Camping food is one of my favorites. I love a poorly roasted hot dog from a stick over the fire. Usually, the middle is not even warm and the ends are black. Served over a cold bun and dressed in lukewarm Hormel chili with a little shredded cheddar cheese on top, maybe a few slivers of onion, and dinner is served. I’m really not mocking it! I’m serious when I say I love that meal; however, I’ve also come to appreciate that camping is a great opportunity to switch things up and try out new recipes.
A little creative planning and some ingredient preparation can lead to a phenomenal camp meal. Some of the best fish dinners I have experienced were just foil-wrapped, catch-of-the-day trout paired with the simple addition of fresh rosemary or tarragon. The same goes for this pineapple and bear camp burger.
This burger is very easy to make while camping: the sauce can be prepared at home, so there’s no need to take mayonnaise, vinegar, and chipotle peppers on the camping trip. The patties could also be mixed, formed, and packed grill-ready in Ziploc bags. The rest of the ingredients are easy to pack and quickly cook over the grill. A little imagination and preparation groundwork at home allows for a gourmet, restaurant-quality burger under the stars. Enjoy!
Lindsey Bartosh is an eighth-generation Moab girl who loves hiking, hunting, fishing, cooking, writing, photography and working on her website: www.huntingandcooking.com.
Pineapple and bear camp burgers
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground bear meat (or other meat of your choice, like elk, deer, pronghorn, beef, etc.)
- 2-3 tablespoons Montreal steak seasoning
- 4 pieces bacon
- Brie cheese
- Canned pineapple loops
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sauce from chipotle peppers in adobo (add by the tablespoon to increase heat to desired level)
- 4 Kaiser buns
Instructions
- Preheat an outdoor grill to high.
- In a large bowl, mix the pound of ground meat with the Montreal steak seasoning. If you like your burgers a little bit more seasoned, add the additional tablespoon of seasoning. Since this is a camping burger, use your hands for the mixing and really get in there! Form into four thin patties and set aside.
- Over a grill on high heat, cook the four slices of bacon. Make sure to not place the bacon directly over the heat source since the dripping grease will kick up flames, resulting in flame-kissed (aka charred) bacon. Bacon takes between 5 and 7 minutes on the grill, so allow 2-3 minutes on the first side and then flip for the rest of the time to the second. Set aside.
- Add the pineapple to the grill and quickly sear for 2 minutes per side. Set aside.
- Add the burger patties to the hot grill. When working with bear meat, it is important to finish the meat at well-done. Like pork, eating undercooked bear can lead to trichinosis and result in severe sickness. Use a meat thermometer to ensure the center reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit and there will be no need to worry about the potential for food-borne illnesses. Luckily, bear meat is incredibly fatty, so a well-done bear burger is still plenty juicy.
- Grill the first side of the patty for 6-7 minutes then flip to the second for an additional 6-7 minutes. Add the slices of brie cheese to melt during the final two to three minutes.
- To make the chipotle mayo sauce, in a small bowl mix together the mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, and adobo sauce. For extra heat, add additional adobo sauce or even chop up a pepper and mix into sauce.
- Stack the bacon and pineapple on top of each bear patty to warm everything up for 1-2 minutes. Also heat the buns for a minute each.
- To plate, set bear patty stacked with brie cheese, bacon and pineapple on top of heated bun bottom. Drizzle with plenty of chipotle mayo sauce and close the deal with the heated bun top. Dig in and enjoy!
