean Soup

It is possible to use other beans, like navy or pinto, to make this.

Trail Directions

1. Smash the garlic cloves with the flat of your knife to remove their skins. Cut into bits and cook for a few minutes in 1 tablespoon butter or oil in a pot.
   
2. Add the remaining contents of the bean bag and 4 cups water, and cook 10 min. Add grated cheese or cut in a few tablespoons of cheese.

Kasha (buckwheat groats)

1. Boil 1 c. water.
2. Add 1 1/2 to 2 TBL. cold water to the buckwheat mix in the bag you brought it in and mix it up.
3. Melt 1 generous TBL. butter in a frying pan or second pot, add the buckwheat mix and stir until the grains are coated and separate. Add 1 c. boiling water, cover, and simmer 15 min. or until the water is absorbed.

I have run out of time for now. These all came from -The Hungry Hikers Book of Good Cooking- by Gretchen McHugh. If these sound interesting, she has a few stew and soup recipes. Let me know if you want them.
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This has become a traditional "first night" meal:

List of Ingredients:

1 lb rice 

1 lb meat - ham, bacon 

2 tbsp sesame oil 

1 tbsp dried onion 

2 tbsp corn oil (if ham is very lean) 

1 pkg Kikoman fried rice seasoning mix (Soy sauce for additional

seasoning )



Procedure:

1. Cook rice. 

2. While cooking rice. 

     A. Cube ham, or bacon to ~1/4" squares. 

     B. Heat sesame oil in fry pan. 

     C. Fry ham and reconstituted onion until ham is slightly

     crisp 

NOTE: Stir ham frequently and rice occasionally. 

3. When rice is done rinse with cold water twice. 

4. Add the cold rice to the just crispened ham mixture. 

5. Gradually add the seasoning mix while stirring continuously 

   over a VERY HOT fire. 

6. Continue cooking until evenly fried. 



This meal may be somewhat salty, but after a hard sweaty day on

the trail that should not pose any problems. Most of my camping

is being done in the BWCA of Minnesota, which is canoe country,

and most of the time we are just paddling the load with portages

in the 1/2 to 1 mile range, so the extra weight is not much of a

problem. However, BWCA rules ban cans or bottles, and our trips

last up to 2 weeks so most perishables are out at least for the

last half of the trip. (BTW. Hunts has tomato sauce in a

paperboard box) 

1/2 lb -  Hamburger (Best) or Grnd Turkey (Okay) or Garden Burger (Uhg!! 
1 small - Sliced Red Potato  
1 medium - Sliced Carrot
1/2 small - Sliced Onion 
Liberal Amount of Cresent Season Salt (Essential)

* in pan fry carrot slices, chopped onions and garlic  
* onions are golden, add water, curry (amount depends on desired spicieness), salt & pepper  
* when water comes to boil, add cous-cous  
* when cous-cous is fluffy, serve and enjoy!

You Need:    
1 Pint Olive Oil  
Garlic Salt or Flakes (to Taste)  
4 Slices of 
Pita Bread    

Heat Olive Oil slowly with Garlic  
Dip Pita in Oil for excellent Starter to a meal (Keep a little of the oil to sautee' any 
chicken/vegitables you may have for your main dish)    

Concerning the above: Boneless chicken breast is excellent.

	1 7oz Box Fantasic Foods Refried Bean Mix
	1 Pkg Backpackers Butter (Available in Campmor Catalog)
	1 Pkg Cheese from Kraft Velveeta Shells & Cheese Din Box
	10 Fajita size flour Tortillas
	Onion Flakes - 1/2" deep in Ziplock
	Dehydrated Jalepenos(Sliced)
	Approx 6-8 10 Taco Bell Taco Sauses
	Aluminum Foil

First, add water to cover onion flakes and jalepenos when arriving at camp. If possible build a small fire, remove tortillas from plastic and wrap in aluminum foil. If you can't or don't want to have a fire form a tortilla size grill out of foil and alternate between keeping beans warm and cooking tortillas individually on stove. In one sm pot boil about 3-4" water place cheese pkg inside and set aside. place tortillas in hot coals - approx 10min. Prepare beans according to pkg directions. When tortilla(s) are done remove and reseal, add beans, melted cheese, sauce, jalepenos, onoins - enjoy!

Bill Kulik
kulik@sonnet.com
03/07/97
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Tsampa

-tea bags
-water
-2 tbs roasted wheat flou
-salted butter

Instructions: 
1. Brew a strong tea.
2. Add the wheat flour and the salted butter.

I know that ramens can get real old real quick out on the trail but being a college student (nutrition major no less) I have thought of tons of creative ways to enjoy? them. I usually pack all the blocks for a trip in one large bag and keep the seasoning packets sealed. What I do is take 3 blocks of noodles and 2 packets of seasoning, add in chunks of beef jerky or trail meat and then just enough water to cover the noodles (the less you use the less you have to pour out i.e. damaging your campsite) as soon as the noodles get cooked enough to be soft and edible I take thin slices of cheese (alot) and mix in so it melts. Finally season to taste with paprika and Tabasco. This is generally filling for my partner and I along with dessert and is pretty nutricious. Its a little high in fat but putting in heavy miles will account for that.

Nutrition Analysis per person
Calories:        1100  Fat g   :        57  47% cal.  
Protein g:       64  23%cal.  
Carbohydrates g: 80  30% cal.

2 TBLS butter
1/2 cup sugar 
3 TBLS flour  
1 tsp cinnamon  
1/4 tsp cloves  
1/4 tsp allspice  
1/8 tsp salt 
1 egg  
2 TBLS vinegar  
1 cup water  
1/2 recipe Plain Pastry  (You can use frozen pie shells, if you have never learned to make
pie shells)

This recipe is kid-tested!! You will need:

	Tin foil
	Bananas( if you buy them green they ripen on the way)
	marshmallows
	chocolate chips

Peel banana( bruises are OK, don't worry). Place inside tinfoil and smother in marshmallows and lots o' chocolate chips. Roast for 10 mins. in the embers of your campfire (if available).

This recipe is camp counsellor tested. Tired hikers respond well to a slimy treat like a hot fudge banana split! However, those going on extended hikes will perhaps have to modify the recipe. Please reuse your tinfoil!! Bananas do not squish well,whereas marshmallows can be contorted into indefinable shapes and not compromise taste. And freezing Bananas is not a good ( by experience!!)The bananas will turn black and have a funny taste. This recipe has always worked on YMCA canoe trips, but I have never tried it in extremely tight conditions. Banana boats are best accompagnied by a dying fire and stories. Hope this is helpful.

Andrea Morash
commonjo@idiredt.com
08/21/96
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Fruit Compote

Dried apples, blueberries, strawberries, or any other dried fruit you have in your pack. 1 pkg. apple cider mix Water Use enough water to just cover fruit. Sprinkle cider mix over all. Bring to a boil, then simmer till fruit is rehydrated. Delicious!!

This was concocted in the Wind River Range on our last day and everybody wanted to lighten their load and threw in whatever they had left. It turned out to be one of the best desserts I've ever tasted!

Sandi Still
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Instant Puddings

At home, combine: 1cup dry milk, 1pkg. any pudding. At camp: Add: Water equivilant to that on which the package says milk.

I tired it last year in Yellowstone. It works well with the cold water. When it was finished everyone in my group said that my chocolate pudding looked like bear poo.

Stephanie Leshk
kleshk@edcen.ehhs.cmich.edu
02/12/97