Gourmet Meals

[Austin_Knott]

Too many times before I have seen people empty full packets of oatmeal into their mouth and swish it down with some water, or just eat ramen noodles raw.

Even though this way is light and cheap, it is personally not what I want to eat when I will be hiking the AT.

When I'm on the trail, I bring garlic, cheese, pre-cooked bacon, homeade crossiants, etc. I make pizzas on stone-ovens in the fire, bacon, egg, and cheese paninis (squished together by two hot rocks), mac n cheese with sausage, peppers, and aged cheddar, sauteed onions etc, etc.

I was just looking for some more lightweight food ideas that are high in calories and will not be totally destroying my pallet.

[get wayaway]

http://www.amazon.com/Lipsmackin-Backpackin-Lightweight-Trail-tested-Backcountry/dp/1560448814

[Austin_Knott]

Thanks. Should have checked amazon before-hand :P

[Rocket Jones]

You're 18 years old, that ain't old enough to have a 'pallet'. ;)

Seriously though, google up Hungry Hammock Hanger and the Backpacking Chef. TrailCooking.com has recipes you can adapt, so does One Pan Wonders.

For ready-made, look at Hawk Vittles.

Post up the results of some of your trail recipes, folks are always looking for new things.

[Rasty]

On my last section I used a combination of Meats, cheese and vegetables from Packitgourmet.com and mixed with starches from the grocery store. Barilla makes a dry cheese tortellini that is really good. Also look at Israeli couscous.

[Mountain Mike]

Cooking the One Burner Way & NOLS Cookery are two of my go to cookbooks.

[Cadenza]

I have a secret trick.
You can eat anything you can find or get your hands on and make it taste better with a link of Italian sausage. :cool:

[bannerstone]

I'd be intersted to hear more about how you get together a pizza on the trail. I've often thought about the logistics of rising the dough in my pack ahead of time, planning ingredients, etc. but the stone oven leaves me a complete blank.

David

[peakbagger]

I used to do far more fancy meals on section hiking trips when I started getting serious about the AT. It took me a couple of trips to figure out that the simpler the better for meals. You may not believe it now but most folks rapidly get to the point where food is "fuel" and it isnt the quality it the speed and quantity. Most wait until town or pick up the ingredients in town for a fancier meal on the night after they have left town.
The other thing to keep in mind is that at some point of a thru hike, usually spring, you will be cooking in the rain or in a crowded shelter, so trying to cook involved meals becomes a real PITA. If you do camp at shelter, the option of using the firepit for cooking is not likely, other folks will want to have a campfire and in general firepits at shelters tend to be trashpits. Sure you can set up seperate frie ring in some locations but most campsites and shelter sites do not allow this.

Most of the gourmet dehydrated meals tend to be over spiced and many are loaded with MSG.

I settled on using one of the twenty or so Lipton rice based meals with a variety of three types of dehydrated veggies and usually dehydrated but occasionally foil pack chicken. The veggies are thrown in the pot when the noodles are done and they soak up some of excess water. I also carry a variety of strong spices where a little goes a long way. I can go several days before I repeat a particular sequence. Clean up is easy, one pot and one spoon.

I do have an outback ultraight oven that works well for weekend camping. Until I came up with a heat shield for my Pocket Rocket, using the aluminum hood from the oven over my pot would cut down on gas usage. The pan that comes with it is not super heavy and I had picked up a lighter weight heat diffuser somewhere along my travels. The prepacked pizza dough (bascially Bisquick) works pretty well for a crust and you can buy plastic packs of shelf stable pizza sauce at Walmart next to the premade pizza shells. Peperoni and summer sausage keeps for a long time.

[Rasty]

I agree with Peakbagger about making the meal as simple as possible, but this does not exclude having a real nice dinner. I package all the ingredients into a zip lock bag. In camp I add the ingredients to the water cold and bring to a boil. When the food is finished I adjust the salt to taste and add an extra virgin olive oil packet and a parmesan cheese packet if needed.

Easy "gourmet" trail cooking is about preperation time at home.

[yellowsirocco]

I like to bring fresh bread. A baguette fits nicely in the side pocket of my pack. Other stuff I just put on the top of my pack. I don't try to cram everything into the smallest pack possible so there is room for the bread without getting smushed. I had a nice zopf loaf this summer that was awesome.

[Dr. Professor]

One method that I find works well is two "sit down meals" a day, the first a brunch and the second being dinner. In between, I like to eat snack foods like bars, trail mix, jerky, etc. while I'm hiking. I like my meals to be fast and easy, and I like to have some that require no heat and some that require minimal water.

That said, a treat or two is nice. It can be simple though: a bit of scotch or the occasional cheese or smoked samon by the campfire is a real treat on the trail.

[Deadeye]

my "standard" dinner uses dehydrated veggies from Harmony House. i put some onions, peppers, taters, beans, veggies and herbs in a container a few hours before dinner, and add some water to start rehydrating. At dinner, I add somemore water, bring it to a boil, add meat (chicken, ham, spam, summer sausage, italian sausage, whatever, from a can, a pouch, dehydrated, fresh, or freeze-dried), and set it aside for a while. Endless possibilities and combinations.

[FarmerChef]

Easy "gourmet" trail cooking is about preperation time at home. +1

I agree with those who say that eventually food becomes fuel but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy the challenge of making a meal my family will rave about that only took 20 or 30 minutes to cook (it takes a while to cook for 5). With that I have developed several recipes that work well for us, one of which earned me my trail name.

Some things that have helped me: backpackingchef.com - lots of great ideas to spur your imagination. My kids loved the trail apple pie. Getting and using a dehydrator - I have more control over how and when the food is prepared. That said, I only section hike so I'm not dehydrating enough for a thru. Experimenting - I've baked a two layer cake and muffins (really one big muffin) in two pots over a fire. That's part of our normal cook kit. Asking around - exactly what you're doing here! Keep it up!

I too would love to know how you do the pizza. Please post!

[oldbear]

Homemade croissants ?
That's impressive ; I haven't scratch made those since I was in school
Don't overlook the power of citrus zests
Don't overlook the power of spices in their seed form bc in that form they keep their real flavors a lot longer
Don't overlook carrying freshly made and then air dried " ribbon type " pastas
Use commercial pasteurized eggs for doing that
I would be really leery about baking on rocks bc sometimes they do have water in them and the high heat of cooking can cause the water in the rocks to change to steam and explode into fragments

[ajames]

It is a great idea to homemade croissants. Once I used it, my friend made it and brought him. I try to make it without dried yeast but it is very hard for me to make it without dried yeast .

[Austin_Knott]

Use pita bread as your base and then it is simply whatever you want to put on the pizza; warmed by a rock oven built around a fire (:

[FarmerChef]

lol - great idea. I was envisioning flour, yeast, water rising in a pack then getting tossed onto a hot rock. :D Pita with toppings sounds great.