Grilled Corn on the Cob in Husks

We're smack dab in the middle of corn season and who doesn't love a cob of corn with butter dripping all over it!

But shucking a dozen corn can be a drag. This "in husk" method of cooking corn makes shucking easy and it tastes great too!

Just pull the silk out of the top of each ear. The rest will just fall away when cooked, trust me 😊 Remove just the dry outer leaves then soak in cold water for 20-30 minutes. This will keep your cobs from catching fire on the barbecue.

Onto the grill for 15-20 minutes at medium to medium high heat (375°F -ish) turning every 4 or 5 minutes. 

The husks will very easily come off as will any silk left behind.

And they are ready to be slathered!

Pre-Baked Pizza Crust on the BBQ

After trying this homemade frozen pizza crust at home we took it on the road. What a time saver!

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2017/06/homemade-frozen-pizza.html

Made it long instead of round to fit our portable propane grill.  My husband took a piece of corrugated cardboard the size of the pizza and covered it with foil. Wrapped the pizza and foiled cardboard with foil to keep the pizza from getting broken in our cooler. Then I froze it until ready to take it camping.

I had all the toppings cut and shredded in separate ziplock baggies along with a paquet of sauce so after setting up camp it didn't take long to get supper ready.

After the foiled cardboard got our crust to the campsite unbroken it was used as a tray to slide the pizza onto the grill heated at about 425 F. Our little portable grill is not too accurate but around that temp.

My husband closed the BBQ top and baked our pizza for about 8-10 minutes. 

Once the cheese started to melt and the crust had a little char on it he slid the pizza off the grill back onto the little makeshift tray and

voilà...Pizza Night at the campground !!

Fresh Blueberry Pancakes

Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario has bears. And it has wild blueberries. Enough for the bears and campers to share if you don't mind picking while keeping an eye out for the bears.
Obviously they get first pick!

So for our latest camping trip we packed some of our favourite mix..Healthy Pancake Mix but you can use any pancake mix you like.
http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2015/11/healthy-pancake-mix.html

Make the batter and heat up your griddle. Even with our non-stick pan we still add a little butter. Pour the batter into the hot pan and wait to see bubbles start to break the surface of the batter. Make sure you can loosen the bottom from the pan. Sprinkle blueberries over the top then carefully flip the pancake. Only 1 or 2 more minutes of cooking is needed as it was mostly cooked through before flipping. The heat brings out the flavour in the berries.

Adding blueberries directly to the batter could give you soggy pancakes, but cooking them this way ensures a well cooked pancake full of juicy blueberries!

Serve with maple syrup.

Hobo Cheeseburger Dinner

On the BBQ in the backyard or as an all-in-one camping meal, with these foil-packs you'll have dinner all wrapped up!

You'll need:

1 onion, sliced
2 potatoes, sliced
1 carrot, cut in sticks
1 lb ground beef
1 tbsp steak sauce (I used HP pepper steak sauce)
1 tbsp Montreal steak spice
1/2 - 3/4 cup old cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt to taste

Spray 2 good sized pieces of foil with cooking oil and layer onions on top. Place thinly sliced potatoes on top trying not to overlap them and add the carrot sticks. Sprinkle with salt if desired.

In a large bowl add steak sauce, steak spice and cheese to the ground beef and form into 4 small patties. 

Place two patties on top of each onion/potato stack and bring up the foil to seal.

Barbecue at 375 F for 25-30 minutes.

Serves 2 hungry campers!

Heaven

Heaven, 'nuff said.

When the kids were younger we always made these to take away on camping trips. Now we make them whenever the mood hits.

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
Saltine or graham crackers

Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil in a saucepan. 
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place crackers in a single layer. Pour butter/brown sugar mixture over crackers and bake in a 350 F oven for 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. I had a few white chocolate melting disks here too. Cover loosely with a sheet of foil for about 5 minutes or until chips are warm.

Then gently spread the chocolate and place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

Remove from freezer and break into bite-sized pieces.

Store in refrigerator ( if they get there!)

Nachos Baked in Foil on the BBQ

Summer's winding down...you might have one more camping trip in mind. This is a quick meal for 2-3 people or you can have it for a campfire snack.

2 cups ground beef
1/4 black beans
1 tbsp taco seasoning

3 cups tortilla chips
2 green onions, sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cups shredded cheese
a few slices of banana pepper (hotter pepper if you are up for that)

Before leaving on your trip cook the ground beef with beans and taco seasoning. Cool and place in a ziplock bag. You can even freeze it.
Slice the green onion, chop the tomatoes and shred the cheese. Baggie those too.

When you are ready to eat, oil a 12 X 8" foil pan. Re-heat the cooked beef in a fry pan.
Spread the tortilla chips in the foil pan, spoon on the beef and top with sliced onions and tomatoes. Add the cheese and banana peppers. Cover with foil

Set on the barbecue on medium heat for 8-10 minutes, just long enough to melt the cheese. Karma thinks it smells pretty good!

If you're heating this on the campfire....you're kinda on your own. I haven't done it like that but as long as you keep it on indirect heat you shouldn't burn the bottom.

Serve with salsa.

