Recipes

30 Second Hot Chocolate

When hot chocolate takes 30 seconds to make, you might start drinking a lot more of it. We won't hold it against you if you buy the packets of Swiss Miss or Carnation, but here's a good recipe if you're a diehard do-it-yourselfer.

1/3 cup cocoa
1 1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons powdered non-dairy creamer
1/4 teaspoon salt
(instant coffee)

Mix all ingredients and store in a zip lock baggie. To one cup hot water, add 1/3 cup dry mix (about four to six heaping tablespoons) and stir well. Add a little instant coffee for mocha. Life is good.

Jackpine Jim's Power Breakfast/Power Lunch

He didn't give it a name, so we named it for him! This super-easy recipe is great as a hot breakfast and again at lunch, either hot or cold. According to Jim, it keeps you fueled for 4,000 vertical feet and at least 10 miles. So what are you waiting for? Eat up and get hikin'!

6 tablespoons of Irish oatmeal pellets, uncooked
6 tablespoons of dry-roasted Edamame (green soy beans) , lightly salted 
3-5 tablespoons mixed dried berries
One tablespoon cold-pressed flaxseed oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar.
Tabasco sauce

The night before:
Place the oat pellets in your Jetboil with a cup of water just before you hit the sack. Let them soak all night. This cuts the cook time down from 30 minutes to 5.

In the morning:
Fire up your Jetboil and boil the oat pellets for three minutes. Toss in the dry-roasted soy beans and the fruit, and simmer for two more minutes. Add the brown sugar and flaxseed oil and let sit, covered, until cool enough to eat. Chow down until you're stuffed, and cover the pot with your lid. The rest is for lunch! (Add the Tabasco drops for a nice variation for lunch).

Upside-down Fruit Cobbler

Courtesy of Chip Becker-
“I primarily use my Jetboil when I am out geocaching or hiking with my two young sons, Brady and Ryan. Brady is 7 and Ryan is 5. I also have a 9-month old son, Ayden, who hasn't started hiking yet!”
Come on, Ayden- quit slacking!

½ cup sugar

½ cup flour

½ cup milk

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp cinnamon

2 tbs. butter

1 cup of fruit (sliced peaches, cherries, blueberries, etc., drained of half the juice if from a can or snack cup)

Melt butter in pot. Mix remaining ingredients except fruit and pour over butter. Place fruit in pan on top of batter.

Bake 15 – 20 minutes, covered, on low heat. The cobbler is done when the top is slightly dry.
Gear used:Jetboil GCS

Ultra-lite Backpackers' Spiced Tea

Pack enough for 9 liters in about 1/3 cup Sugar Free, Carb Free, Fat Free, and weighs next to nothing.  2 tubs Crystal Light Peach Tea, 1 tub Crystal Light Pink Lemonade, 2 tubs Sugar Free Tang, ¼ tsp ground cloves, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon.  Dump all the powders together, mix well making sure there are no clumps.  Add about ½ tsp of powder per 8 oz. of hot water.  Or, if you're not into measuring while camping, fill your Jetboil PCS with the amount of water you want to drink, heat it to the temperature you want, and add the spiced tea mix to suit your taste! I store my mix in a used spice bottle with a shaker lid, and just use the shaker rather than trying to measure it.

Chi-Chi

We're not sure where the name comes from, but this sure is a tasty way to spice up your next batch of Ramen! Thanks to Rick Ashworth for sharing.

1 package Ramen noodles
1 cup crushed Dorito chips
1 thinly sliced Slim Jim beef stick

Add all contents to Ziplock bag at home. At camp, add 2 cups of boiling water, let sit for 10 minutes and enjoy!

Matt's Trail Bouillabaisse

Courtesy of Matthew Mefferd-
Matthew Mefferd grew up in North Africa, and spent most of his career on a research ship which sailed around the world. He enjoys cooking and camping, and particularly enjoys combining those two interests. He currently lives in College Station, Texas, and has a wife and three children, one canoe, and…the JetBoil!

This recipe is for 3 to 4 people.

Ingredients:

3 1/2-4Cups water.
1Package Knorr Vegetable or Spring Vegetable Soup Mix.
1Cup sun dried tomato halves (cut these in quarters).
1/4Cup of dried chopped onions or onion flakes (usually available in grocery stores – spice section).
2tsp garlic powder.
1/2tsp paprika.
1Bay leaf.
1/4tsp fennel seed.
1/4tsp saffron threads (optional) – this is expensive but the flavor and color it adds is worth it. Turmeric (1 tsp) is something you can use instead of saffron – not the same but it gives it a nice color, anyway.
3/4lbs. mixed seafood – choose 3 or 4 vacuum pouches (salmon, tuna, shrimp, crab, clams, oysters, or even chicken if you like). These come in small 3-4 oz. vacuum pouches and are usually available in grocery stores. I used salmon, crab and shrimp in mine.
1/2Cup Uncle Ben's Instant Brown Rice.

