Twinkle’s Kitchen | Campfire Gourmet

INDIANAPOLIS - It's summertime and planning a camping trip is one thing I’ve got on my radar this year. The problem is flipping my mind over from the luxuries of my well-stocked kitchen to outdoor, bare bones, medieval-style meals.

It’s really not as drastic as I make it out to be, but there are a few things you need to organize to make cooking outside easier. Believe me, slaving over a roaring fire for your dinner is totally worth the memories you make while doing it.

Photos: 10 creative camping recipes

My favorite dish for camping out is Hobo Packs. Although it sounds rather cliché, the great thing about this dish is you can get as fancy as you want. You just need to make sure to pack everything you think you’re going to want to incorporate into your meal.

The Basics

These delicious food packs are basically meat, veggies, herbs and spices wrapped up in foil and cooked on the coals of your fire. The combination of steaming and grilling makes for amazing flavor.

What’s inside the hobo packs is entirely up to the individual eater. Kids love these because they can create their very own fire-cooked meal.

If you are vegetarian or vegan, these are perfect for you. Just toss a couple of cups of roughly chopped veggies, wrap and throw on the fire and steam to perfection.

I like mine a little more detailed.

Cilantro-Lime Shrimp Hobo Packs:

Ingredients:
Fresh garlic
Red and yellow onions
Carrots
Zucchini
Crookneck squash
Sweet potatoes
Pineapple (Chunks in juice)
Sliced fresh chiles
Chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. cumin
Shrimp
2 tbs. olive oil
Fresh limes
1 tsp. salt & pepper
Foil 
Hot coals

Chop vegetables roughly in large pieces and store in sealed baggies for easier storage in a cooler. You can do this in large quantities if you are planning several meals for your camping trip.

Peel your shrimp, or carry frozen and peel at the campsite.

Tear off a square of foil approximately 12”x12” for each hobo pack.

Pick out what you want in your individual pack and toss in a bowl with the olive oil, lime juice and spices.

Layer in your ingredients – veggies on the bottom, then shrimp with a sprinkle of cilantro on top. Place one slice of lime in your pack on top of the ingredients.

Wrap it up tight and place veggie-side down, lime-side up onto your hot coals.

Cook for about 15-20 minutes, turning every 10 minutes then check. If everything’s not cooked to your taste, wrap back up and cook 5-10 minutes longer. You’ll really have to gauge this by how hot your coals are, too. If your flames are pretty intense, then most likely you’ll need to keep checking so your dinner doesn’t burn.

Easy cleanup, too! Just ball up the foil and toss in your recycling!

 

Photos: 10 creative camping recipes

Pro-Tip – Organizing your meals per day for camping takes the hassle out worrying what to prepare. Make up gallon-sized sealed baggies with ingredients for each meal and label. Pre-chop veggies and meat and store in sealed baggies in your cooler until time to use.

For more on food and for more recipes check out twinklevanwinkle.com.

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Twinkle VanWinkle was born in a small town in Mississippi. A life-long lover of music, media and food, she grew up following those three things along her path. She has almost 20 years of professional cooking under her apron strings, feeding thousands of friends, family and other folks while working in restaurants and bakeries in Oxford, Miss. She baked 300 apple pies for the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and appeared on “The Best Of...” in the same year. Along with producing dynamic entertainment content for LIN Media, she is a mother, musician and social media fanatic.

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