Intro
I’ve fallen in love with a new way to cook. Well, let me clarify, it’s new to me.
Fire.
On our recent trip to the San Juan Islands I prepared a feast laced with Moroccan flavors almost entirely over an open flame. Madrona trees with vibrant red-orange trunks framed the view of the Pacific just beyond the roughly formed fire pit. Ragged rocks held a grill in place that cradled packages of carrots braising with oil and cumin. Flames crept through the grill grates and charred the exterior of dozens of peppers in shades of orange, red and green.
The smoke danced with me around the fire and infused it’s scent deep into my clothes. This simple way of cooking felt so perfect in the setting of the islands where the pace of life varies greatly from the often frantic routine of the city just on the other side of coast. I was bursting with a gleeful self-sufficient pride and felt somehow more connected to my food than ever.
The marinated leg of lamb was placed on the grill and it seemed as if the flames were as hungry for it as I was. They lapped at the exterior, charring it in places while leaving the interior a tender medium rare.
Inside the fire-cooked food landed on platters and a few finishing touches were added masking a bit of the roughness and revealing a stunning feast. A pleasant smokiness had permeated the meal reminding us all of the way in which it was cooked. I’ve said on many occasions that I could very easily be a vegetarian as so often it is the vegetables on the plate that have me going back for seconds and my meat portion is often left with many bites to spare. But when meat is mixed with smoke I go weak. One might even have to remind me to eat with a knife and fork as I instinctively feel the need to eat with my bare hands.
Such a simple thing – to cook over a fire. And I find it so funny that I think of it as being novel when in reality it’s the basis of all cooking. I’ve grown accustomed to my oven and my range that consists of four gas burners. So comfortable with it that a simple fire pit seems revolutionary. Remove the routine and get back to the basics and it’s a wonder what’s revealed. In the case of the fire it’s joy in simply cooking and finding flavors that satisfy a deep longing, one in which I hardly knew was there.
Feast by the Fire
Grilled Yogurt-Marinated Leg of Lamb This is a lamb recipe for non-lamb eaters. Tender and full of flavor. The overnight bath in spiced yogurt helps rid any gaminess and leaves a flavorful cut of meat throughout. The recipe comes from Bon Appetit and seeing as this was my first go at a leg of lamb I pretty much stuck to the recipe aside from the occasional extra clove of garlic here or there. These next two recipes are adapted from Mourad: New Moroccan
by Mourad Lahlou. It’s a stunning book filled with Moroccan flavors that are presented in modern and inventive ways.
Harissa
This is what I consider a kid-friendly Harissa. Lots of deep flavor but light on spice. If you want more heat add more dried chilis, keep the seeds in or add a hefty pinch of cayenne.
Makes about 2 3/4 cups
1 roasted red pepper, seeds removed and roughly chopped
1 (14 ounce) can tomato puree,
3 cups cold water
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 dried red chilies (soaked in boiling water until soft, seeds removed - or kept in for more spice)
½ tablespoon sweet paprika
½ tablespoon smoked paprika
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
15 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
6 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Put all the ingredients except the olive oil in a large saucepan, and stir together. Place the pan over medium-high heat, and bring to a gentle simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as necessary, until the puree has thickened and reduced to 2 1/4 cups. Don't let the heat go above a low simmer, and keep an eye on the mixture so it doesn't burn.
Working in batches if necessary, transfer the harissa to a blender, turn it on, and slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Process until smooth.
Store in the refrigerator in an airtight glass jar, with a film of the olive oil on top, for up to three months.
Brown Butter Farro
3 Tbsp kosher salt
2¼ cups faro, picked over and rinsed
1 cup finely diced red onion
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup brown butter* melted and still warm
*Brown butter is simply butter that is melted until the milk solids have caramelized. Remove butter from heat once butter smells nutty and you see golden bits on the bottom. It will continue to brown off heat.
In a large saucepan add the farro and enough water to cover by at least 2 inches. Add the salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the farro until tender but not mushy, about 30 minutes. Drain the farro in a large strainer, shaking the strainer to remove the excess water.
Meanwhile, put the onions and oil in a large saucepan and set over medium-high heat. When the onions begin to sizzle, decrease the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes, or until the onions have softened and are slightly caramelized. Set aside.
