Backwoods cooking for the uninitiated is the art of cooking without utensils etc.
This page has a collection of recipe ideas which can be used for both Backwoods cooking as
well as family barbecues. Whilst 'real' backwoods cooking would be without any utensils etc.
most of these recipes are great on any open fire (or barbecue)
All-in-One Bacon&Egg Roll
Beggars Chicken
Chocolate Banana
Chocolate Orange
Marshgestives
Steamed Fish
All-in-One Bacon&Egg Roll
Not exactly Backwoods because it uses aluminium foil - but hey, a cooked breakfast with no dishes to do afterwards is a bonus in most people's books.
Tear the corner off of a morning roll and put to one side. The put your fingers inside the roll and hollow out the roll (squash bread to sides, don't remove filling).
Carefully, crack open the egg, and pour inside the roll.
Place the corner of the roll back over the hole,
Now wrap the bacon around the roll, covering the piece you broke off earlier.
wrap the entire assembly in aluminium foil and place in the fire to cook, turning once to prevent burning.
Beggars Chicken
Picked up from a Chinese Recipe, I have tried this out both in my oven at home and on an open fire at camp. Make sure you have a good hammer / mallet available in order to get to the meat when it is cooked. Additionally, you can try this recipe with a joint of meat instead of a full chicken if you wish. a great way to cook a full roast at camp without burning the outside of the meat
If doing this at home - expect funny looks from your neighbours when you are trying to smash your sunday dinner open on the back doorstep - I did :)
1. Mix a bag of flour with a nearly similar weight of salt to make a salt dough (kids use this mixture to bake into hard figures) and put to the side.
2. Rub the skin of your chicken with sesame oil and soy sauce (and any herbs/spices you want) then double wrap in aluminium foil.
3. Roll out the salt-dough and then completely cover the foil-wrapped chicken, making sure you pinch it all closed and there are no gaps left anywhere.
4. Place your chicken (or roast) in the fire and surround with embers to make sure there is an even heat all round.
5. Leave for the required amount of time (differs depending on size of bird/roast) before removing from the heat
6. Leave the chicken for a further 30 minutes and then take your hammer to the now hardened shell. Once you have this broken, remove the shell and you should have a perfecly tasty piece of meat to enjoy.
Chocolate Banana
"Simple but sumptious" - A favourite dessert for after any barbeque or backwoods meal.
Carefully cut along the length of a banana, before opening the split slightly.
Fill the split with some chocolate (I find Buttons or crumbled flake to be best)
Push banana shut and wrap in foil.
Place on fire and remove after it has been long enough to have melted the chocolate and softened the banana.
Allow to cool slightly before eating with a spoon straight from the skin.
Chocolate Orange
"Simple but sumptious" - A favourite dessert for after any barbeque or backwoods meal.
Carefully cut into an orange, before opening the split slightly.
Fill the split with some chocolate (I find After Eights or some other mint-flavoured chocalte to be very effective)
Push orange shut and wrap in foil.
Place on fire and remove after it has been long enough to have melted the chocolate.
Allow to cool slightly before eating with a spoon straight from the skin.
Marshgestives
"Simple but sumptious" - A favourite dessert for after any barbeque or backwoods meal.
Heat a marshmallow or two to the desired amount (I prefer flaming a wee bit) then jam it between two chocolate digestives (or other chocolate covered biscuit). Everybody will love these.
Steamed Fish
"Healthy Fish Dish" - A very healthy way to cook fish without over/undercooking it.
Take a double page from a normal "tabloid" newspaper and soak it in water.
Now wrap the fish in the newspaper and place it over the fire.
When the paper has dried out on the underside and is just starting to burn - turn it over.
When the 2nd side has dried out and starting to char - remove from the fire.
Carefully peel the paper off the fish and it should be steamed to perfection. :)
(if you like place a few herbs inside the fish before you wrap it)
