I am crazy about beans. To me, they represent comfort food and did you know this fun fact? When beans are accompanied with rice they make a complete protein! If you make chili at camp one night for dinner, you can use the leftovers to make a bean burrito for lunch. Another option is mixing in a few small ingredients to make veggie burgers.
Don’t get too excited, I know most of the veggie burgers you may have tried could taste like cardboard or a stale Frisbee. However, if you make them yourself, you know exactly what’s in it and they will taste delicious without requiring much time to prepare or cook.
Try telling me that does not look delicious! Photo by Seelensturm @ Flickr
Yes, beans do have some unfortunate side effects like causing the person sleeping next to you to leave the tent for some fresh air. However, if you wash your canned beans well, and soak your dried beans overnight before cooking them, you will remove the phytic acid that causes gas.
You’re out in nature, in touch with your animal instinct, and you just finished your hike. Upon reaching into your pocket to satisfy your hungry belly, you take out the granola bar you packed. As you chew, you proceed to read the ingredients on the wrapper and to your surprise, realize you have just eaten what sounds more like a chemistry lab experiment.
In Gaspésie it’s an obligation to eat seafood, provided that you like that sort of thing. Who doesn’t like to tuck into a nice big, freshly caught lobster? We do, and certainly took maximum advantage of our situation. We tried, with our feet in water much too cold, to coax one into the cooler, but it was in vain…. After only a few seconds, we decided, due to our numb, swollen-red feet, to go to the nearby fish store and pick a monster out for ourselves. The choice wasn’t difficult as there were only lobsters in the tank. We’ve tried to cook them in all sorts of ways and our favourite is on the grill. This worked out well as we had brought one along with us!
Gaspésie! Long hours in the car, magnificent maritime scenery, bona fide villages and people: this was what Philippe and I wanted on our journey. As we had decided to live from day to day without planning anything, we prepared our first dinner before we left home: a little something applicable to many dishes.
Where the sea begins...
We knew we wanted to camp most of the time in national parks, so we equipped ourselves with a grill for cooking meat over the fire, good cooking utensils, our camping stove – MSR Whisperlite international – and a good pot. Not to mention the cooler we used to drag our belongings around problem-free, and in particular, to keep the beer cold….
First Dinner in Gaspésie
We prepared chicken Tandoori drumsticks. They were frozen so we could put them in the cooler several hours even 2 days in advance without worrying. This way they marinate longer, taste better and are juicier.
8-10 frozen chicken drumsticks
750 ml plain yogourt
1 head of garlic, minced
5 tbs. Tandoori spice mix
juice of 2 lemons
Directions
1- Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.
2- Put the chicken in a zip-lock bag with the spice mix.
3- Close the bag and mix everything around so the drumsticks are well coated.
4- Keep the chicken cold until you’re ready to cook it.
5- To cook the chicken, the best is over a fire or on the barbecue. Shake off the excess marinade from the drumsticks and cook them until the meat comes easily off the bone.
Accompanied with baked potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil, this chicken is finger lickin’ good.
Are you looking for an easier way to cook while camping or hiking? Would you love to make sautées but don't like the hassle of carrying around messy oil or butter? Well, our friends at La Guilde Culinaire have a great solution for you! It's called Mycryo cocoa butter and if you hadn't heard of it until now, join the club! All I know is that after having learned about it, it's on my must-have list.
Sunday morning was gloriously warm and sunny. Appropriately, Leigh Partington, (another loyal altitudiène), Carie, one of Leigh’s friends, and I brought our picnicking equipment, i.e., camping stoves, fuel, coffee, food, blankets, cutlery, cups, plates, bowls etc., to Jeanne-Mance Park in Montreal where we proceeded to cook ourselves up a delicious little breakfast. Trying to recreate the most authentic camping scene that I could, I wanted to think of a recipe that would be appropriate for folks spending some time out in the trees, or along the beach, or in the mountains, and that wouldn’t be too difficult.
Are you looking for a quick and easy way to cook your own energy bars before your next hike? Here's an idea from our friends Nabil and company at La Guilde Culinaire, a cooking school two blocks away from our internet warehouse in Montreal.
I know I know, everyone eats oatmeal when they’re backpacking, less when they’re car camping, but at some point or another someone is going to cook oatmeal. Why? Because it’s nutritious and delicious, not to mention drop dead easy. However, eating oatmeal the same way all the time is tedious, and in order to boost its mmmm factor and caloric intake I’ve made some additions. There is no ahead-of-time prep for this meal before leaving on your trip and although it takes slightly more time than making plain old oats by themselves, I hope you enjoy the process of cooking as much as you will the eating.
Where the sea begins...
Magalie at the grill
Magalie and baked potato
