Rural Missouri - July 2012 - (Page 24)

H E A R T H & H O M E A Reason to Eat Well Outdoors by Heather Berry hberry@ruralmissouri.coop page design by Megan Schibi or some reason, food that’s prepared outdoors always seems to taste better. While hot dogs, burgers and s’mores are great camp fare, nearly any indoor recipe can be prepared outdoors. Anyone can heat up some charcoal and grill a steak while camping, but more often than not, few think beyond grilled meat as an option. Cooking outdoors wasn’t meant to be monotonous. Missourian Pam Alford and Larry Wiseheart host RFD-TV’s “Campﬁre Cafe” television program, where the duo offers campﬁre cooks a way to bring delicious recipes from their kitchen to their camp site. (The show was part of a Rural Missouri article titled “A Recipe for Togetherness,” July 2007.) In the cookbook, “Over the Open Fire,” Pam and co-author Johnny Nix give campﬁre cooks a reason to eat well outdoors. The recipes include everything from soups, quiches, cakes and a wide variety of meats sure to appeal to any camp cook. Their website, www.campﬁrecafetv.com, offers online videos, recipes and tips for anyone learning how to cook over an open ﬁre or a gas grill. And for those wanting to learn the ins and outs of cooking with cast iron, you’ll ﬁnd several articles on the site. So the next time you’re camping, pack up something besides hot dogs and give these delicious recipes a try. Recipes and photos reprinted with permission of Pam Alford, Campﬁre Cafe. BBQ To Brag About 1 large white onion, chopped 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and ﬁnely chopped 4 tablespoons vegetable oil 3-pound lean beef chuck roast, cut into 2-inch pieces 2 small boneless pork butts, cut into 1-inch pieces 2 tablespoons chili powder 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon dried oregano 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes 2 cups beef broth 2 bay leaves Four deli buns White and red onion, thinly sliced Bread and butter pickle slices In a Dutch oven over medium heat, sauté chopped onion and jalapeño peppers in oil until tender. Add beef and pork and more oil if needed; cook and stir until slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, coriander and oregano; stir to mix. Add garlic, tomatoes, beef broth and bay leaves. Bring to a boil; cover and cook low and slow for 1-1/2 hours. Cool meat and pull apart until shredded; set aside. Boil and reduce the cooking liquid until thickened. Combine meat and sauce. Chipotle Sweet Taters 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2inch cubes 1 cup balsamic vinaigrette 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, ﬁnely chopped 3 tablespoons honey 1 package dry chipotle seasoning In a large bowl, drizzle about 1/4 cup of the balsamic vinaigrette over the cubed sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the chipotle seasoning. Mix well to coat potatoes. Add cilantro, honey and remaining chipotle seasoning; mix well and set aside. Put sweet potatoes in a grill roasting basket or on a ﬂat baking pan and roast until fork tender, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from grill and coat with remaining dressing. Serve hot. For a bonus recipe, visit this page in the digital edition at www.ruralmissouri.coop. Campﬁre Caramel Apples 1-pound box dark brown sugar 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk 2/3 cup dark corn syrup 1/3 cup pure maple syrup 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon robust-ﬂavored (dark) molasses 1/4 teaspoon salt 12 sturdy lollipop sticks or chopsticks 12 medium apples, washed and dried Chopped nuts and candy sprinkles, optional Combine sugar, butter, condensed milk, corn syrup, maple syrup, vanilla, molasses and salt in a 12-inch Dutch oven. Stir with a wooden or silicone spatula over medium-low heat until all the sugar dissolves. There should be no grittiness (sugar crystals) when rubbing a little of the caramel between your ﬁngers. Cook caramel at a rolling boil until a candy thermometer reaches 236 degrees, stirring constantly and slowly with a spatula. This usually takes 20 minutes, give or take, depending on your heat source. Carefully pour caramel into a metal bowl. Cool until the temperature lowers to 200 degrees, at which point you are ready to dip the apples. While the caramel is cooling, spread non-stick wax paper over a cookie sheet or ﬂat tray. Insert a wooden chopstick or popsicle stick into each apple, about 2 inches, from the top down, into the apple core. When the caramel has cooled enough for dipping, dip the apples, one by one, into the caramel, submerging all but the very top of the apple. Pull the apple up from the caramel and let the excess caramel drip off from the bottom back into the bowl. Then place on the wax paper. The caramel will pool a little at the bottom of each apple. If it is a hot day, place tray of apples into the ice chest to chill for about 15 minutes. If the weather is cool, this may not be necessary. Once the caramel has chilled a bit, remove from the cooler and use your ﬁngers to press the caramel that has pooled in to the bottom of the apples back on to the fruit. Take whatever toppings you want and press them into the apples for decoration. 24 WWW.RURALMISSOURI.COOP http://www.campfirecafetv.com http://www.ruralmissouri.coop http://WWW.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - July 2012

Rural Missouri - July 2012
Contents
Comments
Columns
A peach of a place
Quilting for a cause
Outdoors
Corralling the faithful
Out of the Way Eats
Platte City’s jewel
Reeling in the competition
Hearth and Home
News Briefs
Rita & Little Ollie
Around Missouri
Marketplace
Neighbors
Just4Kids

Rural Missouri - July 2012