When ready to serve combine the farro with the onions and brown butter. Taste the farro and season with salt if needed.
You’ll have to forgive the casualness of the next set of recipes. I can’t not share them with you but I failed to accurately record the measurements while in the throes of preparing this feast. Please use these as guidelines and inspiration.
Grilled Feta with Onion, Tomato and Herbs
Place a desired amount of feta on two layers of aluminum foil. Cover with a drizzle of olive oil, sliced red onion, halved cherry tomatoes, fresh thyme and rosemary, salt, and preserved lemon (optional). Wrap tightly then place on a grill or over a fire for about 15 minutes or until heated through. Serve with oiled and grilled pita.
Grilled Pepper and Preserved Lemon Salad
Roast enough peppers (I used red and orange bell peppers as well as a couple poblanos) to yield roughly 3 cups that have be deseeded and sliced into rough ½” ribbons. Add to the peppers 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1-2 tablespoons chopped preserved lemon, kosher salt, chopped cilantro and a healthy splash of olive oil. Taste and adjust seasonings to your desire.
Cumin Fire Roasted Carrots
each pouch serves 2-3 as a side
In each aluminum pouch add 5-7 peeled, whole carrots, a pinch of kosher salt, a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of cumin seed. Wrap tightly in 2-3 layers of aluminum foil. Roast in a fire until carrots are tender. I roasted just off to the side of the fire and they took under and hour to roast.
Once roasted add carrots to a platter a drizzle with fresh lemon juice, more olive oil, a pinch of cinnamon and chopped flat-leaf parsley.
Fire Roasted Stone fruit with Cardamom and Dates
each pack of fruitserves 2-3
assorted stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums)
cardamom
dates
vanilla ice cream
orange blossom water (optional)
Halve and remove the pits from the fruit. Place roughly 2 cups of fruit on a sheet of aluminum. Add a handful of halved dates and sprinkle this mix with a pinch of ground cardamom. Wrap in two layers of aluminum and roast over a fire for about 30 minutes. I stopped roasted with I noticed some vibrant bubbling juices emerging from the pack.
Serve warm fruit over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Sprinkle a bit more cardamom over the ice cream and add a drop or two of orange blossom water to the ice cream, if using.
*Thanks to my husband, Gabe, for taking many of images while I cooked his dinner. 
Mouth watering!!
love this take on camping food! your photographs are absolutely stunning, I would love to include them in my online magazine ww.amazine.com
keep up the fabulous work 🙂
We are a grilling family whenever possible, though our meals are not quite as spectacular as yours! Well done!
What a lovely primal (in the best possible way) to cook. I love the connection you have with what you eat and seeing it char in front of your eyes.
I love the warmth in these photos. Grilling complete meals is just the best.
Oh, yes! I went camping recently and came up with the brilliant (to me, at least) idea to roast veggies (an onion, zucchini, summer squash) over the fire. It was a real treat indeed. And this all looks like a real treat – a feast! Lovely photos, as always.
Always love your writing! Cooking outside is fun, I love to cook outside in our dutch oven. We don’t have a grill but we do have a solar oven! If we were going to stay put long enough I would build an Horno, photographed the building of one recently. If I had more time today I would totally cook outside today, maybe tomorrow? Great post!
Those red bell peppers roasted on the fire look divine. Also, I’m a big fan of grilled feta, it’s just so so good!
I’m drooling just reading through this. Yum!
Wow what a fancy and perfect camping feast. I am inspired.
Holy cow girlfriend- that is outstanding! We have a little brick fireplace outside and I think I will try and cook on it~
Hope to see you before summer ends!
xx
Stepping out into a new place often encourages me to try new things. As a Seattlelite myself, the San Juans are a perfect place for cooking over fire.
Beautiful! I wish I had a chance to cook in open fire! Can be so exiting!
Such an incredible outdoor meal. All camping meals seem to taste great, but when you take the time to prepare them so simply, the flavors are always so incredible.
These are great recipes and great photos!
This is perfect timing! I’m going camping next weekend and was looking for some new recipes to try over the fire 🙂
Cooking over an open fire is really one of the best things. Charred spiced lamb and roasted peppers sound like a perfect outdoor meal. You’ve reminded me that it’s far too long since I’ve been camping–must fix that soon!
