While everyone has their various motives for pitching a tent or parking a caravan, these usually boil down to the fundamental idea of just, slowing, down.
Running for the train, steering through rush hour, or eating breakfast with one hand while you pack kids’ lunchboxes with the other, all become distant memories when you stop and drop in the wide open spaces of the countryside or seaside (depending on your penchant for an Akubra over a fishing rod).
The campground is an ideal place to take your time with some regional produce, and benefit from the know-how of a local butcher who usually stocks the freshest meat you can possibly get your hands on from neighbouring farms.
In this slowly, slowly recipe, we used a cut of beef brisket that had been butchered two days before we bought it direct from the homestead.
Given the freshness of this grass-fed meat, we didn’t mess around too much by loading it up with other ingredients. However, the beauty of this base recipe is that you can jazz it up and make it your own. Think tinned tomatoes, local root vegetables, or a smoky meat rub.
Despite the rudimentary nature of a campsite kitchen, a five-million-star dish is not far away with a cast iron pot and a long and steady flame. One that is nothing like your grade eight boyfriend.
Camping Resources:
• 1 thick cast iron pot with a tight-fitting lid
• Heated fire pit with enough coals to last at least 4 hours
Ingredients:
• 1.5kg Beef Brisket (or any cut of meat that would traditionally work in a slow-cooker)
• Olive Oil
• Handful of fresh herbs
• 6 Onions
• 4 cloves garlic
• Salt and pepper
Recipe:
1. Drizzle a good glug of olive oil to a cast iron pot, then lay your brisket fat-side down into the pot.
2. Add other ingredients you have and press all of the flavoursome elements into the meat as much as possible. Season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Pour enough water to cover 1/3 of the meat. This usually won’t be too much water, and will still allow for the natural juices of the meat to rise within the pot and not overflow when you hit the four-hour-mark.
4. Place into the firepit and completely surround the cast iron pot with coals. Check on the meat periodically, cooking for at least four hours.
5. Once the meat is cooked, lift the pot out of the fire and shred the meat using two forks.
6. Enjoy next to a serve of veggies, atop soft tortillas or layered in between two burger buns. The list of carb companions to shredded meat is only limited by your imagination.
Tucked away in the Noosa Hinterland, the Boreen Point Campground is a peachy place to flex your skills with a portable fire pit. A quick stop into Master Meats Butcher in Noosaville will crown you as pulled-meat royalty of the headlands on your very first night.
