Yay!!! It’s happy happy steak time! What’s better than having steak? Bacon wrapped around that steak!
Anyone who knows me understands my obsession with “planning”. Whether it’s planning for a trip, an event, or a meal, I’ll be in my element planning for it. My sister Michelle and I often tease each other because we’re cut from the same cloth. For any one trip we’re planning, we’ll have 10 spreadsheets devoted to it. Do we need all the spreadsheets? Hell no! We just enjoy the process of making them, hell we enjoy the process of THINKING about making them .
Some folks equate our obsession to plan with us being control freaks, but that’s not the case. For example, if we plan an activity for the day, and our friends wish to do something else, we’ll gladly do that! If our plans are followed through, we’re happy, but if we end up doing something else, we’re easy going enough to roll with the punches. We will, however, have 10-15 back up plans running through our heads…..just in case……that’s how much enjoyment we get from just THINKING about planning.
Now knowing my love for planning, imagine my excitement when I was given total planning rights over our camping dinner a couple weekends ago. I just about died from ecstasy!
We had bacon left over from breakfast so it didn’t take me long to decide on Filet Mignon. Filet is a thicker cut of meat so it’s less likely to dry out and end up tough. And since it’s thicker, bacon wraps around it nicely! Hooray!
I typically will steer clear of making chicken over a fire because 1. If it’s dark while we’re making dinner, it’s really hard to see if the chicken is under cooked. 2. I don’t pack my meat thermometer solely because I don’t want to lose it! Steak normally is my camping protein of choice since I’m a fan of medium rare steak….if the meat’s well done…..well….. it’s just burnt.
Speaking of losing your meat thermometer……have you? Yes? Oh man, that’s a bummer!!! Did you know that your hand is your very own built in meat thermometer? You did? Oh man, you’re going to be bored for the next portion of this post :/
If you’re without a meat thermometer and you need to check a steak’s internal temperature, you can use your hand as a guide. Touch your pointer finger and thumb together. With your other finger, press into the thenar eminence muscle (it’s the fleshy part of your palm, under your thumb). You’ll feel that the muscle gives to the touch. One by one, as you touch your other fingers to your thumb, you’ll notice the thenar eminence muscle will firm to the touch as you try and press it.
This little handy hand guide teaches you how to “feel” if your meat is done! The next time you cook a steak, even if you are still planning to rely on a meat thermometer, press on the meat occasionally while it cooks, and compare the feeling of the meat with the thenar eminence muscle, finger test. I personally needed to practice before I was 100% comfortable, but now I can finally tell how cooked a steak is, just by touching it.
Now, what to serve with the steak. None of us were in the mood for potatoes, we wanted something lighter because we were about to indulge in meat, wrapped in meat. Veggie skewers were a no brainer. Not only are they the prefect accompaniment to steak, but any leftovers can be used for our egg taco breakfast the next morning. Yay!!!!! I love it when a plan comes together!
After loading up our skewers with the veggies, we happened to have an abundance of portabella mushrooms and sweet onion left over. I decided to pull out my single burner butane stove and saute those little babies! Can you imagine it??? Bacon wrapped Filet Mignon, smothered with sauteed mushroom and onion. Actually don’t imagine it….it’s torture unless you’re lucky enough to be eating it.
So, I had one more surprise up my sleeve to elevate the bacon, mushroom, and onion perfecta trifecta.
While the steak was cooking over the campfire, I threw fresh rosemary onto the hot coals, and watched as the perfume-y, rosemary smoke, circled and enveloped the meat.
My God…..what have I done……I’m starving now.
- Olive oil
- 3 8oz Filet Mignon
- 3 pieces thick cut bacon
- Approx 1 teaspoon of Cajun seasonings
- Approx 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- Approx ½ teaspoon salt
- Approx ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 sweet onion
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 1 portabella mushrooms
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil
- Left over sweet onion
- Left over portabella mushroom
- Salt and pepper
- A big bundle of fresh rosemary
- Build a fire. You'll want to get a good fire going so you have enough hot coals to sustain cooking the meat. If you want to eat before nightfall, you may want to start the fire by 3pm.
- While you're fire is going, cut up your veggies (this can be done at home beforehand too). With whatever you have on hand, a plastic baggie or make a tin foil bowl, coat all your veggies with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
- Once the fire is died down, and you're left with really hot, glowing coals, you'll be ready to cook!
- In a small baggie, bowl, or make a little bowl out of tin foil, mix together your meat rub ingredients. It's best to mix the rub ingredients with your fingers so you can break up any clumps.
- Drizzle the steak with some olive oil, then sprinkle each steak with the rub, massaging it into the meat.
- Wrap each steak with a thick cut of bacon. Set aside (tented under tin foil to protect from bugs) until you're ready to cook.
- Set your camping grill grate over the fire. Carefully place each steak on the grill grate. If using, throw the fresh rosemary on top of the hot coals at this time! Do this, you won't regret it!
- Right after you put the steak on the grill, put the skewers on too!
- Have someone monitor the steaks while you saute the mushrooms and onion. I turned on the single stove burner, melted some butter, threw in the onion, and cooked them until they were translucent (approx 5 minutes). Next, get the mushrooms in the pan, and cook until everything is caramelized and golden brown (approx another 5 minutes). Set pan aside, cover with tin foil, until ready to eat. Note, you can always quickly reheat them later if the steaks take longer than expected to cook.
- Normally, if you're dealing with medium high heat, you can sear your filet for a few minutes on each side and it's done. However, since you're dealing with campfire, and the heat will vary, this may take longer. I had my husband carefully watch the steaks, once they browned nicely on the bottom, he flipped them over. He poked them occasionally with the "finger test" and took them off the grill once they reached medium rare.
- Put the steaks on a plate or tin foil, and loosely cover with MORE tin foil. Let the meat rest for at least 10 minutes. During this time the veggies will finish cooking.
- Once the veggies are done and the steak had time to rest, put them both on a plate, and smother the steak with your sauteed mushrooms and onion.
- Eat and enjoy the fruits.....more like steak and veggies...of your labor!
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