Living in southwest Montana in the summer, I tend to view the work week (as important as it is) as the five (or four) days in between camping trips in the mountains. One of the big reasons that I moved to and can survive in the small town where Great Harvest is headquartered is because of the unrivaled opportunities for outdoor recreation that exist mere minutes from the office or my house.
Since moving here three years ago I have populated my “outdoor toy” repertoire to include an ATV to run around the endless backcountry trails, a NuCanoe to float the several amazing rivers that run right through our area, a fly rod, and this year I added a small camper to make weekend camping truly turn-key. Being able to be packed up and ready to roll to the mountains or a lake in under an hour with a fully-stocked camper is priceless.
Sure, camping is about the recreation, the beautiful scenery, the hiking, and of course a spectacular fire. But let’s face it – camping really is mostly about the food, especially if you’re a chef. Live fire cooking is one of the most primal experiences and there is nothing I like more than “cheffing it up” in the outdoors.
I am not talking about your basic burgers, dogs, and brats. Sure, those are okay and quick to feed a crowd of hungry kids, but it is much more fun to s t r e t c h what can be done with camp cooking. If you take some steps to have “mis en place” done ahead of time, you can really eat like a king around the campfire.
This past weekend, I had an amazing Montana experience that included beautiful camping in the Paradise Valley near Yellowstone, a horseback trail-ride with the same folks who took the cast of “A River Runs Through It” while they were filming in the area, and soaking in the paradise that is Chico Hot Springs.
Let’s get to the food, though… I had one of the single most delicious AND simplest dishes of my life at an amazing small-town restaurant focused on local and organic farm-to-table food cooked in a wood-fired oven. There I enjoyed a delicious warm salad of baby kale tossed with liquid aminos, with a touch of vinegar and salt that was quickly roasted in the wood fired-oven. It was spectacular in its simplicity and might just be the best bowl of greens I’ve ever had. (As a counterbalance, I also chowed down on a classic cheeseburger and marshmallow malt at a 50-year-old institution).
The star of the trip, though, had to be the seriously delicious five star meals cooked in our campsite over nothing but live fire. Given the nature of cooking outside, there are some real tricks to executing perfection a million miles from anywhere, with limited tools.
Here are some of my campfire cooking tips:
- Always prepare what you can at home. This means trimming and marinating/rubbing meat, making marinades for grilled vegetables and washing whatever needs to be washed ahead of time. When it is time to throw items on the fire, it should be “open container and go.” For this particular meal (pictured), I marinated my local lamb chops ahead of time, washed and trimmed my vegetables, and had a salad dressing ready to go for the greens straight from the garden (washed and trimmed ahead of time, of course!)
- Keep it simple & keep it smart. Now I don’t mean don’t use big flavors, amazing ingredients, or stick to grilling sausages. You do have to think about total execution. How many things can you fit in the grill at a time? In the campfire? How many people do you have? Four delicious grilled lamb chops worked well for our group of two but had I had more people I definitely would have gone for a “grill and slice” type product like flank steak, flat iron, or pork tenderloin.
- Can I have everything ready at the same time? Yes and no. You need to plan the meal so that everything is cooked and ready, but with limited grill space and a campfire you need to utilize the classic restaurant trick of getting everything cooked and doing a final heat blast on all the items right before serving.
- Heavy duty aluminum foil (Reynolds) is a camping chef’s best friend. This might just be the absolute best culinary product ever invented. Anyone who knows me well knows that heavy duty foil is at the top of my packing and shopping list no matter where I am cooking. This allows you to cook directly in the coals and flames of the campfire and frees up your grill for other items. Don’t be afraid to wrap almost anything in it and toss it right in the fire. I have done everything from simple sweet potatoes and veggie packets to whole roasts cooked slowly in the coals - all wrapped up tightly in layers of heavy duty foil.
- You can grill (almost) anything. From appetizers to desserts, when you are camping the real secret to delicious food and little to no cleanup is to not use the stove and no pots and pans. Sure, the first thing I do in the morning when I wake up in the camper is get the kettle going for my French-pressed coffee. But you won’t see me sautéing vegetables on the stove, boiling green beans or making risotto. It is all about the fire. I grill beans, pea pods, and broccolini, I blister cherry tomatoes, whole leaves of kale and Swiss chard for amazing warm salads, and I even roast peaches, nectarines, and plums for dessert topped with a drizzle of balsamic and crème fraiche.
- Have designated cooking tools for camping. Yes, it is an additional investment but you will appreciate the simplicity of never having to pack or unpack everything you need out there. Get a plastic bin or designate a cupboard in your camper for all the tongs, spatula, wooden spoon, knives, cutting board, peeler, bowls, and plates you will need. I even go so far as to have separate spices, oils, vinegars, a pepper grinder, pre-made rubs, etc. All specifically designated for camping.
So get out there and “chef it up” at the campsite this summer with these simple tips! What are some of your favorite things to cook outside? I’d love to hear about them below.
Read more from our resident grilling expert, Chef Scott Molyneaux:
- Grilled Cheesy Bread: The Best Non-Meat to Barbeque This Summer
- More Tips from the Bread Business Chef (including tips on grilled salad and fruit).
Some things you can only get in Montana, and you'll have to visit if you want to experience them. But if you want to taste Great Harvest's phenomenal bread, you don't have to drive all the way to Dillon.
Use our bakery locator to find your closest neighborhood bakery:
