Tag / camping

Books Camping Recipe

Meals on the Move: A Campsite Cooking Journey

I am excited to announce that my new book Meals on the Move: A Campsite Cooking Journey is being released on 12 September 2023 and is available to buy now! You can order it from my shop shop for a 10% discount (and free shipping). It is also available at Alan Rogers, Amazon, Waterstones, and Darling Reads bookshop in Horbury.

This new book follows the 30-day campsite journey I took this summer through France, Italy and Switzerland. It is not just a travel book but a recipe book too as I share 30 recipes – one for each day of the trip. I created recipes that used local or regional ingredients or were typical of the area of country that we were staying in. All the recipes can be cooked in around 30 minutes, using only basic equipment so that cooking on a campsite can be both simple and delicious!

The book also includes diary entries for each day of the journey, describing the fun, the stunning scenery, and the highs and lows of the tour. Through this book I hope to give insights and inspiration for both seasoned campsite users and those taking to the road for the first time.

The book is hardback and has 200 fully illustrated colour pages.

Fasten your seatbelts, prime your taste buds and get ready to discover Meals on the Move!

by Karen
Baking Caravan Blog September 2020 GBBO Visits

Caravan Blog: Day 4

Here we are on day four already. Still the sun shines, it is so fantastic and makes a big difference to a trip. Terry – my friend that I met while we were both competitors on The Great British Bake Off – arrived onsite. He drove down from his home in his motorhome. It was so brilliant to see him again, we keep on touch by zoom but its always better in real life. We decided that we would do a local bake on site and video it. We came up with a Malvern Pudding. It is normally steamed but we decided to bake it in the oven to save the gas, steaming takes so long. The bake itself is like an apple cake (remember all those apples from Elgar’s orchard!) We made a caramel sauce to pour over the top. Everything worked out fine and the elderly gentleman next to us was intrigued with our antics. He said ‘please get an article in the Caravan and Motorhome magazine’ as he thought it would prove to be of interest to members, perhaps we will 🙂

See on this photo, Terry’s little dog Meg got a piece of the action. She is such a little princess and just as fluffy and even tempered as a teddy bear. gorgeous!

Remember the pizza dough I made yesterday? Well here is the result. We enjoyed it sat in the sun and we also had something very special to wash it down with. Terry has his own craft brewery and as a surprise brought us a big crate of three of his finest. I am not a beer connoisseur but these were really fine and a little history with each bottle. Also he brought cheese from his own cheese place and some honey from his bees.

We had a meal in our caravan. I made something from Rick Stein, not fish though, it was a Croatian pot roast, slow cooked in balsamic vinegar and red wine with dates and apples in the mix! Beautiful!!

So that was day four. A steady day all on the campsite. Next up is a trip to a patisserie in Cheltenham, see how the professionals do it, very excited to see. Watch this space, will report asap!

by Karen
Caravan Blog September 2020 Visits

Caravan Blog: Day 3

Days are flying by on this trip, I seem to have to gallop to keep up to things. So day three was very steady, we had a grocery trip out, I love supermarket shopping, perhaps its because of all the inspiration I get from browsing the aisles. I did need some specific things as I was hosting the cookalong live I referred to last blog. We were making Thai pork meatballs and I needed bits and bobs for that. In addition my friend of the Bake Off Terry is joining us, did I say that already? We are going to bake together on the pitch. I also wanted to make some pizza for lunch so out there in the sunshine before 8 in the morning I was having a workout with some pizza dough!

After our shopping trip I was getting set up for the zoom cook a long. I did consider doing it outside but folks were chilling out on their emplacements and I thought better of it. In the caravan I had a few tense moments with technology, nothing new there, I am learning on the hoof so to speak and I do have some worrying episodes. Last week I was casting a Youtube video to play on our TV at home but instead it landed over the road on our neighbours’ telly, embarrassing!!

I got there in the end and here I am looking all jolly with my tripod and laptop. I was not frying those limes by the way!

The Thai pork meatballs were easy to make, except one of the ingredients was toasted ground rice. Toasting I managed but I resorted to a rolling pin and a plastic cup as I do not have a pestle and mortar, raised a few eyebrows on site by folks wandering past as I sat grinding and pounding away.

We ate the meatballs for our tea, had a couple of bevvies and settled down for Last Night of the Proms. We clapped and sang our hearts out, especially the Elgar tunes having been to say hello to him just the day before.

Well readers, if you have stayed with me so far, that’s fab, must dash I have a Croatian Pot Roast to deal with, I know, I know, blazing hot day and I choose a pot roast!

by Karen
Recipe

Vegan Chickpea Curry

This is a quick curry that is perfect for a speedy dinner. Great on its own or with rice, chips, or – like I have included here – a quick pan fried naan bread. I developed this speedy store cupboard recipe for the NEC Caravan, Camping and Motorhome show live food demo.

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large sliced white onion
  • 1 heaped tsp garlic paste
  • 1 heaped tsp ginger paste
  • half tsp chilli paste
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tin chickpeas
  • 1 tin coconut milk (stirred well with 3/4 cup removed for the naans)
  • 1 tin spinach (optional)

Optional Extras

  • 2 Chopped fresh tomatoes
  • 2 red chillies thinly sliced lengthways
  • 3 Handfuls fresh baby spinach
  • Handful crushed cashew nuts
  • Handful coriander

Method

  1. Chop all the vegetables and rinse the chickpeas
  2. Put a frying pan on a medium heat. Once hot, add the oil and onions.
  3. Sautée onions for five minutes until soft.
  4. Add the garlic, chilli, and ginger with the curry powder. Cook for 30 seconds.
  5. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, and coconut milk. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer.
  6. Cook for 10 minutes and serve.

Quick Panfried Naans

Ingredients

  • One and three quarters cups plain flour
  • 1 heaped Tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 Tsp Salt
  • 2 Tsp Sugar
  • 2 Tsp Oil
  • 3/4 Cup coconut Milk
  • Olive Oil and garlic paste mix for basting
  • Garlic Oil Fry Light

Method

  1. Add the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix together.
  2. Add the coconut milk gradually and mix until smooth.
  3. Split into four and shape into balls.
  4. Roll out to the thickness of a £1 coin.
  5. Spray a frying pan with FryLight and cook the naans for few minutes on each side.

by Karen
Recipe

Brazilian Picadillo

This week I have been doing live demonstrations at the Caravan and Camping Show. As part of this, people were invited to submit their favourite camping recipe for me to cook on stage. I had a wonderful day with my husband John and my girls Kit and Vanessa plus the amazing Terry from Bake Off to support me.

Press pass!

I selected this recipe because I had never heard of it and it sounded delicious. I have cooked it a couple of times since and have added it to my rotation of recipes.

Ingredients

  • 750g lean minced beef
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 sliced red onion
  • 1 sliced white onion
  • 4 crushed garlic cloves
  • Half green pepper sliced
  • Half red pepper sliced
  • 50g black olives sliced
  • 50g green olives sliced
  • 75g raisins
  • 75g capers (rinsed)
  • 2 cans chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika

Method

  1. Soften the vegetables in the coconut oil in a large pan.
  2. Add the minced beef. Stir until meat has browned.
  3. Add the spices, olives, capers, raisins, and the white wine vinegar along with the tomatoes.
  4. Simmer for about twenty minutes and serve.

by Karen