Gourmet Backpacking

So you are going backpacking and you want to do something different in the food department. I hear that statement a lot, right before people end up buying my book.

You don’t have to settle for freeze dried food just because you are trying to lighten your backpack weight. Listen; it's important that you be well nourished out in the backcountry.

We mostly prepare our recipes ahead of time using ziploc freezer bags and making a copy of the recipe and stuffing it in one of those bags that has the dried goods. There are a lot of times when my gang and I “peakbag”. Then we are either trailhead camping or hauling on our backs on the trail.

So often we will make an elaborate meal and “freezer bag it”, like a chili or a stew, freeze it solid and put it in a thermal bag to stay frozen until we reach our destination.

Pasta sauce it another good candidate for this, bring your dry pasta and ta-da, you have a great dinner.

 

 

 

Here is good starchy carb filler (a light as a freeze dried meal) that will get you up and back down the mountain.

Risotto with Leeks and Wild Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Arborio or Carnaroli rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1 small leek (6 to 8 ounces)
• 1-1/2 ounces dried or dehydrated mushrooms (porcini, shiitake, morel, etc.)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper

Home Preparation:
Package the rice in a small sandwich-sized Ziploc bag with the mushrooms and bouillon cube. Wash the leek and trim off the top of the green section; slice the remaining lighter colored section into thin, ring-shaped sections. Wash the leeks once more and drain thoroughly on paper towels. Place the leeks in a separate small bag.

Wrap the grated Parmesan cheese into a small packet with wax paper or plastic wrap. Place this packet along with the Ziploc bags of leeks into the original bag of rice and mushrooms. I like to include a small copy of the recipe in the bag for reference on liquid amounts.

At Camp:
Remove the separate packages from the bag of rice and mushrooms. Heat a small sauce pot (1-1/2 to 2 quarts) with oil or butter and add the rice, mushrooms and bouillon cube. Break the bouillon cube up and stir the rice; add 1/2 cup of the water and simmer, stirring constantly until the rice and mushrooms have absorbed most of the liquid.

Add the leeks and more water. Cook until you’ve achieved the desired texture. If the rice is still too “al dente” (chewy), add additional water as needed, up to 1/2 cup. Finish the risotto with the grated Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Serving Size

Serves 2

Eat well outdoors!

 

 

Valentine Day Dreaming

I have been married nearly 27 years. My wife, my champion and the mother of my children doesn’t  really like to go camping or hiking. Most of the rest of my family and friends do like the great outdoors.

Stories of getting your special valentine a blender or some candy she doesn’t really like, fills my head.

I am a romantic; everybody knows that who knows me. I have been guilty of the above acts but recover well because I can turn on the charm or she just forgives me because she is sweet.

I have something planned this year that is pretty cool.  I would like to get outside in some nice deep well consolidated snow, where I could set up a great winter camp. I would carry 3 sleeping bags to keep her warm; packing everything on my back like the Sherpa I am.

Capping it off,  I would be making her heart shaped pancakes with butter infused maple syrup wrapped around sausage links for breakfast. Making certain she had a large mocha injected with peppermint schnapps.

Where I'd certainly loose her interest.... I would want to put on the cross country skis and go for a long jaunt. We would come back to camp build a nice warm fire and whip up some Shrimp Tacos and some Lemon Zip for dessert. I would clean everything and blend up some White Russian’s and dance to Saturday Night Fever all night long.

Rock On!

Throw down for the “Best Backcountry Chef”

Throw down for the “Best Backcountry Chef” cook-off

While lurking around on Twitter, Sarah Simon say’s, let’s have a backcountry cook off. She started talking smack and very quickly throws this down “hahahaha! Watch out, I've got this guy In The Wild Chef in my corner of the ring! He's got a wicked rice pilaf recipe!” 

Mountaineers Books "Well, we have Langdon Cook and Urbanpantry author Amy Pennington in ours, so it's ON!"

In The Wild Chef suggested we do the wilderness cook-off in the Cascades and raise money for charity.

Suggestion's of the criteria:

• Must be prepared outdoors, cooked on a ISO-Butane type of stove. 
• Originality
• Presentation
• Camp friendly - ease of eating and clean up
• TASTE!

Let's get this thing going. Also looking suggestions for the beneficiary of the proceeds from the event. All opinions will be received and some might even be used.

