Pumpkin soup with chilli beef sprinkles
Fire-baked sweet potatoes with balsamic onions, blue cheese and walnuts
Best-ever spiced chicken kebabs
Middle Eastern lamb and date burgers
Rabbit, bacon and pearl barley stew
Cowboy chilli with cornbread dumplings
Campfire popcorn, sweet and savoury
Fire-baked stuffed apples with spiced fruit and nuts
Cinnamon and brandy hot chocolate
Although a part of me will always mourn the end of summer, I absolutely love the autumn; I might even stick my neck on the line and say it is my favourite season. I think in part it stems back to childhood and the memories of running wild outside during the festivities of Halloween and Bonfire Night. That and the fact that my birthday is in the early autumn, plus both my kids are October-born babies, so it all adds up to a season of sheer celebration.
In my memory, these long-ago bonfire parties were full of the food of childhood fantasies – an all-you-can-eat buffet of things normally heavily rationed, like buttery crisp toffee apples, burgers dripping with fried onions and stuffed into squishy white buns (the usual wholesome brown thankfully nowhere to be seen), hot dogs drenched in ketchup, froths of pink candyfloss wound round and round sticks until they were bigger than our own heads, and oozing marshmallows toasted to the point of utter perfection.
Just as with open fires within the home, bonfires have a wonderful way of drawing people in and I relish cooking over a fire in the autumn (and even in winter) as a way of staying connected to the outside for more of the year. Sometimes, as a Friday night treat to celebrate the end of a long week at school, the kids and I light the fire pit in the backyard and they cook their own sausages on it, shoving them on to forks wired to long bamboo sticks. Mummy usually has a glass of wine, and we sit around the fire as the sun goes down, and even though it’s just a few bangers for tea, it feels like both the most exciting and the most relaxing part of the week. I absolutely love it when I tuck the kids up in their beds afterwards and, as I kiss them goodnight, they smell gorgeously feral, the wonderful whiff of wood smoke and of memory-making small adventures.
This chapter is about getting both kids and grown-ups outside and creating a sense of space, adventure and freedom, even if it’s only in your own garden. Here is a celebration of fabulous low-fuss food for cooking over an open fire, with recipes to warm body and soul, inspired by the nostalgic festivals of Halloween and Bonfire Night. It’s also worth noting that many of the ideas and recipes in this chapter are equally well suited to camping trips, so don’t feel constrained about taking them further afield.
GETTING AHEAD
Some of the recipes in this chapter are designed to be made, or at least started, in the comfort of your own kitchen. This simply makes life a bit easier for yourself and I’m all for that. The Pumpkin Soup with Chilli Beef Sprinkles (see here) was designed for quick reheating in an old pan over the fire after a bit of Halloween trick or treating, and both the Best-ever Spiced Chicken Kebabs (see here) and the Middle Eastern Lamb and Date Burgers (see here) can be made up to 24 hours ahead of time and stored in the fridge.
For the things that I cook directly over the fire (for example, the Rabbit, Bacon and Pearl Barley Stew here, and the Cowboy Chilli with Cornbread Dumplings here), I generally do the chopping of veg earlier in the day and store in food bags ready to cook over the fire later on. Then I just need to upend the bags into the pan to get going, thus minimizing the need to nip back into the kitchen for things I forgot.
HOW TO COOK OVER REAL FIRE
Cooking over fire is something of an art rather than a science and it’s hard for me to give definitive and precise timings for these recipes (in the way that I would if I were writing a recipe for a hob or a conventional oven in your kitchen).
Every fire I light is different in terms of heat and intensity, and so too will every fire you make, so cooking in this way needs a certain level of adaptability and flexibility. Many factors will affect the heat your fire gives you for cooking, including how wet or dry your fuel is, the direction and strength of the wind, the rain that may be threatening to fall, or simply the level of humidity in the air. If you are cooking over fire you need to use your instinct, trust your judgement and get used to using your senses as you cook, principally nose and eyes, to test for readiness. For me, this is part of the joy of cooking outside; you are not simply following somebody else’s formula for success but getting really connected to the cooking process. One thing I have learnt, and possibly the most valuable tip I can offer you, is always to expect it to take longer than you think. As all parents know there isn’t much worse than the temper of a hungry child, and I’m not much better myself to be honest, so for this reason it’s wise to have a hearty selection of snacks available to stave off hunger whilst the fire does its thing.
Regarding the cooking temperature of your fire, the hand-heat test in the Barbecue Feast chapter here is a good guide for open fires too.
FUEL MATTERS
I usually start a fire in one of two ways. Either with a firelighter and few little bits of kindling, or with a super handy (but quite pricey) bag of instant lighting charcoal. One match and, in theory, you are good to go. Either way, I follow the fire-starting process with plenty of lumpwood charcoal, which gives a pretty reliable and even cooking temperature. Then depending on where I am cooking, I may add extra wood foraged from the forest floor or driftwood gathered from the tideline. Sending the kids off to collect wood for burning is a splendid way to gainfully occupy them whilst you’re busy getting organized. It’s worth bearing in mind though that foraged wood can be damp and, hence, can lower the heat of your fire considerably, so I suggest adding it little by little rather than dumping on masses of sticks at once.
