One of the biggest problems most campers have when they consider gourmet meals around the campfire is how to make a meal truly gourmet. Anyone can throw a steak on the grill or roast a weenie, but how about the more complicated dishes that qualify a meal as truly gourmet? And how in the heck do make that happen at a picnic table in the woods? You make your sauces and marinades at home before you leave, that’s how!
In our book, The Gourmet Girls Go Camping Cookbook, we show you how to do this. For instance, I make a wonderful Hollandaise sauce for Campfire Eggs Benedict at home the night before the trip. It’s so easy! You take a cube of unsalted butter and put it in a pyrex measuring cup, squeeze the juice of one half of a small lemon in with it, place it in a microwave and heat it up until the butter has melted. Then you crack three eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. Save the whites for another day and place the yolks into a blender with the lid on but the round handle part removed so that you have a hole in the top. Then turn the blender on and very slowly begin to pour the butter/lemon juice mixture into the blender. Then watch the magic! It very quickly emulsifies into the best Hollandaise Sauce you have ever had! You can add a bit of cayenne at the end if you like to spice things up.
Transfer the sauce into an unbreakable container and place in the fridge until you are ready to pack it into your cooler. It lasts for a week as long as you keep it cold. To reheat it put it in a small pan and heat it very slowly on low heat, stirring constantly, until it becomes liquid and smooth, being careful not to overheat it.
This sauce is great over grilled asparagus and as a dip for grilled artichokes as well. Enjoy! Look for more tips for what to make ahead in future blog posts.
Happy Camping!
Denise, Lindsey and Gail