Eating Local Over a Fire

Last week I went camping with my friend Sandy in Northern Lower Michigan. One of our favorite things to do on these annual meccas to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is cook over a fire. And I don’t mean hot dogs. Even while camping, we aim to follow the locavore philosophy as much as possible.

Here’s an easy meal we made with vegetables in season: Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce, Asparagus, Garlic Scapes and Potatoes. The produce came from our local farmers market or the garden, and the meat came from my mixed quarter of beef in the freezer. We even found the prosciutto at the Cedar City Market, known for natural foods.

Lots of people who camp know that one of the best ways to cook potatoes is to wrap them up in foil and let them roast over coals. That’s exactly what Sandy and I did. You just have to get them going first because they need at least half an hour to be tender (for 1-2-inch pieces).

Meanwhile, we made the Chimichurri sauce, which also needs to sit for about 30 minutes, and marinated the grassfed t-bone steak from Lubbers Farm in olive oil, salt and pepper. I brought fresh parsley and oregano from my garden for the Chimichurri!

Then we roasted asparagus and garlic scapes–fresh from the Holland Farmers Market–over the coals. This is easiest to do with a vegetable grate. (The National Park Service provides fire pits with standard grill grates at their campgrounds. Our tax dollars at work, and worth every penny!)

After wrapping the asparagus and garlic in prosciutto, we put it back on the grill to get crispy.

Then we grilled the steak about three minutes per side (it was only 3/4 of a pound and–yes–Sandy and I shared one steak) and let it rest a couple minutes under foil after cooking. As with other grassfed meat grilling recipes, it’s important not to overcook the meat because it is so lean.

This is how the potatoes turned out after roasting.

The whole meal from preparation to serving took about an hour. One of our favorite things to do during the process? Drink local wine. Just like at home.

Herb Frittata Inspired by My Winter Herb Garden

One winter night in February I was flying solo for dinner. I was also short on food. So I decided to make a frittata because we almost always have happy eggs in the fridge.

Then I remembered my Winter Herb Garden, which seems to be holding on through the dead of winter, even when temps got to -4 degrees F outside.

So I started snipping the greens, some of which I think might be arugula, as well as spinach, oregano, and parsley.

I sautéed some slices of red onion, mixed three eggs together (salt and pepper to taste), poured them in a skillet with hot olive oil, and cooked the eggs like I’d do for any frittata. When the eggs were almost set, I sprinkled the chopped greens and herbs on top.

Then I added the onion and some grated Pecorino cheese.

Under the broiler it went for about 2 1/2 minutes, with me checking every 30-60 seconds to make sure it didn’t burn.

With a garnish of grape tomatoes, black cured olives, and a sprig of parsley from the garden, I was ready to eat.

Doesn’t it look like summer has arrived in Michigan?

Happy Spatchcock Chicken with Basil Marinade

When you buy whole happy chickens from local farmers like Bill and I do and your kitchen temperature stays in the 80-degree range most of the summer, roasting a chicken in the oven is not an option. And, I’m a bit lazy about cutting a chicken up into pieces to cook in other ways.

Instead, I do a spatchcock (splayed) whole chicken on the grill, which keeps the cooking heat outside the house.

This recipe was inspired by Stephen Raichlen’s Spatchcocked Game Hens Under a Brick with Basil Marinade. (For other recipes by the man who “reinvented the barbeque,” check out The Barbecue Bible.)

In my adaptation, I used one chicken and adjusted the time accordingly. Since our chicken was just under four pounds, the rest of the ingredient quantities stayed about the same because, in total, it’s about four pounds of meat.

Spatchcock Chicken

One 4-lb. chicken

1 bunch basil

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup water

I don’t have the prettiest basil in my garden but at least it’s organic.

For the recipe, I snipped the top leaves off several of the plants. Is this “a bunch” like the recipe calls for? Hard to know. I just went with what I had. Believe me, the flavor was excellent.

If you don’t have that much basil, you can combine basil with fresh thyme and rosemary for a delicious herb-infused marinade. I’ve tried that before when my basil yield was low.

Combine all the ingredients except the chicken in a food processor to make the marinade.

Here’s the blended marinade.

