Cooking in the bush is something that people tend to underthink just how important good food can be on the tracks,  one of our favourite thing to do when camping is put together a good feed, to not only tantilise the tastebuds but also for us blokes to show off to our mates just how many cooking competitions our better halves made us watch through lockdown.

There are a handful of go to meals that really win us points on the track that we are going to share with you to make some of the tastiest meals you’ve probably ever eaten, all whilst out in the bush!

SLOW COOKED LAMB

Ingredients

• 500mL of water
• Lamb shanks, or lamb roast.
• Vegetable stock cubes
• 1 cup of red wine
• 2x carrots
• 2x potatoes (for mash)
• 1x Onion
• 1x can of chopped tomatoes (or 400g freshly chopped)
• ‘Flaming Coals’ Traditional Lamb Rub
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• Dash of milk
• Knob of butter
• Clove of garlic

Tools

• 4-Piece Camping Chef’s Knives Kit (and chopping board)
• Genuine Aussie 12″ Camp Oven
• BBQ Tongs

Prep your fire by getting enough hot coals to cover the lid of your camp oven, whilst not burning through all of your firewood prematurely. If you need to use a Kings Camp Oven Stove or other campfire setup to get this done then definitely do so!

It’s time, to start chopping veggies, finely chop carrots, onions potatoes and tomatoes to 1cm cubes, this will let the flavour soak through whilst also making it small enough to cook quickly.

With your veggies sorted its time to get your Aussie oven on the coals with a warm heat underneath the pan will begin to warm up, its time to add your stock cubes and water. Cover with the lid and let the lot heat up, this gives us a tasty base to make sure we get the most flavour in our meal. Once we have our stock heated up to a nice warm simmer, you can add all of your veggies in (excluding your potatoes) and begin to sear your meat, take the Oven lid, and flip it so it sits like a frying pan on the hot coals of the fire, simply place your cuts of meat on the hot pan until they are browned on all sides.

With the meat browned and your stock on the simmer, it’s time to add the meat to your stew. Dump it in and cover with the lid and place a small shovel load of hot coals on the lid to encase the entire oven in enough coals to cook the juices inside.

Give yourself plenty of time to cook this meal, it can take between an hour and a half, up to 3 hours whilst it might be tempting to open your oven to check on your meal regularly, you should check but keep it periodic this is important to keep it sealed to keep the juices stewing. With the Aussie ovens included trivet sitting on the bottom it will prevent burning, and make sure your lamb is cooked to perfection.

Whilst your lamb is cooking you can make your mash potato this is easily done in a second Bedourie camp oven or saucepan, simply boil up your water, and chuck in your chopped up potatoes for around 10-15 minutes, its better to over boil than under boil. Once the potatoes are soft, its time to drain and then add a dash of milk, a knob of butter, and a crushed up (deskinned) clove of garlic. With a potato masher, or a good quality fork commence mashing, with everything mashed and ready and the timer is up on the slow cooked lamb.
 

Its time to hoe down on one of the best meals you could eat on the tracks, serve your mashed potato in a bowl and take a nice solid lamb shank and place it on your potato with a drizzle of red wine sauce, and veggies. Kick back by the fire and enjoy!

To find out more about the entire range of cooking gear available from 4WD Supacentre head over to www.4WDSupacentre.com.au call us up on 1300 66 39 64 or drop into one of our camping stores to see the full range of camp cooking gear in person.