Crockpot Camping

posted May 24, 2006
  by Pamela Chester, The Savvy Slow Cooker

Camping tends to bring out the hidden "MacGyver" in all of us, and can inspire us to use resources in unique ways. This brings to mind the time I went camping with my closest friend last Memorial Day weekend in Virginia's Shenandoah national park. We arrived at our campsite well before dusk and began preparations for dinner. As novice campers, we had our work cut out for us. After an immense struggle to put up our rented tent, with a little solicitous help from our neighboring campers, we set to work lighting the mini hibachi grill that my friend brought. A couple of beers and an hour later we had our meal: hot dogs, s'mores, and cherry tomatoes. Not very elaborate, but satisfying nonetheless.

In the meantime, at the next campsite over, we noticed a Korean-American family had arrived after the sun went down and began preparations for their meal. The first thing they did was set up an electric car converter into which they plugged a lamp, a rice cooker, and a barbecue griddle. Not long after that, to our amazement, this family had a complete multi-course hot meal set up on the picnic table. Although we had just eaten, the site of their spread was enough to make us want to have another dinner.

With that family as inspiration, I would like to introduce you to the idea of crockpot camping. When you need sustenance after a day-long hike, or are just setting up a tent in the backyard, consider the slow cooker. All you need is a campsite with an electrical hookup, an electric converter/inverter, or an extension cord, and you'll be on your way to a great home-cooked meal. If you are really roughing it and have no power source, Coleman even makes a propane powered slow cooker that keeps food warm for ten hours on low and five hours on high.

You can make the prep work easier by precutting and bagging any vegetables or using canned or frozen veggies. For fast cleanup, a baking bag or slow cooker liner can be inserted into the crockpot before adding ingredients. Some recipes that would be particularly suited to camping are simple beef stew, chicken and rice casserole, and cornbread. When dessert time rolls around and it's time to make s'mores, you can even pre-melt the chocolate in a crockpot and then finish assembling them with warm toasted marshmallows. No more dropping the graham cracker in the fire in order to completely melt the chocolate!

In the morning, you could skip the usual cold cereal and wake up to a warm, high energy meal such as porridge or oatmeal with dried fruit that you started the night before. If you plan well in advance, you can pack all the measured dry ingredients together in a gallon-sized plastic storage bag, and then add the liquid ingredients when you get to the campsite.

There's nothing like coming back to a hot meal that has been cooking all day; having it in the great outdoors makes it all that much better. Take your slow cooker with you the next time you go camping and don't forget the s'mores!

Easy Beef Stew Recipe
http://www.cdkitchen.com/


Serves/Makes: 8
Ready in: > 5 hrs

* 2 pounds beef stew meat
* 6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
* 1 small bag baby carrots
* 2 stalks celery, diced
* 1 medium sweet onion, coarsely chopped
* 4 ounces sliced mushrooms, drained
* 1 can tomato soup
* 1 can beef broth
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Brown the stew meat; drain. Place potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and mushrooms in bottom of 5-6 qt crockpot.

Top with stew meat. Combine tomato soup, broth, and Worcestershire sauce; pour over stew. Cover; cook on low for 8-10 hours. Stir in flour paste to thicken if desired.

Corn Bread Recipe
http://www.cdkitchen.com/


Serves/Makes: 1 loaf
Ready in: 2-5 hrs

* 1 1/4 cup Flour
* 3/4 cup Yellow Cornmeal
* 1/4 cup Sugar
* 4 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
* 1 teaspoon Salt
* 1 Egg, slightly beaten
* 1 cup Milk
* 1/3 cup Melted butter

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add the egg, milk and melted butter. Stir until just moistened. Place batter in a 2 quart greased can. Place can on rack or trivet in bottom of crockpot. Cover; cook on high for 2-3 hours.

Porridge Recipe
http://www.cdkitchen.com/


Serves/Makes: 4
Ready in: > 5 hrs

* 1/4 cup cracked wheat
* 3/4 cup rolled oats -- NOT instant or quick
* 3 cups water
* 1/2 cup raisins
* 1/4 cup wheat germ
* 1/2 cup apple -- grated
* 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
* milk
* honey

In a slow-cooker, combine the cracked wheat, oats, water, raisins, wheat germ, apple and cinnamon. Turn to the lowest setting and cook the porridge overnight. Spoon into serving bowls, and serve with milk and honey.

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