This is one of the last chickens we got from Tom Cary, who raised them in the pastures of Lubbers Farm last year. It’s been in our freezer since last summer. Once the chicken was thawed, I put it in the sink to perform surgery.

Poultry shears are a must for this operation, and a handy tool to have in the kitchen. Ever since I took a cooking class in Tuscany, Italy a few years ago, I learned how empowering it is to know how to cut up poultry (something I never learned before because of the convenient factory farm chicken I used to buy in the grocery store). But you’ve got to have the right tools. I love my Oxo Good Grips poultry shears. (It’s important to wash these in very hot soapy water, or run them through the dishwasher after use on poultry.)

The first step in the operation is to remove the backbone (and neck if it’s still intact). It’s so easy with shears. Just cut along both sides of the bone and remove. (Remember to save the backbone for stock!)

The next step is more difficult and I’m not sure if I even did it right. First you open up the bird, like opening a book, and gently pull the halves apart. Then, use a sharp paring knife to score the top of the breastbone. Run your thumbs along and under the sides of the breastbone and attached cartilage and pop them out. (I usually end up using a knife.) Then spread the bird out flat.

Flip the bird over and cut slits in the skin between the lower end of the breastbone and the leg so you can tuck the drumstick in.

Then put the chicken in a glass or ceramic dish and pour the marinade over the meat, covering both sides.

After marinading in the fridge for four hours or more, it’s time to preheat the grill to medium heat. Meanwhile, locate a brick. Yes, just a regular household brick. Or anything heavy and fireproof.

Cover it well with foil.

When the grill is around 350 degrees, put the chicken on, skin side down and place the brick on the chicken.

For a 4-lb. chicken, grill on each side about 20-25 minutes on medium heat. You can see we probably did this side a little too long (25 minutes with both burners on).

So when we did the other side, we turned the center burner off and only grilled it for 20 minutes. At this point, we put some steamed Butterball Potatoes from Visser Farms on the grill. I got this recipe from Lauri Sisson of Pereddies’ Restaurant at the Holland Farmers Market Chef Series demo in June.

She baked them in the oven but they are really good on the grill, too.

Once the chicken is done, it’s important to let it rest a few minutes under foil.

Serve with potatoes and salad.

Don’t forget to boil the carcass for stock. This chicken dish renders a delicious rich stock infused with herbs.

Frittata Over a Fire

Last winter I posted a frittata recipe as a suggestion for a quick, vegetarian meal–either breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Ever since, Bill and I have been making them at least every couple of weeks for dinner. They’re easy, nutritious, and yummy!

But my frittata fetish really began a long time ago during camping vacations because it’s an easy meal to make over a campfire.

If you have veggies to use up after a couple days of camping, just saute them with olive oil and salt in an iron skillet on the fire grate. My friend Sandy and I made this frittata a few weeks ago while camping in Northern Lower Michigan. We started with chopped zucchini and onion.

Mix up some happy eggs, such as the ones we got from Grassfields.

Pour the egg mixture right on top of the vegetables and add some grated parmesan cheese. Then cover with foil.

The frittata is ready to eat when the egg is set. To keep it from burning, remove the skillet from the fire and leave the foil on. The hot iron pan will continue to cook the egg.

Cut into serving pieces.

Enjoy with toast, plus potatoes cooked over the fire the night before. And don’t forget a little Sunset Peach cider from Good Neighbor Organic Vineyard & Winery, or try a Bellini like Bill and I enjoy with our oat cakes!

Not Your Brother’s Campfire Food

I’ve already opined how much I dislike hot dogs, so why would I bring them on a camping trip?

Thankfully, my friend Sandy feels the same way. That’s why–whenever we camp in Northern Lower Michigan–we cook over a fire for most of our meals.

On a recent trip to D.H. Day Campground in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, we brought along a pork steak from Creswick Farms and grilled it similarly to the recipe I make at home. The only difference is we partially cover the meat with foil on a campfire grate because there’s no lid to cover it like on a gas grill. And, because heat control is trickier with coals, it becomes an exercise in trial-and-error. So I’d recommend cutting into the meat to check for doneness before serving, which you might already do with a gas grill anyway.

Along with our pork, we roasted some red-skinned potatoes in a skillet with a little water, olive oil, and salt (covered in foil until tender).

The key with camping is to mix and match your recipes so that you can use several ingredients for other meals. For example, with the potatoes, we cooked more than what we needed for dinner and saved the rest to have for breakfast with a frittata.

We also brought along the last of the local fresh asparagus and cooked it in foil with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, then drizzled it with fresh-squeezed lemon juice before serving. (These latter ingredients are key staples for camping!)

And the bread? It’s baguette from Stone House Bread in Leland, Michigan. We brushed it with some olive oil and grilled that over the fire, too.

We also had a fresh salad to use up some of the vegetables leftover from our Roadtrip Tortas.

With a bottle of Harbor Red wine from Good Harbor Vineyards–one of our favorites in the Leelanau Peninsula–we had a delicious meal that didn’t take much more time than it would at home. And if you use a charcoal grill, it’s probably about the same amount of time: The key to cooking over a fire is to build a good fire and use hot coals.

It just takes a little planning and time. What do you do while you wait for the fire to turn into coals? Open a bottle of wine!

Who Needs Jiffy Pop?

I remember in the 70s my family always made popcorn the old-fashioned way: either in a saucepan on the stove or in a popcorn popper over a fire. Eventually, I took over the stove-top process, likely because I’m addicted to popcorn. Just the smell of it makes me want to eat it, even if I’m not hungry!

For many of the years I’ve gone tent camping, I’d bring along a package of Jiffy Pop, stick it on the fire grate and let it go, shaking occasionally. But the last few times I’ve camped–likely since I’ve become more particular about what I eat and how I prepare it–I’ve enjoyed the old saucepan method.

All you need is a good iron pot. Add some olive oil, or other cooking oil to just coat the bottom of the pot, and put in a layer of popcorn (as in the photo above). If the pot has a lid, put it on and set the whole thing on a grate over a very hot fire–or even right in red-hot to white coals. (I used aluminum foil since my pot doesn’t have a lid.) Then, wait for the first kernel to pop.

Once it starts popping, it’s important to tend to the corn by shaking the pan, or it will burn. In a matter of minutes, the whole pot of corn will be popped.

After the kernels have stopped popping, take the pot off the fire and let the corn “roast” with the lid or foil on top. Then, simply salt to taste and enjoy!

From My Mother’s Recipe Box: Potato Pancakes

Stashed in the bookcase that holds all my cookbooks is my mother’s recipe box. It’s one of the keepsakes I’ve had since she died when I was young. And, it’s a treasure trove of recipes on index cards from the 1950s and ’60s.

What I like about this little collection is that the recipes are made from real food. While processed food was making its debut after World War II, apparently my mother was still following recipes she collected from her family and friends.

Or from a guy named Jim Bower at Cornell University, whose name appears on this Potato Pancakes recipe card. Don’t you love the simplicity of this recipe, all typed up neatly on a 3×5 card?

I thought I’d share some recipes from my mother’s collection with you occasionally to remind us all that, once upon a time, people cooked from scratch. And maybe to inspire you to dig up some recipes from your mother or aunt or grandmother. Are they hidden in a box somewhere? These recipes that get passed down from generation to generation are the fabric of our culture–or, let’s say the bread and butter of our culture. The way processed food has infiltrated our food system over the last several decades, it’s important that we not only remember how to cook but also celebrate our heritage through real food.

I’d love to hear from you: What are your favorite recipes that have been in the family for generations? Send them to me (with a photo if you have one) and I’ll post them on my blog.

Watch for more recipes from my mother’s recipe box over the next several months!

Lamb Souvlaki with Grilled Halloumi Cheese and Greek Salad

Okay, so it’s not really souvlaki because the lamb’s not skewered, but that’s  the name of the recipe so I’m sticking with it. This recipe came from ABC Hobart, a radio station in Tasmania, Australia.

As usual, I improvised. For one thing, it’s hard to find good pita bread in West Michigan at the last minute without going to Mediterranean Island in Grand Rapids, so I actually used flour tortillas as a substitute. (These also work well to accommodate Bill’s wheat allergy; even though the tortillas are made with wheat, his reaction to tortillas is less severe than for pita bread.)

