Recipe of the week Campfire trout: Simple outdoor cooking—but with flair

I love getting away to the country, or, as we say in Australia, “going bush,” says chef Pete Evans in My Grill (Weldon Owen). Whether I’m on a surfing holiday or exploring a national park, the chance to prepare and enjoy a campfire meal with family and friends is always a highlight. “I love to cook outdoors on my barbie,” just as I think every other Aussie male does.

Even when cooking over an open fire, the variety of dishes you can prepare is endless—from a leg of lamb slow-cooked in a camp oven to fish flash-grilled minutes after it’s caught. The recipe below came together when friends and I were foraging for mushrooms in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Paired with two trout I’d caught earlier in a nearby river, they created a meal that was everything I’m looking for on such occasions—relaxed, easy, and delicious. All you have to do is pop open a few cold beers to “make the day a perfect one.”

You might decide to attempt the dessert that follows when you’re working instead over your grill at home. After all, you can’t pack your whole kitchen in a backpack.

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Recipe of the week

Trout with pine mushrooms, prosciutto, and garlic

1 stick of butter

4 thyme sprigs

4 rainbow trout, cleaned and gutted

20 very fine slices of prosciutto

4 tbsp olive oil

1 lb pine mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 cup white wine

1 handful of parsley, finely chopped

Preheat barbecue grill to medium. Using half the butter, place a knob inside each trout, then add a thyme sprig and wrap 5 pieces of prosciutto around each fish. Brush with 1 tbsp of the oil.

Cook fish on the grill for about 4 minutes on each side, then remove and keep warm.

Place a large frying pan on the grill and heat remaining oil until smoking hot. Add mushrooms and cook for 2–3 minutes, then add garlic and cook for another minute or so. Add white wine and parsley and reduce wine by half, then whisk in the remaining butter. Season with salt and pepper and serve with trout. Serves 4.

Grilled figs with mascarpone and honey

7 oz mascarpone cheese

Zest of 1 orange

1 oz Grand Marnier

7 oz heavy cream

8 figs, cut into halves

3 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp honey

2 oz sliced almonds, toasted

Whisk together the mascarpone, orange zest, Grand Marnier, and cream until thick (do not over-whip or mixture may separate).

Preheat a barbecue hot plate or griddle to medium. Place cut side of the figs in sugar. Place figs on the hot plate, skin side down, and drizzle with a little honey. Cook for 2–3 minutes until just warm and starting to collapse. Remove and serve with mascarpone mixture, toasted almonds, and drizzle of honey.