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Sauté Dishes for the Great Outdoors

© Steven C. Karoly

Camp cooking is just one of my many pursuits in the Sierra Nevada. I spend much of my time driving the forest roads in my Jeep Cherokee, hiking to alpine lakes and watching for rare wildflowers.

Contrary to any impressions that you've formed from reading articles in Camp and Outdoor Cooking, I don't spend every afternoon preparing large multi-course meals for the family. Except for two or three dinners during a typical week-long camping trip, many are quick skillet-based meals.

Sauté meals were made for camping. All you need is a solid skillet and a camp stove. The recipes included with this article are based on a succulent cut of meat, a quick sauce and matching side dishes.

So get the family to the picnic table, cut some salad greens and toss in a vinaigrette, set rice or pasta on the stove, and sizzle away. Dinner's almost ready.

Sauté 101 for the camp cook

All you need to serve great "fast food" to your hungry campers is a few simple techniques.

Learn a French culinary term -- mise en place. (Pronounced "Meez on plahss," it means "Put in place" in French.) Skillet sautés will fail every time if you're not ready. Since your culinary creation moves fast, you must have the sauce ingredients measured, the meat and vegetables cut, and skillet and utensils standing by before you start cooking.

Choose the right skillet. Avoid a skillet that's too large or one that's too small. Too small and the meat won't brown; it'll just sit there and steam. Too large and you risk burning all of the extruded juices from the meat. For best results, use a eight-inch pan for two servings, a 10-inch pan for three and a 12-inch pan for four. If you're cooking more than four servings, brown the meat in batches.

Heat the skillet slowly. After you've selected a suitable sauté pan, set it over a low to medium flame and add the oil. When you're ready to cook, increase the flame to high and heat until the fat just starts to smoke. You're ready to cook the chops or cutlets.

Don't crowd the meat while it browns. Breathing room is just as important as choosing the right size skillet. When you place the meat into the skillet, you want them to cook without touching. If you're cooking a dish that uses beef or chicken strips, brown the strips in batches.

After browning, place meat on a warm platter and cover. At home, it's easy to set the platter of meat in a 200-degree oven to keep warm -- and finish cooking the chicken or turkey, if necessary. In camp, use a Dutch oven. Ignite 4 or 5 charcoal briquettes and place the briquettes on the lid. This'll keep the meat warm until dinner is ready to serve.

How to Cook Without a Book

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