When I make biscuits and gravy at home, I always make my own scratch biscuits.  Flour, some butter or oil, baking powder, sugar, and salt, all gently mixed up with some water, then baked at 375° for about 20 minutes.  Easy to do, and I’ll have to do a “how to” post on it soon.  But being that I didn’t want to pack all those fixin’s on my camping trip, I went the easy route and bought some Pillsbury Grands Biscuits instead.  They are surprisingly delicious biscuits, but full of all sorts of crap I’d prefer not to eat.  Oh well, camping is about getting dirty right?

Biscuits and Gravy Gourmet Camping

What You’ll Need to Make Biscuits and Gravy for Four While Camping

• 1 large Dutch Oven, or 2 small Dutch Oven’s stacked
• 2 packages Pillsbury Grands Biscuits
• Oil
• Campfire grate
• 12 inch cast iron skillet
• 1 pound breakfast sausage
• 2 handfuls all purpose flour (little less than 1 cup)
• Seasoning salt to taste (maybe 1/3 teaspoon)
• Thyme to taste (maybe 1/3 teaspoon)
• Onion powder to taste (maybe 1/2 teaspoon)
• Black Pepper to taste (between 1/2 – 1 teaspoon, depending on how peppery and hot you like it)
• Milk to cover sausage (maybe 4 cups)

How to Bake Biscuits in a Dutch Oven

Stacked Dutch Ovens

The secret to Dutch oven cooking is temperature regulation, especially when baking bread.  You need an even balance of heat on the bottom and on the top in order to bake evenly.  You can use briquettes, or coals from the fire.  Either way, place more on the top than on the bottom, as the bottom coals will be closest to the baking bread.  There is a fine line here; too many coals and you burn your bread, not enough coals and it will take forever to bake.  There are formulas of how many briquettes equal so much heat, but I just eyeball it and go.  After all, if you burn the bottom of the biscuits, you can always cut off the burnt part and give it to your dog.

Rub a bit of oil on the bottom and sides of Dutch oven to prevent the biscuits from sticking.  If your Dutch oven is very well seasoned, this may not be necessary, but what the hell; add it anyway.  Arrange the biscuits in the Dutch oven so that they barely touch.  they will expand, so leave some room between them for this. Put the lid on the oven, set on a bed of coals, and add coals to the top of the lid.  Walk away and tend your fire.

I like to check the biscuits after about 10 minutes to see how they’re coming along and if I need to change up any of the coals.  I encourage you to do this as well, as it just might save a batch of “too hot” biscuits.

Biscuits Cooking in a Dutch Oven

Dutch Oven Biscuits a Bit too Hot on the Bottom

How to Cook Sausage for Gravy over the Campfire

While your biscuits are cooking, turn your attention to your campfire.  It’s a good idea to have it raging before you get things started so that you have a nice bed of coals.  I use this “high heat” opportunity to heat and clean my cast iron skillet.

Cast Iron Skillet Over a Campfire

Once your fire has dropped to a hot bed of coals, return your skillet to the heat and brown your sausage.  I used a 1 pound tube of Jimmy Dean original sausage, as it is delicious and is a perfect cooler stuffer.  If your pan is very hot, you may need to add a touch of oil to keep your sausage from burning.

Add Sausage to Skillet Over Campfire Coals

Brown Sausage in Skillet Over Campfire Coals

Once your sausage is browned, add two handfuls of flour and mix to coat the sausage with it.  Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, so that the flour looses its “raw” flavor.

Add Handfuls of Flour to Sausage

Stir Flour and Sausage to Combine over Campfire

Sausage Evenly Coated with Flour

Next, you need to season the sausage.  This is where I stray a bit from traditional biscuits and gravy.  I season mine with thyme, seasoning salt, onion powder, and lots of black pepper.