In the 1.5L FluxRing Cooking Pot, bring 3 ½ cups water, soup mix, dried tomatoes and onions, and spices to a boil, stirring occasionally. Then adjust heat to a low simmer.

After 5 minutes or so, when the veggies seem about done, stir in the seafood and the rice. You can turn the heat up again, but when it comes to a boil again, adjust it to a low simmer. Add the remaining ½ cup of water, now if there is room in the pot. Cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes until the rice is done, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat off and let it sit for about 5 more minutes to cool a bit and let the flavors mix, and it's ready to eat! This recipe can easily be extended for more people by using a larger pot and more ingredients.
(Courtesy of Matthew Mefferd)

"Bobsadilla": the breakfast quesadilla

It's a backcountry take on a front-country favorite. Bob's the crafty guy who invented it, hence the name.

Sauté up some veggies if you have some –I prefer peppers, onions and tomatoes. Set them aside.

Butter the pan. Break two eggs in the pan. Immediately put a tortilla over the eggs and apply pressure to the tortilla so you smoosh the eggs underneath a bit. Let the concoction cook for a couple minutes then gently work a spatula between the fried egg/tortilla and the pan.

Flip the tortilla over. Add shredded cheddar cheese (or any type you like really) and the sautéed veggies. Fold the tortilla in half and let it sit over low heat until the cheese melts a bit. Or even better, if you have a cover for your pan, throw a splash of water in the pan and cover the pan with the lid while the water evaporates. It will steam the whole Bobsadilla and the cheese will melt nicely without burning the outside of the tortilla.

Apple Grahams

Courtesy of Katie Jackson-
“My father taught me how to camp before he taught me how to talk or walk! Thanks to my dad I have been hooked on the outdoors since I was a toddler. I married a wonderful man 4 years ago who has the same passion for the outdoors, especially backpacking. We purchased a Jetboil PCS two years ago, which we share. It has made camping, backpacking and day hikes a dream. My other passion in life is cooking. It has been a fun challenge to create recipes using the Jetboil.”

2 cups water
1 apple
2 Tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
4 graham cracker squares

For backpacking preparation combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and cinnamon in half size zip-top baggie. Using Jetboil cup boil 2 cups water. Peel, core and slice apple into ¼ inch slices. Add apple slices to boiling water. Boil for 5 minutes (4 minutes for crunchier texture.) Remove apples from water using fork, (no need to drain) and place in bowl. Add sugar mixture to apples and stir to combine. Eat apples with graham cracker squares. Yum!

Pine Tree Tea

A resourceful submission from James Steele:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (volume) or 8 tablespoons
1.5 pints or 900 ml or 3 3/4 cups of water
Sweetener or lemon (optional)

1. Gather the pine needles (the ones nearest the end of the branch).

2. You can chop up the pine needles or leave them whole.

3. Jetboil your water, of course it won't take long to bring it to a boil. Add the needles to the boiling water and reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes. The longer you steep, the stronger the tea.

4. You can strain out the needles and enjoy. Or you can use the Coffee Press accessory and press the needles to the bottom of your Jetboil and sip from the lid.

5. Pine Tree Tea is good for scurvy which is a constant threat while backpacking. Plenty of vitamin C in Pine Tree Tea.

Wilderness Carbonara

Courtesy of Dr. John Corbin-
“The Jetboil system has made meal preparation vastly simpler and much faster. Home prepared ingredients are far less expensive than packaged meals, and with Jetboil, much easier. I use two PCS's and one FluxRing pot for virtually all meal preparations. A favorite pasta entree is my wilderness adaptation of carbonara, a traditional Italian pasta dish made at home with bacon, garlic, and raw eggs blended into hot pasta. The wilderness version uses reconstituted powdered eggs, bacon fried at home a week or two before the trip, and chopped garlic.”

¼ cup fried bacon
(brought from home pre-cooked and drained, but cooked on site adds pleasant aroma to the camp; not a good idea in bear country)
2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons of chopped garlic or several cloves (to taste)
2 Tablespoons powdered egg mix stirred in 4 Tablespoons cold water
100g spaghetti (broken in half with salt in Ziploc bag)

While the water boils and spaghetti cooks (8 minutes) in the Jetboil PCS, heat the bacon in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the FluxRing 1.5 liter Pot. Stir in garlic and onions and lightly brown.
Drain pasta and stir hot pasta into the bacon/garlic mixture.
Finally stir in egg mixture and continue heating at very low heat for a few seconds while egg mixture thickens.
Salt and pepper to taste. Grated Parmesan is a nice addition.

On site cooking time, 12 minutes