Campfire Gastronomy
I'm often asked about campfire meals I make, I consider myself quite a freestylecook,as such I don't really write things down. I'm not qualified by any means, but I worked in kitchens throughout school and college and consider myself pretty confident in the kitchen. This is the first time I have ever consciously made notes and honed a recipe to share.
Camp Fire Beef Bourguignon
Beef bourguignon is one of my favorite slow cooked meals, I think its pretty perfect for permanent camp or cabin cookery. Simple and delicious. Something you can throw on a fire and leave. This recipe is loosely based on Larousse Gastronomique's traditional dish.
Ingredients
- 2lbs (just under 1kg) braising beef (rump)
- 6 Rashers of thick-cut fatty bacon
- 3 large onions
- 3 cups (750ml) red wine (nothing too expensive but something you would drink)
- 2 cups (500ml) beef stock
- 2 Garlic cloves crushed
- Thyme
- Parsley
- Flour (for dusting and thickening)
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
Method
To start you will need some decent coals so make sure you build your fire big with suitable wood and let it burn down to cooking coals. This meal is slow cooked over a few hours so be sure to have a large stock of wood so coals can be replenished.
- Roughly cut the beef into large chunks and dust with seasoned flour and put you dutch oven on the coals to pre-heat.
- Cut the bacon into large strips and fry in your dutch oven
- Add the beef, two of the onions sliced roughly and the garlic and brown them all
- Add the wine and stock , the herbs and season well
- Cover and gently simmer for at least two hours; until the beef is meltingly tender and the sauce has thickened. Give it a try and adjust the seasoning to your taste.
- Once you think it is ready slice and fry the remaining onion and add it to the pot, continue cooking for another 20 minutes
- Serve with camp bread (either bannock, damper or flatbread.)
The dish came out very well. Tender meat with a thick delicious sauce. It was also incredibly easy. I hope, this inspires some of you to try something new on the campfire.