Campfire Crescents with Fried Bananas and Nutella

The title says it all. I wanted something besides hot dogs to cook in our first bonfire of the season. I've made fried bananas, and I've made nutella stuffed crescent rolls over a camp fire (thanks, Pinterest!) so why not combine?

I'm afraid you'll have to settle for this picture of some of the ingredients. I didn't have my phone with me for the fire, and they got eaten up instantaneously. I'm still grossed out by the fact that we ate all of them.

Ingredients
2 medium-large ripe bananas
2 TBS butter
splash dark rum
1 package crescent rolls
~3 TBS chocolate nut spread of choice

Also needed
cast iron pan
metal spatula
aluminum foil

Directions
Place pan over fire, preferably on a grate/grill designed for such purposes. Plop butter in pan and wait until it starts sizzling and getting brown. Meanwhile, cut up the bananas: slice in half lengthwise, and then cut 2-3 sections, depending on the length of your bananas.

*cough*Phrasing*cough*

Dump your bananas in the pan with the butter and arrange in a single layer. Cook, flipping occasionally, until they have browned on both sides. Sprinkle some rum in the pan and cook a few more seconds while it evaporates.

In the mean time, prep your crescents by spreading about a teaspoon of chocolate nut spread on the widest part. When the bananas are done, place one banana slice in each crescent and roll up. Chow down any leftover bananas like you haven't eaten all week. Place the rolled up crescents into the pan and cover with aluminum foil.

Here's the tricky part - you will have to pay attention because the cooking directions will depend upon how hot your fire is, and how close the pan is to that heat. If you can keep the pan a bit out of the heat, you should be able to simply cook them for 5 minutes, flip, and another 5 minutes. If not, and if you have a super hot fire, you may instead want to put the pan right in the fire on its own, and when it's gotten super hot, pull it out of the fire and have someone help you get the crescents in super fast, cover with foil, and let it cook that way.

I may  have burned mine a bit waiting too long to flip, but we ate them all anyway. Because we're gross.

Take out Fake out: Chinese Spicy Shrimp/Seafood and Broccoli

Asian cuisine has long been my favorite, and thus the first type of food I tried to create in my own kitchen as a teenager before the Googles and all the Blogosphere. (That's a word now.) Needless to say, the early attempts left something to be desired. I still have yet to find many recipes that produce a satisfying brown sauce, but the more successful ones I have found have various ingredients in common that I always incorporate when making Chinese-American food. (My inability to completely replicate it, however, stems from refusal to use a hundred pounds of oil or MSG. If you have to have legit greasy take out, feel free to add these things in abundance.)

I tend to like mildly spicy food, which this is. I can eat moderately spicy food and enjoy it, but it isn't my preference, excepting a few Indian dishes. On the other hand, my father, who boils all flavor out of food and thinks herbs are the same as spices, would probably cry if he tasted this. So if you tend to swing one way or the other, feel free to add more Thai chilis or omit them completely. One was just perfect for me.

*Note: I whipped this up in a hurry. Measurements are approximations, as I didn't actually measure anything, but the ratios should be fairly accurate.

Ingredients:
3 heads broccoli, chopped into florets
1 large onion, halved and sliced thin 
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound small shrimp or mixed seafood (mine had shrimp, squid and mussels)
sesame oil
1 Thai chili pepper (or bird's eye chili)
2 TBS ground ginger (fresh if possible, otherwise use 1 TBS dry)
1/2 cup tamari/soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1 TBS oyster sauce
1 TBS sambal oelek or chili sauce
Squirt lime juice
Salt, to taste
3-4 cups cooked rice
Sesame seeds

Directions:
Prepare your rice and let it cook while you do everything else.
Steam your broccoli: in a large sauce pan, place a steamer basket, and enough water to nearly reach the bottom of the basket. Bring to a boil. Add broccoli, turn heat to low, cover, and simmer 5 minutes or until you can stick it with a fork and it is your desired tenderness. (I had to do this in two batches because I used four heads of broccoli. Sooooo much broccoli.) When done, remove broccoli from pan and keep in bowl - this is important to stop the cooking of the broccoli so it doesn't get soggy. You'll also want to do this for the seafood below, if you finish cooking it before you are ready to use it.

Put a generous blob of sesame oil in a large saute pan with sides. Add your onion and fry on medium heat 3-5 minutes, until it gets a bit of yellow. Add garlic and fresh ginger, and saute a minute longer. (If using dry ginger, add this with the soy sauce.)

Take the seeds out of your Thai chili pepper and mince. Wash your hands twelve times then stick them in a bowl of cream. (okay, maybe skip the last part, but don't touch your face for a while unless you want to feel hell on earth.) Add this to the pan and give it another minute.

Stir in the soy sauce, mirin, oyster sauce, sambal, lime juice, and salt to taste. Reduce heat and simmer several minutes.

In the mean time, grab a second saute pan, another generous blob of sesame oil, and preheat over a high flame/very hot coil. Dump in your shrimp or seafood and saute until pink or not translucent. Remove from heat and add to onion and sauce mix. Stir well and taste. If too spicy, add more soy sauce, mirin, and another blob of sesame oil. If not spicy enough, add more sambal. Carefully add your brocolli and toss to coat with sauce/mix everything up.

Serve over a scoop of rice and sprinkle sesame seeds on top (which I forgot to do before taking the picture). Voila! Healthy fake out.