The first night in Elk camp is always steak and lobster cooked over the fire pit. Since we are land locked we get the big Sam's Club frozen tails. I look forward to it every year. Any other first meal traditions?

not the 1st meal but ...when get some meat on the ground, we have beer batter halibut ! dam that is some good stuff when your a few hundred miles from the store/home !

At some point I always bust out some good ole homemade King Ranch chicken casserole as a change from the usual brats, steaks, etc.

Most people do not know what it is but they sure as hell do when the container is emptied -

A slab of ham on the wood fire with onions, zucchini, bellpeppers and potatoes seasoned with garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper frying in olive oil.

OK now give up the recipe dammit!

I used to bring cowboy rib eyes

Okay - It is fantastic. It is also one of the better the second and third day casseroles. So many versions of it and can go from very simple to more complex.

This one stolen off the internet is pretty dang close to how I do mine, except I do not use heavy cream. I use cream of mushroom soup instead. I also do not use red bell peppers.

Copy/pasted:

If the Legislature were to declare a state casserole (and I�m surprised it hasn�t), it would have to be the King Ranch. A staple of school lunchrooms and church suppers, frat houses and funerals, it is, according to a particularly astute hostess quoted in 1966 in the San Antonio Light, �a hit with men as well as with women guests.�

As far as anyone can tell, the recipe does not hail from the real King Ranch; how many yard birds have you seen in photos of that majestic spread? More likely it�s a Junior League attempt at chilaquiles or a Texas take on chicken � la king. And though it is a member in good standing of the condensed-soup canon, those bland, oddly comforting, Gerber-invoking turkey tetrazzinis and tuna noodles simply cannot compete with the exotic King Ranch, whose lively Tex-Mex flavors�spicy chile powders, zesty roasted peppers, earthy mushrooms�coalesce in one sublime, admittedly unattractive package. So lively are these flavors supposed to be, in fact, that I propose you ditch the cans (except for the wholly respectable Ro-Tel) and make this from-scratch version from Texas cookbook author Rebecca Rather. One bite of this �steaming mass of melted mush� (as this magazine once lovingly referred to the KRC) should put you right back in Mom�s kitchen�but not in your high chair.

RECIPE
Serves 10 to 12
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 mild green chiles, roasted, peeled (stems and seeds discarded), and diced
1 ten-ounce can Ro-Tel
18 corn tortillas
1 cooked chicken (poached or roasted), meat shredded
1 cup shredded Jack cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar

Melt the butter in a large saut� pan over medium heat. Add the vegetables and saut� on medium-low about 7 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and stir until the white is no longer visible. Whisk in 3 cups of the stock, 1 cup at a time, until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir in chiles and tomatoes.

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with butter. Pour remaining 1/2 cup of stock into a bowl. Stack the tortillas in the bowl, 6 at a time, to moisten, then line the bottom of the pan with the tortillas, making sure they overlap each other by about one third. Cover the tortillas with half the sauce. Add half the chicken and sprinkle with a third of the cheese. Add a second layer of soaked tortillas, the remaining sauce and chicken, and another third of the cheese. Top with the remaining tortillas and cheese.

Bake for about an hour, until bubbling and lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Saved thanks Greg!

Post pictures when you make it!

It's one of my favorites -

We used to roast a whole pig during the annual trout fishing weekend.

Nowadays my buddy shows up with a couple bushels of Chesapeake Bay oysters for both fishing weekend and the buck hunt. Great eats!

We do steak oscar on the night before elk opening day. Even put white linen on the folding table. Not surprisingly we have non-hunting visitors that stop by on that night.....
Can't figure out why...





Filet Mignon, crab, asparagus and hollendise. (sp).

Here's one of the ham meals in works. Quick and easy, which can be handy.

I prefer simple food and good booze, as opposed to the other way around.

Looks good!

Used to always be steak for us, elk steak if we had any, beef if we didn't.

One cooked chicken feeds 10-12...that's a miracle...

I hear you, but good food can be simple too.

guess what I really meant was I'd rather piss away $$ on booze than on lobster, but that's just me

Doing stuffed burgers with green chilis and jack cheese this year for antelope camp. One of the other attendees makes a killer stroganoff with venison.

Oh yeah...

Beer can chicken is a favorite at deer camp. Baked potatoes, cream corn or string beans and stewed tomatoes round things out. Chicken smothered in Famous Dave's barbecue sauce or Baugartner's hot mustard.

Got it ready to put in cook stove oven.


Waiting for it to get done.


Done to perfection


God bless America and this food.

Steak and Lobster, I am comming to your camp this year. We generally have a baked ham the night before the opener and NY strips opening day for dinner. Lobster would be good.

Not opening day but back when we had a big camp one of the guys would haul his home made (55gal drum) BBQ up and do a leg of lamb about mid week.
Something we always looked forward to.

Well,,, one year I shot a buck right at dusk and ended up dragging it out in the dark while my buddy went down the mountain, got my truck, and proceded to get it impossibly stuck about half way back to where I was. We ended up walking 14mi back to camp. Didn't get back until well after midnight and to add to the injury, not only did the drunken bastids NOT come looking for us,,,, they ate our portion of the roast.

