I often become the designated camp cook when hunting with my friends. This is partly because I love camp cooking and partly because once one turns out a tasty meal or two for his friends at camp, he or she automatically becomes camp cook. So, these two easy to prepare camp recipes come with a warning; after you prepare them, be prepared to assume duties as camp cook, your compares will demand it of you!
Years ago, I made the mistake of waiting until after the evening hunt to prepare dinner. This was a huge mistake that delayed eating until at least 8 o’clock or later, if I harvested an animal and had to spend time recovering game, field dressing and transporting the deer or wild hog back to camp. I’ve perfected many dishes that can either be prepared during mid day or very quickly at camp after the evening hunt. The key to accomplishing these quick but tasty meals is to beginning with the preparation before I leave home.
Here are a couple of my favorites that can easily be prepared in 20 minutes at camp. Give them a try and I bet you will thank me after you spend an hour recovering and packing that next deer back to camp, you know the one you shot during the last minute of legal shooting light!
CAMP FAJITAS Who doesn’t enjoy a meal of tasty well seasoned fajitas. I’ve made them from everything from javelina backstrap through the years. Just about any game meat lends itself well to fajitas so use what you’ve got. If it’s your first hunt of the season and your freezer is empty, you can use domestic beef or pork but there’s just something special about eating wild game at hunting camp!
I begin at home by thinly slicing the meat into small fajita size pieces and then dusting them liberally with my favorite fajita seasoning. I’ve tried them all through the years and prefer Bolner’s Fiesta Brand which is not overly salty but has just the right blend of spices. In a gallon freezer bag, I combine the seasoned meat with chopped jalapeno, several crushed and diced garlic pods and the juice for two or three limes and allow to marinade in the frig a couple days before my trip to hunting camp. Before leaving home, I dice a few slices of fatty bacon and thinly slice red, yellow and green peppers. All this is contained in one large freezer bag and placed in the ice cooler. At camp, after my hog or deer is hanging on the meat pole or after spending an hour or two helping a buddy recover his, we’re back at camp and everyone is looking to ‘the cook’ for dinner.
In my Lodge cast iron wok, I pour a little cooking oil and add the chopped bacon strips. Four minutes later the bacon is crispy and I add the marinated fajita meat and cook on high heat for about 6 minutes. I like the veggies in fajitas to be cooked with the meat so I add the peppers and onion and continue cooking for about 5 more minutes, just until the ‘crunch’ is taken out of the peppers and they are soft but not cooked to pieces. I never, EVER microwave tortillas. They must be heated in a cast iron skillet or sometimes right over the flame until they are just a bit crunchy with spots of brown. This is a properly heated tortilla, just the way my Mexican friends taught me to prepare them. You can serve the stand alone fajitas or open a can or two of refried beans to top off the meal. I often make a skillet to Spanish rice at home to go with the meal but that’s optional.
STIR FRY VENISON
Another super tasty and quick camp meal is stir fry and the type meat you use is optional, game or domestic meat both work well but at hunting camp, I always try to use venison or wild pork but have substituted boned out quail and even duck breast. Begin at home before your hunt by thinly slicing the meat/fowl of choice. Place meat in a gallon freezer bag with a generous amount of Kikkoman Stir-Fry sauce and add a bit of soy sauce and allow to marinade at least 24 hours. I love garlic and add several cloves of diced garlic to the marinade or, when I have them, the green sprigs of garlic that I grow in my garden. These sprigs are available in some whole food stores but garlic is easy to grow and I usually pick my own. Before heading to camp, I either thinly slice pepper, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, snow peas, onion, mushrooms, etc. or better yet buy the pre packaged stir fry kits that have all the veggies sliced and ready to add to the stir fry. I love snow peas and often incorporate an entire bag of them in my stir fry.
At camp, after the hunt, I simply heat a bit of peanut or canola oil in my wok and cook the marinated meat for a couple minutes until done. I enjoy a thick sauce in my stir fry and usually add a bit of corn starch mixed in water for thickening. As the veggies cook, I pour in a bit more of the stir-fry sauce. Jasmine rice is a must with stir fry and I have another zip lock bag of rice that I prepared from home on hand. My guests serve themselves with a big helping of rice topped by the stir fry meat and veggies right out of the wok. Simple easy and FAST! Three ingredients necessary to a successful camp dinner! LC
Luke and Larry Weishuhn’s book, “Campfire Talk” is available through www.catfishradio.org n
