When the snows recede and the forests open we like to venture out: reveling in the woods, fishing in lakes and streams and cooking over the campfire in rustic simplicity. And while it’s too cold to camp comfortably in our area for another month, we spent the last three weeks traveling from Colorado to the California countryside, finishing our trip with a visit to Yosemite National Park where I dusted off my campfire cooking skills and set to work making a meal at our camp site. For when you’re tired by car travel, weary from hiking and raw from shivering in sleeping bags before waking at dawn, regular camp fare of hot dogs, trail mix and toasted marshmallows neither sates hunger nor nourishes a fatigued body. You’re left wanting. So a thoughtful and nourishing meal prepared in the coals of a tenderly watched fire provides a lovely satisfaction, one that blends the comforts of home with the rough pleasures of the outdoors.
Among the best dishes to prepare is chicken, larded with nourishing fat, wrapped with fresh herbs and stuffed with aromatic lemons and alliums. Campfire roast chicken, it’s a simple dish and easy to prepare, and after a long day of splashing through rivers, climbing to waterfalls and tending camp, it provides relief in its nourishment.
Ever the real food lovers we are, when we travel we make the effort to shop at farmers markets so as we made our way from San Francisco to Yosemite on the antepenultimate leg of our three-week road trip, we stopped by the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market to pick up supplies for dinner at the campsite. Stonefruit, something that won’t appear in Colorado for another two months, was plentiful though early in its season while greens, fresh herbs, young garlic and onion and sweet peas were abundant. I picked up a pasture-raised bird for roasting over the campfire, intending to season it with two short-seasoned herbs: flowering onion and flowering dill as well as young alliums and fresh lemon. Together with shelled peas, carrots, apricots, peaches and raspberries, our meal was in the making.
So we spent the morning hiking to the falls, listening to the songbirds and gazing at the patterns of moss on rock, and, once exhausted, we returned to camp to prepare for the evening: lighting a fire, seasoning our pasture-raised bird, roasting it and settling in for another treat of the evening: fire-roasted stonefruit with crushed raspberry sauce. Once roasted in coals for hours, we removed the chicken to find it fragrant with dill, garlic, lemon and onion and its meat extraordinarily tender and falling off the bone as we unwrapped it. In the end, our experience was one of primal luxury.
Campfire Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (giblets and offal removed)
- 1 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 bunch flowering dill
- 1 bunch flowering onion
- 1/4 cup clarified butter or ghee
- 4 heads green garlic (chopped)
- 2 large lemons (quartered)
- 1 bunch young red onions (chopped)
Instructions
- Prepare a campfire using wood or coal, and allow them to burn white hot while you prepare other ingredients.
- Place chicken on a sheet of parchment paper lined with foil and season inside and out with unrefined sea salt and ground black pepper. Mince half of the flowering dill and half of the flowering onion with a sharp knife.
- Spoon clarified butter/ghee into a small mixing bowl and fold in the minced flowering dill, minced flowering onion and half the chopped garlic. Gently loosen the skin of the chicken from its breast and spread the seasoned fat alongside the breast meat, beneath the skin, spreading any remaining butter along the chicken’s skin. Then season the chicken by squeezing quartered lemon over its breast and thighs until the lemons are spent.
- Stuff the chicken’s cavity with the remaining garlic, dill, flowering onion, young red onions and spent lemons.
- Wrap the chicken thoroughly in parchment paper and three to four layers of foil, taking care that none of the chicken’s skin touches the foil or shows after wrapping. Then place the foil-wrapped chicken in the campfire among the hot coals, layering them over the chicken. Roast the chicken in the campfire, rotating it and re-covering it with hot coals every thirty minutes to ensure even cooking for at least two hours.
- Carefully remove the roasted chicken from the fire and allow it to rest for about fifteen minutes before removing its wrapping and serving.
Michelle says
What is a flowering onion? I’ve made beer can chicken on a grill but never done chicken on a campfire. Thanks! – Michelle
Jenny says
Hi Michelle, It’s an onion that is in the stage of flowering. You can find them in the spring at farmers markets. Or, just substitute a bunch of fresh herbs like chives and parsley.
Stephanie says
We made this last night. Although my executing the method was a comedy of errors, this was (eventually–after 4 hours and at 9pm) the best chicken any of us have ever had. Thanks for the good idea!
Joanna Johnson says
Beautiful recipe. Our family gets all of our free-range poultry and 100% grass fed meats from a small family farm in Summerfield, Florida called Pasture Prime (you can Google their website). They ship nationwide, and it feels wonderful to support truly sustainable farms when it comes to procuring meat. Vote with your dollar!
Patrick Timpone says
Wow this really inspires me. I’m going to have to start focusing on how to cook better. I’m good with making simple courses or smoothies and juices but not anything like this. Did you make a stock or broth with the bones afterwards?
Jen @ The Well Read Fish says
This look sincredible! (Okay, that “s” was a typo, but I’m leaving it, because it’s funny and true!)
My camp dinners never look this good.
Jenny says
Sincredible? Oh my … I think I just found my favorite new word.
Lea Ann says
I’m brand new to your blog and can tell I’m going to love it here. This chicken sounds wonderful. I have never tried making anything in the coals. Well, baked potatoes once and they were blackened and hard as a rock. I look forward to making chicken like this on our next camping trip.
nancy at good food matters says
HI–I found your blog via Mary’s Barefeet in the Kitchen. I have so much flowering dill in my yard right now–and your chicken recipe using it really appeals to me. thanks!
Kevin says
Looks great! Going to try this on our next camping trip!
Rosie says
What would you eat this with? Would you roast vegies on the fire, too?
jenny says
We roasted potatoes in parchment/foil simultaneously and served it with stone fruit that I skewered and roasted over the flames.
Linda says
If you were using charcoal, how much would you need? Also will it stay hot enough for the 2 hours or do you add more? I’ve done packets before, but not a whole chicken.
Lisa Imerman says
Thanks, this is a great formula/recipe for camping. I will have to try it!! Always looking for easy meals when camping.
jenny says
It’s our standby! You have to dispose of the bones safely lest they attract wild animals, though.