View Full Version : Lightweight options for GOURMET meals
2009ThruHiker
10-11-2007, 10:51
I'm addicted to the idea of lightweight backpacking, including using an alcohol stove and a light pot...but i also love the frozen steak for the first night idea where u freeze steak, and it's thawed for your first night on the trail. What is needed to fry a steak up on the trail though, and can it be done in a lightweight fashion? I don't want lug along a SKILLET! :-?
How about grilling it rare first, then do a reheat/regrill over your stove? Or use cold sliced on a salad of avacado, lettuce, olive oil and flax or sunflower seed, with a splash of balsamic reduction?
2009ThruHiker
10-11-2007, 12:26
How about grilling it rare first, then do a reheat/regrill over your stove? Or use cold sliced on a salad of avacado, lettuce, olive oil and flax or sunflower seed, with a splash of balsamic reduction?
Sounds good, when a grill is available. But how about during a thruhike or long section, where u want to pack it in frozen. Is there a lightweight pan out there that doubles as pot perhaps?
budforester
10-11-2007, 13:07
I sometimes use one of these [can't make the link work... Black Light fry pans] on short trips, but it's 5.4 ounces and the stove must simmer. On campfire coals, temperature can usually be kept low enough to use a thin aluminum pan.
Appalachian Tater
10-11-2007, 19:29
I saw people cooking it over a fire on a stick, and many firepits at shelters have grills. I would want a piece of foil to put on the grill. If you cook on foil or the thin sort of cookware that is made for hiking, you want to heat the pan with some sort of fat (butter, oil) before putting the meat on.
If you are thinking gourmet, how about a lovely carpaccio?
envirodiver
10-12-2007, 10:50
I have done this by taking in one of those very small grill tops. You know the small really cheap ones that you can buy at K-Mart or Walmart. Toss the base that holds charcoal and put the grill top in a 1 gallon siplock freezer bag. Works good though, then use the pot and stove for dehydrated hashbrowns.
Probably not that great for a through hike to have to carry it around when not using, but good for shorter trips.
dessertrat
10-12-2007, 11:04
If you are in a place where there is a fire pit, the only way to cook it is to make a fire, let it die down to coals, wrap the steak in tinfoil and put it directly onto the fire. Let sit for at least 45 minutes, then check it. Usually an hour will do it. Trying to cook a steak over an alcohol stove misses the point.
Johnny Swank
10-12-2007, 11:41
I agree. Toss some garlic, onions, potatoes in with the steak while you're at it. The trick is to use coals, and turn every once in awhile.
Now I'm hungry!
Creek Dancer
10-12-2007, 11:53
Tell me more about the dehydrated hashbrowns! Yummers!
I have done this by taking in one of those very small grill tops. You know the small really cheap ones that you can buy at K-Mart or Walmart. Toss the base that holds charcoal and put the grill top in a 1 gallon siplock freezer bag. Works good though, then use the pot and stove for dehydrated hashbrowns.
Probably not that great for a through hike to have to carry it around when not using, but good for shorter trips.
Wanderingson
10-12-2007, 12:05
I learned a little tip from the Japanese years ago. Cut you steak into cubes slightly larger than you woulod for stew beef. Add Worchestershire (WO) sauce, soy, salt, pepper, and garlic salt and put in a quart ziplock bag to marinate. A splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and cook er up right in your pan. Give that one a whirl.
Creek Dancer
10-12-2007, 12:20
Ya'll are making me hungry!!!!! Wanderingson, that's a great idea for the first night out.
This is a dumb question, but for tortillas, don't you have to cook them first with a bit of oil? And do you use corn or flour tortillas? I notice that lots of people carry them, so what's the trick?
This is a dumb question, but for tortillas, don't you have to cook them first with a bit of oil? And do you use corn or flour tortillas? I notice that lots of people carry them, so what's the trick?
Purely personal opinion on whether corn or flour. I always prefer flour myself. Just heat up your pot a little and throw it in just enough to heat it, flip it over a time or two. Works for me. As for keeping them safe, try a paper towel roll or a pringles can, roll them up and put them inside, they say nice and not torn up.
Furlough
10-12-2007, 13:33
Sounds good, when a grill is available. But how about during a thruhike or long section, where u want to pack it in frozen. Is there a lightweight pan out there that doubles as pot perhaps?
Bring along some sort of a rub for taste. Make a roasting spit for over an open fire. You can either use rocks or branches for the spit ends. Use a good seasoned stick sharpened at one end to impale the meat on. Keep your eye on the steak so as not burn, turn steak over the open flame until cooked your choice of doneness.
Furlough
Simple, just did this on an overnighter a couple weekends ago - take the frozen steak, season (I used Emmeril's Essence), wrap in aluminum foil and place in baggie. Build a fire and put the foil on the coals (open) to grill the steak. Awesome meal.
Try wrapping frozen steak, spiced up the way you like it, in two layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. At campsite, over a medium hot bed of campfire coals, carefully unwrap the foil and fashion it into the shape of a shallow pan (quarter to 1/2 inch sides all the way around). This will keep the juice/grease from flaming up and allow the steak to marinate in its own juices as it cooks. You can use a sharp pointed stick to turn it or even a knife or fork if you've got the coals just right. Yum . . .
budforester
10-16-2007, 23:08
This is a dumb question, but for tortillas, don't you have to cook them first with a bit of oil? And do you use corn or flour tortillas? I notice that lots of people carry them, so what's the trick?
I like flour tortillas; that's why I got the Blacklight pan, the small tortillas fit inside just right and warm quickly. I don't usually bother to grease the non- stick surface for warming. Just slap down a tortilla, warm, flip, and warm the other side. If I'm "cooking" them... like quesadillas... I use some oil or margarine in the pan and lower the heat. Covering the pan can help, too, if it's cold and windy. BTW I like flour tortillas cold, too, as a sandwich- wrapper or as a bread on the side.
sh4d0wm4573ri7
10-17-2007, 09:22
make a grill rack of greenwood or my favorite a nice flat rock heated in the fire swept off then grilled on works great no pan to carry or clean
This is a dumb question, but for tortillas, don't you have to cook them first with a bit of oil? And do you use corn or flour tortillas? I notice that lots of people carry them, so what's the trick?
Nope, they're already cooked and can be ate right out of the bag, but if you want to get fancy you can heat them up.
envirodiver
10-19-2007, 16:51
Tell me more about the dehydrated hashbrowns! Yummers!
Betty Crocker makes a dehydrated hashbrown pkg. that you can find with the other dehydrated potato mixes (Au Gratin, etc.) they are hard to find and for some reason many stores don't have them, so I usually buy a bunch if I see them. Or you can dehydrate your own: microwave potatoes till almost cooked then shred them on a grater, dehydrate till brittle, bag them up with a little dehydrated onion flakes.
Both the homemade and store bought cook up about the same. Put some oil in a pan, add potatos and water, then heat on low. the water will adsorb and they will start to fry. Let them brown on 1 side and turn, cook till browned on the other side and eat. I do this in a pot so it's a little harder to turn in 1 piece and I generally turn them the best I can and just cook them.
Fiddleback
10-20-2007, 11:29
I had some pretty good results from dehydrating OreIda's Peppers and Onions Hashbrowns. They're sitting there in the freezer section just waiting for the dehydrator or oven and cookie sheet.:)
FB
envirodiver
10-23-2007, 11:11
I had some pretty good results from dehydrating OreIda's Peppers and Onions Hashbrowns. They're sitting there in the freezer section just waiting for the dehydrator or oven and cookie sheet.:)
FB
Great idea, I had not thought of that:-?