Campfire winners: Frank Camorra's flame-licked meals

While camping is not something I do often, the thought of my two boys running through the bush discovering nature, and me cooking a simple, tasty meal over a fire is very appealing. As I have said before, food cooked over an open fire tastes great. It must be the primaeval gene in us that makes us feel good when we're doing it. I find it very relaxing.

The key to camp cooking is keeping it simple, and using quality tinned products such as sardines, tuna and pulses. Grab a handful of fresh herbs to finish your dish and that's all you need. The chicken and chorizo is an easy and impressive one-pot meal for six. It is best cooked over an open fire in a cast-iron pot, but a saucepan and gas cooker will do just as well.

Tinned sardines are so easy to turn into a quick meal - just add red onion, tomatoes and parsley for freshness, then lemon juice to balance the flavours.

FRANK'S TIP

A list is your best friend when camp cooking. Nothing is worse than driving two hours to the site and starting your meal to find you have forgotten your pot.

Chicken and chorizo

6 skinless chicken thighs, cut into 3

2 chorizo sausages, cut into 1cm slices

2 tbsp olive oil

1 red capsicum, roughly diced

1 brown onion, roughly diced

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 red chilli, chopped

1 tin chickpeas, drained

200ml white wine

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 cup cous cous

1 handful of parsley, roughly torn

6 tbsp hummus

Fry chicken thighs and chorizo in oil until the oil is red and the chicken browned. Add capsicum, onion, garlic and chilli and cook for five minutes or until the onions are soft. Add the chickpeas and cook for five minutes. Add wine, tomatoes and one cup of water then simmer for 15 minutes. Add couscous, stir well, replace lid and leave to soak off the heat for 15 minutes. Serve in bowls, sprinkle with parsley and add a dollop of humus on top. This is best eaten around a campfire with friends, family and a glass of wine.

Serves 6

Potato hash browns with sardine salad

500g tin sardines in oil or tomato,

good-quality Spanish or Italian

3 large tomatoes, diced

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

6 medium desiree potatoes, peeled

2 tbsp plain flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

sea salt

vegetable oil for frying

Drain sardines and place them in a bowl. Add the tomatoes, onion, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. Season and mix with a spoon but don't break up the fish too much. Put aside until later. Coarsely grate the potatoes into a colander. Use your hands to squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. Transfer potatoes to a bowl. Add the flour, egg and salt to the potato, and stir until well combined. Divide mixture into 12 equal portions. Add enough oil to a large frying pan to reach a depth of one centimetre. Spoon four portions of potato mixture into the pan and flatten slightly to form eight-centimetre discs. Shallow-fry for three minutes or until golden underneath. Turn and shallow-fry for a further two minutes or until crisp. Lift out carefully and place on a serving plate. Spoon some sardine salad mixture over the edge of the potato hash; serve immediately.

Serves 6