Cookery | unicorn camps

CAMP COOKERY

Courtesy of our beloved Peter Mac

What’s so different about camp cookery that demands special attention?

Wood fires Not in an Aga, but bonfires that can be HOT - or out!

Vegetables Lots of lovely seasonable vegetables from the farm shop.

Large numbers Circles can be around 15 people plus the children.

These notes are in three sections that address each of these aspects of Camp Cooking. They are aimed at giving confidence to people who need it, and at re-inspiring old hands who do the same old curry year after year.

Cooking can be a seriously enjoyable part of the whole Unicorn Camp Experience – a chance to put food back in the centre of our social lives – or you may just want to scoff something and get on with singing – these notes aim to cater for both.

They are a work in progress – please do email with further thoughts, recipes and adjustments.

Fridges & Larders

Different circles operate in different ways. Some people like to cook all together in organised pre-determined ways, others like to go with the flow.

Read on Most end up with communal evening meals and some form of do-it-yourself for lunch and breakfast. Some people never leave the site except for hanging out at the river or a wander to the farm shop, others take every opportunity to drive miles to Tescos and stagger back with bags of packaging and “food” – the choice is yours.

Larders and Fridges Many circles have one communal spare tent or bit of awning to store food under – it saves having 8 separate lettuces going soggy. Many people also create a fridge using a large container with water in, with a smaller container placed in it. Water goes in the larger bucket and material is draped over the smaller one with it’s edges in the water – i.e. a bit of constantly wet material covers food in the inner container. As the water evaporates it takes energy from the inner container in the form of heat = a fridge. So that means someone bringing a couple of containers and a not-precious bit of material.

Presentation Flowers, candles, a table cloth...Five colours in every meal...Fine ingredients with as little meddling as possible...plus perfect presentation = perfection.

Fires Half the world still cooks on wood fires, but few cook on open piles of blazing wood like we do at Camp! Trivets and grills help a lot, and for more complicated meals you may want to get some dedicated sole to take responsibility for the fire – just give them a few hours notice for when you want it hot!

Things to bring Preferably not your best stuuff! BIG pots and pans (10L is about right for 20). Big Woks with a handle. Large kettle. Avoid plastic handles! Look out for such things at car boot sales or African markets. Oven gloves. Thick kitchen foil. BIG spoons, ladles etc, with long handels. A big sieve and/or colander. Also useful: Trivet , Big solid grid to go over the fire and cook on. Silver tea pot.

Ingredients

What should I bring?

The farm shop provides fresh organic veg, milk and bread, and tins of chick peas, flour, meusli.

What you need most of all is spices, oils and seeds to add flavour and interest, treats to share like Serious Biscuits; sun-dried tomatoes; olives stuffed with things, emergency food like favourite Pesto. Salad dressings, Parmesan, Feta and Haloumi are all great to add to things AND they keep well even when it is hot weather.

Quantities

The main thing to remember is that you don’t have to bring food for 3 meals a day for 20 people. Chances are you’ll only cook ONE big meal plus any ad hoc lunchtime gourmet creations.
Read on
Rice: 4 mugs for 15-20 people (depending on how hungry they are). If you still cook too much, consider adding raisins, sugar, a bit of milk = rice pudding. Or adding golden syrup and butter for a slimming treat.
Batter for fritters: for 12- 15 people. 2 mugs flour; a big pinch of salt; 3-4 eggs; ¾ pint of milk. Great for sweet corn; fruit (apple, pineapple….)
Batter for pancakes: 12- 15 people: 2 mugs flour; a big pinch of salt; 3-4 eggs; 1½ pints of milk.
Pasta: Three 500g packets is about right for 15 people as a main dish. (If you find yourself with a lump of left over pasta the next day, slice and fry. Or cut into chunks and make a Unicorn Omelette (Spanish omelette with horn).
RICE – how to cook lots: Add enough water to cover PLUS the depth of your thumb (don’t ask me why) Bring to the boil – stirring a few times Cover and take off the heat. Watch people doing the washing up and sing songs for 25 mins. Avoid peeking until you want to eat it. Rice done like this can sit for 10 mins at least and not go soggy……
Brown rice cook for 15 mins before you leave it to finish cooking off the heat – about 30 mins, or 20 if you have soaked it first.
Measures
1 Mug = ½ pint = 300ml
FLOUR 1 Mug 6oz 160g
FLOUR 4 Mugs 1½ lbs 500g
SUGAR 1 Mug 8oz 200g
RAISINS 1 Mug 6oz 150g
LENTILS 1 Mug 8oz 200g
RICE 1 Mug 8oz 200g
OATS 1 Mug 3oz 75g
STOCK 2 tsp/pint 4tsp/litre
BUTTER Pat 8oz 250g
Time
1 Unicorn hour is approximately
one third of:
1 morning gathering +
1 workshop after the warm up +
how long it takes to wash up after supper

SCRUMPTIOUS EASY RECIPES

Sheila's Korma for 20

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Dead easy, totally scrumptious and different.

