I remember eating this on the shores of Anglesey with my Dad, aunt and uncle. My auntie made it beforehand and reheated it on the two-ring burner Calor Gaz stove. You could easily make it from scratch or it would make the perfect ‘just pitched’ meal to take along and reheat. My local butcher Martin of Boathouse Organics corns his own beef, which I prefer to the tinned stuff. You can serve this with green beans or peas and brown sauce or as it is below with just the fried egg on top.
Ingredients
400g potatoes (King Edwards or Maris Piper are best), peeled and diced
1 onion, sliced
400g corned beef, from the butcher or a 340g tin , and shred the beef with a fork
Oil for frying
1 litre beef stock, fresh, either from the supermarket fridge, or made with a beef stock cube
Finely chopped chives and parsley
Salt and pepper
Splash of Worcestershire sauce
Brown sauce for serving (optional)
4 eggs
Equipment
Two-ring stove
Chopping board
Sharp knife
A large saucepan
A frying pan
Fork
Method
Put potatoes in the sauce pan, just cover with stock and cook without a lid. What you want is cooked potatoes, not burnt or browned, and hardly any liquid. Once the potatoes are nearly cooked then heat a tablespoon of oil and fry the onions and the beef in the frying pan. You want the beef to be warmed through. Roughly mash the potatoes with a fork, add the onion and beef and season with salt pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Add the herbs.
Once the whole hash is hot through, heat the oil in your frying pan and fry the eggs. Serve on top of your hash with brown sauce if you like.
I cooked this traditional Italian recipe on a sloping field in Cornwall using only a Trangia meths stove. Unfortunately Math’s filling was prised free by a rogue shard of shell, which meant he was dosed up on painkillers for the rest of our trip. You can put this meal together on store cupboard ingredients, none of which will go off if you don’t have decent refrigeration. You only need one cooking ring; if you have two, then you can prepare the pasta on one and the sauce on the other. A sloping field in Cornwall
Ingredients
200g dried spaghetti
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Handful of fresh parsley, chopped
Jar of preserved clams, drained (Carluccio’s in St. Ives provided mine)
Half a glass of white wine
Juice of half a lemon
2 tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper
Equipment
One or two ring stove
Frying pan
Large saucepan with lid
Knife
Chopping board
Method
Cook your pasta first in salted water. Once cooked, drain, but leave a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water in the pan. This will stop your pasta sticking together as you cook the sauce and form a cooking liquor. Cover to keep warm.
Fry onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft. Pour in the wine and let it cook for three to five minutes. Throw in the clams.
Once the clams are hot add the parsley and pasta with its reserved cooking liquor. Taste and season with salt, pepper and lemon if needed.
Tinned soup is the first food you associate with camping. Instead of opening a tin of Heinz Big Soup, get chopping fresh, seasonal vegetables, supplemented with a can of borlotti beans. If you are feeling adventurous, source fresh borlotti beans as they are around at the height of summer, but they do need preparation, requiring 40-45 minutes cooking, which is a fair amount of faffing for a camper. If you do persist with fresh beans, pod them, discarding brown and mouldy ones and cook them in unsalted water for about 40 minutes until soft, drain and then add to the recipe as follows.
Ingredients
1 red pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed with salt against the chopping board with the blade of a sharp knife
4 tomatoes, quartered
2 tbs parsley, chopped, also other herbs, like chives or rosemary
1 x 250g tin of borlotti beans, drained, mash half with a spoon, leaving the other half whole
400g seasonal mixed green vegetables like fresh peas, green beans and broad beans in the summer
¼ seasonal cabbage, finely sliced
100g pasta, small shapes or spaghetti broken up into small lengths if possible, but any will do, larger shapes may need a bit more cooking though
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 litre of water or vegetable stock, made with a cube, concentrate or fresh from the supermarket fridge
Equipment
1 large pan
Single ring stove
Chopping board
Sharp knife
Spoon for stirring
Bowl
Sieve or colander
Method
Heat the oil and add the red pepper, onion and garlic. Fry very gently until soft. Add 1 litre of water or stock if you have it. Bring to the boil, turn down and simmer, add the mashed borlotti beans and stir thoroughly. After five minutes, add the pasta and green beans, whole borlotti beans, tomatoes and other green vegetables, except the cabbage. Cook for five to ten minutes and check the pasta and the whole borlotti beans, cook for another few minutes if necessary until the pasta and beans are done. Then add the cabbage and parsley, stir it round until it has wilted over the heat. Season and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh bread.
