(y)our food choices™

Summer has officially begun and no other vegetable epitomizes summer like fresh corn. We love the taste of fresh corn from the cob and knew it would make a fine companion to potatoes, asparagus and roasted red peppers. Roasting red peppers over a flame until parts of it are good and charred gives them that camp fire smokiness that screams summer barbecue. This summer veggie melange becomes a beautiful summer dinner salad or side to grilled meats or fish. Just dress it with a little olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, then toss it all with spicy arugula and fresh chopped sweet herbs like dill, basil or tarragon.

Each of the “fresh” veggies in this salad spent some time with heat. The corn and asparagus pieces were blanched and then dropped into an ice bath before serving. The potatoes were boiled, halved and then browned on a stovetop griddle. The peppers were completely cooked, whole, skin on, on an open flame on our gas burning stove until it was black. We then wrapped them in paper towels to steam before we peeled them. Why blanch? It seals in vitamins, brightens color, sweetens and cleanses. It renders fresh veggies crisp/tender to the bite. It also readies them for storage – freezer or canning – and extends their fresh shelf life in the refrigerator. We ate this salad for a couple of days and it retained its great taste and texture.

We served the salad with rotisserie chicken and paired it with a simple Spanish rosé. Instead of salad, the veggies could be combined and warmed together with herbs and served with a fried egg and crunchy toast for a summery weekend brunch.

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Summer Corn Salad with Roasted Potatoes

2 lbs or 1 small bag small potatoes such as yukon gold or red
1 bunch asparagus or green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 ears fresh corn, shucked from the cob
1 red pepper
1 lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1 bunch arugula
fresh dill
blue cheese crumbles

In a medium sized pot, fill half way with fresh cold water. Place the pan over medium – high heat until water is boiling. Add a large pinch of salt and place the potatoes in the pot. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, or just until a knife pierces the potato. Remove the potatoes from the water and set aside uncovered to cool.

If you have a gas stove, place the red pepper over a burner and turn the gas on medium heat to roast the pepper. Turn the pepper with a set of tongs to keep the pepper from burning all the way through. Once it is charred on all sides, wrap in a couple paper towels and set aside to loosen the charred skin, 3 minutes or so. Rub the paper towel over the pepper to remove the skin. Remove stem and seeds from the pepper then slice into strips, and dice. Set aside.

Add the asparagus to the potato water and cook for 3-4 minutes, or less depending on the the size of the asparagus. Remove from the pot and place in an ice bath. Set aside until chilled.

Add the shucked corn to the heated water. Heat for 30 seconds then remove and place in an ice bath. Allow to cool.

In the bottom of a large bowl, add the juice from 1 lemon and at least 3 tablespoons good olive oil. Add a 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few good grinds of pepper. Whisk.

Dry the asparagus, add to the bowl with the dressing. Add the peppers and corn. Toss with the dressing and season to taste, adding more lemon juice or olive oil if needed. Set aside.

On the stovetop over medium-high heat, heat up a skillet or pan. Once potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice in half and add to a medium sized bowl. Toss with a couple tablespoons of olive oil to coat the potatoes. Add the potatoes, cut side down, to the hot skillet or pan. Roast until golden, 4-8 minutes. Once cooked, take off the heat and set aside.

Add the arugula to the corn and asparagus, toss. Plate the salad and top with warmed potatoes, fresh dill sprigs, and a crumble of blue cheese. Serve and enjoy.

We’ve been away from our computers, road-tripping through the west to run a couple of half-marathon races hosted by Vacation Races in Teton National Park in Wyoming and West Yellowstone, Montana. After what felt like marathon drives through California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, we got to spend a week with family in the hills, camping and touring the parks, fishing, and running.

It has been too many years since our last summer camping trip. So it was a great treat to start June with a week of camping in Island Park, Idaho. It was beautiful, if unseasonably warm, but that didn’t stop us from building camp fires, roasting marshmallows and cooking on coals and grills.

Our camp cooking included the essential s’mores, grilled fresh trout from the nearby Island Park reservoir and Henry’s Lake, a delicious breakfast for dinner cooked completely al fresco, and an occasional smokey reprieve from the darned mosquitos that drove us crazy most of the time.

The trout we cooked over the fire was delicately smokey. It was perfect all by itself, but a light squeeze of fresh lemon made it irresistible. Having just come out of the lake, it was as fresh and delicious as it ever gets! And it was made all the better eaten under the canopy of a pine forest.

