What's your favorite camping meal

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Ok, what's your favorite camping meal?

Really, we need two answers from each of you.

1. Give us your favorite "quick" camping meal.

2. Give us your favorite "got all the time in the world to prepare" camping meal.

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Pedernales Valley Chili :wub

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Pedernales Valley Chili

What's that? ...recipe

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This recipe appeared in Life Magazine during Lyndon B Johnson's reign as King of America. The Johnson Ranch is in the Pedernales River Valley. This is arguably the only good thing to come out of that administration. This is the best chili I've ever tasted and I'm a native born Texican and chilihead.

3½ lbs top round cut into ½" cubes (never use hamburger)
5T vegetable oil
2C coarsely chopped onion
4 cloves garlic minced
8t chili powder
1t oregano
1t cumin
1t crushed red peppers
4C beef broth
2C tomatoes cut up (save juice)
1 can 6oz tomato paste
1T salt
1t sugar
1 or 2 T yellow corn meal

Pat meat dry with paper towel. Heat 3 T oil in a large pot. Add meat and sear until lightly browned (3-4 minutes), use spoon to stir. Drain meat into a bowl and set aside. Add remaining oil to pot and sauteé onions and garlic until wilted not brown. Stir in chili powder, oregano, cumin and peppers. Mix until onions and garlic are coated. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Cook over low heat in uncovered pot for three hours or until meat is tender. Cool and store overnight in refrigerator. Cook over low heat for one hour. Serve.

It'll serve ten or more people, depends how hungry they are. Experiment with more or less chili powder, cumin and crushed red peppers if you like it milder or really hot. Try this first, though, for the taste. Lee used to make two pots for our chili frys.

If anyone tries this, I'd like your feedback.

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Orginally posted by Michael Sanders

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE

Pedernales Valley Chili

What's that? ...recipe[/quote]

So there :weep

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Thanks, Morgan. I was wonderin' if there was a Pedernales in Arizona, too.

And your recipe looks pretty close to the way we make chili - except we might use a dash (or more) of Tabasco instead of the crushed red peppers (by which I assume you mean hot red peppers, such as cayenne). Mmmmm.

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Orginally posted by Mary F.

Thanks, Morgan. I was wonderin' if there was a Pedernales in Arizona, too.

And your recipe looks pretty close to the way we make chili - except we might use a dash (or more) of Tabasco instead of the crushed red peppers (by which I assume you mean hot red peppers, such as cayenne). Mmmmm.

Mary F,

Try it, you'll like it :weep

Being a Texican yourself, you probably didn't even notice the absence of beans. For the rest of you, chili is chili. If you put beans in it it's called chili beans, but it's not chili. Chili beans is pretty good, but it's not ambrosia ;)

Enjoy

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Michael,

If you do that chili in a dutch oven, you may not need to cook it twice. Let me know how it turns out.

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Oops, Morgan. I didn't really read your directions; I just looked through the list of ingredients. Completely missed that you let it steep overnight. Afraid we never plan that far ahead... and yes, you are right, I wasn't looking for beans in a chili recipe.

:jester
It's the cooking it again the next day, though, that lets you get away with claiming this for the both quickest and the slowest meals... Ain't I brilliant?

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Orginally posted by Mary F.

Oops, Morgan. I didn't really read your directions; I just looked through the list of ingredients. Completely missed that you let it steep overnight. Afraid we never plan that far ahead... and yes, you are right, I wasn't looking for beans in a chili recipe.

:jester
It's the cooking it again the next day, though, that lets you get away with claiming this for the both quickest and the slowest meals... Ain't I brilliant?

You are unquestionably brilliant, Mary. Actually, one can eat it after the first cooking, it's just better the next day. The ingredients have a chance to marry.

If you cook up a batch, eat it. You'll have plenty of leftovers to cook again the next day. It's like Lee's stew; it gets better each time you cook it.

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OK Morgan,

I tried your chilly.

In some ways it was as disappointing as LBJ.
"Mai Fellaow Ammerikans"

But in other areas (so far) it is GREAT!

I walked down to Safeway and got the ingredients I didn't already have. I was very careful to measure and cook carefully according to your directions.

So far, I have done everything except the 3 hours cooking and the overnight/reheat part. The stuff tastes great! For a scale of taste I would have to give it a conservative "8" or a martini "9". (Manhattan martini this afternoon) I didn't have any "Lone Star."

I have to say I am disappointed with the "temperature." Understand, I have NEVER had any Texas chili and I thought it would be "warmer" than what I got. For hot, on the 5 alarm scale, I would have to give it a 1/2!

Now I used the chili powder (Safeway brand) and I used crushed oriental red chilies for the chili. (They are usually HOT!!!) and the stuff doesn't even open up my sinuses.

Did I do something wrong?

I will let it stew for a while and see if it gets better before supper.

I intend to take the Casita out (If I ever get the Jeep wiring done) on the 10th and go to Zion, Brice, etc., etc.. This chili is s'posed to go into Seal-A-Meal bags for the trip. That means it will set, cool, go into the bags, be frozen, then reheated. Will it warm up?

Anyway, it shoor taste good the way it is!

Augie

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Augie,

Next time you're through Hatch, pick up a string of habañero peppers. Chop those up and substitute for the crushed red peppers. That should bring it up to the desired hotitude :weep

When crushing the habañeros, be sure to wear protective clothing and a respirator ;)

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Augie asks...

...the stuff doesn't even open up my sinuses. Did I do something
wrong?

Augie, I think there must have been a typo in the recipe. That
8t surely should have been 8T...as in Tablespoons. When I make
My Chile...

http://home.pacbell.net/macknet/mychile.html

I use a couple tablespoons of chile powder per pound of meat. That'd
work out to about 21t (teaspoons) of chile powder.

Rich

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Our favorite all-time camping dish is grilled bratwurst. Can't beat the brats for a quick and easy meal. Now, if good nutriton and healthy eating are your goals, better pick another dish.