Season Sausage with Thyme

Season Sausage with Seasoning Salt

Season Sausage with Black Pepper

How to Make Gravy on the Campfire

Now for the easy part, making the gravy!  Let’s see, you’ve already seasoned it, and you’ve already added your flour thickener, all that’s really left now is the milk.  You can use 1%, 2%, whole, skim, whatever.  I recommend at least some cream in it though for added flavor.  Simply pour the milk over the sausage while still on the heat.  Pour enough to just come up to the top of the sausage.

Add Milk to Sausage to Make Gravy

Add Milk Just to the top of Sausage to Make Gravy

Stir the milk and scrape the bottom of the skillet to get all the goodies up.  If your coals have cooled and your milk doesn’t seem to want to come to a boil, add some more fire to raise the temperature.  You must bring the gravy to a boil, otherwise it will not thicken.  A properly thickened gravy should coat the back of your spoon and not easily run off.

Stir Milk and Sausage to Fully Incorporate Flour

Raise the Campfire Heat to Bring to Boil

Bring Campfire Gravy to a Boil to Thicken

Allow to boil for a minute or two, stirring frequently, then remove from the heat.  If the gravy seems to be too thick, simply loosen it with some more milk.  Taste your outdoor creation and make sure that you have enough seasonings.  Add additional seasoning salt, black pepper, and/or thyme to your liking.

Whisk in More Milk to Loosen Gravy if too Thick

Add More Seasoning to Gravy if Needed

Perfect Sausage Gravy Made Over a Campfire

How to Eat Biscuits and Gravy While Camping

As if you really need any help figuring this out!  But for resolution to this post, I will show you.

Take two of your Dutch Oven cooked biscuits, split in half, and place on a camp plate.  Then spoon loads of delicious sausage all over them.  Eat quickly, humming loudly to inform all your neighboring campers and wildlife that you are the best cook in the woods!

Serves 4 with a few left over biscuits.

Biscuits and Gravy Gourmet Camping

Recipe by Jothan Yeager,  May 2012

The Bald Gourmet makes delicious Biscuits and Gravy while camping.

Sausage and Fennel Grilled Campfire Pizza

I tried pushing the bounds of campfire cooking again this weekend while camping with some friends.  Wood fired pizza is always delicious, so I thought, “wouldn’t it be even better over an open campfire?”  Boy was I right.  The crispy crust and smokey combination was ridiculous.  It was a little tricky melting the cheese, but a quick camp gear improvisation fixed that straight away.  This recipe is more on the fancy side of pizza toppings, but any toppings you like will do quite nicely.  The technique and concepts are the same regardless.  Give it a try on your next camping adventure.  Your fellow campers will be confused and awed at just how awesome you are.

Gourmet Camping Pizza Ingredients

1 medium bulb fennel/anise, cored and sliced

Fennel fronds, chopped (for garnish)

1/2 large onion, sliced

1 pound mild Italian sausage

8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

1 bag prepared pizza dough

Pre-made pizza sauce (home-made, store bought, canned, whatever)

1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)

Extra Virgin Olive oil

Salt and pepper

How to Cook Sausage and Fennel on the Campfire for Your Pizza

Start by prepping your fire in advance.  You want a good bed of hot coals that you can easily add and/or remove wood to as needed.

Place a skillet or dutch oven on a camp rack over the coals, or directly over coals (if using a dutch oven).  Get the oven/skillet hot, add some olive oil, then add the sausage.  Brown the sausage, breaking up into bite-sized pieces as you go.  Tend the sausage carefully so that you don’t burn it, but get it nice and caramelized brown.  You may need to remove coals and/or wood to avoid hot spots and burning.

Cooking Sausage Over a Campfire

Remove the sausage from the skillet/dutch oven and set aside.  Add more olive oil to the skillet/dutch oven and saute the fennel and onion together, seasoning with salt and pepper, until they are golden brown and soft.

