(bright music) - This week on "Outdoor Eats," I am on a solo adventure in the Smokies.

We are talking fast, easy, and tasty recipes you can take on any camping or backpacking trip.

(bright music continues) This is smelling and this is looking really, really good.

Oh, yeah, that hits the spot.

(bright music continues) Wow, that is way bigger than I was expecting.

Look at that thing.

This is where I wanna be.

(upbeat music) I'm Chef Corso, hiker, backpacker, and classically-trained chef, on a mission to elevate outdoor meals because food on the trail should be so much more than just calories.

Join me and my friends as we explore beautiful trails and cook up quick, easy, and delicious meals to share together.

This is "Outdoor Eats."

Outdoor Eats is made possible by the following America isn't just one land, it's many.

The great outdoors, local scenes, and of course the people.

So many destinations to explore.

More information available at GoCollette.com Guided travel since 1918.

Vivid-Pix memory station and software allows users to scan personal history items like photos and documents, record voice narrative, and share what has been conserved.

More online at Vivid-pix.com.

♪ upbeat music In4adventure.com Inspiring, educating and encouraging outdoor adventure Host- And by these additional sponsors ♪ upbeat music (upbeat music) To start my Smokies adventure, I am in Bryson City, North Carolina.

And for the meal plan for this adventure, we are focusing on three classic backpacker ingredients.

We have instant mashed potatoes, ramen, and tuna packets.

I've got some great recipes and ways to be able to elevate them with very little pack weight and very little pack volume.

And they're gonna be super, super tasty, and really, really complement my trip.

(upbeat music continues) At the beginning of my trip in Bryson City at BC Outdoors, was able to get some local information from a great guide and a great shopkeeper, Kevin, and Liz there at the bar.

And it was really, really great local information to know about some safety tips and some trail tips in order to keep my solo trip safe since I'm not from this area.

(bright music) Kevin, this place is awesome.

- Welcome.

- Thanks so much.

- Can I get you a beer?

- I have not been in very many outdoor shops where you can also drink a beer.

- [Kevin] Surprising, I know.

- Well, I think it's a combo that should happen more often.

Yeah, cheers.

- Cheers.

- Great to meet you guys.

And thank you.

So I'm going on a solo adventure here in the Smokies, and I am a little concerned about bears in this area.

- Well, I always tell people if you do see a bear, consider yourself lucky 'cause it's a wonderful sighting, it's a cool experience.

99% of the time, if you see a bear, it's often that they're running away from you, so you really don't have to worry about bears.

But their presence is something you certainly wanna be aware of, and you wanna know how you can have a safe interaction if you do stumble upon a bear in the back country.

If you see them and they don't necessarily see you, and you can tell that they're moving off into the distance, you can just let them be on their way.

If they do see you or if they're coming towards you, you can, in a calm, non-aggressive manner, just let them be aware of your presence.

I'll usually just yell out, "Hey, bear."

Or talk to myself or whistle or sing or whatnot if I know I'm in bear territory.

- Yeah, make up a couple big claps to- - Yeah.

- Get 'em outta the way.

- Something unnatural that will perk up their ears a bit.

- Gotcha.

(peaceful music) "Outdoor Eats" recipes aren't necessarily fancy or gourmet, and they aren't that expensive.

The thing about it too, when you're traveling around in these smaller towns, is sometimes the Dollar General or the dollar store is your only option for shopping.

And that's completely okay.

There are a lot of really, really good ingredients that you can shop for in order to make some really, really good camp meals without breaking the bank.

(peaceful music continues) I have heard there are some great waterfalls in this area and it is time to start our adventure, so let's get on the road.

(bright music) (birds chirping) The first stop on my Smokies adventure is hitting up one of the local waterfalls.

And I'm looking forward to finding a really nice spot to cook by Mingo Falls.

(bright music continues) (birds chirping continues) (water burbling) Whoa.

Wow, that is way bigger than I was expecting.

It is gorgeous.

I was really surprised that it was that big and that powerful.

(bright music continues) I'm all set up here to cook my truck stop or my dollar store recipe.

So what we're making is a Chicken Dorito Enchilada Bowl.

What we have for our ingredients is Doritos, for flavors, you can choose any one you want.

For other ingredients, we have a chicken packet, and we have multiple ways you can spice this up.

So you could really choose your own adventure.

You can go chili powder, hot sauce packets, a little bit of garlic powder.

You can also add some cheese to bulk up calories and also make this your own.