Pizza on the Grill

So this happened last week in Algonquin Provincial Park.
We got up close and personal with these guys!

This also happened

I know, not the same as seeing bears, but still...fresh pizza out in the woods!!

Pack a frozen ball of your favourite pizza dough, oiled in a ziplock bag. You can keep it in the cooler for about 24 hours. Let it come to room temperature (or forest temperature if you're out in the woods!) 

This is the link to the dough recipe I used

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2014/03/this-is-best-pizza-ever.html 

Have all your toppings ready to go. While the dough is still in the baggie separate it into 2 or 3 pieces and press out to form your pizzas.

Oil a piece of foil or use this handy dandy Cookina re-usable cooking sheet. Cut the plastic bag opened, brush the dough with olive oil and flip onto the oiled sheet in a BBQ that has been heated to 500F. Oil the top side as well.

After 2-3 minutes the dough will start to brown on the bottom and bubble on the top.

When good and crispy on the bottom use a pair of tongs to flip the dough over and top with sauce, cheese, pepperoni, veggies. Whatever you like.

Close the lid of the BBQ just long enough for the cheese to melt, a couple of minutes. When just about ready add any fresh herbs you have like these basil leaves.

Check the bottom for doneness and when it looks cooked remove to a plate.

Not as exciting as seeing Algonquin's famous bears, but pretty darn good!

Sausages and Veggies on the BBQ

You can prepare this meal ahead of time and pop it on the barbecue hours later, whether you are at home or even camping. This was actually a test for a future camping trip.
(You can see the simplified camping version at the end of this post)


1 onion, sliced
2 potatoes, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 spear fresh pineapple
1 - 175g fully cooked smoked sausage
a piece of red pepper
Mrs Dash table blend
fresh parsley to garnish

Spray a large piece of foil with cooking oil and layer half the onions and half the potatoes. Give the potatoes a good shake of Mrs Dash (or the seasoning of your choice).

Next  add carrots, then sausage.

On goes the remaining potatoes and another dash of Mrs Dash, topped with the rest of the carrots and sausage. Finish off with the last of the onions, pineapple and red pepper.
Here you can see all the lovely layers.

And here's a close-up because it's just so beautiful!

Spray another piece of foil and lay it on top loosely. Seal all the edges tightly. You can move the packet to a baking sheet for easy transport to the barbecue, but put the packet directly on the grill.

Leave it in the BBQ at 350-375F for 20-25 minutes.

Be careful when opening the foil as the steam can be pretty hot. Sprinkle with some fresh parsley.

This meal serves 2-3 people. Make a couple of packets if you're serving more. They'll fit neatly on the barbecue.

And here's another close-up : )
Oh and this recipe passed the test.  It'll be on the menu for our next camping trip.

Update:
Simplified camping version...

Sliced onions
Whole canned potatoes
Smoked sausage with cheese
some frozen carrots, yellow and green beans
bbq sauce

Before leaving home I sliced the sausage and put it in a large ziplock baggie along with the frozen (defrosted) veggies and sliced onion. Easy peasy when cooking time rolled around.

Oil a large sheet of foil and lay out the sliced onions.
Top them with canned potatoes, either whole or cut in half.
Next, sliced sausage and the veggies, salt and pepper if you like and more onion. 
Drizzle some bbq sauce on top.

Wrap up the packet and pop it on the bbq for about 15-20 minutes. Cooking time is a little shorter on account of the cooked canned potatoes...

but it was definitely not short on taste!

Taco Stuffed Sausages

When we camp we do not like to spend a lot of time cooking. But we still want to have good meals...no wieners and beans for us! Although we do have beans with our breakfast, but that's another story.

These are fun and tasty!

Take your favourite sausages, we used apple and cheddar here but spicy Italian would be great too. Grill them and then split lengthwise almost all the way through.

Add some crushed corn chips (Fritos), spoon on some salsa, then top with shredded cheese.

Wrap each one individually in foil and place back on the grill.

Or lay them in a frying pan with something to cover keeping the heat in. Warm for a couple of minutes...just long enough to melt the cheese.

Take a peek inside. If the cheese hasn't melted yet wrap them up for a couple more minutes.

Served here with rice and roasted red peppers, green salad and feta.  No boring "camp" meals for us!

Potato Wedgies

Been making these for years.  You can change the seasonings according to your taste.

They can even be made in a covered BBQ at home or on a camping trip.  Just have them prepared for cooking and store in an airtight ziplock bag in the cooler until ready to cook. First camping day is the best before potatoes start to change colour.

4 unpeeled potatoes
1-2 tsps cider (white, balsamic or malt) vinegar
a few drops of hot pepper sauce (optional)
sprinkle salt
sprinkle garlic powder (and/or oregano, paprika, pepper)
a few tbsps olive oil

Cut potatoes in wedges.  Toss with all ingredients in a plastic bag or waxed cereal bag.  You can prepare to this point an hour or two early but cooking right away is ideal.
When ready to cook arrange in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking pan.

Bake in a 450F oven for 25 - 30 minutes.

OR

Arrange in a corningware pan.  Microwave uncovered on high for 10 minutes.  Stir at 1/2 the time.  Then bake in a 400F oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

Healthier than fries !