Thanks for stirring that old memory up for me.

The guys I hunt with will not discuss food or meals or who's bringing what before we go. It's a taboo subject.

My BF's motto is "All I need is bullets, bologna, and beer".

Remind me not to invite you to go hunting

I know you're joking but ...

This is a very sore subject with me.

I'm the one that tries to put meals together when we're in camp and I get stuck doing most of the cooking. Hunting with guys that don't contribute their fair share gets fuggin' old.

Tell them the story of the Little Red Hen

And let them eat what they brought while you enjoy a nice steak dinner.

I know a guy in Wyoming that would prepare Steak and Lobster for a guest with only a minimal hint. Outstanding!

It varies. Our elk camp usually has folks, mostly from Oregon but has had and will have denizens of Washington, Nevada, and Oklahoma. One dude from western Oregon brings salmon and halibut he has caught, Oklahoma brings hickory from his home state to slow smoke prime rib in camp, have had deep fried whole turkeys done in camp, Dutch oven beef roasts, etc.. If dinner gets fouled up by several folks getting elk we have canned homemade venison chili on hand. So far we haven't suffered.

Let's be honest here. If you are spending that much time on a meal, when are you hunting? Ours has been and continues to be elegantly simple.

We do it on a 3 day rotation so that nothing gets old. It doesn't start in any particular order, but we will have:

Chili over Frito's corn chips

Chow mein

Dinty Moore beef stew.

This is a 3 day rotation, starting where ever you want and then move the next night to the next meal. If you are gone over 3 days, you just start over again and even after a week you won't eat one meal more than twice.

During the day, you can do some jerky and cheese, if you really want to splurge and do it up big time, you can spread your handkerchief over a rock and have a MRE with the hot pack and enjoy the cookies or Tabasco, depending on what meal you choose...

Yeah, cause there's never any down time in a deer camp.

You'll just have to trust us

i spend a week plus in deer camp. being a PA Hunky, i do big batches early and eat leftovers after hunting all day.

stuffed cabbages
haluski
peirogies
meatloaf
ham
mac & cheese
meatball hoagies

it can all be crock potted or warmed up quick.

last year i did venison Pasties. i think they will be in the rotation from here on.

That sounds good...would like to know how you put this together...

We usually put an elk or two down the first day, so there is always some one in camp after that that can do the cooking.

Sour cream enchiladas, tortilla casserole, Fajitas, Green chili stew , Parmesan Chicken, lasagna, pork chop casserole.

I'll do some peach cobble in the DO with whipped cream and sweet cream poured over it and maybe some fresh corn bread spaghetti, pork chop casserole.

Darn site better than Dinty Moore

I had a friend that lived on beanie weenie while hunting but to each his own

Casserole on the first day???? Not where I hunt!

Slave, you are truly elegant.....

I guess we're just weird cause we cook dinner once the sun goes down.

That King Ranch casserole sounds good.
I'll be making some of that.

The first night in deer camp is Pizza and beer as everyone doesn't get there until later at night. However The next day, Sunday, is a feast, usually grilled meats, mostky wild game. Two or three styles of baked beans, potato salad, veggies of all sorts. We invite all of the surrounding land owners, and hunting clubs. The group up the road to us, are black guys, and they always bring KFC. Never fails to me make me chuckle

Not the 1st night of camp but the night before season starts we do a fish fry (crappie) with soft fried potato's hushpuppies and a can of beans.

I don't think we have had the fish fry without company showing up from some other camp. I always bring extra and we enjoy the company.

Speaking of camp meals. It ain't Dinty Moore but here's a quick and easy one pan meal I made at Grouse camp last week.
Onion, Bell Pepper, and Zucchini saut�ed and then I lay some Texas Longhorn German Sausage on top, throw a lid on and let em steam for a few minutes. This particular sausage is so flavorful no other spices are required.





I also had Grouse and Green Beans one night and Ham steak with Pinto's I doctored up with bacon and onions at home another but food gets cold so fast up there I didn't stop for pix.

Course those were two pan meals but still not much harder than opening a can.

Cooking on the Coleman stove probably makes it taste better, also.

You bettcha,,,, campfire ash adds a nice texture too.

Charlie I make something like that at home from time to time. Just good simple food!

I love that kind of stuff Keith and those Texas Longhorn Sausage are the best. I could eat em every day.

I'm all for keeping things simple at camp (or at home) but that doesn't mean ya have to eat out of a can although I will use canned goods for ingredients.

Edit; I was mistaken on the name. It's "Longhorn Barbeque" out of Spokane.
I get their Sausage at a local market but I don't see it online.

http://thelonghornbbq.com/web/?page_id=18

Since I hunt alone, my first "Camp" meal is pretty simple, I take a small roasting tin, half fill with sauerkraut, add a whole kielbasa and bake for an hour or so, boiled potatoes, and fresh baked rye bread and butter, enough left over for sandwiches to take on stand! But the bakery that i would get my Rye Bread from has close this past june, Its going to be tough this year I think!