Mainly written as an aide memoir post a rainy week away in north Scotland. A work in progress and hopefully something you might find useful.
For the home cook the prospect of a self catering holiday can be both exciting and daunting at the same time. I love the idea of being able to explore the local area and make up ideas on the fly, for others I sure there is a sense of dread about that prospect. There is also the challenge of an unfamiliar kitchen and the unknown that it brings. This is my brain dump for the essentials that help make cooking easier hope you find something you can adapt or share your thoughts.
What should you take?
There is only so much space in the car, and in my experience you need as much stuff for one night as you do for seven. Especially if you have young children. So the idea of taking a bunch of cooking equipment is a no no. I do think there are a few of essentials that can make life easier.
- A peeler – typically there is one in the drawer, but it will have seen better days. Bringing your own will put a smile on the sous chefs face
- A tin opener – If it’s yours you will most likely understand how it works, and that it doesn’t mangle up your tin lid so it doesn’t become a lethal weapon
- A knife – create your own carboard sheaf and you’ll be glad of bringing your own tool of choice, especially if you’re a diced onion with every meal kind of cook. I have one that slots into the chopping board from joseph joseph, great for picnics and although not my first choice in my kitchen….it’s like night and day between the ones that will be on offer
Prep Up Front
For me self catering is about the adventure of the holiday and talking about it at the evening meal. Lunch is usually something on the run with the day being spent doing something busy. So evening meal needs to be easy to cook and cognisant of the unfamiliar surroundings. I like to make a casserole the night before travel day, slow cook with enough for two meals. Taking tubs to re-heat.
Sometimes though the run up to holiday is stressful, there is enough to do to get ready let alone think about the gourmet meals that you might need to prepare. If that’s the case….take a few tins. Pulses, Chopped Tomatoes and a good curry paste. Weigh out a couple of family portions of rice or pasta. Worst case you bring them home again.
The Treats
Then there is the magic to a self catering holiday food wise that I’d like to think adds a few memories to our time spent around the table.
Most places I’ve been to have some sort of oven to table ware, typically in the form of a Pyrex casserole dish
Chocolate Puddle Pudding. Really easy to take in two tubs dry ingredient wise, the sponge in one and the puddle in the other.
Crumble of some shape or form, again take the dry ingredients in one tub (100g oats, 100g wholemeal plain flour, 60g sugar). Just stir in 100g of melted butter nearer the time
A 250g block of butter will cover both desserts, and leave a little left for pancakes if you desire.
Help and Support
This is the time to rope people in, meals needn’t be fussy and dried pasta, doesn’t get any easier if your to combine it with say a pre-prepared Bolognese. Get the kids to put it together.
Spaghetti or tagliatelle pasta and Hot Smoked Salmon, Crème Fraiche, a little lemon juice with some tinned lentils can go a long way and my 14 year old pulled this together.
Does depend on the size of the kitchen though…..too many people in a confined space….has been known to create frustration.
Cookbook suggestions
Jamie Oliver’s 5 ingredients…..simple and effective meals with 5 ingredients just watch out for stock cupboard items.
The Camper Van Cookbook by Martin Dorey Life on 4 Wheels cooking on 2 rings…..a good ethos around cooking in different surroundings.
Washing Up
Partly why I do the cooking 🙂
Not really the fun part of self catering, you definitely need to rope people in. Put the Nintendo Switch down and agree a rota.
I don’t know what it is about self catering pans and this just might be me. There typically isn’t a non stick pan in sight and food seems to stick so easily. Take a pan scrub…it’s a definite life saver!
Research
This might seem obvious, Look up where your going on google maps, find the local food places. Clicking on the pin’s will bring up a brief description along with opening times. In times of lockdown knowing your favourite café is closed or has reduced opening hours can be a life saver if you’ve chosen to cycle there!
A Quick List
Mainly to summarise my rambles!
Kitchen Items:
- Pan Scrub
- Knife
- Tin Opener
- Peeler
Food Shop
- Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
- Tinned Chick Peas
- Curry Paste
- Crumble Fruit
- Crumble Mix
- Puddle Pudding (2 tubs)
- Eggs
- 250g Butter
- Family Rice Portion
- Hot smoked salmon
- Crème Fraiche
- Pasta
Pre cooked suggestions items
- Chicken Casserole
- Slow cooked Lamb curry
- Bolognese
In amongst the discussions about back bling, axes, seasons and battle passes, there is shared pan of porridge between a father and his son. Over 8 weeks it’s become our little ritual on workdays. He’s up around 30 mins after the house wakes and the timing is just right before I log in.