And what I am using here today is beer.

If you don't wanna use beer, that's okay, throw in some water.

And first thing is I just wanna make sure Doritos are still good, 'cause I haven't had one in a long time.

(bright music continues) (water burbling) Yep, Doritos are still good.

Shocking.

This recipe is really, really easy.

You get your liquids in there, you crush up your chips, get my chicken in the pot.

And I'm gonna go for combinations of seasonings here today, so I'm gonna go with a little bit of chili powder, a little bit of garlic powder, put our lid on and get our burner going.

Yes.

And the one thing I'm not adding right now is salt.

And the reason for that is Doritos tend to have a lot of salt.

So I think a lot of times in recipes we knee-jerk reaction to just sprinkle, sprinkle.

But I think for this recipe, we're gonna be just fine with the amount of salt that's already in our snacks.

There's one thing that you're gonna need to add to this to make it amazing, and that's some sort of acidity.

Acidity is really, really important to dishes inside and outside to just highlight the flavor that's going on.

And the options you can consider is packing a lime, or you can pack some Tajin.

And Tajin is a great Mexican spice blend that has chili powder, some garlic, and some other seasonings, plus citric acid.

So that little bit of acidity will really complement those flavors and bring this whole dish together.

Come on.

(bright music continues) This recipe is perfect for those kind of longer-haul trips.

Higher calorie, good protein, good flavor, not a lot of pack weight, and it's also really easy to share.

This is absolutely one way to make a new trail buddy.

(bright music continues) (water burbling continues) (peaceful music) Remember the days before GPS, where you had to print out your directions and actually read them and follow them?

Well, that's my kinda current situation right now looking for my secret campsite tonight.

So let's see what we've got.

Set your odometer here because the GPS will not work from here.

Turn left on Buffalo Valley Road, and then turn right on this, slight right on that, look for the big rock and the stump and the church.

Let's see if I can find this thing.

(bright music) My first campsite is a little bit off the beaten path, and when I got there it was beautiful and a total score of a campsite.

It's places like this that really allow me to calm down, to be quiet, and let my cares wash away with the rapids.

(bright music continues) (water burbling) Why I love solo trips so much is that I'm on my schedule.

If I wanna sit here by this river and stare at it for 20 minutes, that's what I get to do.

I get to sleep as long as I want, I can enjoy, I can have a nice, leisurely morning coffee or a nice meal.

This is pretty great.

(bright music continues) Since we are in bear country, it is really, really important to secure our food because bears love snacks just like I do and just like you do, and we need to find a way to secure it appropriately so we are safe and they aren't coming around and sniffing around our camp.

So there's a couple options you can do.

You can do a bear can with a locking lid here.

You can do a bear bag, which helps with critters and also keeping the smell out as well.

You can also hang your food in some stuffed sacks or some other bags.

And the last few years, a lot of areas have been installing bear cabinets or big BearVaults.

Those are also noted on a lot of campsite details as well, so check that out.

When it is time to cook in bear country, it is really important to not cook right next to where you're sleeping.

It's really important to find a spot to cook that is multiple feet away from your tent site, so if a bear does come through your campsite at night and he's sniffing around, he's not sniffing right next to your head, he's sniffing multiple feet away.

(upbeat music) The meal for tonight is ramen.

And what we're doing tonight is elevating it.

The first step to elevating the ramen, throw away that packet, you don't want it.

And actually, I need to grab it, we need to put that in our pack-out bag.

I don't wanna leave that for the squirrels.

(bright music) And this doesn't take too much time to get up to a simmer, so getting my noodles in my pot.

And what I have in here is a flavor bomb and a flavor bottle.

So I have a little bit of sesame oil, a little bit of soy sauce, a little bit of rice vinegar, and some sriracha.

If you don't like spicy, that's okay, don't put the sriracha in there.

This is a two ounce bottle and I like adding it now so those noodles can really start to soak up that flavor.

Once you come up to a boil, go ahead and turn that burner down to a nice simmer.

And I don't know about you, there is something about, ooh, yeah, be careful, because it will boil over very, very quickly, and that's okay, it happens.

And while our noodles are finishing up, I'm just going to quickly slice up my fresh veggies.

A few bell peppers, a few green onions, and some snap peas.

And something that's really lacking from a lot of packaged meals is freshness, texture, and those micronutrients that you're gonna get from your fresh veggies.

(bright music continues) This is smelling really, really good.

