Campfire Cuisine: Gourmet Recipes for the Great Outdoors

Many years ago I went on my first camping trip with my husband. We entered beautiful Big Sur with everything we thought we needed; a tent, sleeping bag, camp stove and some propane. I forgot to bring food. I didn't even have a can opener. If only "Campfire Cuisine" had been available back then. The first two chapters cover all the gear and cooking supplies you need to bring and how to plan meals for the trip. I love to cook. I love camping. This book really brings the two together. The usual camp cookbook recipe ingredients like bisquick, frozen tater-tots and canned mushrooms are completly absent. The author instead relies upon planning, at-home preparation, and careful packing to take the place of processed convenience products. "Campfire Cuisine" is filled with delicious recipes most of which use a camp stove or grill. (Unfortunately there are no recipes for dutch oven cooking.) The recipes are fun without being really fussy. The "Fish cooked with curried couscous" (page128) is wonderful without being weird. Even my kids liked it! The whole thing cooks in tin foil on the grill. No clean up! The "grilled flatbread pizza" (page156) calls for lavash bread instead of pizza dough. Of course the next day that same lavash can be used for one of the many varieties of "Aram sandwiches" (page 88). There honestly isn't a recipe in here that I wouldn't try. But I do like trendy food and I like to try new things. If you like more basic food then this book might not be for you. As for the book's design, I can see where someone who has poor eyesight would have a problem reading the book. It's printed in olive green and orange on white. I think the author wanted the book to be small enough to pack for a camping trip, so the type is really small. The content is so good though that the book is still worthwhile. After fifteen years of looking for a great camping cookbook I finally found it. If you like to cook and want a book that will make the meals on your next camping trip really shine, then this book is for you.

I used this book for the first time this past weekend. Everything was delicious and very easy to make : San Francisco Cioppino, Cheesy Biscuits one night, and pancakes made with the multipurpose baking mix the next morning. I am dying to try more recipes when we go again in three weeks. The book is sturdy and very easy to pack. I do have a problem reading the page numbers though. They are light orange and hard for us seniors to see. Also, I had trouble finding Cioppino in the index. I looked under "C" but it was under "S" for "San Francisco" Cioppino. I think it should be under both the "C" section, and the "S" section for those of us who cannot remember the "San Francisco" part. Same thing with the baking mix. I had to look under "M" for Multipurpose Baking Mix, instead of just "B" for baking mix. I like the fact that there are many vegetarian recipes. Although I do eat meat, I really like the fact that you can make delicious (sounding) vegy things very easily at the campsite. This wonderful book will always go with me when my husband and I head to the beautiful outdoors.

This book received high marks from me before I even opened it--it has a compact format and a sturdy paperback cover, perfect for packing in your camping gear without excess weight or bulk. By compact, I am referring only to the cover dimensions; this is a thick recipe-packed book that is well worth the cover price. Campfire Cuisine prefaces the recipes with essential opening chapters on the basic cooking equipment needed (plus some optional upgrades), how to choose a campstove, basic storage and packing rules, fire-starting tips and rules, and menu planning. A novice will glean all they need to know about outdoor cooking in these chapters, but even the most experienced camper/outdoor griller is bound to pick up a few extra tips and tricks. The bulk of the book consists of recipes for condiments, marinades, snacks, breakfasts, light meals, dinner entrees, desserts, and side dishes. Most have streamlined ingredients and directions on how to do as much prep work as possible before embarking on the camping trip. I was struck by how this book can be interpreted at any level. I'm a fairly basic campfire chef who likes to keep her friends happy without too much legwork, and I have picked out dozens of simple but delicious recipes from this collection. If you are a super-chef who wants to entertain and dazzle at the campfire, you can ride this book full-hilt and create awe-inspiring spreads at the campstove. Don't limit this book just to camping trips! You can dazzle your friends in your backyard with all of these ideas, and in fact, that's how I envision myself using it most.

San Francisco, July 3, 11:45 p.m.: Warm with summertime spirit and several pints of ale, I spontaneously invited several people over to my apartment for a Fourth of July BBQ. July 4, 10:45 a.m.: I awoke, panicked and queasy, remembering what I had done. In just three hours and 15 minutes, guests were supposed to be arriving for a party that I had not even begun to plan! Luckily, I owned a new copy of Robin Donovan's "Campfire Cuisine." I hurried to the supermarket and bought the ingredients for Savory Cheese S'Mores, Chipotle Turkey Burgers, Creole Slaw, Grilled Peach and Arugula Salad and a bag of briquettes. In literally less time than I spent in line at the store, I had prepared a delicious and impressive meal. I just lit the bag of charcoal, threw the food on the grill, turned on Johnny Cash "American V," and I had a fantastic urban holiday meal to share with my friends....simple, creative, delicious and sophisticated. Yeah, I'm sure that Robin Donovans's recipes are equally if not more delicious when cooked in the great outdoors. But why lose your parking space when you can adapt these wonderful recipes to cook at home?

Campfire Cuisine is without a doubt one of the best cookbooks I've ever used. If you love good food as much as you love camping, you'll go nuts for the wealth of information on outdoor cooking that's packed into this stylish little book. And the recipes (clever, creative, delicious, and some of the easiest I've ever seen) have become standard favorites that I now make all the time, even in the luxury of the great indoors. In fact, almost all of the recipes come with simple "Make it at Home" adaptations for those of us who spend more time in the kitchen than around a campfire. My family is in love with the Chipotle Turkey Burgers (they're the only burgers I cook anymore) Creole Slaw, Fish with Curried Couscous, Potato and Fennel Packets, Maple-Glazed Yams, and the Magic Layer Pie-to name just a few. I'm not even all that outdoorsie and I absolutely LOVE this cookbook.