Sweet corn is at its peak right now here in Wisconsin. Not only is it really tasty but there is an abundant supply of it so it is cheap, which I think makes it taste even better.

Although my standard way of cooking it is to husk it and boil it, it is also kind of boring that way so I have started grilling it which makes it tastes so much better. It really is not that much more work, it just takes a little more patience and time.

This method works well on a cooking rack over a campfire (my favorite method), on a gas grill or on a charcoal grill.

STEP 1 (yes, I’m assuming you have already purchased the corn or picked it from your garden)
Pull back the husk on each cob about 3/4 of the way, pull out as much of the corn silk as possible, and close the husk back up. If you goof and accidentally pull the husk off all the way, use a rubber band to keep the husk on while it’s soaking. Make sure to take off the rubber band before putting the food over heat or it will be really stinky! The husk should stay on just fine as long as you’re careful and don’t fling the ear of corn around too much.

STEP 2
Put enough cold water in a tub or in the sink to cover the corn - about 3″ deep (yes I know corn floats but that’s okay). Toss the corn in the water. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of kosher salt (a couple of handfuls - don’t bother with a measuring cup) on top and swish around.

STEP 3
Let the corn soak in the water for at least 30 minutes and up to 90 minutes, swishing it around every 15 minutes (don’t panic if you forget - it will be okay. While the corn is soaking, enjoy a cold beverage or two (I recommend a nice cold beer), then preheat the grill, start the charcoal or start the campfire.

STEP 4
Remove the corn from its salt water bath, shake off the excess water and place on the grill or cooking grate. Turn the cobs 1/4 turn every 5-7 minutes, depending on the heat of the fire getting a nice char on the outer husk.

STEP 5
Remove from heat, carefully peel back the husk (it’s really hot! - and this is where I should recommend letting the corn sit for 5-10 minutes to cool down before eating it but I can never wait that long), remove any remaining silk, slather with butter and salt, and enjoy!

Here’s the downside: It’s really messy this way. Yes, I know corn on the cob without the husk on is messy but this is even messier so it’s best to eat it outside; otherwise you’ll have lots of little black pieces of corn husk all over the table and floor. But, if that does happen, assign someone else in the family the task of sweeping them up!

Pudgie pies, those yummy sandwiches that come out of a pie iron, are a camping staple for my family.

On a camping trip a few years ago, I decided to not bring pudgie pie ingredients and nearly had a mutiny on my hands! My husband said the food we did have was great but that it just was not the same without pudgie pies.

Now pudgie pies are always on the menu with reuben pudgie pies and dessert ones with pie filling being the two kinds we always have the ingredients for.

But, I’m always looking for new ideas of what to stuff between bread and even for different bread suggestions.

Melanie M Sidwell of the Longmont Times-Call wrote a great article about pudgie pies (also called campfire pies, mountain pies, hobo pies, jaffles, toasties, and pie shams).

In it she gives some great suggestions for fillings to put inside the bread and also for different types breads to hold the filling in such as tortillas, english muffins, pie dough, and cornbread.

Some of her suggestions, such as using a portabella mushroom instead of bread, sound tasty to me although I have to admit some of the other suggestions, such as a trail mix one where chocolate squares, peanut butter, flaked coconut and small nuts or raisins are tucked between two slices of bread, doesn’t sound appetizing to me. But I guess I shouldn’t knock it until I’ve tried it, right?

Here are some of her other suggestions:

- Peanut butter and jelly
- S’mores (marshmallow, chocolate chips and graham cracker crumbles or use graham crackers instead of bread)
- Peanut butter cup (chocolate squares and peanut butter)
- Apple and caramel: (sliced apple with a caramel square, unwrapped)
- Black Forest (fresh cherries and chocolate)
- Banana cream (sliced banana and marshamallow)
- Traditional breakfast (egg, cheese and choice of sausage, bacon, Chorizo or ham)
- Chili (beans, meat and spices with a cornbread crust)
- Samosas (leftover mashed potatoes and peas with cumin, coriander and tumeric)
- Philly cheesesteak (green peppers, onions, cheese and thinly sliced steak meat)

If you’ve never made a pudgie pie, click here for a blog post I wrote on what they are and how to make them.

Happy camping and happy eating!

While camping over Memorial Day weekend we tried a new kind of Smore. At least it was new for us.

I found some good strawberries while shopping for groceries for the trip and had them out on the picnic table to snack on. They happened to be sitting out when we started making smores over the campfire so I decided to try fresh strawberries on one.

It was so good! By the end of the weekend everyone was eating them and had decided to call them Marshberries.

They are easy to make. Here’s how to do it.

MARSHBERRY S’MORE RECIPE
Ingredients for each Smore:
1 whole graham cracker broken in half
3 sections of a Hershey milk chocolate bar
2 marshmallows
1 or 2 strawberries (depending on size) sliced lengthwise

Directions:
Put a single layer of strawberries on one cracker half. Top with the Hershey chocolate.

