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Preparing for Camp
By Cheri Eby--Author of Cooking on Location
After a long day looking for deer, you don’t want to go back to camp and prepare your evening meal from scratch. So think ahead and make dishes that freeze well such as stew, spaghetti sauce and soup. This will save you time and make for a satisfying camp meal. But remember that when you freeze food, you need to keep it cold until you’re ready to prepare it.
Pack frozen foods at the bottom of the ice chest then place the ice on top. Since it will likely be sitting in melted water for part of the time, use resealable plastic bags to keep out the water. Food that should stay cold but not frozen then goes on top of the ice. In general, the contents of the cooler should be 75 percent food and 25 percent ice.
One of my favorite dishes to make ahead of time is spaghetti sauce with sausage. I freeze several quarts in plastic freezing containers then pack it in the ice.
Spaghetti Sauce with Sausage
Makes 3 quarts
1 1/2 lbs. ground game meat
1 lb. ground Italian sausage
1 1/2 tbls. cooking oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 heaping tsp. oregano
1 heaping tsp. rosemary
1 heaping tsp. thyme
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 6-ounce can of tomato paste
2 1/2 c. water
Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet. Crumble the ground meat and Italian sausage into the skillet and cook until the meat is almost brown. Add the onion and garlic and continue cooking until meat is brown. Add the oregano, rosemary, thyme, pepper and salt. Stir well to blend and cook for about 30 seconds. Transfer the meat mixture to a large kettle. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste and water. Mix well. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Add water if necessary. After an hour adjust spices (add more if needed) and continue cooking for about 15 minutes.
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