It may sound obvious, but at its most minimal, all you need is somewhere to light a little fire. A cheap garden brazier is enough to provide much joyous warmth to huddle around as you toast a few marshmallows on an autumn evening. But my guess is that if you are reading this chapter you are ready to be a bit more adventurous, so below is a list of the bits of fire cooking kit that I would recommend investing in. All these things can be easily bought online, and there are plenty of specialist fire cooking websites out there where you can both shop and get advice.
Portable fire pit
I have a lightweight shallow circular bowl fire pit with four legs that fold ingeniously up underneath when not in use. The whole lot packs down and slides into a slim bag with handles, making it very easy to throw in the back of the car to take off camping or wherever I want to use it. The brilliant thing about it is that as it raises the fire off the ground, pretty much every campsite I’ve been to is happy for me to use it as they don’t class it as a bonfire that would damage their land. It’s not just useful for camping trips, this is what I often use in the garden as it’s a relatively safe way to have a controlled open fire in a smallish space.
Campfire tripod with cooking grill
I have a sturdy cast-iron tripod that straddles the fire and on to it hangs a cooking grill that you can barbecue on. The grill is attached to the tripod with chains so you can raise or lower it to adjust the cooking temperature. There is also a central hook with a chain on to which you can hang an ever-useful Dutch oven (see below) or a kettle. I admit it’s a heavy bit of kit, and certainly not one you can carry too far from your vehicle, but it’s a brilliant bit of camp-cooking equipment that I find invaluable.
A Dutch oven
Another rather heavy cooking item that isn’t designed to be carried too far, but one that I wouldn’t be without, is my Dutch oven – a solid cast-iron cooking pot that either hangs above the fire from a tripod or gets buried in the embers. Visually it brings to mind a bubbling witch’s cauldron and it certainly gets a lot of admiring attention. Not just handsome to look at, it’s tremendously useful – as well as stewing and slow roasting, you can also use it for baking. With a little bit of practice, you can use it to make a great loaf of bread or even a cake by putting hot coals directly on to the heavy cast-iron lid, thus creating top heat to brown things. It does take a bit of getting used to to get the heat right, and like all fire-based cooking, success is somewhat down to a combination of suck-it-and-see and instinct. But when you get it right, the results are spectacular.
I have some heavy-duty steel frying pans that I can either nestle directly into the embers of a fire, or more usually place on to the cooking grill above it. These frying pans are the cheapest ones in the cook shop, no fancy non-stick coating, no fancy plastic handles that would melt, and they are so solid I feel like they will last a lifetime. They benefit from ‘seasoning’ at home to get them fire-ready, a bit more non-stick and less likely to rust. Simply wash each pan well with warm soapy water, rinse and dry, then set over a medium-high heat. Pour in a little vegetable oil and spread it all over the inside of the pan with a scrunched-up bit of kitchen paper so it’s completely coated. Bake on the oil until it’s pretty much dry – this can take 10–15 minutes, and it gets a bit smoky so an extractor fan is useful (or even better, do it over the fire outside so there’s no smoky kitchen to worry about). You may need to repeat this process again from time to time to keep the pans in tip-top condition.
I have two large 30cm frying pans, perfect for paellas, fry-ups and pancakes, plus a smaller 23cm one, perfect for frying eggs or even heating up a couple of tins of baked beans. I also have a big old saucepan with metal handles and a lid that goes on to the fire grill, in which I make popcorn or use for simmering or reheating soups and stews.
And finally, a box of tricks…
To make my life simple, I keep a big sturdy plastic box in my shed that is packed full of bits and bobs that I use regularly. So in it is a box each of firelighters and matches, as well as a selection of enamel mugs and plates, and a plastic tub of old cutlery. This is also where I keep my frying pans and a collection of nothing-special cooking utensils (a few wooden spoons and a couple of heatproof silicone spatulas, as well as some long-handled tongs for turning things over) I have gathered from cheap kitchenware shops. There is also a roll of foil and one of kitchen paper towels, plus a pack of non-scented baby wipes for hand-wiping. A few pairs of disposable latex gloves are very useful to have packed any time you are handling meat or fish to cut down on the need for hand washing. Nothing in this box is valuable or irreplaceable but it’s all super handy, and having it there ultimately means I’m pretty much ready to cook outside whenever the mood takes me, and so I do it more often as it’s far easier to get organized.
One of the best birthday parties we ever had was a few years ago in the woods below our house. The kids invited a few friends each and their parents were welcome, as were canine family members. I borrowed a wheelbarrow and into it we piled a gas stove, a big saucepan and industrial quantities of hot dogs, not forgetting the biggest bottle of ketchup we could find and a bucketful of cold beer for the grown-ups. It was complete chaos, no games or organized fun to be found, just feral muddy kids, overexcited dogs and a whole lot of enthusiastic eating and drinking.
Obviously the hot dogs were exceedingly popular with the kids, but that the adults consumed them with so much gusto was perhaps surprising. They take just minutes to cook, making them super convenient, and now they are a regular fixture for our outside eating treats, both when we have a bonfire or when we are camping.
One hot dog in a roll never seems quite enough for me, the ratio of bread to sausage is tipped in the wrong direction, so I take one roll and put two hot dogs in it. Whilst my kids like them plain and simple with just a squiggle of ketchup across the top, I’ve taken to a bit of experimenting with different flavours, and below are a few ideas. I suggest you assemble a few different toppings and let people construct their own idea of hot dog heaven.
▪ Mustard – Americans would probably insist on the mild vivid yellow stuff, but I like a bit more oomph so favour Dijon or good old English mustard.
▪ Onions – fried long and slow until they form a soft caramelized golden mass (I do this at home, then pack into an old pan, ready for reheating on the stove or fire).
▪ Chilli – as a bit of a heat-fiend this is a favourite of mine, either as a garlicky chilli sauce, like sriracha, or a few slivers of fresh red chilli sprinkled on top.
▪ Cheese – Cheddar suits everyone and is my favourite, especially with a few fried onions and a bit of chilli sauce.
▪ Hummus and roasted peppers – a spoonful of hummus in the base of the roll, followed by the hot dogs, then topped with a few slivers of roasted red pepper from a jar.
▪ Kimchi – Korean fermented vegetables (predominantly cabbage and carrots) are a trendy pickle right now, taking the place of sauerkraut in adding a bit of zing.
▪ Bacon – two crisp rashers of smoked streaky bacon, one either side of the hot dog, adds a very pleasing salty crunch.
▪ Avocado – roughly chopped and squidged into the roll before the hot dog, then sprinkled with a little chopped coriander and/or fresh chilli.
▪ Coleslaw – a little bit of crunch can be a good thing and coleslaw (especially home-made) fits the bill perfectly. Try the Asian-style Slaw with Peanuts, Lime and Sesame Oil (see here).
A great one to serve after fireworks or after Halloween trick or treating, make this autumnal soup ahead and reheat on the hob or, even better, in an old pan over the fire when everyone is ready to be warmed up from the inside out! It keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days and also freezes well (minus the beef sprinkles, which are best made on the day of eating), so is a good one for batch-cooking. A word of warning – the flesh of carving pumpkins is very watery and often tasteless, so although it’s tempting to use the leftovers, in this instance it’s better to buy pumpkin that is specifically for eating purposes.
SERVES 4–6
For the soup
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1kg pumpkin flesh, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm cubes (or use any variety of squash)
1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
2 bay leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the chilli beef sprinkles
2 tbsp olive oil
250g lean minced beef
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
Hot chilli sauce, to taste
A little chopped coriander, to garnish
To make the soup, heat the oil in a large pan and gently fry the onions for around 15 minutes until turning golden. Add the garlic and pumpkin and fry for a further minute, then add the stock. Drop in the bay leaves and season well with salt and black pepper. Cover with a loose-fitting lid and simmer gently until the pumpkin is soft and collapsing, about 20 minutes.
Fish out the bay leaves, then purée the mixture until smooth, either with a stick blender in the pan, or by transferring to a blender. Taste to check the seasoning, then transfer to a suitable container, cool, cover and chill in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
For the chilli beef sprinkles, heat the oil in a frying pan and add the minced beef. Fry over a high heat, stirring and breaking up with a spoon to separate the meat into little strands. When the meat is cooked, crisp and caramelized, stir through the garlic, cumin seeds, paprika and chilli sauce and fry for a further minute. Remove from the heat and set aside until you are ready to serve (preferably out of the way; they are very tempting to nibble on!).
Reheat the soup until piping hot and serve with the chilli beef sprinkles scattered on top. Garnish with a little chopped coriander.
Sweet potatoes bake brilliantly in the embers of a fire and as a bonus they cook far quicker than regular potatoes. I find a punchy sweet and sour filling, like this onion and blue cheese combo, works best to counter the sweetness of the potatoes, or try one of the other easy ideas below.
SERVES 4
1 tbsp olive oil
25g butter
3 large onions, sliced
2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
A pinch of sugar
4 large (about 350g each) sweet potatoes
250g soft blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola or Roquefort, chopped
50g walnut pieces, roughly chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Start by cooking the onions – they keep well in the fridge and can be made up to 3 days in advance and then warmed through just before serving. Add the oil and butter to a frying pan set over a low heat. As the butter melts, add the onions and rosemary and fry gently for around 30 minutes, stirring from time to time, until starting to colour a little.
Add the balsamic vinegar and sugar and season with salt and black pepper. Increase the heat to medium and cook for a further 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until caramelized. Remove from the heat and set aside until you are ready to eat.
Prick the potatoes all over with a fork and wrap each one in a double layer of foil, then pop into the glowing embers of the fire. Use tongs to turn them a few times during cooking to make sure they cook evenly. In a fairly gentle heat, they should cook in around 20–30 minutes, depending on their size and the heat of the embers. They are ready when a skewer pierces through the flesh with ease.
To serve, warm the onions through in a pan, then spoon into the sliced-open potatoes. Scatter over the cheese and walnuts and tuck in whilst piping hot.
Other easy fillings…
▪ Mozzarella, black olives and a dollop of pesto (see Home-made Pesto here).
▪ Flaked tuna and home-made coleslaw.
▪ Chilli con carne (see Cowboy Chilli here), with lots of grated Cheddar.
▪ Shredded cooked gammon, cooked sliced beetroot and a drizzle of soured cream.
▪ Mushrooms sautéed in butter with a little garlic and parsley.
▪ Crisp smoked bacon, crumbled goat’s cheese and a sprinkle of chopped hazelnuts.
▪ Vegetable curry with mint and cucumber yogurt.
I first got this idea from my friend Liz who is a scout leader and, along with the hot dog ideas here, this is another thing that goes down brilliantly at woodland bonfire-based kids’ birthday parties. It’s most practical to make the dough at home where you (and any little helpers!) can knead to your heart’s content in the knowledge that hands can be easily washed afterwards. The kids can then make their own calzone at your cooking site, adding their favourite toppings before sealing up and laying on the grill to cook.
MAKES 6 CALZONE PIZZAS
For the dough
600g strong white bread flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
350ml hand-hot water
For the topping
Selection of toppings for people to choose from, such as sweetcorn, pepperoni slices, chopped ham, flaked tuna, sliced peppers or mushrooms, olives, chopped fresh basil
1 × 200g carton passata
2 × 125g balls mozzarella, torn into pieces
You will also need 6 large sheets of foil, lightly oiled on one side.
First make the dough. Add the flour, salt, dried herbs and yeast to a large mixing bowl and stir until evenly mixed. Pour in the oil and hand-hot water, mixing with a wooden spoon until you have a rough, crumbly dough. Add a little more water if it looks too dry, or a little more flour if it looks too wet.
Drizzle a little oil on the worktop, spreading it around with your hands. Tip the dough on to it, then knead well until smooth and stretchy, about 5–8 minutes.
Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces, place each one in the centre of an oiled sheet of foil and loosely fold over the foil to enclose the dough. Pack away in a box with a lid, ready to transport to your cooking site. Prepare a selection of your chosen toppings and pack those away too. The dough will be quite happy at room temperature for a couple of hours; any longer and I would store it in the fridge.
When you are ready to cook, lay out the bowls of toppings, ideally on a camp table, or blanket, and give the kids a package of dough each. Get them to press it out flat into a pizza shape, about 1cm thick. Spread a little passata on one half of each round, leaving a border around the edge, and then top with the mozzarella and whatever else you want. For each calzone, fold the dough in half over the filling and crimp all around the edges to seal the filling inside (as if you were making a pasty).
Loosely fold over the foil again, sealing it completely, and place on the grill over a medium-hot fire, turning over every now and then. Depending on the heat of the fire, they will take around 20–30 minutes to cook. Unfold one carefully to peek inside; it should be crisp and cooked through, not raw and doughy. If not, reseal and cook for another few minutes. Once ready, they will be scorching hot, so let them cool for a few minutes before tucking in.
This hearty flat bread with Celtic roots is traditionally made in a pan over an open fire. It’s a brilliantly easy bread for the campfire and is great eaten hot with either jam, chocolate spread or cream cheese. The milk powder may seem a slightly odd addition but it helps to soften the texture and works with the baking powder to get a slight rise (find milk powder near the UHT milk in the supermarket). Using dried milk for bonfire or campfire cooking is ideal as it means all the dry ingredients are mixed and bagged ready for travel with no chilling required.
Whilst I’m not normally a big fan of the cup measuring system at home, it is quite useful here. I use a measuring cup (250ml) for this bread so I can just scoop the dry ingredients straight into the food bag, then the cup gets chucked in too so I can measure out the water on site. It’s pretty forgiving – you could use a tin mug or a jam jar instead. Just get the ratios of flour (2 parts) to oats and milk powder (1 part each) about right.
MAKES 1 LOAF, ENOUGH FOR 2–4 PEOPLE
2 cups (500ml) self-raising flour
1 cup (250ml) rolled oats
1 cup (250ml) dried milk powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
A little vegetable oil, for the pan
About 1 cup (250ml) cold water
You will also need a medium ziplock food bag and a large, heavy-based frying pan.
Measure the flour, oats and milk powder into a ziplock food bag (hang the bag inside a bowl to help keep it open as you measure). Add the baking powder and salt, then seal the bag tightly, squeezing out as much air as you can. Give the bag a shake-about to mix everything evenly.
When you are ready to cook, set a heavy-based frying pan on to the grill over your fire. You can also lay the pan directly on to the glowing embers of a non-flaming, not-too-hot fire. Add a little oil and leave the pan to get hot. Meanwhile, add just less than a cupful of cold water to the dry ingredients in the bag and reseal. Give it all a squish-about using your hands, mixing it together to make a dough. Add a tiny bit more water if it seems dry.
Remove the pan from the fire and rest it on flat ground. Open up the bag and squeeze the dough as best you can into the hot pan, accepting that there will always be a little left over (this is the price you must pay for no kneading and clean hands!). Press the dough firmly down in the pan with a spatula or fish slice, aiming for around 2cm thickness.
Get the pan back over or into the fire and let the dough cook until the underside is crisp and brown. Turn it over (it should be pretty sturdy and easy to do) and cook the other side until golden. At this point, you can move the pan to a cooler area of the fire and keep cooking and turning until the inside is cooked. You need to use your judgement a little here; either lift the bread and tap it with your knuckles (the more hollow it sounds the more cooked it is), or break it open a little to peek inside.
Tear the bread into pieces and serve with your favourite spreadable thing – jam, chocolate spread and garlic cream cheese (not together!) are our favourites.
Normally made in a very hot clay oven, naan breads work really well when cooked in a frying pan over an open fire. These are brilliant with both the spiced meat recipes below.
MAKES 8 NAAN BREADS
Vegetable oil, for greasing and frying
800g plain flour
7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
2 tbsp nigella (black onion) seeds
2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp sea salt
About 400ml hand-hot water
2 tbsp plain yogurt
Lightly grease 2 or 3 baking sheets with oil.
Weigh the flour into a mixing bowl, add the yeast, nigella seeds, sugar and salt and mix well. Pour in the hand-hot water and add the yogurt, mixing with a wooden spoon until you have a rough dough.
Drizzle a little oil on the worktop, spreading it around with your hands. Tip the dough on to it, then knead well until smooth and elastic, about 8–10 minutes. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise at room temperature for an hour.
Cut the dough into 8 even pieces and flatten out each one into a traditional teardrop shape, about 1cm thick. Lay on the prepared baking sheets, loosely cover with cling film and leave to rise again for 30 minutes.
When you are ready to cook, place a large, flameproof (no plastic handles) frying pan on to the grill over your medium-hot fire and add a splash of oil. Fry the naan breads, two at a time, for a few minutes on each side until golden and crisp on the outside and a little puffed up. Keep them warm whilst you cook the rest.
For me, spices and fire go naturally together, the warmth of the spices matching the cooking method perfectly, and these recipes are inspired by my favourite Middle Eastern flavours of cumin, turmeric and cinnamon.
Both of these spiced meat recipes are a doddle to prepare in your own kitchen and keep in the fridge, ready for cooking over an open fire or fire pit in your back garden. But if you’re in a camper van with a fridge, or on a campsite with access to a fridge, these are great for campsite cooking too; or you can prepare them at home and take with you in a cool box. When handwashing facilities are minimal, it’s a great trick to use a pair of latex gloves to mix the meat, thread onto kebabs or shape into burgers.
If you fancy a bit of campfire baking, both the burgers and the kebabs are good served with the Frying Pan Naan Bread above, or for a speedier option simply open up some warmed pitta breads and stuff the meat inside.
With their gentle spicing, these delicious chicken kebabs are brilliant for introducing children to new spices, and they are insanely popular with my kids and their friends. There is enough here to feed a crowd, but this is an easy recipe to scale down.
MAKES 8–10 LARGE KEBABS
1.2kg skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces (about 1.8kg, if preparing whole thighs yourself)
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1–2 tsp paprika, or to taste
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small handful of chopped coriander, to serve
You will also need 8–10 metal or bamboo skewers (if using bamboo they are best soaked in cold water for an hour or so to help prevent them from burning).
In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken pieces, oil, garlic and all the spices, plus a generous grind of black pepper, but no salt just yet. Thread the chicken on to 8–10 long skewers, then place in a large dish or baking tray, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for an hour, or for up to 24 hours.
Cook on the grill over a hot fire for around 15–20 minutes, turning regularly, until the chicken is cooked through.
When they are cooked, sprinkle with a little salt and scatter on the coriander before serving.
Even if you think you’re not keen on dates I’d urge you to give these a try; the dates add a very subtle sweetness that enhances the spiciness and means you don’t really need to add any extra relish or chutney.
MAKES 8 BURGERS
1kg minced lamb
1 onion, very finely chopped or grated
175g stoned dried dates, chopped
1 tbsp cumin seeds, roughly ground
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground turmeric
A pinch of dried chilli flakes, or to taste
Small bunch each of coriander and parsley, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Take a large mixing bowl and simply mix everything together thoroughly, seasoning to taste with salt and black pepper. Divide the mixture into 8 even-size balls and shape into burgers, each around 2cm thick. Place on a large plate, cover and set aside in the fridge for an hour, or for up to 24 hours, to allow the flavours to develop.
When you are ready, lay the burgers on the grill over your medium-hot glowing fire and cook for around 5–6 minutes on each side.
The following two recipes get cooked in a Dutch oven hung over the fire. My kids say it looks like a witch’s cauldron and so the name has stuck for us!
Cooked in a Dutch oven hung over a glowing fire, this simmering cauldron of comfort certainly looks the part for Halloween feasting. I know eating rabbit is controversial for some – and I’ve certainly had no luck in persuading my kids to eat rabbit stew – but as a very common wild animal they are perhaps one of the most ethical meats available. Something, I think, that is worth embracing just a little more often, although this dish works very well with jointed chicken too, if you prefer.
SERVES 6
175g pearl barley
3 tbsp plain flour
2 rabbits (wild if possible), jointed
3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 sticks celery, chopped
125g (about 6 rashers) smoked streaky bacon, chopped
3 sprigs of thyme
500ml chicken stock
Large glass of white wine (about 250ml)
Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
50g butter
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Begin by soaking the pearl barley in plenty of cold water for an hour before you start cooking the stew.
Sprinkle the flour on to a large plate and season with a little salt and black pepper. Toss the pieces of rabbit, one by one, in the flour so they get an even light coating.
Add the oil to a Dutch oven hung over a high heat, then add the floured rabbit pieces. Fry for a few minutes on each side to seal. Add the onions, carrots, celery, bacon and thyme and fry for a further 10 minutes, stirring from time to time until the vegetables are just starting to colour a little at the edges.
Drain the pearl barley, then add it to the pot along with the stock and wine. Season with a little more salt and black pepper and cover with the lid. Simmer steadily for 1–1½ hours, or until the rabbit is cooked and the pearl barley is tender. Keep half an eye on the stew and if it looks like it’s getting a little dry, add a splash of water.
Once cooked, stir through the parsley and butter and let it melt (rabbit is a very lean meat and benefits from a bit of richness by way of a little butter or cream), then add a little more seasoning if necessary. We tend to eat this on its own, but serve it with some crusty bread to accompany if you like.
Whilst I’ve never met a real cowboy, I feel like this might be just the sort of thing cowboys would enjoy eating out in the wild. It’s certainly a big hit in our house and was first cooked in the back garden on an early autumn evening, proving you really don’t need to travel very far to bring a bit of adventure into your life.
SERVES 4
For the chilli
2 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, chopped
2 large red peppers, deseeded and chopped
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1–2 tsp dried chilli flakes, or to taste
500g minced beef
4 tomatoes (or use 1 × 400g tin chopped tomatoes in place of both the fresh tomatoes and passata)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 × 200g carton passata
1 × 400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
500ml beef stock
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the cornbread dumplings
200g self-raising flour
80g quick-cook polenta
50g shredded vegetable or beef suet
125–150ml cold water
To serve (optional)
3–4 spring onions, chopped
Small bunch of coriander, chopped
First make the chilli. Add the oil, onions, red peppers, cumin seeds and chilli flakes to a Dutch oven hung high over your fire, then cook over a moderately gentle heat for around 30 minutes until the vegetables are starting to colour a little. Increase the heat by lowering the oven so it’s nearer to the coals and then add the minced beef, stirring occasionally to break it up as it lightly caramelizes – this will take 10–15 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and garlic, stir-frying for about 5 minutes, then stir in the passata, kidney beans and stock, and season with salt and black pepper. Cover with the lid, raise the oven up a little so the heat is more gentle and simmer steadily for 30 minutes.
Whilst the chilli is cooking, make the cornbread dumplings. If you are cooking in your back garden these are very simple to make in the comfort of your kitchen – just mix everything together in a bowl to make a fairly stiff dough. If not, I suggest mixing all the dry ingredients together in a food bag before you head off to your cooking site. Then you can simply add the water into the bag and mix together, in much the same way as for the Bannock Bread here.
Divide the dough into 8 evenish pieces, then drop into the bubbling chilli, allowing the dumplings to sit on the surface. Re-cover and cook at a steady simmer for another 30 minutes until they are risen and springy to the touch. To check they are done, simply pierce one with a skewer; it should come out clean. Serve sprinkled with spring onions and coriander, if you like.
This is a great treat for a forest-based birthday party. As the heat from a real fire can be fierce, you need to keep an eye out for burning the kernels before they pop.
MAKES A BIG PANFUL, ENOUGH FOR AROUND 6–8 PEOPLE
2 tbsp vegetable oil
150g popcorn kernels
Pour the oil into a big, fireproof (no plastic handles) saucepan with a lid and set it on the grill over your fire. Add the popcorn kernels and shake to coat them in oil. Put the lid on tight and wait until the popping starts – this can happen quite quickly or it may take longer, depending on the heat your fire is giving out. Using a thick, dry tea towel to protect you from the heat, shake the pan from side to side every now and then. And occasionally lift the lid a fraction to see if you can smell any whiff of burning – if you do then move the pan to a slightly cooler area of your fire.
Once the popping has stopped, it’s ready and you can simply sprinkle in sugar or salt to taste, or try one of the flavours below. The Jerk-spiced savoury popcorn is probably more of a grown-up flavour and a great snack with a cold beer too!
Flavouring your popcorn
You can’t beat simple sugar for a sweet tooth, or salt for a savoury one, but here are a couple of other things to flavour your popcorn with…
▪ Toffee popcorn sauce Put 70g soft brown sugar, 50g butter, 3 tablespoons golden syrup and a pinch of sea salt into a small pan and bring to a simmer on your hob. Boil for a minute, then pour into an enamel camping mug or small pan ready for reheating over the fire whilst the popcorn is cooking.
Whilst the corn is popping, simply set the mug over a coolish part of the fire where it will melt as it reheats. Once the corn has all popped, pour in the sauce and stir well. Leave it to cool for a minute or two before trying to eat it, as it will be very hot.
▪ Jerk-spiced savoury popcorn Put 2 teaspoons each dried thyme, dried chilli flakes, garlic powder, soft dark brown sugar and sea salt flakes into a jam jar, along with 1 teaspoon each ground allspice and freshly ground black pepper, plus ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon. Shake together to mix well, then sprinkle over the freshly popped hot popcorn.
I don’t think Bonfire Night would be complete without marshmallows and toffee apples, and I have a whole raft of childhood memories involving both. Most are joyous, but one is not so positive – my worst kitchen accident ever involved a large blob of molten toffee on my index finger, and the scar from the resulting burn is still visible today. So, parents, I would urge you to make these for your kids rather than with them, and then let them enjoy the finished results unscathed.
MAKES 6
6 medium eating apples, thoroughly washed and dried, any stalks removed
400g caster sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
100ml cold water
You will also need 6 lolly sticks (easily found in cook shops).
Pierce the top of the apples with the tip of a knife and insert a lolly stick firmly into the centre of each. Lay a sheet of non-stick baking paper on a baking tray and set it near your stove, spreading the apples out on it.
Weigh the sugar into a heavy-based saucepan, then add the syrup and water. Set the pan over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved completely, then bring to the boil. Set a sugar thermometer in the pan and boil steadily until the ‘hard crack’ stage (149°C) is reached. If you don’t have a sugar thermometer, have a glass of cold water at the ready. It’s difficult to be precise about times as it depends on the heat source, but after about 8 minutes of boiling, drop a little toffee mixture into the glass. It should harden immediately and be brittle once you remove it from the water. If it’s still squidgy, then boil for a further couple of minutes before testing again.
When the toffee is ready, turn off the heat. Take one apple at a time, and holding it firmly by the stick, dip and roll it quickly and carefully in the toffee until it’s completely covered. Place back on the baking tray and repeat with the other apples. Leave the toffee to cool and set, then get stuck in. (There will be a little more toffee than you need, so simply pour the leftovers into a non-stick baking tray, leave to set, then break into pieces and eat separately.)
A s’more is an American bonfire classic where you melt a marshmallow then sandwich it between two sweet crackers, sometimes with a square of chocolate too. Or you can, of course, simply toast marshmallows on long forks, and this is enduringly popular with kids. But how about a marshmallow melted between two gingernuts? A little spicy, hugely sticky and very moreish…
All you need, per person, is two gingernut biscuits and a big marshmallow to put between them. Wrap each biscuit sandwich snugly in foil and slide on to the grill over your fire or into the low glowing embers of the fire. Leave to cook for just a few minutes, turning over once or twice, until the marshmallow has melted.
I should also say you can use whatever type of biscuit you like – we’ve had quite a bit of success with Jaffa cake marshmallow sandwiches (just make sure the chocolate faces inwards, and be prepared for a little extra stickiness!).
Just as with savoury things and fire cooking, sweet things cooked over or eaten around a fire are also best, to my mind, with the addition of a little spiciness. It’s just a combination that works.
This old-fashioned gingerbread is one of my all-time favourite cakes and one that my mum used to make often when we were kids. She used to either top it with sesame seeds or sharp lemony icing and, as I can’t decide which I like best, here I have opted for both. This rich and spicy cake feels like just the right thing to eat around Bonfire Night or Halloween, and as a bonus it gets better after a day or two of storing, so it’s a good one to make ahead. To store, wrap in foil or keep in an airtight tin. It will keep well for about a week.
MAKES 1 CAKE, ENOUGH FOR 9–12 PIECES
350g self-raising flour
1 heaped tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
150g butter, plus extra for greasing
150g soft dark brown sugar
150g golden syrup
150g black treacle
300ml milk
2 eggs
25g sesame seeds
5 tbsp icing sugar
About 1 tbsp lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Lightly grease (and line if it’s a bit of a sticker) a 24–25cm square cake tin.
Weigh the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the ginger and bicarbonate of soda and stir to mix thoroughly.
Put the butter, brown sugar, syrup, treacle and milk into a saucepan and set over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring frequently, until the butter has melted and everything is combined. Pour into the mixing bowl with the flour mixture and beat well until smooth, then crack in both eggs and beat again.
Pour into the prepared tin, spreading evenly, then sprinkle over the sesame seeds. Bake in the oven for around 30–35 minutes until springy to the touch. A metal skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.
Leave to cool slightly in the tin, then transfer from the tin to a wire rack and cool completely. Once cold, mix the icing sugar with just enough lemon juice to give a good drizzling consistency. Drizzle the icing over the top of the cake and leave to set before cutting into squares.
This delicious warming pudding is the perfect autumn treat and it is a breeze to make in the glowing embers of a fire. The double layer of foil not only protects the apples from burning, it also ensures that none of the delicious juices are lost.
SERVES 4
75g dried apricots, chopped
75g dried stoned prunes, chopped
30g pecans, chopped
30g soft dark brown sugar
1 tsp ground mixed spice
Generous 1 tbsp golden syrup
Finely grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
4 large eating apples
25g butter, cut into 4 pieces
Crème fraîche or double cream, to serve (optional)
In a small bowl, mix together the apricots, prunes, pecans, brown sugar and mixed spice, until the sugar evenly coats everything. Drizzle in the syrup and add the lemon zest and juice, stirring until evenly mixed.
Core the apples (keeping them whole), creating about a 2cm-wide or so hole down through the centre of each one right the way to the bottom. Use a small sharp knife to score a line gently around the middle of each apple (this stops it bursting as it cooks), then lay each one on a generous square of foil. Spoon the filling into the holes, pushing it well down to the bottom. Top each with a piece of butter and wrap tightly in the foil, then wrap each apple in a second layer of foil before placing into the glowing embers of the fire.
Cook for around 20–25 minutes, using tongs to turn occasionally, until the apples are cooked. To test, remove one from the fire and squeeze through the foil using a tea towel to protect your hands. If it is soft and yielding to the touch it is done. If not, return to the fire and cook for a further 5 minutes or so.
Give everyone their own wrapped apple on a plate, and serve whilst piping hot, perhaps with a dollop of crème fraîche or a drizzle of cream.
I make this warming rice pudding in my Dutch oven hung over the fire pit, where it takes a couple of hours of gentle puttering away to thicken to a creamy consistency, with pretty much no attention bar the odd stir towards the end of cooking. You could also do it in an old saucepan (avoid plastic handles) resting on a coolish part of the grill set over the fire; it will cook slightly quicker and need a little more stirring to stop the bottom burning.
SERVES ABOUT 4 (DEPENDING ON GREED AND HOW CHILLY YOU ARE)
1 litre milk
150g pudding rice
60g granulated sugar
50g butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
You will also need a medium ziplock food bag. Open up the food bag and rest it inside a mixing bowl, hooking the top of the bag over the rim of the bowl to stop it falling down. Slowly pour in the milk, then set the bowl on kitchen scales and weigh in the rice, sugar and butter. Finally, add the vanilla extract, then seal up the bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Give the bag a little squash and squeeze to get everything nicely mixed.
At this point I usually put the bag inside my Dutch oven before transporting it to my fire’s destination. When you are ready to cook (and I suggest getting it on early as good rice pudding takes time), simply open up the ziplock bag and empty the contents into the Dutch oven or pan. Cover tightly with the lid and hang the Dutch oven high over the fire where the pudding should cook to perfection in around 2 hours (stir it occasionally towards the end of cooking).
Once the rice is tender and surrounded by a thick creamy sauce, spoon into bowls or mugs and tuck in.
Some other ways to flavour your pudding…
This rice pudding is fab simply flavoured with vanilla, but there are other things I sometimes try, to ring the changes:
▪ Replace the vanilla with rose water. Take a handful of roughly chopped pistachios in a food bag to sprinkle over before you serve.
▪ Leave out the vanilla and add 1 teaspoon ground mixed spice and a handful of raisins to the bag before sealing. You could also add a splash of sherry or whisky to the bag as well.
▪ Replace 400ml of the milk with 1 × 400ml tin of coconut milk, and add the finely grated zest of 2 limes to the bag before sealing.
It’s always a good idea to have an easy warming drink on standby that you can heat through and hand out to your guests when things start to get a little chilly.
This simple mulled apple punch will warm hands and tummies alike. Grown-ups could always add a little splash of rum for the extra warming effect it brings!
SERVES ABOUT 8
2 litres cloudy apple juice
4 clementines, sliced into discs (peel left on)
3–4 tbsp runny honey, or to taste
4 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp whole cloves
A little rum, to taste (optional)
Pour the apple juice into an old fireproof (no plastic handles) saucepan and set over a medium heat. Drop the clementine slices into the pan, along with the honey, to taste. Add the star anise, cinnamon sticks and cloves and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse for at least an hour.
When you are ready to serve, place the pan on the grill over your fire and reheat gently. Taste for sweetness, adding more honey if necessary. Add a splash of rum to taste, if using, then ladle into mugs or heatproof glasses.
You can prepare this intensely chocolatey drink ahead of time, so that it’s completely low-fuss when the fire is lit. If you are making it for kids (minus the brandy), you may want to replace half the dark chocolate with milk chocolate for a slightly less intense flavour.
SERVES ABOUT 8
2 litres milk
150ml single cream
200g dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
6 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
4 tbsp good-quality cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
A pinch of sea salt
Brandy, to taste
Simply add everything, except the brandy, to a large, fireproof (no plastic handles) saucepan, then cover and set aside until you are ready to serve.
Once your fire is lit and you are ready to drink, set the pan on the grill over the fire and warm through, stirring often, until the chocolate has melted and the mixture comes to just below boiling point. Add brandy to taste, stirring well to mix, then ladle into mugs or heatproof glasses.
