Don’t you love those days where work just doesn’t feel like work? When you get to do something that’s out of your normal routine, and have a bit of fun?
Well, the other day a few of us had a day like that. We were cooking up recipes on our courtyard patio here at MEC HQ, trying to choose the winner of our Spork and Beans Recipe Contest. Here’s how it went…
The five recipes rated highest at the time the contest closed were taken from all the entries on both our English and French websites.
Everything except the chilli needed to be cooked on a campfire grill, but we couldn’t have an actual campfire on our patio, so Kim, our Kitchen Product Manager (and one of the judges), organized some cool grills for us to try out, and a double burner Primus Profile Stove for us to cook the chilli on.
Of course, anything food-related always draws attention in our office so people were continually coming out to see what we were up to — especially with the aroma of cooking bacon wafting in the air. And although nobody offered to help prep or cook, there were plenty of offers to help taste test once it was ready.
We got the chilli going and threw the tandoori chicken on the grill – however, it was lucky that the grill we were using had a diamond grid with very small openings because the recipe said to cut the chicken into strips. Even though it was cut in fairly large strips, these would have fallen through most outdoor grill tops so we would suggest leaving the chicken thighs as is and slicing them up after if necessary.
With the chilli simmering away on the stove, and the chicken cooking on the grill, we turned our attention to the two pita recipes and the brie. The smell of the basil as the warm mozza melted on the pita pizzas was delish. And if you were in camp at the end of a day’s hike, it would smell even more wonderful.
Then the taste testing began. Consensus was… the tandoori chicken wasn’t as spicy as people expected and actually seemed a bit bland, plus the slicing instruction may have been an issue if we’d had a different grill; the chilli was tasty, but much too tomatoey and acidic (perhaps dehydrating/re-hydrating it would alter this? probably not); it was a pretty close race between the two pita recipes and the fresh basil on the pizza’s was definitely a hit, but folks ultimately preferred the panzerotti for its extra protein (pepperoni) and its crunchy texture; and then there was the brie… gooey melted goodness with maple syrup, apples, and chopped pecans… need I say more? I thought not. So, without further ado…
In First Place, the GSI Pinnacle Base Camper Large Cook Set goes to Margo Auger of Trois-Rivières, QC, for Brie en papillotte.
The Second Place prize of a 10in. Outback Oven goes to Jordan Ostapchuk of Toronto, ON, for Pita Panzerotti. (Jordan confessed he really wanted the Outback Oven most of all, so he’s pretty happy.)
And in Third Place, the MSR Alpine Deluxe Cook Set goes to Véronique Larouche of Quebec, QC, for Pizza pita sur feu de camp.
There are a ton of delicious sounding recipes on mec.ca that we didn’t get to try – Peachy Power Pancakes, Campfire Apple Turnovers, Ragout Bizarre mais délicieux, and Pain banique bluets et chocolat – but you should. And when you do… make sure you rate and/or comment on the recipe so other members can see what you thought of it.
If you have a recipe that you haven’t shared yet, please share it with your fellow members. The contest might be closed, but the Spork and Beand Recipe Page will be staying up so you can refer to it whenever you are looking to expand your outdoor culinary experience.
Congratulations to our winners and bon appétit!
Big thanks to Kim Worbeck, GSI, Outback Oven, and MSR for providing our awesome prizes.
A couple of things to note: we used yellow peppers instead of green because… well, because they just taste better; we had to leave out the ½tsp. of cinnamon from the tandoori recipe due to an allergy on the judging panel; and we did not dehydrate/re-hydrate the chilli.
kudos to all
just was wondering if there’s an English version of the receipes written in French? I’m a west coaster that took gr. 8,9 & 10 French about 40 years ago. I’ve always lived in Victoria and have not had to use French. So it would be nice to not have to try and figure out the recipes. I know some French words but not enough to be confident. Thanks.