When cold weather deals you a jolt, try these comfort-food recipes.
By Janet Groene, F47166
January 2019
Sipping hot soup with the gang at the infield campground. Huddling around the grill to keep warm while you cook hot dogs and burgers. Feeling like a kid again when you bite into a campfire-melted marshmallow. Winning the campground’s chili chef contest three years in a row. All are examples of how memories are made.
Many things about camping have changed over the years, but it’s still in style to have a hot, homemade, comfort-food supper on a cold night. Whether you bundle up to eat outdoors or eat indoors at the RV table, this is family RVing at its best.
Calypso Pumpkin Soup
In the Caribbean, “pumpkin” refers to each island’s favorite squash. Use 2 cups of any mashed squash here, such as butternut, or make it quick by using canned pumpkin. Adding black beans makes it a heartier meal. To make it vegetarian, use vegetable broth.
1 small onion, chopped
1 small red sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon cumin
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (32-ounce) carton chicken broth
Salt, pepper to taste
Hot sauce
Saute the onion, sweet pepper, and garlic in hot oil. Stir in the spices, and then the remaining ingredients. Heat. Season to taste. Pass the hot sauce. Makes four to six servings.
Cheese Grits Soup
My camping travels often include historical gristmills. Once the centers of village life, they still exist throughout the land. Some working gristmills have been preserved. Active mills include the Old Spanish Sugar Mill in De Leon Springs, Florida, and the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Ancient millstones, some of them brought from Europe by early colonists, served generations. Today they are a mere curiosity, churning out stone-ground grits for tourists. Unlike factory grits, these have character and soul, sustained through the centuries by the ghosts of heritage harvests.
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (8-ounce) package shredded sharp cheddar cheese
¼ stick butter
1 cup mixed celery, onion, and a little garlic
1 quart milk
1 (12-ounce) can or bottle of amber ale, preferably English-style
2 cups chicken broth (or more to taste)
1 cup stone-ground grits
Salt (to taste)
Put the cornstarch, dry mustard powder, and cayenne in a clean bag and shake. Add the cheese and bounce the bag around to coat the cheese with the powdered mixture. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, sizzle the vegetables in melted butter. Add the liquids and bring to an active simmer. Stir in the grits in a steady stream. Keep the liquid simmering until the grits are tender, about 30 minutes. While continuing to keep the liquid at a simmer (but not boiling), stir in the cheese mixture in four batches, blending well each time. Add salt if needed. Thin the liquid with more milk or chicken broth if desired, and serve at once. Makes about two quarts.
Forgotten Chicken
Take shameless shortcuts by using canned soup. The unique flavors of chicken gumbo and smoked paprika make the magic in this easy recipe.
1 can condensed chicken gumbo soup
1 soup can water
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
4 skinless chicken thighs
Butter a casserole or slow-cooker insert and mix the soup, water, and rice in it. Mix seasonings on a paper plate and dip the chicken on both sides. Discard the excess seasoning mixture. Nestle the chicken thighs in the rice mixture. Cover and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees or cook in a slow cooker for four hours on low. Makes four servings.
Campfire method: Proceed as above but use a Dutch oven. Nestle the ingredients in well-started coals for up to an hour or until the chicken and rice are done. Add coals as needed and add water if necessary.
Shortcut Mulligatawny
This spicy soup recipe — the name originates from the Indian words for pepper and water — went home to England during the British Raj and is still a staple there. The starch can be rice, lentils, or finely chopped potato. The cooked vegetables are ad lib, but the curry and apple are essential. Make it on the stove, over the campfire, or in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker. It brings its own heat to the table and to your tongue.
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken, cut in bite-size pieces, OR 3 (10-ounce) cans chunk chicken
½ stick butter
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 (32-ounce) carton chicken broth OR 4 cups water and 4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 or 2 tart apples, peeled and diced
2 or 3 cans mixed vegetables, drained
1 cup cooked brown rice (optional) OR 1 cup cooked lentils (optional)
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
¼ cup white wine or to taste (optional)
1 to 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
Drain the canned chicken (if applicable) and save the juice to add to the soup. Brown chicken bites in bubbling butter, and then stir in the curry powder and cloves until fragrant. Add the broth or water plus bouillon and the remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Makes eight servings.