You need one big pan of hot water to cook the spuds in, then either another one to cook the sauce in, OR a big container in which to put the cooked spuds.
Finely chop 5 onions then fry to soft
Add 4 tins of chopped tomatoes cook together for a bit
Add a jar of Patak’s Korma Paste stir a bit.
Cook 2Kg (5lbs)ish of spuds cut into bite sized pieces.
When they are nearly done add 2Kg (5lbs)ish of spinach or beet washed and cut up a bit.
Cook further for about 2 mins then drain the lot (leaving a bit of water).
15 to 20 mins before you want to eat, heat up the sauce, add the spud/spinach mix.
Heat through and eat (with rice – see RICE later)

Ghanian Groundnut Stew for 12

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Jane King

Chop finely then fry about 4 onions
Add a jar of peanut butter – smooth and sugar free if possible.
Add boiling water a stir to give a thick sauce
Add chopped courgette and/or sweet potato chunks and/or chunks of squash
Remove some for children who don’t like spices
Fry together ¾ chopped cloves of garlic; 2 chopped red or green chillies and about 1” of fresh ginger chopped finely. Add this to the stew.
You can also add a tin of coconut cream

Risotto for 16

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Finely chop 4 onions and 2 peppers and soften in plenty of oil/butter.
Bring to the boil about 2 pints of water and add 4tsp (or 4 cubes) of veg stock mix
Add rice - around 4 mugs to the onion mix and stir well to coat each grain.
Ladle in the stock a bit at a time, stirring constantly. You want a gentle but constant fire.
If you run out of stock, add some of the boiling water you have ready.
Towards the end (i.e. when the rice is starting to taste cooked), you can add chopped French beans, tomatoes, mushrooms or any other veg. in smallish bits – precooked if it’s something that takes a while.
Once cooked (firm but not “chalky”) take off the heat and add as much butter or cream as you fancy and as much Parmesan as you have.

Annabelle's Inspirational Kebabs

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You do need those wooden knitting needle things for this.

Soak them in water for a while before threading food on and they don’t burn so easily.
Onion; tomato, courgette, aubergine, mushroom
And the inspiration? Smoked tofu and vegetarian sausage chunks.
Keep solid stuff near then ends to trap the other bits in/on (courgette is good for this).
Cook tomato sauce and/or spicy clever sauces over a nice hot fire, then flatten it out to give a big area of embers (no flames please) to cook the kebabs.

Lentil and Cinnamon Sauce for 15

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Lacey’s favourite comfort food for pasta or spuds.

Slice and fry 4 onions along with some (optional) mushrooms.
Plus 6 crushed garlic.
Plus 2 tsp cinnamon.
Add 3½ mugs (or 1½ packets) rinsed red lentils and 4 tins of toms and about 2½ pints of veg stock
Cook to soft – (1-1½ hrs?)
Add 4 chopped peppers about half way through the cooking.
Add a good squirt of tomato puree and salt and pepper.
Worchester sauce – optional if you are not going cheesy.
Grated cheese if you want.

Beetroot, Almond And Carrot Salad

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Top Tip
Before grating raw beetroot, take off all your clothes. Need I say more?
The thing about salads is that the shop has FANTASTIC organic fresh salad stuff, so your imagination + all the seeds, oils etc (see above) = health and happiness. (But more clever ideas are very welcome)

Sheila’s Quick Lentil Soup for 20

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Chop 6 medium onions plus a couple of chopped garlic cloves fry in oil.
Optional additions: couple of chopped carrots and/or celery and/or chopped spud
Add 2 mugs red lentils (or 500g if you have one packet)
Add water and Bouillon if you have it (2 tsp/pint)
Boil & Eat.
Optional additions for an exotic/extra angle: Dried apricot and 2 tsp gr. Cumin.

Carol's Cauliflower for 12

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Fry 4 large onions and a couple of garlic finely chopped.
Add 2 medium cauliflowers, cut in florets, plus enough water to just show.
When tender remove from heat and add 3 tabs tahini and 3 tabs tamari.
You can also add a couple of tins of chick peas or other beans.
Great with rice or spuds – different and seriously nutritious.

Baked Marrow

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To go with other things

Fry up an onion and garlic in plenty of olive oil.
Add a few herbs, bung in chunks of marrow and a little water.
Leave on a not-very-hot-part of the fire.
Takes about an hour but sits well for ages.
(Keep a eye on it to prevent conversion to soup – though it is still lovely if mushy).

