Cooking in the Great Outdoors

It’s funny that even when we are out camping I enjoy cooking just as much as in the convenience of my kitchen. With just a little planning it doesn't take much (just a little patience) to have a great meal with minimal fuss.

For supper while camping on Saturday night, I had purchased a 8 pound pork tenderloin that would provide a filling meal for all of us camping. It was super easy to prepare and can also be prepared in the oven or on a grill. We just chose an open fire.

To prepare the tenderloin I sprayed an aluminum pan with Pam olive oil, placed the pork in it and covered it with chopped garlic, sea salt and pepper. I also threw in a chopped onion for added flavor.

We covered the pan with foil and placed it on the iron rack over our fire pit to slow cook. We kept check on it and turned it to prevent scorching and uneven cooking. We added about 1/2 cup of water to the bottom of the pan to help keep it moist when the tenderloin was about half done.

After the roast was about 1/2 way through cooking, Audley peeled potatoes…..

…while I sliced eight shallots, thinly.

We added these to the pan with our tenderloin, arranging so that the pork was more on top of them.

Next I poured about 2 cups of balsamic vinegar over the potatoes, shallots, and pork, stirring well.

We covered the pan again and continued cooking until the potatoes were fork tender and the pork temperature was about 160 degrees. Be sure to keep your potatoes mixed well so that they all cook.

Total cooking time over a fire is about four and a half to five hours, but it is well worth it. And with the slow cooking process, we were able to do other things at the same time.

It was awesome being able to enjoy a filling dinner with the family in the great outdoors. If you have other great recipes, I would love to hear them. We are always up for trying something new!