Where’s the lamb, you might ask? It’s hidden under the salad. Basically, the tortilla (or pita) serves as a holder for the halloumi and the lamb; then you pile the Greek salad on top. It’s a great dish to make in the summer because of the cool salad components. And, there’s not much cooking to do. I included this recipe in my “Food Over a Fire” category because all you need is an iron skillet for cooking the lamb and browning the cheese. Bill and I actually prefer making this dish with ground lamb, which doesn’t need to be marinated. This lamb is from Creswick Farms, via the West Michigan Co-op, until our lamb order from Lubbers Farm is ready in the fall.

Once it was browned, I drained the fat and continued frying it until was nice and crispy, then added ground cumin and a dash of cayenne pepper. (I omitted the oregano in this step because I planned to add fresh oregano leaves to the salad component.)

Next, I heated up the tortillas on a griddle and put them on plates, covered, to keep warm. (You could do this in a skillet over a campfire or wrap them in foil to warm them slowly.) Then I cut the halloumi cheese into slices between 1/4 and 1/2 inches thick (so they don’t fall apart) and fried them in a very light coating of olive oil until nicely browned on both sides.

Then I cut the cheese slices down the middle in order to distribute them on the tortilla.

Next, I squeezed some fresh lemon juice on the cheese and sprinkled the ground lamb all over the tortilla.

Meanwhile, I combined tomatoes, olive oil, salt, fresh lemon juice, cucumbers, fresh chopped oregano, and fresh chopped mint in a bowl to create the Greek salad. The herbs came right from my garden and the vegetables are from the Holland Farmers’ Market.

For the final assembly, I put mixed greens on top of the tortilla-halloumi-lamb mixture and added the Greek salad, garnishing with kalamata olives.

Stay tuned for my next lamb recipe showing how I used up the leftovers!

You Can Camp? You Can Cook!

Every year my friend Sandy and I go camping at least once, sometimes twice, in Northern Lower Michigan. One of our favorite things to do is cook over the fire. We’re planning on going in early June so watch for my upcoming blog post about our trip in a couple months. You can also check out my post from last fall, “Fish Tacos Over a Fire,” for a recipe suggestion.

An article in The New York Times’ travel section inspired tonight’s blog post. It mentions ROW Adventures Culinary Whitewater Series, which focuses on Northwest regional fare cooked in a Dutch oven over a campfire. O.A.R.S., another adventure rafting company, brings a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef on its Wilderness Gourmet trip series. And Royal Tine Camp Cook School offers the reward of cooking in the refreshing mountain air of Montana’s outdoors. So if you’re not inclined to attempt a camping and cooking trip on your own, you can hook up with one of the above organizations to try it with a pro in the comfort of a group.

It just goes to show you that you can eat well even if you’re living in a tent for a few days. That’s the way Sandy and I approach our camping weekends. Why suffer with hot dogs and Spam? If you prefer happy food, you can always find a way to cook over a fire. The key is to organize your recipes and ingredients so that they overlap from day to day.

For example, when we camp in Northern Lower Michigan in early June, asparagus is usually in season so we’ll roast it over the fire for dinner. Then we’ll use the leftover in a frittata for breakfast the next day. It just takes a little planning before you go. And plenty of dry, aged firewood.

(I’ll share one little secret with you: One of my weaknesses is the traditional Jiffy Pop popped over the fire. There’s nothing like a little nostalgia on a camping trip and Jiffy Pop sure brings back memories. Plus, it’s an easy snack before bed when the only light in the campsite is the orange glow of the campfire.)

Frittata!

A simple, quick, cheap vegetarian dinner Bill and I enjoy is a frittata. (It also makes a great breakfast, either at home or when camping.)

Frittata for Two

Mix together six happy eggs, a splash of milk (or rice milk if you’re allergic to dairy), salt and pepper.

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet until very hot. Add egg mixture and cook on medium heat. When edges begin to solidify, gently lift them up and let uncooked egg mixture slide underneath. Keep doing this in order to cook the eggs and prevent the frittata from sticking to the pan.

Add some herbs, such as rosemary.

Then cover with shredded cheese. (We used a Greek cheese due to Bill’s allergy to cow milk products.) Remove from heat and cover with a lid until set.

Then broil for a minute or two (watching carefully) on low heat. Cut frittata in two.

Serve with fried potatoes and onions, grilled baguette, and a side salad.