I’m mad for Moroccan food and this meal looks so wonderful. This summer I’ve been cooking over an open flame almost every night, and the excitement of flame and smoke is so invigorating. The way you’ve described it here is perfect.
Moroccan food is a favourite and roasted peppers with anything is fine by me. I use them a lot. I think we have a primeval fascination with fire, which is inbuilt from our early days on earth. It makes you feel so at one with nature.
Love the grilled feta with tomatoes, will throw that on the grill tonight.
so delicious. how fun to get inspired by doing things different. I wasn’t much for baking for years, and now I have sweets everywhere. Just in time for bikini season! Funny how we hit phases isn’t it? I’m excited to try those carrots.
I have just nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award on my blog because Not Without Salt is one of my favourites. If you wish to pick up the award, please come visit my blog.
My husband would die for this entire meal. I’m going to have to impress him with it soon. Yummm!
Lovely from beginning to end.
I could go for some of that roasted stone fruit right now. Yum!
This recipe reminds me of my childhood, when my grandma would grill peppers:) Thank you for this post!
http://www.soulfishingblog.blogspot.com
-Teja
Oh Ashley, I’m moving to Seattle in a few months and reading your blog has made the whole things seem so much less scary. It seems so charming and wonderful through your lens. Thank you for that.
Jackie – Yay! You’ll love it. Where are you moving from? Let me know if you need help with anything. Do you know what area you are moving too?
I love the simplicity of grilled food. Those blackened peppers look just perfect. I’ve never been to the San Juans, but if they’re anything like the gulf islands on the Canadian side of the border this is the perfect food for the laid back vibe.
Nicola – Sounds about right. I would love to go visit those islands as well.
I love and appreciate this post so much! My fiancee always bugs me about why I have to make “fancy” meals when we go camping. I always tell him that for me, it isn’t about making “fancy” meals, it is about making delicious meals over a camp fire, and it is almost like a test, to see what amazing dish I can come up with using fresh vegetables, some meat, and the bare bones when it comes to utensils and cookware. It really is a fun challenge for me, personally. Besides, when you are sleeping in a tent, on 3 folded sleeping bags, trying to get the most “comfortable” you can every night for 5 nights– a good meal is a great consolation. Keeping doing what you’re doing–I look forward to it more than most! 🙂
Rachel – Yes! This is my idea of camping. My husband kept on telling me to just take it easy. Do something simple. I had to remind him that cooking is part of vacation for me. During the time of preparing this meal I relaxed greatly and really felt as if I was on vacation.
Love your style! This makes me want to go camping. I know it takes some time to write and photograph these wonderful posts and they are much appreciated! Can’t wait ot try the lamb! 🙂
Tracey – Thanks so much. In the times when I ask “why” these comments help with the “because”.
I’m speechless, this look so real and unreal at the same time. I love it
There is something so brilliantly primal about cooking over fire. It’s one of the reasons I always bbq over charcoal instead of gas, you get that wonderfully smokey charred taste.
One thing you real nail here, both in words and pictures, is the wonderful things you can do with vegetables over flames. I like to chuck a bulb of garlic on the flames. When it’s cooked you can squeeze the soft cloves over bread, or else chuck them into some oil with the charred peppers to marinate. Lovely stuff.
Grubworm – I can’t wait to try that. Seriously, vegetables love the flame. So many great things to do with them over an open fire.
This is a fabulous post, not only for the food but because it´s grilled with a wood fire. It´s another dimension in flavor.
I grill all the time, though I have to do it with the embers because of where I live. I could grill this way all year, and I do, even in winter as much as I can. The harissa recipe sounds amazing!
How many dinners did you end up cooking? 😉 I wish I had more opportunities to cook over an open fire! I remember when I was younger, we’d wrap potatoes in foil and throw them in the fire until they were soft and their skins (my favorite part) had that delicious smoky taste. Mmm…
Kasey – I cooked twice. This week it’s all about the vegetables and whole grains. 🙂
Hmm that looks great! I like the idea for the grilled feta, going to try it!
So wonderful! Perfect for campings.
These pictures (and that dinner) look incredible.
Very impressed!
food-hugs.com
The whole thing is gorgeous, but I am SO excited to find a kid friendly Harissa recipe! I’ve figured out Indian and most Thai without heat, but harissa was one that was eluding me. Looking forward to trying soon!