Roast 2 marshmallows over the fire until golden brown and gooey. Place on top of the chocolate.

Cover with the second cracker half.

Eat immediately.

Roasted marshmallows or Smores are the perfect sweet treat around a campfire, but I like this dip when I want something warm and comforting. Plus I convince myself it has some redeeming nutritional value in it because it contains broccoli.

BROCCOLI CHEESE DIP
Ingredients:
8 ounces Velveeta, cubed
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 box frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the broccoli and cook for a minute or two, just until the broccoli is tender.

Add the remaining ingredients. Stir constantly until the cheese is melted, about two minutes.

Move the skillet far enough away from the heat to prevent it from burning but keep it close enough to keep the dip warm. A tripod works great.

Serve with corn chips.

My family calls it egg bread; others call it bunny-in-a-hole, but whatever name people call it, it’s a tasty breakfast meal.

It’s a great food to make in a cast iron skillet over the fire or on a camp stove. Plus it’s fast so you’ll be eating in just a few minutes. It will probably take you longer to read these directions than it will to make it.

The basic premise is to take a round cookie cutter, cut a hole out of a slice of bread, put it in a frypan, break the egg into the hole, cook, and enjoy.

But I don’t take cookie cutters when camping so I use a drinking glass to cut the hole out of the bread. While a glass with a top diameter of 2 1/2″ is best; any glass that has a top diameter smaller than your slice of bread will work.

Here’s how I make it:

EGG BREAD
Ingredients needed for each serving:
1 slice bread (Brownberry 12 grain recommended)
1 egg
approximately 1 teaspoon butter
approximately 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the extra virgin olive oil and butter in cast iron fry pan. While the oil and butter are heating, place the slice of bread on a flat surface. Using the top of a round drinking glass with a diameter smaller than the slice of bread; push down firmly to cut out the center of the bread. Save the center piece for sandwiches (kids love them made into crustless peanut and jelly sandwiches).

Place the slice of bread in the preheated pan. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the bread is browned on one side. Flip it over. (Note: if the bread has soaked up all the olive oil and butter, put another small pat of butter in the center of the hole and let it melt). Crack the egg into the hole of the bread. Sprinkle the egg and bread with salt and pepper.

Cook for another two minutes or until the egg is done for sunny side up eggs. For eggs over easy or over medium, flip the egg in the bread and cook for another few seconds.

If you like your eggs over hard, don’t precook the first side of the bread to brown it otherwise it will burn before your egg is cooked hard.

Eat immediately.

Note: if you’re wondering why I use a combination of butter and olive oil, it’s because I love the taste of butter and like that olive oil is a much healthy fat to use. It’s my compromise between health and taste.

When I camp on campsites with electricity I like to take my crock pot along to make delicious no fuss meals. It’s pretty hard to find a sparerib I don’t like, but I have to admit I don’t always enjoy the time it takes to make really tender ones over a fire or on a grill (I’m impatient and don’t like to fuss). That’s why I enjoy these crock pot spareribs. The recipe goes together in a flash. Then it’s just a matter of leaving them be and letting them cook slowly until they are tender and falling off the bone - yum!

CROCK POT SPARE RIBS
Ingredients:
3-4 pounds pork spareribs (use as many as you need for the meal or as many as will fit comfortably in your crock pot or slow cooker. You may need to cut the racks of ribs in half or thirds to get them to fit. Plan for approximately ¾ to 1 rack of ribs per person)
1 large onion, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce (Sweet Baby Ray’s original recommended)
¼ cup water

Pour water in the crock pot. Rub the ribs with salt and pepper. Add the ribs, onion, and barbecue sauce to the crock pot.

Cook on low for approximately 8 hours or until the ribs are tender.

If an Italian deli is your favorite hangout, this pudgie pie is for you. An Italian deli is the best place to find the ingredients for this pudgie pie although most large supermarkets will carry the ingredients as well.

ITALIAN DELI PUDGIE PIE RECIPE
Ingredients Needed for Each Pudgie Pie:
2 slices sourdough bread
1 slice prosciutto di parma, or any other type of prosciutto (a dry-cured Italian ham)
1 slice Genoa salami
1 slice Capicola (Italian cold cut made from pork meat)
3-4 small chunks fresh smoked mozarella (don’t overdo it or the cheese will overpower the sandwich)
1 thin slice Asiago cheese
arugula
fire roasted red bell pepper slices (see note below for how to make your own)
Olive oil or Extra virgin olive oil and butter
Generously brush both sides of the pudgie pie maker with olive oil or butter and place a slice of bread on each side (Olive oil has a lower burn tolerance than butter so the sandwich needs to be watched carefully to avoid burning. If you don’t want to have to watch the sandwich as carefully, brush the bread with butter and use a drizzle of olive oil inside the sandwich instead).
Layer the ingredients on one slice of bread in this order: asiago cheese, fresh smoked mozarella, red pepper slices, extra virgin olive oil (if using), a few pieces of arugla, and the sliced meats. Cover with the second slice of bread.
Close the pudgie pie maker and cook in glowing embers of campfire until bread is golden brown and mozarella cheese is melted.
Remove from pudgie pie maker, cut in half, and eat immediately.

