Summer camping: Get the kids involved with the cooking!

14th December, 2021

Nothing screams summertime fun like camping with the family. It’s extremely rewarding, and gives everyone a chance to enjoy the outdoors outside the bustle of city life. Stargazing, breathing in fresh air and living in the moment—what’s not to love?

Of course, no camping trip is complete without some hearty, outdoor cooking. With a portable BBQ or a gas camping stove, you won’t have to live off hotdogs and canned meats. It’s a fantastic opportunity to let the kids join in the fun of preparing your meals! It’ll open them up to a sense of responsibility and allow them to realise how satisfying eating the meals you make can be.

Here are some kid-friendly meals to try out on your next family camping trip.

Chorizo baked beans with eggs

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small red onion
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 400g canned Cannellini beans
• 400g canned tomatoes, diced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 chorizo, cubed
• 6 eggs
• Bread to serve (at least 1 slice per person)
• Salt to taste

Heat a large frypan on medium heat with olive oil. Add diced red onion and finely chopped garlic clove. Sauté until onions are soft and translucent.

Add chorizo and cook until chorizo browns and forms a crust. Add cannellini beans and paprika and stir until all combined and then add canned tomato and salt to taste.

Simmer on medium heat for approximately 5 minutes so the mixture thickens a little but should still have a little liquid.

Crack eggs on top of the beans and chorizo mixture and cover with a frypan lid or foil (tightly and shiny side down). Reduce to low heat and simmer until eggs are cooked.

Serve on toasted bread, scooping all in one go the beans and chorizo with egg and placing on toasted bread.

Sourdough bread is ideal for this meal, but any bread you have will work. Avocado cubes and crumbled feta over the top will take this dish to another level. Leftovers make a great filling for burritos!

Enjoy!

Salmon with olive salsa

Ingredients:

• 800g fresh salmon pieces approx. 200g each
• 2.5 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground paprika
• ¾ tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the olive salsa:

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp castor sugar
• 170g jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped roughly
• 280g jar sicilian olives, pitted and chopped roughly
• 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
• ¼ cup continental parsley, chopped

Preheat the BBQ plate to medium heat.

To prepare salmon, overlap two sheets of baking paper enough to wrap the salmon. Place salmon in the middle of the sheet skin side down.

Combine coriander, paprika and salt and rub over the salmon side up. Drizzle with olive oil and rub over salmon. Wrap salmon to form a parcel, folding and sealing the edges. Wrap in two sheets of overlapped foil so that it is firmly wrapped.

Put salmon on the BBQ hot plate, close the hood and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the thickest part is just cooked through. Set aside to rest.

To prepare salsa whisk oil, vinegar and sugar in a bowl before adding artichokes, olives, parsley and pine nuts.

Place salmon on a plate and cover with salsa before serving.

Serve with coleslaw or rocket salad. You can use a side of salmon instead of pieces. Leftover salmon can be refrigerated and then eaten cold or added to a green salad the next day. Salsa can be prepared a few hours earlier, adding pine nuts just before spooning over salmon.

Enjoy!

Chocolate brownie with marshmallow

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup Dutch cocoa powder
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, whisked
• ½ cup canola oil
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp water
• 120g milk or dark chocolate cut into chunks
• 10 to 12 marshmallows
• Oil and baking paper
• Custard for serving
• 20cm cast iron frypan

Preheat BBQ grill burners to 200°C by turning on high. Spray or wipe cast iron frypan with oil and then line with baking paper.

In a large bowl mix sugar, flour, cocoa powder and salt with a wooden spoon, squashing down any lumps from flour and cocoa powder. Make a well in the middle, add eggs, oil, water and vanilla extract. Beat together with a wooden spoon and then gradually mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Once combined, mix through chocolate chunks.

Pour mixture into a frypan and cover top with marshmallows generously.

Once the BBQ has reached 200°C, reduce the burners to medium and place the frypan on a hot plate. Close the hood and cook for 50 to 55 minutes maintaining heat at 200°C. Brownie should be fudgy in the middle.

Serve warm with cream or vanilla ice cream. You can replace marshmallows with fresh or frozen raspberries.

Enjoy this gooey, chewy chocolate treat!

Make summer camp cooking more fun with Gasmate BBQs!

Find a Gasmate stockist near you here or call 1300174876 for more info.