The only campfire chili you actually need
Five ingredients, one cast iron, thirty minutes. The trick we stole from a fishing guide on the Métabetchouane.
Camp food gets overcomplicated. Dehydrated meals, freezer-bag gymnastics, three-stage cooking on a tiny stove — by the time dinner is ready, you've lost interest in eating it. This recipe goes the other way. One pot, real ingredients, and a fire doing most of the work.
The ingredients
- — 500g ground beef (or a hearty bean mix for a meat-free version)
- — One big yellow onion, diced before you leave the house
- — Two cans of diced tomatoes
- — One can of kidney beans, drained
- — Two tablespoons of chili spice (pre-mixed at home in a film canister)
That's it. Salt, lime, and any hot sauce you happen to be carrying are all welcome at the end.
The method
Build a fire and let it burn down to red coals — flames are bad for chili, coals are perfect. Heat your cast iron right on top until a drop of water dances across it.
Brown the meat with the onion. Six minutes, no more. Tip in both cans of tomatoes, the beans, and the spice. Stir, lid on, and slide the pan to the edge of the coals where it can simmer without scorching. Twenty minutes. Stir twice.
Finish with a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt. Eat straight from the pot if there are bowls to wash and a river to walk to in the morning.
The guide's trick
Pre-mix the spice at home and label it. Two tablespoons of cumin, one of smoked paprika, one of dried oregano, a half-teaspoon of cinnamon (yes, cinnamon), and a teaspoon of cocoa powder. The cinnamon and cocoa are the move — they round the whole pot out and make people quietly ask what the secret is.