As always, some of you guys are way beyond me. But in my continuing efforts to be more of a contributor and less of a lurker, here's two of mine.
My usual camping is in the desert, so this is a good minimal prep, easy cook option.
Prior to departure, get two or three good sized steaks as budget allows. This a good opportunity to save some money and grab the flank steaks, as the benefits of a NY strip or something else will not be noticed.
Rub steaks with your favorite rub. In Boulder of all places we still have an excellent butcher called Herbs (the vegans somehow haven't run him out of town). He makes an all purpose rub called,
wait for it
Herbs Seasoning.
This is my favorite. So rub the steaks with Herbs Seasoning, slice into strips and seal into a large ziplock freezer bag. I usually double bag it just in case.
Put in bottom of cooler. Leave it there until your dinner night comes up.
Over a hot fire, (propane or wood, it really doesn't matter) put steaks into cast iron pan. The bigger the pan the better. Add onions, green peppers, tomatoes and anything else that looks good.
Cook for one :beer: or so, at least until you get bored waiting, stirring as the mood strikes. Wrap in tortillas. Eat.:chowtime:
For variations, add cheese and or Stokes green chili with pork (sleep with tent windows open if you go the Stokes route).
I like it because most of the prep is done at home, it's a good protein fest after a long day of outdoor exertion and it requires as little or as much attention during cooking as you feel like expending. If your camp-mates are getting on your nerves,:ar15: you can spend a long time slicing and dicing veggies, stirring just so, adjusting fire, etc.... but if you hate to pull yourself away from the discussion to cook, you just have to stir it a couple times, it's pretty much done whenever you say it is, as long as you don't let it burn.
My second one requires access to fresh shrimp. If you find yourself in that situation, maybe you haggled for a couple pounds of good sized camarons that afternoon, this is a good thing to do with them.
Anyway, squeeze the juice of about 5 or 6 limes into a big ziplock freezer bag. (I like the ziplocks for camp preparation). Pour in some sea salt.
Peel and clean the shrimp, and skewer onto wooden skewers that you cleverly brought along in your kitchen kit just for this occasion. I like to line the shrimp up tight, leaving just half an inch of skewer exposed at either end.
Put skewers carefully into ziplock bag (don't pierce the bag). lay bag on side and make sure that all shrimp are covered in your lime juice/salt mixture.
Put bag in cooler and let sit for an hour or so (or 10 minutes if you're hungry right now)
Cook on grill or over open flame or in cast iron pan, whatever is handy. Cook until the shrimp look done, but not too long. You want them to have that nice pinkish hue, but not completely dried out.
Eat with good Mexican beers or other beverage.:sombrero:
That's it for me. Nothing earth shattering, but I always try to focus on easy prep and easy clean up.
-Matt
