Nik's Gourmet Camembert Parcels

[Son of a Beach]

Wow... after a recent walk where I first tested out my new experimental recipe, I think it's going to be my favourite bushwalking meal of all time (or at least so far). Very happy with how this tasted. Although it can be a little tricky to handle.

Ingredients:

• Mountain Bread or similar flat bread - 1 sheet per serve (I ate two serves for dinner though), must be flexible so that it can be folded without breaking
• Camembert - about 1/4 wheel per serve is probably about right (although I actually used a lot more than this, because I love the stuff!)
• Garlic Powder
• Fresh Rosemary Sprig - pick a generous stick off your bush at home before you leave, it keeps well for ages
• Dried Cranberies
• Crushed Nuts - but not too crushed, want it to have some crunch (I used cashews, macadamias, almonds and pistachios)

Method:

Place a sheet of flat bread into a wide, flat pan and if necessary press it in so that it has good contact with the bottom of the pan. A bit of butter in the pan before the bread may be useful to stop it sticking (or just to add some nice flavour). Without the butter it still toasts just nicely, but may stick a bit more. The middle third-to-half of the bread should be on the cooking surface, and the rest should be sticking up so it can be folded over later.

Slice the camembert and place onto the flat bread. Pluck off some Rosemary leaves and sprinkle the rosemary, garlic, cranberries and nuts over the camembert.

Place on the heat until the camembert starts to melt, then remove from heat before the bread starts to burn.

Fold over the bread to enclose the parcel.

Remove from the pan very carefully, as it can tear easily, especially if it sticks a bit. Have a knife or spatula handy in case you need to scrape it off the pan.


ENJOY! It's such a sensational treat!

Nik's Gourmet Camembert Parcels

Nik's Gourmet Camembert Parcels.jpg (158.01 KiB) Viewed 14364 times

[RonK]

Lovely - but how do you keep mountain bread in your pack without it disintegrating? I've gave up on it long ago.

[GPSGuided]

This is no camp recipe, it's an everyday home kitchen recipe!

[Nuts]

I like mtn bread too. A bit cheaper from mtn bread INC
Carry flat against back.

I like your parcels Nik, not the sweet n sour type but you've given me some other ideas. KI Camembert?

[Son of a Beach]

Lovely - but how do you keep mountain bread in your pack without it disintegrating? I've gave up on it long ago.

Just got to be careful how you pack them. There are many different ways to do this. I used to pack them at (or near) the top of the pack and always made sure they were up against something large that would help to support their shape. As Nuts says, you can pack it against the inside of the back of the pack (ie, against your back).

These days, for a walk of any significant length, I always pack a large plastic container for all (or most of) my food. I like to take at least a bit of fresh food, and this helps keep it fresh. It also prevents cracker biscuits, mountain bread and raw eggs from disintegrating without having to be anwhere near as careful about how you pack it. I have a variety of different sized and shaped containers, and can usually find one that precisely fits in all my easily damaged food for any particular walk. Or if there is space left over inside the container, pack in other non-easily-damaged food, or even non-food items. This way you're not wasting any space.

These containers weigh next to nothing, and take up next to no space (if packed very full). They allow you to take a much wider variety of food without having to worry about it.

Once you have your food packed in properly, you can then pack it into your backpack and put a lot more compression into the general contents of your pack without worrying too much about crushing food.

Of course, if you only want to eat packet food then you don't need to worry about that. But for me, eating good food makes bushwalking even better.

By the end of the walk, the container is nearly empty (as in the photo below), but you can then fill it with other things if you want to create more space in your pack. The container in the photo below is the largest one I have that fits in my pack. I only use it for very long walks. I have one about 2/3 the size for medium length walks.

PS. It also makes a great kitchen bench or chopping board!

Day 14 of Franklin River trip - Ryvita crackers and/or Mtn Bread with cucumber and butter. All still dry, fresh and uncrushed. Note the Mountain Bread packet to my left, and the butter container to my right.

Last edited by Son of a Beach on Thu 28 May, 2015 3:30 pm, edited 6 times in total.

[Son of a Beach]

I like your parcels Nik, not the sweet n sour type but you've given me some other ideas. KI Camembert?

Thanks Nuts. I do love the KI Camembert, but went with a cheaper one this time around. Can't remember which - whatever was on special at the time. I was only experimenting and didn't want to spend too much in case it didn't work out.

[Son of a Beach]

This is no camp recipe, it's an everyday home kitchen recipe!

Yes, maybe. I do like to eat real food, even when bushwalking. Makes it even more enjoyable. I don't like compromising my bushwalking by eating rubbish that is full of preservatives and tastes like cardboard (although perhaps some people might say that about the Ryvitas in the photo above).

I based the combination of stuffings on a recipe I found online. For home cooking, I would use fresh garlic instead of powdered (I would use this out bush as well, but hard to get the smell off your fingers!). I would also use pita bread instead of mountain bread, perhaps... or maybe burritos... or maybe just stuff it into puff pastry and bake it in the oven!

Darnit... now I'm getting hungry!

[andrewa]

Yep, I'm getting hungry too - have written the list of items to buy on the way home from work...

A

[GPSGuided]

Evil you SoaB! I am hungry too and dinner is still 3 hours away...

[andrewa]

Tasted great thanks....I added an extra ingredient of chilli jam.

Thanks for the inspiration.

A

[Son of a Beach]

Glad to hear it's inspired some people. I might consider adding some Sambal Oelek (chilli paste) next time too.