Hearty Steak Dinner for Your Family Campfire Cookout
Steaks (the larger the better, �½ pound per person)
Baking Potatoes (one per person, sliced into circles 1/4 inch thick)
Onion (white or yellow, sliced)
Corn (in husks, soaked in salted water overnight)
Butter (one stick)
Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper
Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies
Marshmallows
Two hours before dinner time, you should start the fire. A combination of charcoal and wood gives long lasting heat and great flavor. Build a pyramid with the charcoal briquettes in the center of your fire pit. Light the coals and allow them to burn down until they turn gray, about 20 minutes. Next, you will lay the logs, split side down, on top of the hot coals. Three or four logs, laid in a pyramid style again, will make a good hot fire. Depending how dry your logs are, you may need to add some small sticks for kindling in between the coals in order to get the logs to light. Allow the logs to get hot, about 30 minutes. During this time, you can prep your potatoes.
The potatoes will be cooked in a foil packet. Heavy Duty foil works best. You’ll need enough foil to be able to lay your sliced potatoes out across the foil, two layers thick. Begin by spreading butter across the foil. Lie out half of your potatoes in layer, with the edges overlapping (like the Olympic rings). Leave about two inches around the edge bare. Next, distribute onions for a second layer. Sprinkle the potatoes with the salt, pepper and garlic powder, to taste, but it takes more than you might think Try about a 1/3 teaspoon of each seasoning for each potato. Slice the rest of the butter and spread it evenly also. Finally, layer the second half of your potatoes and fold over the foil. To seal the packet, tightly triple fold all of the edges.
Now it should be about one hour until time to eat. Season the stakes, cover them with foil, and set them aside to rest. The corn needs very little preparation: just trim the silks from the ends. You may wrap each ear in foil if you prefer. The husks may blacken if you don’t. Back to the fire! You want to spread the coals and logs evenly, to create a large even cooking surface. The corn can be placed directly next to the coals, around the edges of the fire pit. Place the package of potatoes onto the grill, over to the most evenly heated portion of the fire. It will need to be flipped every 10-15 minutes. Cook the potatoes for 30-40 minutes; they are done when you can feel the potatoes are tender under the foil. Whenever you flip the potatoes, turn the corn at the same time. Remove both the corn and the potatoes before starting the steaks.
Cooking a good steak is an art, and depends largely on the cut of meat. For best results over a campfire, a larger steak is easier to turn. The more well-done you want the steak, the longer it needs to stay on the grill. The outside edges are less hot, and will allow for slower, deeper cooking, up to 10 minutes. A rare steak will only need about one minute on each side, at the hottest part of the grill. Remember, you can always throw the meat back on if it needs a little more heat. After all the steaks are removed, you can add a few more logs to get it ready for dessert.
Smores are an all-time favorite camping treat. An easy and scrumptious variation is to use cookies in place of the graham crackers and chocolate. Two chewy chocolate chip cookies can be skewered on an old wire hanger, with a large marshmallow sandwiched between. Roast these treats near the flame to toast and eat like a sandwich. You may find that your family prefers these to the traditional smores!