Cooking Onions and Fennel Over a Campfire

How to Roll Out Pizza Dough While Camping

Split your dough in half.  This recipe will make two 10″ pizzas.  Hopefully you have a good sized cutting board in your “car camping” supplies, but if not, use a lid from one of your camping bins, the top of a cooler, or if nothing else, the hood of your car (scrubbed clean of course) as a rolling surface.  Put a little olive oil on your surface, then plop one of your dough halves on it, flatten and start stretching it a bit with your hands.  You can continue to do this by hand, but you may get a more uniform thickness and round shape if you use a roller of some sort.  If you have a rolling pin, use it, but if not, a water bottle makes a great alternative!

Using Water Bottle to Roll Dough While Camping

How to Cook Pizza Over a Campfire

First things first, CLEAN THE CAMPFIRE RACK!  By having it over the fire, it will get nice and hot, but it will also be covered in black soot.  Simply run a wet washcloth/sponge across the rack to remove the soot (it’s probably best to lift the rack off the fire for this, then lower it again once cleaned).  Do this until the rag no longer turns jet black.  Then pour some olive oil on a paper toil and rub across the rack.  This will help prevent the dough from sticking.

Now for the fun part.  Place your hand over the campfire at rack level to determine temperature.  You’re looking to be able to keep your hand at rack level for 10 seconds.  If you can’t, adjust the height of the rack and/or remove some of the wood/coals until you can.  If it doesn’t feel like you must pull your hand away at 10 seconds, put some more wood/coals on the fire under the rack.  10 seconds will be just perfect to slowly brown and cook the dough without burning it.

Now that your rack is clean and your fire is perfect, place the dough on the rack.  Cook it until the bottom side is crispy and has nice dark grill lines on it, about 5 minutes (you can lift a side of the dough now and then to check on it).

Cook Pizza Dough on Rack Over Campfire

Flip Pizza Dough to Cook other Side on Campfire

Once flipped, double check your 10 second hand temperature check, adding/removing wood/coals if necessary.

Now spread out the pizza sauce, top with half the cheese, then top with half the fennel and onions, then finish with half the Italian sausage and pine nuts (forgot mine today!).

Top Campfire Pizza with Sauce

Top Campfire Pizza with Cheese

Add Fennel and Onions to Campfire Pizza

Top Campfire Pizza with Italian Sausage

In order for the cheese to melt and all of your toppings to heat through, you will need to cover the pizza to trap the heat in from the coals below.  A metal camp plate works perfect for this, but a skillet or tin foil would work as well.  If you don’t cover the pizza, the crust will burn before your cheese melts.

Cover Campfire Pizza to Melt Cheese

Check on your pizza every couple of minutes by lifting the camp plate.  It should take about 5 minutes or so to fully cook.  Once the cheese has melted, it’s time to remove it from the fire.

Covered Campfire Pizza with Melting Cheese

To remove pizza from the rack, lift an edge and pull gently to slide off the rack and onto your cutting board/plate/whatever (be careful, the crust is hot).  Garnish with reserved fennel fronds.  Slice into quarters with a knife and serve piping hot.  Repeat for the other pizza dough and remaining toppings.  Yum!

Sausage and Fennel Grilled Campfire Pizza Slices

Recipe by Jothan Yeager, April 2012

The Bald Gourmet takes his pizza making skills into the wild with Grilled Campfire Sausage and Fennel Pizza.

What is Fluorescent Yellow Food Day?

I first discovered Fluorescent Yellow Food Day a few years ago in Boise, Idaho.  It was the creation of some genius girls, who were roommates at the time, when they noticed that everything they were eating for dinner one night was yellow.  They thought that was a bit odd and somewhat humorous, and just like that, the holiday was born.  We have so many holidays which honor dead people, or national history, or love, but how many do we have that are strictly about honoring food?  Not many that I know of, which makes this holiday seem appropriate for The Bald Gourmet to honor and share with others.  Feb. 20th is a day to be YELLOW!

Where do I Find Additional Information on Fluorescent Yellow Food Day?

You can find more about this colorful mastermind at www.fluorescentyellowfoodday.com.  I encourage you to visit the site, and throw a Fluorescent Yellow Food Day celebration of your own.

