Campground Corn Casserole, One Pot
Thanksgiving corn casserole rebuilt from dry goods, no oven and no fridge.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 116
- protein
- 14 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried sweet corn | 1 1/2 cups | dried, before rehydrating |
|---|---|---|
| Dried onion flakes | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried red bell pepper | 2 tbsp | |
| Whole milk powder | 1/2 cup | |
| Flour | 2 tbsp | instant-blending flour thickens without lumps |
| Powdered cheddar cheese | 1/3 cup | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Paprika | 1 tsp | |
| Dry mustard | 1 tsp | |
| Black pepper | a few grinds | |
| Ghee or olive oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Cornbread stuffing mix | 2/3 cup | crushed, goes on last |
Method
- Bring 600 ml of water to a boil. Drop in the corn, onion, and pepper, then pull it off the heat and let it sit five minutes covered.
- Whisk the milk powder, flour, cheese powder, salt, paprika, mustard, and pepper together in your cup with a splash of the hot liquid until it is a smooth paste. Lumps form if you dump the powder into the pot dry.
- Stir the paste back into the pot. Return to low heat and stir constantly for two minutes, until it thickens and coats the spoon.
- Kill the heat, stir in 2 tbsp of the fat, and let it stand two minutes to set up.
- Toss the stuffing mix with the last tablespoon of fat and scatter it over the top. Eat it out of the pot.
The original is a baked casserole: butter, eggs, fresh milk, thirty minutes in an oven. None of that travels. The rebuild keeps the structure and swaps the perishables out. Milk powder and flour make the same white sauce, cheese powder stands in for shredded cheddar, and freeze-dried corn rehydrates in the pot instead of coming out of the freezer. The eggs are gone entirely; they were binding a bake that no longer happens.
The sauce is where this succeeds or fails. Slurry the powders with a little hot water before they meet the pot, or the flour seizes into lumps you cannot stir out. The stuffing crumbs go on at the very end and stay dry that way, which is the only part of the crust texture that survives without an oven.
Packing
Two bags: everything powdered and dried in one, the stuffing mix in another so it stays crunchy. Fat rides in a leakproof bottle.
Variations
- A foil packet of chicken stirred in at the end turns it into the whole meal.
- Chipotle powder in place of the paprika if the sweet corn needs a counterweight.
https://thervatlas.com/food/thanksgiving-at-the-campground-corn-casserole-instapot-mashed-potatoes-and-apple-slaw