Family Camp Menu: Friday Dinner

We are going camping! Our church hosts a family camp every summer and the time has once again rolled around. Visions of canoeing, hiking, swimming, fellowshipping with friends around a fire and eating loads of delicious food. Don’t forget the food!! The first day we are arriving in the afternoon, after lunch, so all we need is dinner, drinks and snacks. I’ll put snacks and drinks on their own post since they are their own thing. But for our first meal, I wanted something we could mostly throw together at home so all that would be required is starting a fire and cooking it. Ben and I choose to make an easy side salad with

Grilled Flank Steak with Yogurt Mint Sauce

As found in Campfire Cuisine
Serves 4

• Juice of 2 lemons
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs flank steak

Mix lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a large ziplock bag until well combined. Add the steak to the bag, seal and shake to make sure the steak is fully coated with marinade. Place in cooler and marinate at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

Grill the steak over medium-high heat, 6 to 8 minutes per side, until cooked to the desired doneness. Remove the steak to a cutting board, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Cut the steak into think slices diagonally across the grain. Serve the sliced steak with a dollop of Yogurt Mint Sauce.

Yogurt Mint Sauce 
Makes about 2 1/2 cups

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced.

Mix the yogurt, mint, garlic, olive oil, and salt in a medium bowl or saucepan. Stir the diced cucumber into the yogurt mixture. Serve immediately.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Honeybees

This video made me want to try these!

Baked Potatoes with Chèvre & Zucchini “Tagliatelle”

Zucchini “Tagliatelle”  with Mint, Cucumber and Lemon

(adapted from Aug. 2008 Bon Appetit)
Serves 2 adults and 3 small kids

• 3 small to medium zucchini, trimmed
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1/2 a large sweet onion, finely chopped
• a good handful of fresh mint, coarsely chopped* and divided.
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon peel,
• 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ground fennel, salt and pepper to taste

Using a mandoline, v-slicer (or in my case vegetable peeler) and working lengthwise, discarding the first strip (ie skin). Slice up to seeded core; turn zucchini and continue to slice until only rectangle of seeded core remains; discard core. Place slices in medium bowl.

Add cucumber, onion, 1/2 of mint and lemon peel. Whisk lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl, then pour over zucchini mixture; toss to coat. Season generously to taste. Cover salad and refrigerate at least 1 hour (but 3 hours is better!).

Sprinkle remaining mint over the salad and toss to coat.

Mira helping me with the Zucchini. Thank you, Arricks and Jones’ for the fresh zucchini!!

* The more you mess with mint, the more bitter it will taste. Chop through once or twice and call it good.

Baked Potatoes with Chèvre

I made this one up, and I always eyeball my measurements,  but it tastes amazing so bear with me.

• 4 Red potatoes, skinned, chopped, boiled in salt until tender, drained
• 4oz Chèvre
• 1/4 c sour cream
• 3 springs of thyme, leaves removed
• 1/4 c butter (softened)
• creamed horseradish
• salt
• pepper
• Garam Marsala (you can make your own or buy it premade)
• Fennel (ground)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 egg

In your kitchenaid, whip up potatoes, cheese, sour cream and butter. Season to taste with spices and horseradish. Once it has cooled somewhat, while the mixer is on, crack an egg into the batter (being careful not to get any shell in it). Then spoon the mixture onto a greased cookie sheet or cupcake pan, although I’m sure there are much more artistic ways to present it (cake decorating tools, maybe?). I baked it in a preheated oven at 350′ for about  40-60 minutes, until the batter started to pull away from the cupcake pan sides and was slightly browned. Turned my pan upside down and let them cool.

(my 8 month old son, Jude, two fisting the taters :-))

I served a white riesling from the Camas Prairie Winery for you local folks.

This was perfect for a light meal, if you wanted something a bit heavier,
I was thinking salmon would be fantastic with this!

Lettuce

Rinse it off and refrigerate it in a mason jar to keep it fresh longer.

(Picked just hours ago at the Jones Farm! Thank you!)

Grilled Cauliflower with Coconut Curry Sauce (Gourmet Camping)

We made this last weekend while we were at church camp. It was amazing!!

Cauliflower with Coconut Curry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 small head of cauliflower, stemmed, leaves removed and quartered.
• Olive oil spray or nonstick cooking spray
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• Coconut Curry Sauce (see below)

Directions for making it while camping:

Spray the cauliflower quarters all over with olive oil, and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Grill over medium-high heat, turning occasionally. 4-5 minutes per side, until soft and beginning to brown. Chop the cooked cauliflower into large chunks and serve topped with Coconut Curry Sauce.