What Kind of Food Can I Make to Celebrate Fluorescent Yellow Food Day?

This year, I made Stuffed Yellow Peppers with Turmeric and Tarragon Rice (cooked in blended Yellow Tomatoes) with Spicy Italian Sausage and Onions.  Delicious, and mighty yellow!!  Last year, a delightful stir-fried Indian Curry Rice Noodle dish.  Let your imagination go wild, just dream in yellow!

Fluorescent Yellow Food Day Lemonade

Fluorescent Yellow Food Day Stuffed Yellow Peppers

Fluorescent Yellow Food Day Old Stand By Mac n Cheese

Fluorescent Yellow Food Day Vegetables and Chicken Salad Curry Dip

Fluorescent Yellow Food Day Special Yellow Cornbread & Rice a Roni

Fluorescent Yellow Food Day Thai Yellow Curry and Rice

Fluorescent Yellow Food Day Candied Popcorn

Fluorescent Yellow Food Day Sweet Desserts

The Bald Gourmet celebrates Fluorescent Yellow Food Day in Boise, Idaho in 2012.

Orange Spinach with Garlic Scapes and Chinese Sausage

I built this recipe off my Wok Fried Spinach with Garlic dish, but it was inspired by the delicious garlic scapes growing in my garden.  It took a few tries to get just right, but I think I finalized it during lunch today.  Do try this; it is quite tasty.

The recipe calls for garlic scapes, which are the flower stalk of a maturing garlic plant.  The scape grows in fun corkscrew shapes, has a sweet and mild garlic flavor, and has a texture much like Chinese long beans and asparagus.  They can be eaten raw in salads or cooked in dishes like today’s recipe.  You can sometimes find garlic scapes for sale in farmers markets, but the best place to get them is out of your own garden.  Read my post, How to Plant and Grow Garlic for more information.

Garlic Scapes

Orange Spinach with Garlic Scapes and Chinese Sausage Recipe

• Roughly 8 cups chopped mature spinach
• 10 Garlic Scapes, chopped into 1 inch pieces (if not available, substitute with 1 cup garlic chives)
• Juice of 1/2 large orange
• Zest of 1/2 large orange
• 2 tablespoons Hoisin Sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar or honey
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese Black Vinegar (click for description and substitution)
• Pinch of red pepper
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
• 1 Chinese or chorizo sausage link, sliced
• 1/8 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Powder
• 3/4 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 Asian Pickled Green Chilies, sliced (optional)
• 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice

How to Cook Orange Spinach with Garlic Scapes and Chinese Sausage Recipe

Cook rice according to packaging instructions.  While rice is cooking, heat wok over high heat until very hot.  Add 1 tablespoon of oil and the garlic scapes.  Stir fry scapes until skin wrinkles and starts to caramelize, roughly 2-3 minutes.

Stir Fry Garlic Scapes Until They Start to Caramelize

While scapes are cooking, combine orange juice, orange zest, hoisin sauce, sugar, sesame oil, black vinegar, and red pepper in bowl and stir to combine and dissolve sugar.  After scapes have cooked, add liquid mixture to them and allow to boil and reduce for roughly 30 seconds.  The liquid should just begin to thicken.

Add Orange Sauce and Allow to Reduce Slightly

Add spinach and stir fry with the scapes and liquid until spinach is thoroughly wilted and stalks are tender, roughly 3-4 minutes.  Remove from wok and place in a bowl.  Set aside.

Stir Fry Spinach until Wilted and Tender

Add remaining tablespoon of oil to the wok, and add sausage once oil begins to smoke.  Season sausage with Five Spice Powder and brown on both sides.  Once browned, add soy sauce and green chilies, and stir fry until most of the soy sauce has been evaporated, roughly 1 minute.  Remove from heat and place over rice with the Orange Spinach and Garlic Scapes.  Or skip the sausage entirely and have a delicious vegetarian meal.

