Filson Food: Campfire Steak & Hash

“One of the challenges in the backcountry is pulling off cooking a meal without all the equipment we are used to in our home kitchens. This challenge also makes it a lot of fun and forces you to get creative. The magic of cooking outdoors over a fire is hard to replicate at home. The food won’t usually look as nice, but somehow it seems to taste that much better. Maybe it’s something primal about cooking food over a campfire as our ancestors did, or maybe it’s the fresh air and big vistas. Whatever it is, it makes cooking in the outdoors very much worthwhile. One easy way to cook over a fire is by using a flat rock like a hot plate. Choose a dry, flat rock and clean it well before using it. Avoid rocks that are sitting in water as they have a tendency to explode when heated. Heat the rock thoroughly before cooking to make sure it can take the heat.”

– Connor Gabbott, Backcountry Chef

Steak

1 Grilling steak (this recipe used a bone-in ribeye)
Seasoning salt
Vegetable oil

Hash Browns

2 Baked russet potatoes (bake these in the fire the night before, wrapped in aluminum foil)
½ Onion
½ Cup Butter
1 Tsp Seasoning salt

Tomatoes & Green Sauce

8 Wild spring onions, finely sliced. Substitute 4 green onions, if necessary
½ Bunch Parsley, rough chopped
2 Tbsp Vegetable oil
Pinch of Salt
½ Lemon, juiced

2 Vine-ripened tomatoes
1 Tsp Vegetable oil
Seasoning salt

SETUP

• Build a rock fire ring and create an elevated platform for the cooking rock that will allow coals to be pulled underneath it.
• Start a fire, creating a large bed of glowing coals, and pull coals under the cooking rock to heat it up.

HASH BROWNS

• Grate the baked potatoes and onion through the coarse side of a box grater.
• Melt half the butter in a small dish. Combine all the hash brown ingredients and mix well.
• Taste the hash brown mixture and adjust the seasoning.
• Form the hash browns into a 1 ½” thick cake and compress it so it holds its shape.

STEAK

• Season the steak liberally with seasoning salt, and brush it lightly with oil.
• Combine all the ingredients for the Green Sauce and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning and lemon as needed.

TOMATOES

• Cut the tomatoes through the equator and season with the oil and seasoning salt.

COOKING

• Once the cooking rock is very hot, place the hash brown cake onto a medium heat section and add half of the remaining butter on the rock next to the hash browns. This butter will help brown the potato.
• Cook the hash brown until the bottom browns and becomes crispy. This may be tricky depending on how flat the cooking rock is.
• Flip the hash brown and add the last of the butter next to the hash brown and cook until browned again.
• Add fresh coals under the cooking rock as needed to keep it hot.
• Place the steak on the hottest part of the cooking rock.
• Cook and flip the steak as needed to cook to your desired temperature.
• Char the cut side of the tomatoes on a hot section of the cooking rock.
• To serve, drizzle the Green Sauce over the steak.