Fire-pit's first firing!

Nick and I were busy today. We ticked off several missions, including buying a 44-drum - which was converted to an excellent fire pit, using a former coffee table we rescued from a neighbour's Council clean-up pile. (I'd spotted the table during the weekend and thought it would work well, so was pleased to see it fit).

My wonderful Mother's Day fire-pit had been gifted to appreciative recipients when we prepared to leave Victoria.

After collecting the drum, we banked the cash received when we sold our van. The butcher near the bank was selling "goat curry meat pieces", so a kilo of those were acquired also.

We made a stop at Bunnings for extra grinding wheels - and then headed home to start work. Well, Nick did most of the work. I took lots of photos!

Our camp ovens hadn't been used since Erin's birthday last October.  Both needed some quick sprucing after being in storage.

We'd collected wood from the yard earlier in the day.  There had been a storm a few months back, so I gathered all the smaller fallen branches.  Nick started the chainsaw (it's first use after nearly two years of storage) and cut the thicker branches.

It's even longer since we've used our Maxi BBQ! It was handy for making a flat cooking area on top of the drum.

I can't remember making a goat curry before.  This one was very mild, probably more stew than curry but it was an excellent effort!

What went into it? About a kilo of goat meat pieces, two chopped onions, at least a cup of fresh green beans, a small pumpkin chopped into chunks, a few potatoes cut into large pieces, some red curry paste, some curry powder, a tin of brown lentils, a tin of diced tomatoes, water, stock powder and a tin of coconut milk.

The onions and meat were browned with the spices - and then everything else added to simmer away for a couple of hours. I wasn't really timing, just stirring every so often and admiring the progress! The pumpkin pieces cooked down to thicken the gravy and it really was lovely.

I often make baked rice in the oven but this is the first time I've tried it in a camp oven. What a success! I'll definitely be making it again! I use a simplified version of this recipe.  Tonight the quantities were 1 and 1/4 cups of (basmati) rice to 2 and 1/2 cups of stock. This cooked, filling my small 2-quart camp oven. The oven rested on coals inside the fire pit, with a few coals on its lid. I made a point of timing the rice. It had 40 minutes in total and was turned half-way. When cooked, the rice had a crunchy crust on the bottom and sides. Brilliant!