Chicken And “Rice” For Two
Chicken and rice
1 cup orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
1 small zucchini, diced
1 small onion, diced
Salted water OR chicken broth
1 cup fully cooked chicken bites (not breaded)
½ teaspoon mixed Italian seasoning
2 or 3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
Half of an 8-ounce brick of cream cheese, cubed
Cook the orzo, zucchini, and onion in salted water or chicken broth until the orzo is tender. Drain, saving some of the water. Stir in the chicken, seasoning, tomatoes, and cubed cream cheese. Moisten with some of the pasta water if you wish. Cover and cook over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until a creamy sauce forms. Makes two servings.
Seafood Pudding
This easy recipe works with small bits of raw shrimp, fish, or crab, or drained canned salmon or tuna.
1 pound seafood cut in small, bite-size pieces OR 2 cups drained, canned seafood, broken up
Half of a 16-ounce French bread loaf
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon dried crumbled thyme
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
Prepare the seafood. Tear up the bread. In a large bowl, whisk the cream, milk, eggs, and seasonings well. Fold in the bread and seafood and stir every 10 minutes for up to 30 minutes until the bread is thoroughly soaked. Bake in a buttered casserole dish at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until it’s set, as for custard. Makes four to six servings.
Warm Penne Salad For Two
1 cup penne pasta
1 cup (or more to taste) baby spinach, stems removed
Grated dry cheese such as Parmesan
6 grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup creamy Italian dressing
Cook the penne and drain, saving some of the pasta water. Immediately fold in the spinach. Add 2 tablespoons of grated cheese and the tomatoes. Toss with the dressing and some of the hot pasta water, if desired. Sprinkle with more grated cheese. Makes two portions of about 1½ cups each.
Cook’s note: To make it a heartier meal, add a 5-ounce can of chunk chicken or tuna to the cooked pasta. Cover, heat gently, then fold in the tomatoes, spinach, etc. Serve plain or on a bed of shredded lettuce.
Pineapple Corn Cakes
This recipe makes six large muffins in your toaster oven, convection oven, or regular oven. Serve as a bread for breakfast, or top with whipped cream and call it dessert.
1 small can pineapple tidbits
Butter
Brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup juice from pineapple
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin pan or line it with cupcake papers. Drain the pineapple and save 1/3 cup juice. Add water if necessary to make 1/3 cup. Divide the pineapple among six muffin cups; top each one with a small pat of butter and a teaspoon of brown sugar. Whisk together the egg and pineapple juice. Stir in the cornbread mix and then divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling each one two-thirds full. Bake until the muffins are lightly browned and firm to the touch. Makes six large muffins.
Change-Ups
Weather can be changeable this time of year, switching from warm to chilly in mere hours. These dishes can be served hot or cold.
*Make (or buy at the deli) a big batch of chicken salad. To make a hot meal, spread it in a pie plate and bake it with a crunchy topping of crushed potato chips.
*Fold grated cheddar cheese into ham salad and make sandwiches or wraps. They’ll be good cold, or heated until the cheese melts.
Boiled eggs
*Keep a good supply of hard-cooked eggs. Make egg salad to serve cold. Or, chop and cream the eggs and serve them hot over toast or biscuits.
*Warm up a cold, crisp spinach salad by wilting it with hot bacon dressing.
*Combine three or four cans of different chunky fruits. Serve chilled, or, to serve hot, thicken the juices with cornstarch. Add a nugget of butter and curry powder to taste. The hot version makes a good side dish with grilled ham steaks.
*Instead of turning that bag of shredded cabbage into coleslaw, sizzle it in hot vegetable oil and add a splash of balsamic vinegar.
*Thaw cooked, unbreaded chicken bites. Serve with a hot dip. Mix a 12-ounce bottle of Frank’s RedHot sauce with a 16-ounce bottle of blue cheese dressing and two 8-ounce bricks of cream cheese. Heat in a microwave oven, stirring every minute, until smooth. It’s great for tailgating or happy hour.
*Turn meatloaf sandwiches into a hot meal by topping them with warm canned gravy.
*Make shrimp salad using coarsely chopped shrimp. Chill. If the day turns cold, stir in a beaten egg and panko (bread crumbs); form the mix into patties and fry them in hot butter.