For a variation: At the beginning of cooking you could add bacon or pancetta cut into small chunks and fry with the onion, garlic and red pepper, if you are feeling carnivorous.
The pesto revolution arrived in my world (or more accurately Math’s world) in the early 1990s when we were both at university. When I visited him in his scabby house, he used to cook it for me with mushrooms. It was either that or the other pasta dish he invented – fusilli and frozen sweet-corn, the wonder of this dish being the way the kernels would hide in the twists of fusilli. Obviously there would be a mound of cheddar on top to serve as the protein.
Homemade pesto is fresher and less tacky than the stuff sold in jars. Not just good for pasta, but a teaspoon of pesto served on a bowl of minestrone or on top of some barbequed field mushrooms adds flavour. When I make it I omit the salt and pepper until serving, so our two toddlers can enjoy it as well.
Ingredients
75g pine nuts
25g fresh basil, finely chopped (a mezzaluna is perfect for this job)
6 tbs olive oil
Salt and black pepper
75g pecorino or parmesan, grated
1 garlic clove, skinned
Juice of a ½ lemon
Method
Dry-fry the pine nuts and garlic in a frying pan over a medium heat. Shake the pan every minute or two, it is far too easy to burn the nuts. Once the pine nuts start to brown, remove them and the garlic from the heat. Crush the pine nuts, the garlic and a pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar. Add the basil, the lemon juice and cheese, season and mix well. Taste and cover with oil. You can keep it in an airtight jar for a week.
Add to just cooked hot pasta, stir well and serve straightaway, even eat it cold as a salad.
Here are a few things I make before I go camping, so that I always have a quick lunch to hand or a tasty easy way to spice up barbecued meat.
– Pesto
– Salsa romesco
These are labour-saving stand-bys that I then load into Lock-and-Lock airtight storage containers to save me pestling, mortaring and grinding in the tent.
The BBC weather forecast is like my mother: it fears the worst. Absolutely pissing down, say the BBC
Some of the most beautiful weekends of my life were – as far as the BBC was concerned – big black clouds. I wonder if their weather predictions intentionally err on the side of caution to leave them less open to blame if their prediction of a blazing barbecue Sunday goes wrong. Or perhaps the BBC wants to discourage their audience from leaving the house.
I am sure the fault lies in my perception of the situation. I am sure the BBC is blameless and perfect, and not the meteorological Daily Mail they appear to be.
Weather should be clear-headed, but news is clouding weather’s judgement
Residents of the Highland community of Carrbridge say that they live in one of the driest areas of Scotland. The residents claim that the BBC weather website forecasts a wet day and then it turns out that there are only a small number of isolated showers – and sometimes no rain at all. This tallies with my own experience – an hour of rain in an otherwise fine day billed in advance by the BBC as a weeping black cloud.
News and weather are always bundled together, like husband and wife. News accentuates the negative to create drama. Weather should be clear-headed, but news is clouding weather’s judgement. Perhaps it is time they ended their co-dependent relationship and then weather might be able to think more clearly about what is really happening outside its window.
Friday afternoon. Invariably the BBC five-day weather forecast has been chipping away at morale all week, only to change its tune just as Saturday is upon us, innocently maintaining that it had predicted bright with sunny spells all along. But it is too late to pack and so we must spend the weekend in the house, staring at the sunshine through hot windows and dreaming of green fields.
Follow the track down into a clearing in the wood and there is a stage, a barbecue and the makings of a bonfire. On that stage, a young Amy Winehouse-lookalike in leopard-print dress, high black belt and fake tattoos is working through the hits with more precision than Amy herself can muster, these days. Amy Winehouse tribute performance at Lovewood There is not much of a crowd. The sun is overhead and the punters are still pitching their tents at the other end of the field, where the pylons overhead make my daughter’s hair crackle.
This is the first Lovewood festival, a collaboration between the Love Is All You Need charity and Little Dernwood Farm. The plan is to raise money for the charity and its work in South Africa, including an education centre in Mdumbi, caring for children orphaned by HIV and AIDS in communities where 170 adults die every week.
A handmade, friends-of-friends type of event, Lovewood is not so much a festival as an expression of goodwill and support for this charity.