Directions for making it at home:

Preheat the oven to 400’F. coarsely chop the cauliflower, and place in a baking dish. Spray the cauliflower all over with olive oil spray, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, stirring once or twice, about 25 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender and browned in spots. Serve topped with sauce.

Coconut Curry Sauce

Ingredients (makes about 2 cups):

• 1 14oz can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of cayenne
• 1/4 cup of peanut butter
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan until well combined. Place over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes until the sauce thickens.

You can make the sauce up to a week ahead and store it covered, in a refrigerator. Warm over medium heat before serving.

Both recipes taken from Campfire Cuisine by Robin Donovan, which I heartily recommend.

summer cooking recap

I haven’t been posting much on here, but I have been trying out a number of new recipes this summer (and resurrecting some old favorites). Most of the pictures make it onto my facebook account because it’s so simple just to take a picture with the good old iPhone for a quick upload. But, here I’ve consolidated a few of them into one post.

Salt crusted steak with warm bean salad.

Strawberry chocolate cupcakes

Fish tacos (a first for me!)

Cinnamon roll pancakes with maple bacon

And an old favorite, Chicken chilaquiles

super burgers

I have always hated hamburgers, especially homemade ones. Dry, briquette like patties with mediocre condiments and, well, I never even noticed the buns, that’s how interesting I found them. My opinion has changed a bit since we discovered this recipe in Everyday FOOD for feta stuffed BLT burgers. We serve these with the traditional mayo/mustard/ketchup combo because some people (particularly my husband) can’t do without the sauces. One day I will find a sauce to rival Carl’s Jr (I set a high bar, huh?).

Last night we had friends over for dinner and I’d forgotten to buy buns, so I used this recipe from my friend Katie’s food blog. Because we like our burgers big, I used 4 oz portions rather than the recommended 3 oz, and I opted for oil and buttermilk. I think this gave us 10 hamburger buns and I topped some with sesame seeds, some with poppy seeds, and some I left plain. I was quite pleased with how well they turned out.

While I did notice a distinct lack of dry, sauce soaked “bread”, I have to say I wasn’t completely wowed by the change that homemade buns gave to the burgers. The moister, denser bun was nice, but I think next time I will try adding garlic or onion powder or putting onions on top or something. But, the overall effect was great and I think we might want to check our love for bigger burgers. I only made it 2/3 of the way through mine, and I think my husband hurt himself by finishing his.

Simplicity

There is something undeniably satisfying about simple foods. On the menu tonight, sliced zucchini, pan fried in olive oil with sea salt. Baked potatoes with creamed horseradish, french bread and sharp cheddar cheese.

Almond-Orange-Apricot Crescent Rolls

I stumbled across this recipe today. Think I just might have to give it a shot!

Cook time: 15 minutes

Makes 8 rolls

Ingredients

• 1 package store bought crescent roll dough (recommended: Pillsbury brand)
• 1/4 cup apricot preserves or all fruit spread
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 1 egg
• Splash of water
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, 2-ounce sack from baking aisle

Directions

1. Preheat oven to package directions and roll out dough on a nonstick cookie sheet. Cut and separate dough into perforated triangles.
2. Combine the apricot jam or fruit spread and the orange marmalade in a small bowl.
3. Place bowl in microwave and cook on HIGH 15 seconds to loosen the preserves.
4. Beat egg with water to thin it out a little for an egg wash. Use the back of a teaspoon to spread a thin layer of apricot-orange jam across each piece of dough.
5. Roll crescents up, brush with a little egg wash and coat with sesame seeds and almonds.
6. Bake to package directions until deep golden in color. Serve warm.

http://www.sheknows.com/holidays-and-seasons/articles/808276/how-to-host-an-easter-brunch-easter-entertaining-tips-easter-recipes-and-more-easter-fun/page:2

Garlic Aïoli (Mayonnaise)

I kind of conflated Jamie Oliver and Alice Waters’ recipes. I used more garlic, less oil  and water (Alice Waters) but followed Oliver’s directions and added lemon juice and Dijon mustard.

• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. water
• 1 1/4 c. olive oil
• fresh lemon juice (to taste)
• sea salt (to taste)
• pepper  (to taste)

Pound garlic cloves and salt with mortar and pestle until smooth (so it can evenly spread taste throughout the batch)*. Whisk egg yolk and mustard together. Add water (it helps keep everything from separating). Slowly whisk in olive oil. Then blend in garlic salt. Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. I am setting it now (overnight refrigeration). I’ll let you know how it goes.

UPDATE:

Yum! Tastes fantastic and holds proper consistency. Loving the peace of mind knowing exactly what is in my mayo is giving me. Worth it!

*This is a fantastic job for your 5 year old who wants to help you!