Camp Cuisine

Okay, as promised: here are Pád's recipes from Greenbelt. And yes - we really did eat like this. The campsite looked like a Keith Floyd outside broadcast. We had at good dozen folks eating together every evening.

Pád always does a bit of a Nigella Lawson, and indeed like the aforementioned Keith, is a bit vague about amounts. So you just kind of throw in what looks or feels right.

These 3 recipes are simply named after the sauce they were cooked in. We had the vegetarian option of each.

Bon appetit!


Oyster, Ginger & Coconut Sauce:

Fry onions, garlic and Ginger all together. (also fresh chillis if you're looking for Heat)
Throw in lovely amounts of Oyster Sauce, sweet chilli sauce and Coconut milk, and cover - leaving it heat up.
Add in vegetables - the ones that'll take longer to cook first (give anything like chopped potatoes, carrots etc. about 20-25 minutes) and other lighter vegetables anything from 5-10 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like them.
When adding in the lighter vegetables, add in some nuts - peanuts are fine - cashews or almonds are delicious.
At the last minute, add in some sesame oil and some freshly chopped corriander.
I don't think this dish needs any extra salt - although you may want to put some in.

You can add in some pan-fried chicken too - that's nice.

Serve with Nooooodles.

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Tomato Sauce

Fry onions.
Add in Garlic.
Add in 3 tins of chopped tomatoes.
Add in 1 glass of red wine, one spoon of salt, one spoon of sugar.
I like to put in Tomato Paste to thicken it a bit, and strengthen the Tomato taste - it can reduce the watherey taste.
If you like, add in one spoon of soy sauce instead of the salt.
Add in chilli - optional.
A nice thickener is anything that resembles Philadelphia (the cream cheese, not the city). Otherwise, the old Cornflour trick is good.

If you'd prefer it to keep a strong red colour, use white wine instead of red, add in extra red peppers, and semi-sundried tomatoes, and don't use soy sauce.

Same as the Oyster sauce - add in the heavier vegetables, giving them about 20 minutes to cook, and the lighter ones will cook in anything from 5-10 minutes.

If you want to use meat with it, here's an Italian trick - fry the mince meat just as it is, with no flavourings, and pour off the fat. Then put it back on the heat, with a cup of milk per 300g's of meat. Boil it until the milk is absorbed into the meat. Put it aside, and add it into the sauce about 20 minutes before you serve it.

Whatever the weather, throw in heavenly amounts of Basil towards the end.

If the sauce is looking a bit heavy, and you want to water it down a bit, you can put in either milk, or else some of the water that your pasta is boiling in - the starch in the water makes it a very good addition.

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Mango Chutney sauce:

Fry onions, garlic, ginger and chili.
Add in Mango Chutney, and some Elmlea "Cream" - that's for Mike the Snob, who turned up his nasal slits at the idea of Elmlea last year....but it doesn't curdle, (mostly because it has nothing that actually resembles cream in it...it's somehow from vegetables)
Add in any vegetables you like - same as other recipes.
You can also add in some nice pan-fried chicken.
Put in some Sesame Oil last thing.

A few varieties of that one can be to add in some chopped apples towards the end.
or, you can use Apricot or Plum Jam instead of Mango Chutney - make sure it's good quality stuff though, with lots of fruit, otherwise the dish can taste far too syrupy.
Tomatoes add a nice flavour, and they do take away from the overt richness of the chutney-esqueness.

After frying the onions, and putting in the chutney and cream, you can bung it all in the oven for 90 minutes, along with the vegetables.

You can try it with sour cream, or even natural yoghurt too. Just make sure to add in the yoghurt very slowly, and to keep stirring like a mad thing.

You can serve it with spuds, rice, or noodles - a versatile dish.