My most favorite favorite food from as far back as I can remember is Bearnaise sauce (yes, a sauce is a food, especially when eaten by the *ahem* spoonful). I don't even remember when I first had it, but I do very clearly remember eating so much of it one night when I was six that I actually made myself sick (ok, side story: we never went out to eat as kids, but our family had this weird thing where my parents would take one kid out to a nice dinner as a reward for not biting our fingernails. I never bit my fingernails, ever. I think I picked at them, but never bit them. But still, for some reason I got to go to some nice restaurant anyway when I was six, and I remember clearly having steak with Bearnaise sauce. And parsley. I loved the parsley on the plate more than the steak, I think). I would eat Bearnaise on anything. My French grandmother probably made it for me first, but I think my father made it after that. He probably used a package of Knorr mix, for all I know, but it didn't matter -- I loved loved LOVED the stuff.
These days I make my own Bearnaise, but it's a rarity because of the amount of butter involved. Still, occasionally, something just screams for it -- like Beef Wellington, my second most favorite favorite food ever. (Third in line is sauteed mushrooms, followed by Cassoulet - which, ironically, is cooking downstairs right this very moment). And nothing could be simpler to prepare when camping than my deconstructed version of Beef Wellington with Horseradish Bearnaise. Honest.
Since we often camp in places where campfires are illegal, and since I don't tend to carry a Girl Scout box oven around with me, we generally avoid things that must be baked. So in order to enjoy beef Wellington when we're outdoors, I figured out a way to turn the "Wellington" part into a biscuit of sorts. A true beef Wellington usually has duxelles (a mixture of sauteed mushrooms and shallots), prosciutto or sometimes pate, and occasionally a coating of mustard on the beef filet. I've taken all these things and turned them into a pie or biscuit you can create at home, leaving only the grilling of the filet for the campsite -- which is super easy to do and only takes a few minutes. Just reheat the Bearnaise, reheat the biscuits, and grill the filets...that's it. Super easy, practically no clean up involved, and so much better than the hot dogs or foil packets that your camping neighbor is probably having...
These days I make my own Bearnaise, but it's a rarity because of the amount of butter involved. Still, occasionally, something just screams for it -- like Beef Wellington, my second most favorite favorite food ever. (Third in line is sauteed mushrooms, followed by Cassoulet - which, ironically, is cooking downstairs right this very moment). And nothing could be simpler to prepare when camping than my deconstructed version of Beef Wellington with Horseradish Bearnaise. Honest.
Since we often camp in places where campfires are illegal, and since I don't tend to carry a Girl Scout box oven around with me, we generally avoid things that must be baked. So in order to enjoy beef Wellington when we're outdoors, I figured out a way to turn the "Wellington" part into a biscuit of sorts. A true beef Wellington usually has duxelles (a mixture of sauteed mushrooms and shallots), prosciutto or sometimes pate, and occasionally a coating of mustard on the beef filet. I've taken all these things and turned them into a pie or biscuit you can create at home, leaving only the grilling of the filet for the campsite -- which is super easy to do and only takes a few minutes. Just reheat the Bearnaise, reheat the biscuits, and grill the filets...that's it. Super easy, practically no clean up involved, and so much better than the hot dogs or foil packets that your camping neighbor is probably having...
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