Make a Gourmet 3 Course Meal in Your Caravan

Cooking a Fantastic 3 Course Meal in your Caravan

Getting away in your own caravan is a great step away from the hustle and bustle of life, but it doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the luxuries and eat simply. You can still make incredible mouth-watering dishes while you’re on your caravanning adventure, and even enjoy a full gourmet three course meal to celebrate those special occasions away from home.

Cooking on a campfire brings a beautiful rustic taste and aroma to your food, and with the right ingredients and a little bit of planning you’ll be able to enjoy some amazing and delicious dishes no matter where you are.

Below are a few fantastic recipes to create your gourmet three course meal while you’re away from home. We recommend you prepare the dessert first and leave it to sit until you’re ready to eat it, then prepare the main meal, and then the entrée as the main meal is cooking, so you get a chance to relax and enjoy the courses when they are ready to eat, hot and fresh!

Easy Entrée

Campfire Meatball Stew

This tasty and simple stew is a perfect starter to your meal. While this recipe calls for a basic beef and stock mixture, you can easily add any meat or extra vegetables you choose. It will require about 30-45 minutes of preparation and cooking time.

Ingredients

1kg lean ground beef

15mL oil

1 large onion, diced

Salt and pepper

3 tins of vegetable stock

Water

Directions

• Add salt and pepper to ground beef and mix well.
• Roll the beef into small, 1cm balls.
• Pour oil in a frying pan or heavy kettle, and heat. Add meatballs and onion, and cook until meatballs are well browned.
• Pour off any excess fat.
• Add vegetable stock and enough water to prevent it sticking to the base of the pan.
• Cover and cook slowly until the meatballs are cooked through.
• Serve hot, with toasted bread or garlic bread.

Main Meal Choices

For the main meal, we have two options – braised beef with vegetables or a tender delicious salmon, that you can serve with a salad, depending on what you prefer.

Dutch Oven-Braised Beef and Summer Vegetables

This succulent one-pot meal is easy to make and tastes amazing. It requires a little more preparation as it requires a few more ingredients, and will take about 2 – 2.5 hours to cook. But there is very little actual cooking to do as it will slow-cook itself, and the end result will definitely be worth the time!

Ingredients

1 boneless beef chuck roast

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh rosemary leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 punnet cherry tomatoes, stems removed

2 ears corn, cleaned and cut into thirds

1 onion, cut into 6 wedges

200g green beans, ends trimmed, cut in half

6 baby zucchini, ends trimmed, or regular zucchini cut into chunks

350g thin-skinned potatoes about 2.5cm wide

2 tablespoons butter

3 cups chicken broth, separated

Directions

• Prepare beef by combining garlic, rosemary, oil, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper in a bowl and rubbing all over the beef.
• Put Dutch oven in place for top and bottom cooking (place oven on a circle of coals and pile more coals on its lid).
• Add butter and melt.
• Add beef and cook until browned on the underside, for approximately 10 minutes.
• Turn meat over, add 2 cups of chicken broth, put the lid on and arrange coals on top.
• Cook for 1 hour, adding fuel every 30 minutes.
• Turn meat over, add 1 cup of chicken broth, tomatoes, corn, onion and potatoes, put the lid on and arrange coals on top.
• Cook for 1 hour.
• Turn meat over, add green beans and zucchini, and more broth if the meat is drying out. Put the lid on and arrange coals on top.
• Cook until the meat is very tender, for approximately 15-30 minutes.
• Season with more salt and pepper to taste.

Foil Wrapped Salmon with Herbs and Lemon

Cooking with tin foil makes the meal easy to throw together and even easier to clean up, and it can be placed directly in the fire to infuse the fish with a beautiful smoky flavour. It will require about 20-30 minutes of preparation and cooking time. You could add strips of bacon to enhance the flavour, there are plenty of choices, even while in your caravan.

Ingredients

4 salmon filets

8 slices of lemon

4 tablespoons Dijon mustard

4 sprigs of dill

4 sprigs of tarragon

4 tablespoons butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 shallot, sliced

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Tin foil

Directions

• Generously season the salmon with salt and pepper, and spread Dijon mustard over each salmon filet.
• Layer 2 lemon slices, a sprig of tarragon and dill, a few slices of shallot, butter and some garlic on each salmon filet. Splash olive oil over the top.
• Wrap salmon filets individually in tin foil and place them directly in the fire.
• Cook for 6-8 minutes, or until the fish is cooked.

Delicious Dessert

Campfire Peach Cobbler

This mouth-watering cobbler is one of the simplest dishes you could ever make. It can be easily altered too – try using different fruit like apples or berries, or adding some cooking chocolate or Nutella for something new and delicious! It will take about 50-60 minutes to prepare and cook.

Ingredients

1 large tin of peach slices or pieces

1 cup sugar

1 cup self-raising flour

Cinnamon to taste

Directions

• Pour the dry ingredients into the Dutch oven and mix thoroughly.
• Pour the peaches over the dry mixture, use a large spoon to stir the mixture 4-5 times.
• Sprinkle cinnamon on top.
• Place the oven over hot coals, put the lid on, and arrange coals on top. Cook for about 45 minutes.
• Can be served hot straight from the oven, or left to cool and eaten later.

Even if you choose one or two of theses for a special night, caravanning can provide extra options for your recipes, with a camp fire and the beautiful smoky flavour. Why not try out some of these recipes when out in your caravan this weekend?