camp cooking

[cellio]

Dear LJ brain trust, help me figure out what to feed my camp-mates at Pennsic. :-)

We take turns cooking dinner for everybody, where "everybody" is around 25 people, give or take. Cooking facilities are propane-fueled stoves and grills; it's camping, so no electricity, and our camp doesn't build a firepit (especially this year when we'll probably be packed like sardines). We do also have a small propane oven, big enough to bake a dozen muffins, but I'm not sure what role it could play in dinner for twice that many people.

My night is late this year and I don't like to leave site once I'm there, so my usual of grilled fish (and/or grilled meat) doesn't work (I wouldn't trust either in a cooler for the better part of a week). We tend to be a meat-heavy camp, more than I'm used to eating, so I personally lean toward vegetarian (or fish, if that worked). We have a couple people in camp who are lactose-intolerant.

Dry goods (or canned) can obviously be stored for the week with no problem and there is a vegetable stand on site.

I prefer to make food that is period or plausible as opposed to modern.

Any suggestions? I'm currently thinking that something with chickpeas could provide protein, and I could have rice and grilled veggies, but can I improve on this?

Comments

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

Rock soup. It's easy, it's delicious, it's nutritious, it can be stretched for more hungry people, and, of course, it's easy. Start with a big pot of water then add what you have. I like beef, if I have it, potatoes, carrots, celery, anything I have. And whatever spices I have to add some flavor. Flour if necessary to thicken the broth. Drat, now I'm hungry. Brb

[cellio]

Drat, now I'm hungry. Brb

Isn't it a little late where you live to be starting a pot of soup? :-)

Thanks for the suggestion! This is the sort of thing that can also tame leftovers from prior nights, too.

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

Late, aye, but I can whip up a pot of soup in about 30-45 minutes. Got it going now, in fact.

[ariannawyn.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest the "using up leftovers" idea, too (which you know I like to do, though it requires being flexible and creative).

Also, remember that you can buy fruits and veggies on site, at the store next to the ice cream place in the food court.

Soup/stew is a fine idea, though I would probably add bread or crackers on the side (and you can buy "good" bread like Italian at the veggie stand, too).

[cellio]

Yes, planning to buy veggies on-site, and thanks for reminding me that I can get fruit and bread that way too. (I had given up on any decent bread for my meal because neither baking it on-site nor bringing it from home would work.

I know you like to use up leftovers and you have the last night for that purpose, but I suppose you won't mind if I use some of them earlier. :-)

[ariannawyn.livejournal.com]

Actually, I was pretty successful last year at making biscuits in the camp oven. You just need to allow a little time in advance since it is small, but really, you can fit two racks in it, so at least a dozen at a time means you would only have to do 4 iterations to have 2 rolls per person. I haven't tried making a more tradition risen bread dough in it yet but I was kind of thinking of trying that this year during Peace Week - making rolls instead of whole loaves because of the size.