Category Dinner Recipes

The perfect way to wrap up a day of hiking, kayaking, off-roading, or other outdoor adventures is time around the campfire.  Take it to the next level by cooking dinner over the open flame.  These are a collection of my favorite recipes.  I particularly recommend the Down Home Shrimp & Grits!  It’s my favorite recipe to prepare for visitors.

Dutch Oven Cornish Game Hen

Roast this rosemary cornish game hen and potatoes recipe in a dutch oven over an open camp fire for a classy campground dinner or in your oven at home.

I am always on the lookout for something I can roast over the campfire in my dutch oven. Given that I like to cook over a live fire rather than classic coals, this generally means that I need something that is thick enough to take a sear without turning out well done but thin enough to be cooked through. So, when I saw Cornish game hen on sale after the holidays, I was thrilled. Not only did I have something new, but something well sized for my dutch oven with room for baby potatoes!

Read MoreDutch Oven Cornish Game Hen

Panko Crusted Crab Cakes

Panko Crusted Crab Cakes Recipe

I have a bad habit of collecting appetizing canned foods. Living on the road, I don't have a lot of space to chill perishable foods. So, canned goods are a handy and reliable fallback. Still, at some point, the time comes when I need to make a concerted effort to lighten the chuck wagon by cooking some of the canned food. Fortunately, it's easy to go eat up the crab meat with this relatively strait forward recipe.

Read MorePanko Crusted Crab Cakes

Down Home Shrimp & Grits

We were in the South, so it only seemed appropriate to experiment with some local fair. Thus, we concocted with Down Home Shrimp & Grits with a camper friendly twist.

Shrimp and grits originated as a hearty breakfast for southern fishermen. Over time, there has been many varying interpretations on the dish, but I've started with a pretty common recipe including cheddar cheese and bacon. My own contributions are little tweaks to better accommodate our nomadic limitations.

Read MoreDown Home Shrimp & Grits

Chicken and Prosciutto

Some people think that bacon makes everything better. I maintain that prosciutto makes everything better. Tonight, I wrapped chicken thighs in prosciutto to cook in the cask iron skillet. Having learned from my time consuming first experience of cooking chicken over a campfire, I bought boneless chicken. It was skinless—the prosciutto would make a more flavorful replacement. While I did add some salt and pepper, truly, the prosciutto was what defined the meal.

Read MoreChicken and Prosciutto