Serves 2

Orange Spinach with Garlic Scapes and Chinese Sausage Over Rice

Recipe by Jothan Yeager, June 2011

Four Bean Chorizo Stew

I love love LOVE this dish!  It is so freaking delicious.  It’s rustic yet elegant, simple yet sophisticated, sweet yet savory…. it’s beautiful.  The sweetness of the star anise permeates the colorful beans and pairs perfectly with the meaty Chorizo.

Four Bean Chorizo Stew Ingredients

• Olive oil (enough to coat bottom of pot)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 Basque or Spanish chorizo links, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½ cup or so red wine
• ½ cup or so chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 star anise
• 4 cans beans, assorted varieties (black, white, butter, kidney)
• 1 can whole tomatoes (1 pint home canned), diced
• 1 large handful of baby carrots, halved lengthwise
• ½ cup brown sugar (loose, not packed)
• Tablespoon onion powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Prepped Ingredients

Chorizo

For this recipe, you will need Basque or Spanish Chorizo.  Not all stores carry it, so you may have to look around a bit.  The more common similar Portuguese Linguica is a good substitute if you can’t find it.  Andouille sausage will work as well if you can’t find anything else, but use a mild flavored one.  Basque Chorizo is very mild.  It gets its beautiful red color from red peppers, typically red bell peppers.  It is made with ground pork, and typically has nice chunks of pork fat which adds a cool appearance and texture.  It is great in this dish, but is also really nice served with eggs or just grilled up and served in a bun.

Chorizo Sliced

Four Bean Chorizo Stew Directions

Sauté onion and chorizo in olive oil in a large sauce pot until browned.

Add garlic, bay leaf, star anise, red wine, and chicken broth and bring to a boil to allow alcohol to cook out.

Add beans (with their liquid), tomatoes (with their liquid), carrots, brown sugar, and onion powder, and cook on medium heat until carrots are tender and stew has reduced to a thick consistency (roughly 30 minutes).

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove bay leaf and star anise prior to serving.

Serves 4

Jothan Yeager, Jan 31^st, 2007

Chorizo Browned

Baby Carrots Halved

Begin Reduction

Four Bean Chorizo Stew Close Up

Delicious Coupon Casserole

Sunday mornings, I awake at my leisure and slowly make my way downstairs where I am greeted with the Sunday paper at my front door.  It always seems to arrive in a protective bag as if it were some cherished Christmas present for grownups.  And in a way, I guess that it is due to the coupon inserts contained therein.   I always am disappointed however at all the coupons for worthless, nutritionally void crap, and always shake my head at the disgusting food industry of America.  But then I find the occasional coupon for items that are not highly processed or full of salt and/or sugar; things that I can use to create wonderful dishes at home with.  But occasionally I keep a couple coupons for foods that I know will lead to high blood pressure.  Today’s recipe uses coupons of this nature.

The coupons in question:

• $0.75 off Jimmy Dean Sausage (1 pound tube)
• $1.00 off two bags OreIda Tater Tots (you’ll need one bag for this recipe)
• $0.50 off two cans Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup (you’ll need one can for this recipe)

You’ll also need:

• Half of a large onion (or one small onion) chopped.
• Shredded cheddar cheese to top.

Cooking with Coupons:

Brown the sausage in a skillet with the chopped onion.  Browning gives you more flavor in the casserole and adds a nice occasional crunch.

Browning

When done, place into a casserole dish with half a bag of frozen tater tots.  Add 1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup (cream of chicken will do too) and gently stir around to combine.  Top with cheddar cheese, then cover to bake.

Mixed together

Bake in a 400˚ oven for 40 minutes.  You can remove the cover for the last 10 minutes of baking time if you’d like the cheese to be firm and slightly chewy.

I’m not going to make any claims that this dish is heart-healthy or that it will fit in with your diet and weight loss plans, but I will tell you that it is rather delicious and makes for an excellent left over lunch.  The sodium content is quite high though, so make sure you have access to plenty of water for the rest of the night because your body is going to need it.

Serves 3-4

Recipe by Jothan Yeager