Camping recipes: Kid-friendly recipes

I think the best education any kid can get is to travel with their parents while they’re young and see what a great country we have. I reckon it gives them a better perspective on things. Yes, of course, television documentaries aren’t far behind in giving you a more global view on life, but touching, feeling and sensing your environment is far more powerful for growing children.

And the more I see little ones eating dirt in a camping park or being tossed in the tiny waves that lap the shore brings a smile to my face.

I travelled a lot when I was a youngster and I thank my parents for the grounding it gave me.

It has led to a career in travel that has taken me across the length and breadth of this fabulous country plus a fair swag of the African continent as well.

So with this, my friends packed up the car and hired a caravan and are in the middle of a 14-week circuit of the country.

When Mum, Dad and their two girls arrived in Broome, WA, where I am, it wasn’t long before I’d learned all about Uluru, hermit crabs, the Bungles and… on it went. The girls had been truly immersing themselves in the experience of travelling the outback and I couldn’t have been prouder for them.

So it wasn’t long before I took them up to one of my favourite secret camping spots and gave them a lesson in rock pools.

The chitter chatter and shrieks of amazement or fright they got when spying scurrying crabs or squirting anemones was a joy to behold and the descriptions they gave their uncle Macca of the size of the crab that nearly took off a “whole foot” had to be heard to be believed.

It was a great introduction to the amazing ecology of these rocky little ecosystems that I’m sure will fill their journals. And show and tell will be really something when they get back home!

And it was also good to see that the girls loved to be involved in meal time preparation. A stool and a willing pair of hands assisted in this month’s column and the menu was devised together.

So have a go at these kid-friendly recipes, and yes, they scoffed the lot.

COCONUT CRUMBED BARRAMUNDI

• 1 cup panko crumbs
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 cup plain flour
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• 1 kg barramundi fillets, sliced into thick batons
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 100g butter, cubed
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Mix the panko crumbs and coconut together in a shallow dish or bowl. Set aside.

Mix the flour and salt and pepper together in a bowl and roll the barramundi through the flour mixture, shaking off all of the excess flour before dredging it through the egg mixture.

Toss the fish through the crumb and coconut mixture and put on a pan lined with baking paper.

When complete, place the fish in the fridge to set the mixture if you have time. If not, it’s not the end of the world.

To a shallow fry pan, add enough oil and butter to fry off half the fish and when the butter is foaming, cook the fish in portions so as to fry them golden brown.

Once cooked through, drain them on absorbent paper and serve with salad and chips.

BEEF POTACOS

• 4 large potatoes, halved lengthwise
• 500g beef mince
• I brown onion, finely diced
• 435g salsa dip
• 1 avocado sliced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• ½ cup tasty cheese
• 1 ripe tomato, finely diced
• 1 red onion, finely diced

Boil or steam your potatoes until almost done, but still firm. Spoon out the inner of the potatoes, creating a pocket in each.

Meanwhile, add the mince to a medium/hot frypan and cook until browned off. Add onion and stir through until cooked. Add half the bottle of salsa mix and stir to combine the mixture together.

Mash the avocado in a bowl and add enough of the lemon juice so that the consistency is moderately firm. Season with salt and pepper and mix through.

Dice the tomato and red onion and combine together, using the remaining lemon to dress it.

Fill you potato skin with the mince mixture, top with cheese and grill it till the cheese is bubbling and melted. Add the other ingredients and serve while still warm.

BAKED BANANAS WITH MAPLE SYRUP

• 4 bananas, skin on
• Maple syrup
• 1 Cadbury flake, crumbled
• 50g almonds, slithered

Wrap the bananas in foil and place in a warm fire or oven and bake until a knife slides easily into the banana.

Once cooked, slit the banana open and remove the top layer of skin, using the bottom layer as a vessel to catch the escaping maple syrup. Arrange in a serving bowl, drizzle with the maple syrup then sprinkle with the chocolate and almonds and serve.

Check out the full feature in issue #106 September 2016 of Camper Trailer Australia magazine. Subscribe today for all the latest camper trailer news, reviews and travel inspiration.