A few years back Kirk and I got an RV, and while the timing was poor (hello 2020 shutting down all the parks in Washington state) we have gotten out in it a number of times since then. No doubt it is comfy, and our tween and teen love going out in it. A nice warm metal tent, right?
But I found a real issue in it. For me it was how I would cook. Suddenly I had an indoor kitchen the size of a small apartment, with both an induction burner and a gas burner. A microwave. A vast sink and counter space. Room to store all the food – fresh food can come along! I could bring cans and glass jars. Fresh meat even. No freeze-dried ingredients unless I really wanted to.
And I hated it. Because when I was cooking like this, I might as well be at home. Stuck inside, while everyone else was outside. My back to them, and 2 tiny windows to stare out awkwardly.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great if it’s howling and raining outside for sure, but the rest of the time I want to cook outside. I didn’t backpack thousands of miles to cook inside when camping. And I usually can scootch the picnic table under our awning if it is raining at most parks – since the boys have strong young backs. And I don’t set the smoke alarm off cooking this way. If I thought the one next to my kitchen at home likes to sing the song of its people….the one in our RV howls if I even try to cook 2 pots at once and forget to open at least both kitchen windows and the vent above my head….that I cannot reach due to being vertically challenged.
If you have seen any of our boondocking posts, well I found my happy spot. Not having to have power, or even water hooked up (there’s always solar panels and the generator for the fridge). Cooking outside. Living outside. Just having a big metal tube to sleep in at night. And maybe the TV after dark to play video games on with each other.
It’s not how I normally cook for sure. I’ll always prefer trailcooking for sure, but….it’s a bridge for me to enjoy wherever I am.
This recipe came out of a deal with the two worlds – fresh steak and shelf stable for the rice part. It works. It’s easy, fast and (for my taste buds) delicious. I am of the type that there is never enough garlic.
Because that sound of sizzling steak is why I am not a vegan.
Ready to eat
Ingredients
Cooking gear
Getting ghee into the pan for the rice
Seasoning the steak
Steak Strips and Garlic Fried Rice
Ingredients:
- 1 pound or so of quality steak*
- 2 packages of ready to eat rice (8.5 ounces usually)*
- Ghee butter or oil
- Sesame oil
- Dried Garlic
- Soy Sauce*
Directions:
Using a 2 Liter pot with a frypan lid, we prepped the steak in batches in the frypan, and stir fried the rice in the main pot. In these recipes it is one of the few times I use a slick no-stick set. Less sticking, easy cleanup.
Take a nice 1 to 2 Tablespoons worth of ghee or oil, and add to the pot. Heat it over a medium flame, drizzle in sesame oil if desired. Add in the rice, and shake in as much garlic as you would like. Stir fry, turning the heat up or down as needed, it should be sizzling. A good hard wooden spoon will break up any clumps in the rice (I do smoosh the bag with my hands before opening).
Meanwhile, open the steak package and sprinkle on soy sauce and garlic as desired. Toss the steak to coat gently.
Heat the fry pan over a medium flame. Add in a bit of ghee or oil and then stir fry the steak strips in batches, not crowding the pan too much, till it’s cooked to your desire.
Serves 2 to 4, depending on appetite.
Notes:
Because this is boondocking style in our RV I carry all the bottles often. Ghee is shelf stable butter, found in the oil section of stores. It gives all the flavor, and none of the issues of fresh butter. It also is better at higher temps, and doesn’t burn, er, brown like fresh.
I like sesame oil in my meals, and it handles higher heat as well.
Soy sauce, I used lower sodium. My portable bottle was in my other kit, and got forgotten, so I liberated a packet from the sushi counter at a grocery store.
We used garlic flavored ready to eat rice, you can use any flavor of course. Or what is on sale!
Bring disposable gloves to wear when handling the steak, keeping your hands clean. Using chopsticks to cook with makes it that much simpler, for turning steak over.
Ghee in pot
Video of us cooking
~Sarah