You know, if you don't wanna pack this flavor bottle, what you can do too is pack along some soy sauce packets.

I know all of you out there have a drawer full of soy sauce, hoisin, sriracha, all those packets that you don't know what to do with.

Pack those up, put those in an old toiletry bag, and pack these out on the trail.

(bright music continues) Oh yes, warm, flavorful broth.

Then garnishing it up with my fresh veggies here.

And the other thing that I like to add too is some wasabi peas.

This is a really great, actually vegetarian option, to consider, but make this your own and really, really find your way to elevate your ramen in however you like.

(bright music) I love a good s'more.

It is such a great, classic American flavor.

What I packed for this trip, just to change it up a little bit, is going a little bit rogue with my s'more build.

And so I switched out my graham crackers for Stroopwafels.

They've got kind of a waffle cookie with some caramel and some vanilla in there, kinda sandwiched.

And then instead of just a classic chocolate bar, I have one these really easy packing chocolate nut butter packets.

And then we are going big daddy malo to fit into our Stroopwafel.

And I think it's really important to let these Stroopwafels warm up a little bit to really activate their flavor.

So I found a nice rock here that's got some nice heat.

You could also roast 'em right over the fire too, to get up a little bit of the smokiness, but I think that's gonna be great.

(bright music) Oh, that is getting ooey gooey.

(bright music continues) That is a ooey gooey, elevated s'more.

Oh my gosh.

Yes.

(bright music continues) This is an amazing end to a great day in the Smokies.

(bright music continues) (water burbling) (fire crackling) (bright music) Here's some Bear Can Do's and Don'ts.

Do close and lock your can when you're not using it.

(bright music continues) Don't leave it around camp with the lid off.

(bright music continues) Do store it away from where you're sleeping.

(bright music continues) Don't store it close to where you're sleeping.

(bear growling) (bright music continues) (bright music) (water burbling) I've been hiking on the trails for a few days, so I thought I would change it up a little bit and go mountain biking.

- Right now we're at the NOC.

It's in the Nantahala National Forest, and we're about 20, 25 minutes away from Bryson City, being the closest town, Asheville being about an hour away.

- Zane was able to give me a little rundown of the NOC area and their multiple miles of mountain bike trails here, and hit the trail for some fun adventuring and great to get the legs moving in a different way.

(bright music continues) Man, I need a break and I need a snack.

What I'm gonna make up here today is a tuna melt.

So a way to elevate those tuna packets, give a little bit different flavor and actually cook my lunch than just having it cold.

Something that's really important to me is having hot food and I usually bring the burner for most of my meals.

And I'm just gonna cook it up here, right on the bench.

(bright music) Ingredients for our tuna melt are tuna packets, some cheese so we can melt.

Very, very important.

And what I've got here is what I call my weasel bag.

And these are my weasel bag of ingredients.

And why I call them weasel ingredients is that you don't necessarily buy them, you don't necessarily steal them, but you kinda weasel them at the coffee shop or the grocery store.

And so I put all my soy sauce packets, mayo, mustard, hot sauce, and ketchup all in here, and I can just throw it right in my backpack when it's time to cook.

So what we're looking for is a little bit of mustard and some mayo.

Another ingredient that you could add here too is a little bit of smoked salmon.

It's got really good calories.

Really, really tasty.

And to flavor it up too, you could add a little bit of garlic powder or some other seasonings if you like, maybe some chili flake or some black pepper.

What I'm gonna do is just get my ingredients in my pot before I start my burner.

(bright music continues) Oh man, Dijon and brown mustard.

This is gonna be good.

And then all I need to do is get my burner going and heat up our mix so it's nice and warm.

This is smelling really, really good.

Getting me excited for snack time here.

And there's just something about warm food and warm food outside.

Again, you can just throw these ingredients in a tortilla and have a very solid, solid lunch.

But the addition of heat here I think is really, really important.

And when I'm going outside, I don't necessarily need to rush through every activity.

I'm going outside to enjoy and just take it a little bit slower pace sometimes.

And having a great meal to be able to do that is pretty nice.

Great.

So that is nice and warm at the moment.

And I'm gonna prepare my cheese.

And these cheese snacks are absolutely perfect.

Right now this is just tuna mix.

It is not tuna melt.

We need some melted cheese.

(bright music continues) Oh yeah, we are looking nice and cheesy and melted in here.

You can dunk with anything that you like.

And I have got classic Wheat Thins and classic Triscuits.