Note: It’s important to layer the ingredients in the order given because the arugla needs to be near the center of the sandwich to avoid overcooking it.

The Peppers: The roasted red pepper slices from a jar work fine in this sandwich but if you’re willing to take a little extra time beforehand and make your own fire roasted red bell peppers, it’s worth it.
Take a red bell pepper and cook it over the flame of the campfire until it’s black on all sides. Remove from heat; place on a paper plate, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit about 20 minutes. Unwrap, peel off the blackened skin, remove the seeds and membrane, and thinly slice.

You’ve heard from me before - pudgie pies are one of my favorite camping foods - so it’s probably no surprise I have another pudgie pie recipe for you.

This one is a ham and cheese sandwich with a twist - the cheese is in the bread instead of inside the sandwich. It’s good made in a pudgie pie maker or on a griddle or frypan at home.

If you can’t find cheddar bread where you live, substitute a 3-cheese bread or any other cheese bread you like.

HAM AND CHEESE BREAD PUDGIE PIE RECIPE
Ingredients Needed for Each Sandwich:
2 slices cheddar bread
2-3 slices smoked deli ham
horseradish to taste
stoneground mustard to taste
butter

Directions:
Butter one side of each slice of bread. Spread mustard on inside of one slice of bread; place butter side down inside a pudgie pie maker/pie iron.
Place ham on top.
Spread horseradish on inside of second slice of bread. Place horseradish side down on top of ham and close pudgie pie maker.
Cook in fire until bread is toasted and browned.
Remove from pudgie pie maker/pie iron, cut in half, and serve immediately.

Burgers are a classic camping food probably because they’re easy to make and are portable. But plain burgers can get boring. And burgers with lots of toppings can be really messy since the first bite results in half those toppings oozing out and landing on your plate (if you’re lucky) or on your clothes.

That’s why I like stuffed burgers, or as I like to call them, “inside out burgers.”

This recipe for portabella mushroom and blue cheese stuffed burgers (juicy lucy burgers) is really good and quick to make. Try them even if you’re not a fan of blue cheese. I don’t usually like blue cheese but found I really liked it when it was stuffed inside a burger.

The traditional stuffed burger recipes I found say to saute the mushrooms before stuffing them in the burger because of the moisture they give off, but I’ve found that little bit of extra moisture they add to the burgers keeps them juicy and even if they are cooked to the well done stage so I don’t bother with that extra step.

JUICY LUCY STUFFED BURGERS
Ingredients needed for each burger
1/2 pound 85 percent lean beef (any leaner and the burgers tend to be dry)
1/2 of a portabella mushroom cap, chopped
1-2 tablespoons blue cheese crumbles (1 if you’re not a huge fan of blue cheese and 2 or more if you love blue cheese)
burger bun (a bakery fresh hard roll or semel roll if possible)
freshly ground salt and pepper (I use McCormick sea salt and black pepper grinders)
two quart size resealable plastic bags
Optional toppings:
buttter or Boston bibb lettuce
ketchup
sauteed onions

Directions:
Divide the 1/2 pound beef in half. Place one in each plastic bag and press down to make two thin patties. Remove from bag and place on a paper plate to finish the assembly process.

Place chopped mushrooms and blue cheese crumbles in the center of one of the patties, leaving enough room around the edge to seal the patties together.

Cover with the second beef patty and seal the edges.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cook over fire or on grill to desired doneness.

Seve on roll with lettuce, sauteed onions, and ketchup if desired.

To make sauteed onions: slice one yellow onion into thin slices. Place on a generously sized sheet of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle with olive oil, canola oil, or use a few pats of butter. Seal foil and place on grill, in fire, or on cooking grate until onions are tender - about 5 minutes.

Cherry pudgie pies (click here for directions on how to make them) are one of the most tasty camping foods and they taste even better with homemade cherry pie filling.

Don’t be scared - it’s really easy to make at home before you head to the campground. Cook it up; let it cool; put it in a re-sealable plastic storage container; stow it in your cooler; and you’re ready for deliciousness!

And, since this is a “Door County” themed week with all my posts, I recommend using Door County cherries (yeah, I know you can’t get them everywhere and that other places have awesome cherries too - just don’t use sweet cherries for this recipe - make sure to use tart ones).

HOMEMADE CHERRY PIE FILLING
INGREDIENTS:
5 cups pitted tart cherries (previously frozen ones are fine - just thaw them before using making sure to save and use the juice)
4 heaping tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon minute tapioca
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients together in a medium sized saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until thickened and bubbly.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Store in a tightly sealed container in the fridge or your cooler for up to 2 weeks.