Plein (Air) Cooking

When it comes to camping in New England I wrote the book. Well sort-of: In the late 1990s, I co-wrote a guidebook called New England Camping, with outdoor author and photographer Stephen Gorman.

When the book first came out, I was a wilderness camper. I would not think to park my tent anywhere near an RV when I could simply hike into any National Forest with a pocketknife and a length of rawhide and have the woods all to myself. After several print editions of New England Camping, the onset of motherhood, and a couple of decades of physical weathering, my needs have changed and the closest I want to get to sleeping on the ground these days is never. My back thanks me from the bottom of its coccyx.

What survives from those outdoorsy days is my taste for plein air cooking and eating. My Nana always said food tastes better outside, and that imprinted on me.

Here are a couple of favorites from my backcountry days that bring the taste of the great outdoors into any comfy backyard.

Grilled Farmer’s Market Vegetable Haul

To grill your farmer’s market bounty, you’ll need a hot bed of coals or a gas grill. A wood fire is nice, but if you are actually camping, most state parks have standing charcoal grills for your use.

Clean and trim veggies and marinade for up to 12 hours before cooking. Grilling times vary according to vegetable, so you’ll want to stagger your grilling. For whole beets, best to parboil for 20 minutes; carrots, anise, peppers, and onion kebabs: 20-25 minutes; eggplant slices: 10 minutes; zucchini, summer squash, portobello mushrooms: 5-7 minutes.

Marinade

Make this ahead, freeze, and put in your cooler on your way out the door to help keep drinks cold.

2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup spicy mustard
Dry herbs to taste: oregano, sage, thyme, basil

Combine ingredients and store in an airtight container. This elixir can be made up to two days ahead; this is enough marinade for four pounds of vegetables.

Stars twinkle. The fire crackles. A dog barks.

State park camping isn’t exactly heeding the call of the wild. Most sites are close together, and you may glimpse your neighbors’ television, glowing blue inside their RV. But more often than not, you’ll find yourself surrounded by the murmur of campfire conversation, watching sparks float skyward, limbs tired from a day spent fishing and swimming, your belly full with the local bounty and one last s’more.
From “Call of the Not-So-Wild,” my story for Yankee Magazine (see pdf below)