And this is a great debate for you and your trail crew, are you Team Triscuit or are you Team Wheat Thin?

And I tend to like the Triscuits with the Rosemary and Olive Oil, and the Big Wheat Thins.

Yeah, they're a little bit thinner, a little bit crispier.

Let's give that a nice dunk.

(bright music continues) Oh, man.

Look at that great melted cheese.

This is a super cheap, really, really easy packet lunch, high calorie, and it's warm.

And I love having a warm lunch.

(bright music continues) (birds chirping) (bright music) I'm finishing up my hike and gonna set up camp.

And tonight for dinner is a holiday classic and one of my favorite trail meals.

(bright music continues) What I need tonight is a warm, filling, stick to my ribs meal.

And this is one of my favorite trail meals.

And why it's one of my favorites is it's actually one of my favorite meals inside.

It is the Turkey Day Holiday Stuffing Bowl, or the Holiday Bomb, where I'm bombing together all of the holiday flavors into one bowl.

I've got instant mashed potatoes, instant stuffing mix, some gravy mix.

And, you know, they don't make packaged turkey, so we're gonna have packaged chicken here tonight.

It's a pretty solid substitute.

Some dried cranberries, some fresh green beans.

And then to top it all off, because it isn't Thanksgiving without the green bean casserole experience, is I have, oh yeah, French's Fried Onions.

(bright music continues) The first thing we're gonna do is boil up some water.

And I need enough to hydrate both the stuffing and the instant mashed potatoes.

(burner hissing) (bright music continues) Yes.

So I have a couple bowls here.

And what I'm gonna do is put instant mashed potatoes in one and stuffing in the other.

And what I'm also gonna add to these bowls is some of our other ingredients.

So I'm adding my dried cranberries to my stuffing.

And also just take my fresh green beans, break 'em apart.

And I like my green beans a little bit crunchy.

If you like 'em a little bit softer, you can add 'em to the water here and boil 'em up that way.

Awesome.

That's looking great.

For this amount of water, it really doesn't take all that long for this to boil.

So we are up to a boil and we are going to add my water to my instant mashed potatoes and to my stuffing mix and cranberries and give both of those a nice little stir.

(bright music continues) And both of these need to sit a few minutes.

So just gonna put a lid on both of these and we're gonna come back and check on them in a few minutes.

And it's time to start with our gravy.

Gonna throw some water, our chicken packet, and our gravy packet, and get the burner back going.

There is another way to make this trail meal.

What you can do is put your water in there, all of your ingredients, turn on the burner, get it up to a boil, turn off the burner, put a lid on it, and just let it sit so that stuffing mix can hydrate.

So all of those ingredients are still in the pot and still having a good time and having a seasonal time in there, a festive time in there.

The thing about that method, though, I've done that before, is that you don't get the gravy over the top of the bowl experience.

You just get the gravy mix, seasoning and flavoring up everything else.

And for me, it's not as good.

It's not as pleasurable.

I like having the full gravy experience on the top.

(bright music continues) Yes, it is thickening up.

That is great.

Oh, yeah, wow.

We're already all done.

Give that a taste.

(bright music continues) Mm-hmm.

Yes, that is just so, so tasty.

Our mashed potatoes have hydrated.

Our stuffing has hydrated.

Check the flavor on there.

Yep.

That's looking really, really good.

And I do have an extra bowl here so we can put all of our ingredients together.

(bright music continues) And we can't forget about our French's Fried Onions.

(bright music continues) And there we go, folks, Turkey Day Stuffing Bowl, Holiday Bomb.

Let's see how this tastes, all those flavors together.

(bright music) Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, takes me back to the holiday table right there.

This is so tasty, this is so satisfying.

It's definitely what I needed tonight on this cooler evening at camp.

The Smoky Mountains has really delivered, some beautiful vistas, some great new trails to explore.

And this meal is a perfect way to end my trip here.

(peaceful music) (birds chirping) Outdoor Eats is made possible by the following America isn't just one land, it's many.

The great outdoors, local scenes, and of course the people.

So many destinations to explore.

More information available at GoCollette.com Guided travel since 1918.

Vivid-Pix memory station and software allows users to scan personal history items like photos and documents, record voice narrative, and share what has been conserved.

More online at Vivid-pix.com.

♪ upbeat music In4adventure.com Inspiring, educating and encouraging outdoor adventure Host- And by these additional sponsors ♪ upbeat music