Culinary Adventures with Camilla

We just got back from our annual family camping trip around northern California. We spend three nights in Modoc National Forest with my in-laws, then hit the coast, and camped all the way back home, exploring different California State Parks as we go. It's about 1500 miles, 10 days, 1 national forest, 3 state parks, and many, many days and nights of cooking over the campfire. Last year I discovered - and had a chance to review (click for my post about it ) - Robin Donovan's  Campfire Cuisine: Gourmet Recipes for the Great Outdoors. What I learned: you can cook just about anything with some parchment paper, some heavy duty foil, olive oil, and herbs. So easy! Campfire Steelhead fish filet onion, sliced organic lemon fresh herbs (I used flowering dill) olive oil salt pepper Procedure Lay a piece of heavy duty foil on the table. Lay a slightly smaller piece of parchment on top of that. Place your fish piece in the center of the parchment. Lay ...

I love fish. I love cooking fish. I love eating fish. I do not love catching fish. And neither does Jake. Sitting on a boat, quietly, waiting for fish to bite. Ugh. Did I mention the silent part. Ugh. I'm just not that patient...or quiet. Jake has fishermen on his Swedish and his Portuguese sides. My ancestors are from the Philippines; they ferment fish and sprinkle it on everything. So, even though the fishing gene obviously skipped us both, the boys have fishing in their blood...and they love it. Within minutes of setting up their tent, they were headed off on the boat with Grandpa. Jake and I spent the afternoon canoeing and paddled over to see what they got. Riley proudly lifted the stringer out of the water to show us what they had gotten. Nice. Back at camp, with the help of their cousins, the boys gutted and cleaned the catch.   Then my sister-in-law Liv and I cooked them for dinner. Yum. We made a compound butter - similar to Robin Donovan's garlic-herb b...

  I adapted Robin Donovan's Potato-Fennel Packets with Goat Cheese recipe from Campfire Cuisine and it became a staple during this year's 10-day camping trip. I skipped the goat cheese and made this on several occasions. Delish. 1 large onion, thinly sliced 6 potatoes, cubed 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced 1/2 C olive oil, plus extra for oiling foil squares freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper Combine onions, potatoes and fennel bulb slices in a large bowl. Mix olive oil, salt, and pepper together and toss with potatoes. Oil four squares of heavy-duty aluminum foil (about 12" X 12") Divide vegetables evenly among the squares and wrap into tight packets. Cook on grill over hot fire for 25 to 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender.