One pot wonders - what's for dinner?

[Janet H]

I have a handful of standard one pot on the stove top meals that we reserve for the first night on the road. You know 'em, those times when you've been driving all day and pull into your campsite just in time for a late dinner?

I thought it might be interesting to share and see if others have some similar dishes; do it quick on the stove top meals - not quite frozen dinners, but almost as fast. Here's our latest fav...

This can be prepared in one large frying pan w/ a lid.

Pan seared pierogies and onions w/ steamed veggies & sour cream.

Ingredient list:
package of frozen Pierogi
Sausage (optional)
Medium onion
Garlic clove
Bell pepper (optional)
Fresh or frozen veggies ( I like broccoli or cauliflower or frozen California mix)
Butter or olive oil for frying
Something acid for deglazing. (Red or white wine or balsamic vinegar)
Water
Salt pepper, Sour Cream

How to:
1. Sear frozen Pierogi and sausage in pan with sliced onion, peppers and garlic until brown on both sides.
2. Turn up the heat to high and add a little water and a little wine or other acid to hot pan to deglaze.
3. Cover and steam until meat and Pierogi seem almost fully cooked (about 4 mins) and then add fresh or frozen veggies and continue steaming cooking until they are just cooked. Monitor the water level in pan so that there is enough liquid to create steam. The goal here is to have the liquid in the pan steam away so that there is just a small amount left when the veggies are cooked.
4. Remove lid and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt on the side

This entire thing takes ten minutes to cook and you have one pan to clean up. The Pierogi, veggies and even the optional sausage can come out of your freezer at the last minute. If you want to bulk up this meal, serve a salad or some fruit on the side. Applesauce would be especially good.

Who's next?

[Goin camping]

After a long day on the road we set up and open a beer fry some hot dogs and enjoy our banquet on a bun.

[azflycaster]

Originally Posted by Goin camping

After a long day on the road we set up and open a beer fry some hot dogs and enjoy our banquet on a bun.

We take this to the next level, chili dogs....

[Goin camping]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

We take this to the next level, chili dogs....

Gourmets. We gotta camp near you!

[overlander63]

Here's one that takes a single pan, used three times:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 small box vermicelli
1/2 cup white rice
Brown the ground beef in a deep frying pan, drain.
combine the vermicelli and rice, and brown the vermicelli in the same pan as the beef. After browning, add water to barely cover the vermicelli and rice. Add seasoning such as mrs dash, or seasoned salt, and a small splash of worcestershire sauce. Bring it to a boil. Most of the water should have been absorbed by the rice and pasta. put the ground beef back into the pan, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with your choice of veggie. Serves 4.

[vswingfield]

But I’ve heard about cooking on the engine for years, since the ’60s at least. I know, if you can remember the ’60s…

How about cooking on the engines?

Cooking great meals with your car engine. The heat is on. | Wise Bread
Amazon.com: Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine!: Chris Maynard, Bill Scheller: Books

But I have tried this:

Ok, my real one-pot recipes either involve a small crock-pot or for quick results, I have rediscovered the pressure cooker. I recently bought a Presto 6qt stainless pressure cooker that also makes a great stockpot.

Turkey breast steamed using apple juice instead of water with broccoli and cauliflower or broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot medley added to steam after cooking is pretty good eats. Que the cheesy animation and theme.

3-4 pound turkey breast
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1½ cups apple juice (cider would be good, too)
1 onion chopped
½ cup chopped celery
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning (I prefer ground ginger, but less according to taste)
¼ to ½ cup diced carrots (optional, see broccoli and cauliflower or broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot medley)
salt and pepper to taste

Pour the oil into the cooker and brown the turkey on all sides over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients other than veggies to be steamed at end. Close cover securely. Place pressure regulator in place on vent pipe and cook 35 (When not steaming veggies. A minute or two less may be appropriate when additional steaming time is anticipated) minutes with pressure regulator rocking slowly. Let pressure drop of its own accord.

Add veggies and steam to desired level of doneness. 2-3 minutes.

6 to 8 servings

*Note: Use This Recipe Only in 6-Quart Pressure Cooker

2 pounds of boneless chicken breasts could be done in a 4-quart cooker by reducing cooking time to 3-4 minutes (2-3 when steaming veggies), reducing liquid to 1 cup, and cooling immediately by immersing the cooker in cold water, then steaming.

[myboyburt]

This is a great thread! I hope to gather many ideas from it.

I'm sure many others experience this issue: We arrive at our camping destinations later in the evening because of the working thing - many times after 9:00pm. So for me getting a quick and good tasting meal on the table while Leon is finishing with the set up of our rig is a challenge. This has been compounded this year because I'm regularly flying home to New Hampshire from CA or CO on a Friday afternoon and do not have time to get anything ready before we head down the road. So I resort to is using a Bear Creek soup mix (I consider it a soup starter) to which I add leftover meat and frozen veggies. It takes about 15 minutes for the soup to be done after the water boils. I serve it with some nice sour dough or French bread along with a glass of wine. Hoping to learn to do better......

[georgezink]

First, unscrew the top off a bottle of a good red wine. Begin deglazing both the cook and the roust-a-bout. Carefully open a large can of Dinty Moore beef stew - protein, carbs, fat, veggies - it's all in there. Continue deglazing. Gently bring the stew to a simmer. Deglaze some more. Simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with whomp biscuits and continue deglazing...this meal is wonderful...and when it is over - you are thoroughly deglazed.

[maxandgeorgia]

I'm impressed...you all seem to produce hot gourmet meals along with camp set up! Pardon me while we slink down the road out of sight to set up our oh-so-common first meal on the road We usually save the "heated" kind of cooking for other days in camp. For that first dinner, we almost always look forward to "snacks": cold smoked salmon and good cheeses (herbed goat cheese, hard cheddars, blue...). We may have a tangy sourdough loaf to slice or crisp whole grain crackers. Along with this, we'll have fresh fruit in season: blueberries or ripe peaches, or maybe crispy cold apples, perhaps with a bit of caramel sauce. Always, a glass of wine or cold light beer. This puts us in the mood for the rest of the camping trip. ~G

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by maxandgeorgia

I'm impressed...you all seem to produce hot gourmet meals along with camp set up! Pardon me while we slink down the road out of sight to set up our oh-so-common first meal on the road We usually save the "heated" kind of cooking for other days in camp. For that first dinner, we almost always look forward to "snacks": cold smoked salmon and good cheeses (herbed goat cheese, hard cheddars, blue...). We may have a tangy sourdough loaf to slice or crisp whole grain crackers. Along with this, we'll have fresh fruit in season: blueberries or ripe peaches, or maybe crispy cold apples, perhaps with a bit of caramel sauce. Always, a glass of wine or cold light beer. This puts us in the mood for the rest of the camping trip. ~G

Looks like perfectly legitimate choices to me! Especially in the Summer. One of my favorite summer dinners it tomatoes and cottage cheese. Nothing fancy there, but with local tomatoes, what a treat.

[georgezink]

And for a real treat - nothin' beats a pot of grits. Throw in some cheese, chives, and shrimp if you want to...but don't forget the deglazing...

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by georgezink

And for a real treat - nothin' beats a pot of grits. Throw in some cheese, chives, and shrimp if you want to...but don't forget the deglazing...

You know, I've lived in the South for several decades, and grits still taste like cooked sand to me. Perhaps I require further deglazing...

[Crusty]

Back when I was driving big trucks I used to cook one dish in a metal basket mounted on the turbo housing that was really fantastic. I'd put some chicken breasts in an oven baking bag along with one can of mushroom soup and half a packet of french onion soup mix, seal the bag and into the basket it went. After 2 -6 hours of cooking the chicken (the time depended on the terrain: flat = long, hilly = quicker) I would then dump some rice and water in the bag and then drive 'til the rice was done.

It was delicious when I got the timing right - YMMV.

[Crusty]

Originally Posted by georgezink

And for a real treat - nothin' beats a pot of grits. Throw in some cheese, chives, and shrimp if you want to...but don't forget the deglazing...

And another treat is to make a pot of grits, spread them out half an inch thick on a cookie sheet and pop them into the refrigerator overnight to dehydrate some. In the morning, cut them into 4 inch squares and fry them up in bacon grease, salt and pepper and you're ready to go to town.

[thecatsandi]

any jambalaya will work for me. I like chicken, shrimp and lots of veggies.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by Crusty

Back when I was driving big trucks I used to cook one dish in a metal basket mounted on the turbo housing that was really fantastic. I'd put some chicken breasts in an oven baking bag along with one can of mushroom soup and half a packet of french onion soup mix, seal the bag and into the basket it went. After 2 -6 hours of cooking the chicken (the time depended on the terrain: flat = long, hilly = quicker) I would then dump some rice and water in the bag and then drive 'til the rice was done.

It was delicious when I got the timing right - YMMV.

Crusty,

YOU DA MAN!!!!!

WHAT A GREAT WAY TO CONSERVE ENERGY

[HankandLois]

Just got a 12-volt crockpot at the local truckstop. This way I can cook a meal while on the road. Just pop the crockpot in the sink and or on the floor in a heat-proof container and dinner will be done when we're "there."



/Lois

[Fenghuang]

Originally Posted by Janet

I have a handful of standard one pot on the stove top meals that we reserve for the first night on the road. You know 'em, those times when you've been driving all day and pull into your campsite just in time for a late dinner?

As a Fire Boar, I am always thinking about food and exploring culinary adventures. I was looking up Pierogi recipes yesterday and learned that they are similar to Chinese pot stickers (dumplings)/Japanese Gyoza. They can be boiled, deep fried, braised (pan fried then simmered to steam cook). I make mine and freeze them while raw for camping trips.

Chinese Dumpling Soup:
24 Frozen pot stickers
5 cups chicken stock
1 Tablespoon rice wine
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 chopped green onion
Few drops of sesame oil (a little bit goes a long way)
Cut up vegetables (napa, bok choy, diakon)
Method:
Place all ingredients, except for the green vegetables, into the pot and boil until the dumplings float to the top. Add green vegetables, and simmer for 1-3 minutes (depending on the size of the vegetable pieces) till tender. Serve immediately. The dumplings can be served separately with a dipping sauce.

An alternative would be a package of Ramen noodles cooked with diced left over meat, diced tofu, frozen meat balls, frozen peeled raw shrimp, and sliced vegetables. Add 1 teaspoon of rice wine and 1 teaspoon of soy sauce with one chopped green onion to “kick up the flavor”. A beaten egg can be stirred into the broth to further enrich it.

For those who would like 2-3 dishes out of the same pot. I have been playing with tiered pan-in-pot pressure-cooking using my vintage 6 qt. cooker. This web site has a wealth information. For those of you who like the lesser cuts of meat, this is the perfect modality to get an immediate, tender product.
Pressure Cooker Recipes

Pre-cooked foods can be reheated without burning them while dry-camping. Pressure cooking uses less fuel and time. I have cooked from scratch short grain brown rice (one part rice + 1 part water/broth for al dente) on one level and pork in a black bean sauce on the second in 15 minutes, delicious!!! I continue to experiment with conventional recipes learning how to alter (more or less time/liquid/seasoning) them when using this cooking modality.

It is critical to follow the instructions of not filling the pressure cooker over 2/3rds full and allow circulation of the steam. I use a small stainless steel colander, and stainless steel bowls (available at oriental markets and pet stores) as tier cooking containers.

Good eating to all,
Larry

[HankandLois]

MMMMM... That potsticker soup sounds yummy!

[myboyburt]

Originally Posted by HankandLois

Just got a 12-volt crockpot at the local truckstop. This way I can cook a meal while on the road. Just pop the crockpot in the sink and or on the floor in a heat-proof container and dinner will be done when we're "there."



/Lois

I do this on occasion using my standard Crockpot plugged into our inverter using an extension cord. I Velcro the top down, wrapping the Velcro through the handles and over the top. Works dandy!