I don’t dance for the same reason I don’t walk around in a pair of speedos – out of consideration for others
Little Dernwood can be found along the narrow country lanes around East Hoathly, and the campsite has a growing reputation for providing an experience closer to wild camping than the manicured order of the nearby Caravan Club site. There is no shower block. There is a composting toilet somewhere but I can’t find it. As it is late Spring, the bluebells turn down their bonnets in the dappled glade. On stage, a collection of children called Jazz Code come on. The adults hide behind the barbecue stall, smoking the cigarettes they promised their children they had quit.
A silver heart in the trees of Lovewood
A Streets-style trio called Twisted Link perform an impressive collection of raps over beats taken from the 8-bit and 16-bit videogames of yesteryear. I look around for their parents. No sign. Perhaps the boyfriend of the daughter of someone. Their set coaxes a few more bodies into the big empty rectangle at the front of the stage. Now the Mum and Dad dancing begins in earnest. Mum grooving her baby’s arms in time to the beat, Dad gallumphing around in front of the stage with his son on his shoulders. The baby is in a papousse, and its arms and legs flail around as Mum dances.
Dirty Ugly Punk Monkeys play a set that turns a variety of beloved classic songs into shouty musical mince
Needless to say, I don’t dance. Not anymore. I can’t lose myself in the beat. These days, my mind wanders off and starts thinking about bills and art and things and before I know it, I am just standing in the middle of the dancefloor as if startled from a dream. Nor do I encourage my children to dance. I don’t dance for the same reason I don’t walk around in a pair of speedos – out of consideration for others. Emo offspring skulk around, discover their parents having a cheeky fag in the woods, and roll kohl-rimmed eyes. I’m with them.
The land cools quickly. The pylons with their rigging are ship masts sailing off into the sunset. My brood returns to its tent. It takes longer than ever to load the children into bed. Elsewhere, the party is just starting. Soon the bonfire will be lit, and Dirty Ugly Punk Monkeys will play a set that turns a variety of beloved classic songs into shouty musical mince. And somewhere in the woods, a grey-haired old badger will put its paws over its ears and suffer for a good cause.
Mint and peas are a great match, to which I add chilli and coconut for a veggie curry.
Ingredients
500g fresh peas in their pod, shelled
1 red chilli, split lengthways
Half a small onion, very finely sliced
1 tbs fresh mint, chopped (or ½ tsp dried mint)
Half a tin of coconut milk
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt
Equipment
Chopping board
Sharp knife
Saucepan
1 ring stove
Method
Gently cook the peas, chilli and onion in the coconut milk for a few minutes until the peas are cooked and the onions softened. Add the mint, lemon and salt to taste.
Ingredients
2 tomatoes, deseeded and sliced
½ onion, finely sliced
½ cucumber, sliced in half lengthways, middle scooped out and sliced into half moons
A pinch of sugar
3 tbs fresh mint, chopped
A squeeze of lime (or lemon)
½ tsp fresh red chilli, very finely chopped (optional)
Salt
Equipment
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Bowl
Method
Mix the cucumber, tomato, onion, chilli (if using), salt and sugar together, leave for ten minutes. Add the lime and mint.
Ready to serve.
Modelled on the classic Sag paneer spinach-and-cheese curry, but with some local halloumi from High Weald instead of the paneer. Halloumi is a great camping standby.
Ingredients
500g spinach, washed
1 x 200g packet halloumi , wiped dry with kitchen towel and cubed into small pieces
1 tbs flour
1 tomato, deseeded and chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ to 1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
3 tbs fresh coriander, chopped
2 tbs garam masala
2 tbs single cream or plain yogurt (optional)
1 tbs garlic and ginger paste
Vegetable oil for frying
Equipment
Lidded saucepan
Sieve
Bowl
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Spoon for stirring
1 ring stove
Method
First cook the spinach with a little water in the lidded saucepan. As soon as the spinach wilts, which only takes a few minutes, take it off the heat and leave to drain completely in the sieve, squashing it to remove all the water. Wipe out the pan and heat up a tablespoon of oil. Coat the cheese in flour and fry until browned on all sides. Set aside. Wipe out the pan with kitchen towel and heat up another tablespoon of oil and gently fry the onion, garlic and ginger paste. Once the onion is soft, but before it is browned, add the chilli, garam masala and tomato. While they cook, chop the drained spinach, add this to the pan along with the cheese, a squeeze of lemon, coriander and cream or yogurt. Taste, you probably won’t need salt as halloumi is salty enough.
