The Leave-no-crumbs Camping Cookbook

Book excerpt: Imagine this: You're at a campsite 10,000 feet up in the Third Mono Creek Recess of the high Sierras. You have no refrigerator, no food processor, no non-stick cookware, no measuring spoons, no pepper mill, no sea salt. How are you going to cook a meal that is imaginative, delightful, and delicious? That's what The Leave-No-Crumbs Camping Cookbook is all about.Rick Greenspan and Hal Kahn show anyone who loves the outdoors how to make homemade pizza, braid challah, wrap poached trout in a sushi roll, and even make dumplings for Chinese dim sum at their campsite. Campers who have never cooked anything more complicated than s'mores might feel uncertain about tackling chocolate mousse in the wild, but Greenspan and Kahn have three decades of experience teaching camp-out cooking. "We've taught people who could barely boil water," they say. And they are reassuring about trailside mishaps. If your grilled trout falls into the fire, take it out, brush off the ash, and rename the dish Cajun Blackened Trout. If the eggs break in their plastic container, make a dinner of crépes, huevos rancheros, and a cake. "The point of wilderness cooking is to have fun," say Greenspan and Kahn, "not worry if the Académie Française is looking over your shoulder." You'll find recipes for soups and stews; fruit, vegetable, and tofu dishes; pilafs, risottos, and polenta; pasta, noodles, and dumplings; sauces and schmeers (that's Yiddish for spreads); pancakes, crépes, and soufflés; pizza and quiche. An entire chapter is devoted to trout, and the book even includes a recipe for chocolate cake. There are instructions and tips for all sorts of of cooking techniques, including dehydrating, baking in coals or on a camping stove, grilling, frying, and steaming. And several pages are devoted to trip planning: how much food to bring, what to look for in a camp stove, how long you can expect your cooking fuel to last. This book is perfect for car campers, backpackers, bikers, canoeists, tail-gaters, and day picnickers who want good food to be part of the outdoor experience