As good as that trout was, the most memorable meal is a bacon, egg and potato breakfast we prepared exclusively over the open fire. Breakfast at any time of day is a treat. We eat breakfast for dinner all the time. After a day of running and driving around Yellowstone Park, we wanted something hearty and comforting. And as convenient as it was to have an indoor, camp trailer kitchen at our disposal, it was too warm to stand inside when there was a perfectly good fire pit with a grill and plenty of fire wood just outside. We opted for an outdoor cooking adventure.

Bacon and eggs never disappoint. We had potatoes, carrots and onions in the camper pantry, so we diced them up, seasoned them, triple wrapped them in aluminum foil (an essential camping implement), and tossed them onto the hot coals of the fire. The “hobo pockets” need to be carefully placed so as not to burn the crap out of the potatoes. Layers of foil should protect them from the harshest temperatures while the veggies steam in the pouch. If you get it right, the potatoes will be cooked and the rest of the veggies will have a tiny bit of caramelization and very few black bits.

Cooking bacon on the fire was a breeze. We placed a sheet of aluminum foil over the grilling grate on the fire pit, directly over the hottest part of the fire, and used it like a griddle. The bacon cooked perfectly. It did produce a lot of rendered fat which in turn caused some flare-ups that scorched the foil, but the bacon was unscathed.

Our nephew had the clever idea of creating little aluminum trays to cook our eggs. With a few easy folds, we had our egg “pans” which we sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. We sat them on the foil we’d used for the bacon, which added a needed layer between the eggs and the hot fire. The eggs turned out perfectly!

When we opened the hobo pockets, the vegetables were nicely cooked, with very little scorched bits. They were a complete success. We topped them with our “fried” eggs, helped ourselves to a couple slices of bacon, and sat out in the open air, tucking in to awesome camp food and washing it all down with a cold beer.

Our time in West Yellowstone included a volunteer stint at the s’mores table at the Yellowstone Half Marathon Expo. We saw a lot of toasted marshmallows that evening. There is no doubt of the s’more’s importance in the American camping experience, though there is some diversity of thought on the “proper” steps in the s’more ritual. We toasted our graham crackers on the fire grill with a piece of chocolate melting on it while we toasted our marshmallows. Our marshmallows are slowly roasted and tan, not extinguished torches, but we appreciate everyone has their own idea of the perfect fire toasted marshmallow, so no judgement. S’mores are best by a campfire. There’s no other way to get a smokey accent on that sweet mess. But there are endless ways to play with the idea of the s’more at home. More on that in future posts.

Happy Summer!

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Open Fire Fried Eggs and Bacon

bacon
eggs

For the bacon.

Spread a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil over the grill of an open fire. Cook the bacon until crisp. Careful of grease fires.

For the eggs.

Use aluminum foil to make a little tray to cook the eggs, spray with non-stick cooking spray. More aluminum for lids. Cook to one’s liking.

Hobo Hash Pack

2-3 potatoes
1 onions
2 cups root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, etc.
2 tablespoons or more olive oil or melted butter
1 tablespoon dijion mustard (optional — especially for 10 year olds)
salt and pepper
cooking spray
Heavy Duty Aluminum foil

Cut potatoes, onions, and root vegetables into similar sized cubes, and add to a bowl, add the olive oil or butter, dijon mustard and salt and pepper. Toss to coat and set aside.

Tear 8 square pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil about. Place a cup to a cup-and-a-half of the potato mixture to each of four of the foil packs. Fold the foil over in half and each pack on another sheet of foil and fold it over the pack, so you are double layering the aluminum around the potato mixture.

Place the foil packs in the coals of a fire and cook for 30-40 minutes. Turning the packs every 10 minutes or so to keep from burning.

s’mores

1 box graham crackers
1 chocolate bars, broken into pieces
1 bag of marshmallows

Over an open fire with a barbecue grill, place two graham crackers on the coolest side of the grill. Careful not to burn the cracker. Place a small piece of chocolate on top and watch to keep from burning. You just want a warm cracker with just a barely gooey chocolate.

With a marshmallow or two on a stick, toast over an open flame to one’s liking. I prefer just a barely toasty marshmallow. Gooey on the inside and a light toast on the outside. This will take patience. Go slow.

Once the marshmallow is toasted. Put on top of the graham cracker with chocolate. Top with the other one and enjoy the gooey, yumminess.