Steamed Pudding for 20

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Strictly for those who want to show off

Chris’s steamed chocolate pudding was GORGEOUS – the raw bit in the middle being the best bit.
Steaming sounds like showing off, but actually it’s an easy way to keep what you are cooking at a steady temperature on a wood fire
Requires a degree of confidence, creativity and “what the hell, bung it in anyway”
Grease tins – use 2 of the BIG (A10) tomato tins washed out, or equivalent.
Rub 3 pats butter (or marg/butter mixed) into 6.5 Mugs Self Raising flour and 1 tab of baking powder
Add 2.5 Mugs sugar and flavouring – lemon or orange peel; vanilla; ginger.
More flavouring = more flavour (obviously!).
For chocolate, replace 1+ mugs of the flour with cocoa and add some bits of serious chocolate as well
Add 10 eggs and mix.
And mix.
And mix
Add fillings if you want – up to 4 Mugs of raisins, sultanas, dates, currants, more chocolate
You don’t have to, but you can put any or all of jam, syrup, brown sugar and butter in the tins, then the mixture
Cover the tin with a cloth, then silver paper.
Stand in boiling water (to half way up the tin) to 2 hours
You may need to weigh down the tins.
Tip out to eat.

Carolyn's fruit Slice for 20

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From the Forest School Camps - Sort of mince pie on a biscuit

You need a tray - 2 foot x 2 foot
Put 5 mugs of raisins and 5 mugs of sultanas (750g of each) plus an ounce of mixed spice, into a large pan.
Cover in tea - diluted a bit if you haven’t enough dregs.
Heat, but don’t boil or burn.
Add 1oz (25g) of corn flour and stir a lot until it thickens.
DON’T boil but keep hot
Meanwhile, crush 2kg of biscuits (digestives or similar) and add 1 pat of melted butter – press into the tin
Pour fruit over biscuit and leave to cool.

Pizza

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Yes, it's possible, Numero Uno with children, adults and one up on all others!

However, you do need a large sheet of thick metal (the site crew had these for a couple of years, which is how we got started.
You need a BIG hot fire...
When lots of wood is in charcoal form – still solid, but not flaming - make a sandwich that goes (from the earth up) red hot embers/metal sheet/two un-burnt logs on either side of the sheet/on which sits your grill/on which sits over a row of well burn/burning but not flaming wood.
Thus, in the middle is a very hot sheet of metal, with a “grill” of hot charcoal above it.
When it is really working 1 pizza takes about 30 seconds so you need a production line of rolling & toppings = in one side, out the other
The recipe is the easy bit – bread dough with lots of olive oil; tomato sauce; cheese olives etc OR chocolate and marshmallow; caramelised onions; other creative inspirations.

Other Ideas

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Couscous is SO EASY on camp - cook up bits first: onion, peppers, aubergine, nuts - then add couscous, then add boiling water (stand well back) and STIR. Done in a flash.
Sweet salad: chopped up apple + walnuts + sultanas + tin of coconut milk. Stir & Eat.
Chickpea and Feta salad: a couple of tins of chick pea and a block of feta + dressing and fresh herbs from the farm shop. Scrumptious and filling.
Spud + chopped spinach: cook bite sized chunks and at the last moment add tins of chick peas + fried onion and garlic + (optional) ground cumin and coriander.
Sosmix: good for sausages, hopeless for sauces. You need to add flavour to it – garlic, bouillon, carrots, oats...
Cake: take a fruit cake or 2 – great to share when the tents are first set up, great to eat later in the week when it starts raining, great to eat in secret when someone else’s burnt rice has left a late night hunger.
New spuds with fresh rosemary and butter: rosemary is good therapy for emotional settling
Bake spuds in washed out empty tins – much better than silver paper.
Fruit juice on cereal: use rather than milk because it doesn’t go off as quickly
Heavenly Health: rub cut garlic onto toast + olive oil
Popcorn
Grilled Malt loaf
Bake bananas with chunks of chocolate stuffed in cuts before you wrap them in foil.
Porridge (Think about cooking it by bringing to a hard boil the night before then leaving in a “straw box” overnight. i.e. a well insulated container which can, indeed, be a box stuffed with straw).
Toasted marshmallows dipped in chocolate
Toasted marshmallows squashed between chocolate biscuits
Eggs fried in a hole made in a slice of bread
Eggy bread (scrambled egg is hard to wash up after)
Snakes on a stick - made by twisting a snake-shaped piece of dough around a stick and holding it over the fire. It makes a nice breakfast bread to eat with scrambled eggs. Begin with a green stick about 2 feet long and 1/2 inch in diameter. Peel the bark off one end, and briefly heat that end over the fire. Roll the dough into a long, thin snake shape (thin dough cooks easiest). Carefully twist and wrap it around the peeled end of the stick and pinch the dough ends so the snake doesn't fall off the stick. Turn it over the fire until the dough is brown and cooked through, then slip it off the stick to eat. Delicious topped with butter and jam.