We know car campers out there are experts at this, but as backpacking and canoe-portaging campers ourselves, we are usually concerned with weight and ease of cooking. So, gourmet eating in the boundary waters canoe area was a bit of a new concept for us. But the friends we went with on this trip, who are BWCA pros, taught us how to dine in style on our four night trip. And it was so good we want to pass on the tips. Everyone should eat this well up there! It doesn’t work so well for longer trips or with a different size of group because fancy food often equals more weight to carry and food that spoils after a few days. But with good planning, freezing perishable foods before leaving (but not your veggies!!), and picking veggies and foods that won’t spoil quickly, you don’t have to leave your gourmet food preferences behind for your four to five day trip. Just remember everything has to be repacked into plastic containers or bags (no glass or metal cans allowed) and everything you bring in has to come back out, even food waste, so plan accordingly.
We found four people worked perfectly for calculating proportions of food, for instance, a pack of rice noodles was the perfect amount for four people, or a package of dried refried beans. We packed this trip so well we only brought back a small handful of uneaten food, mostly lunch stuff that we had planned on eating the last day, but we made it out without needing it and snagged the best ever burgers and milkshakes* just down the gunflint trail on our way out.
*you could eat absolutely anything after being on trail and it will taste the “best ever” especially if it includes things you didn’t get on trail like meat and ice cream.
Here’s a quick recap of what we learned about eating on trail in the BWCA:
Everything will taste amazing
No explanation needed. It’s true.
Make food as quickly as possible
Get as many people to help cook as you can to make the process go fast or make sure to start early so you aren’t hangry cooking….that kind of energy doesn’t bode well for anything and that’s when leatherman’s start mysteriously jumping up and cutting you or the stove’s gas starts leaking all over or, while draining the pasta, it suddenly ends up on the forest floor…..
Which brings us to our next rule….
Dirt don’t hurt
If it falls on the ground, pick it up and eat it. If your hands are black from cooking over fire or setting up camp, you can rinse them in the lake, but you are still going to hold your food and eat it. If a whole pot of tortellini suddenly and inexplicably jumps out of the pot and ends up on the forest floor, pick off as many pine needles as you can, put them back in the pot, add water, scoop out what floats, drain again (make sure it stays in the pot this time!) and add pesto…..no one will be the wiser to the extra pieces you couldn’t get out. And now you can introduce a new gourmet twist to dinner: pine pesto tortellini (and no, not pine nuts).
Eat often and eat well
It’s better to go to bed stuffed than to have to pack out those final bites you didn’t want, so eat up. And if you find your happy self suddenly sullen and quiet, or feel like it’s just too much to pick up that pack again, portage that canoe, paddle this lake, or set up your tent, it’s probably time for a snack. Hunger can sneak up on you like that so don’t let it trick you into thinking life is hard. It’s really not – you are just hungry. Everything feels possible again when you eat. And that’s why eating well makes camping life even better.
So how can you make an incredible dinner on trail? Here are a few recipes we’d like to share from our first dinner. It’s definitely a meal worth repeating.
For the main course we enjoyed steak fajitas (see full recipe at end of post).
First, you must start a fire (see our guide for the easiest way to get a fire started thanks to Ta’u’s current survivalist obsession). Grill the steak over the fire until it is medium well.
Meanwhile, on a camp stove, you can be heating water for the rice and beans. We just poured the water over the beans and then let them sit in a warming bag. These “warming bags” are amazing! Our friend’s Dad made them out of padded cloth. They work great for cooking rice or oatmeal too…all you have to do is cook the food part of the way, then remove the pot and put it in the warmer and the food keeps cooking while you use the fire for other things. Or, you can keep your drinks warm in it while you go for a swim so you can grab them as soon as you get out – essential for those ice cold lakes.
While all the cooking is going on, assign someone to cut the peppers and onions into thin strips.Then. grill the veggies in frying pan on a camp stove or over the fire. Cut your avocado into thin strips, heat the tortillas over the fire and finally, cut up the meat. Then, serve it up! You can put the rice and beans into the fajitas or eat them on the side.
And there you have an amazing gourmet camping meal that will taste like no other on trail!
We were both celebrating our wedding anniversaries during the trip so we decided to go big the first night and have a special camp dessert : Nutella, Banana, Crescent Roll Pockets.
Cheers!
To make them, we brought a tube of crescent roll dough, two bananas and some nutella. We spread Nutella on each triangle of dough added three to four banana slices and then folded them up into a messy pocket or calzone shape. 
Cook four at a time in a pot lined with foil and topped with oil. Cover the pot with an upside-down lid and then more tin foil to keep the heat in. Put it just above the fire by propping it up on three rocks (a technique also detailed in this post) but try to leave a little distance between the fire and the pot to prevent the bottoms of the pockets from burning. Build a small fire on top of the lid (this allows it to bake). Bake for 10 – 12 minutes.
It sounds a little complicated but no matter how it turns out it will taste oh so amazing. Best anniversary dessert ever*
*again, everything on trail tastes amazing
If you enjoy a nightcap, we found that the most amazing* drink on trail is Bailey’s hot chocolate. Especially after an evening swim. If you have them ready and waiting in a warming bag, there’s just about nothing better than getting out of the freezing cold lake, getting dressed up warm in your dry clothes, and sipping a bailey’s hot chocolate with a view like this:
**We love our GSI camping cook kit because the cups are insulated and have built-in measurements in the inside of the cups.
Boom. Day one gourmet camping in the BWCA.
Steak Fajitas
Serves 4 on trail
Ingredients:
- 1 lb Flank steak pre-marinated and frozen before setting out
- 1 vidalia onion
- 1 green pepper
- 1 red pepper
- 1 Avocado
- Package of 8 small flour tortillas
- 1 c. rice
- 1 box of dried refried beans (we used this brand and the whole pack was perfect for four people).
- Salsa in a plastic container
Marinade
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- juice from ½ lemon and sliced rounds from the other half of the lemon
- 1 Tbsp or so Worcestershire sauce
- ½ Tbsp or so Sriracha or Tabasco (more or less to taste)
- pinch salt
- pinch pepper
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
For the marinade: Mix well, pour over steak in plastic ziplock and squish around to coat steak. Let sit in fridge overnight, turning now and then. Freeze overnight. Remove from freezer (or cooler with dry ice) just before you head out on trail. It will thaw as you hike and be ready to cook when you get to camp.
For the Fajitas: Start a fire. Grill the steak over the fire until medium well.
Meanwhile, on a camp stove, heat a large pot of water with the lid on until boiling. Pour water over beans and let sit in a warming bag (described above). Measure out 2 c. of water from the remaining heated water and add rice to the 2 c. of water. Simmer over heat for about 10 min. then remove from heat and put in a warming bag to finish cooking, or continue cooking for a full 20 min. on the stove if you don’t have a warming bag.
Meanwhile, cut veggies into thin strips. Put 1 Tbps oil in a frying pan and grill veggies in frying pan on stove or over fire until slightly softened and browned.
Cut avocado into thin strips. Heat tortillas over the fire and cut up the meat when everything else is ready. You can put the rice and beans into the fajitas or eat on the side. Let each person pile up the ingredients they want onto their tortillas.
Nutella, Banana, Crescent Roll Pockets:
makes 8 pockets (2/person)
Ingredients:
- 1 crescent roll tube (this needs to stay cool but can’t be frozen, so it’s best to eat it on the first night on trail)
- 2 bananas
- ½ c. Nutella (left overs can go into oatmeal for breakfast)
- 1 -2 tsp oil
- tin foil
Cover the bottom of a pan with tin foil, and spread 1 tbsp oil around on the foil. Slice the bananas. Unwrap the crescent roll dough and in the middle of each triangle spread Nutella and place three to four banana slices. Seal up the dough around the filling as best you can, making a pocket like object or a sort of calzone shape.
Put four of the pockets in the pot on top of the oil and tin foil. Cover the pot with the lid upside-down so it forms a slight bowl on top of the pot (camping stove lids usually are also frying pans when used upside-down). Wrap foil over the lid to keep the heat in. Put the pot just above the fire by propping it up on three rocks, but try to leave a little distance between the fire and the pot to prevent the bottoms from burning. Then, in the frying pan lid, build a small fire (this allows it to bake by getting heat from both top and bottom of the pan). Bake for 10 – 12 minutes. Bottoms may be slightly charred but they will still taste most excellent.
Bailey’s Hot Chocolate, Trail Style
Makes 1 individual serving
Ingredients:
- 1 packet of Swiss Miss hot chocolate
- 1 shot of bailey’s (about 0.8oz) (some friends of ours recently gave us mini 100 ml (3.30z) bailey’s bottles and 1 bottle divided four ways was the perfect amount for 8oz. of hot chocolate)
- 8 oz.** hot water (don’t be tempted to put more in, the hot chocolate packs are made for 8 oz. and will be too watered down if you put in too much water. Or you could always use 2 packs….now that sounds amazing).
Heat water on stove or fire to boiling or near boiling. Pour 1 hot chocolate packet into mug. Add 8oz. water into mug on top of cocoa mix. Add 1 shot of Bailey’s. Stir well. Enjoy!