It's a Southern Thing

Southern Quesadilla

Ingredients:  

·         2 Tomatoes (Diced)

·         Cilantro  (1/2 cup finely chopped)

·         1 Can Olives (Diced)

·         Original Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue Sauce (1/2 Cup)

·         3-4 Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (Shredded)

·         Jalapenos Diced (1/2 cup)

·         Sour Cream (to taste)

·         Shredded Cheese (3 Cups)

·         Large Tortillas (8 Count)

Directions:

1. In a large skillet combine Shredded Chicken and Jalapenos and cook until chicken is done.
2. Add Barbecue sauce to chicken and simmer for 5-10 minutes on med low heat – set aside
3. Pre-heat additional large skillet for Tortillas on Med – Low heat
4. Add 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil to skillet and place tortilla on pan to absorb the oil
5. Turn tortilla every 5 seconds until most of the oil is absorbed by both sides of the tortilla
6. Once the tortilla is browning add chicken mix, Cheese, Olives, tomatoes, cilantro, and Sour Cream to preference on one half of the tortilla
7. Fold the tortilla like you would an omelet and cover skillet to allow cheese to melt (be sure not to burn tortilla)
8. Serve hot 

Eat Well and Happy Thanksgiving.

The Freeze Dried Food Debate…

The packaged freeze dried meals that are on the market today have artificial additives added in many recipes and are expensive considering actual food received. Many entrées require additional quality carbohydrates for a filling meal as entrees alone will not supply adequate nutritional value.

You need to consider the ratio of calories from carbohydrates to protein to fat:  shoot for about 50% calories from carbohydrates, 15% calories from protein, and 35% calories from fat.

Freeze dried meals are very expensive. You can buy two whole days worth of food for the cost of a single freeze dried dinner. 

As Ryan Porter states in the foreword of my book” Many a hungry backpacker has arrived at camp to the dismal sight of an over-priced, freeze-dried meal..... and resolved immediately with intense conviction that the menu must be improved.

The outdoor experience provides a myriad of different satisfactions for participants, but there is a constant for us. If we are going to stay some duration. in the wilderness, we must pack food with us (unless your friends will tolerate the sight of a llama’s backside all the way up the trail) that means, your food is on your back. And so the great debate is born. How much weight should we be willing to pack to enrich our high-elevation cuisine?

Has any subject been hashed out more than this one over the ol' campfire? The weight vs. taste argument is one old and worthy Multi- day backpacking circumstances demand that people reasonably determine weather he or she shall either consume dehydrated muck, or pay dearly through the quads, hamstrings, and calves, etc., in order to dine well”

I have researched the weight argument as well. Consider taking a Salmon foil pack, a pesto packet and some pasta and won’t really have any additional weight.

Eat well and climb high!

Fresh Omelets in the Backcountry

Studies have shown that never refrigerated, never washed eggs direct from the farm can be stored at about 65 deg for several days before going bad. To get them to your destination store them in Coghlans plastic egg holder.

My friends like to eat well, why not? Our typical calorie burn on a hike or snow climb can hit as much as 2500 calories or more in a 10 hour day going hard. One of my favorite people to camp with is JP.

He is a connoisseur of fine outdoor cuisine. As he states “Steve whipped up another gourmet meal (literally- he separated the eggs before whipping the whites for our omelets). To finish my omelet with a flurry, he flipped the darn thing in the air, catching it with the pan. This had to be the highlight of my weekend for me. But I digress”.

 

Prepare and cook your omelet:

Whisk the amount of eggs you want with 2 tablespoons or so of water and some salt and pepper to taste. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in your skillet or fry pan. Add eggs to heated pan reduce heat and cook for 30 seconds. Use a spatula to tug the edges towards the pans center. Swirl the pan. Cook until set (about 1-2 minutes), top with veggies, shredded cheese or whatever else tickles your taste buds, then fold in half and serve.

Preparation tip: when you prepare for your trip, put your veggies, cheese and etc… in Ziploc bags.

Eat Well and Climb High!

Primus Firehole 300

Houston we have lift off!

Dude, seriously! The Firehole 300 aint your Grandpas camp stove. I think to myself “WOW!” Could they have put more features on a stove?

Outdoor cooking has really evolved. Glamping and aggressive car camping have created high performance needs for the discriminating backcountry chef. Outdoor gourmet cooking has advanced to alien like designs and rocket ship performance.

You get back to base camp from 8 hours of grueling mountaineering or hiking, and you want easy. “Please can I just turn it on and have it do the cooking for me?” The rest of your gang is looking to you to pull a meal out of your hat. It’s dark and we are using headlamps, “wait this thing has two lights” That was like hitting the easy button.

Let’s see, where did I put the cooking utensils? Of course, a nice little set is stuck to the back of the stove with magnets. Throw on a couple 3 liter pots and get that Salmon Pesto pasta cooking. Well that took all of about 10 minutes; let’s boil some water for beverages.

It seems like it took longer to eat the food than it did to cook it. Heat water for clean up and we are done.

The Firehole 300 is intuitive. It knows what we need and when.

Thank you Primus