Cooking up a storm on the campsite

Having agreed with his wife that he would rent a camper van for themselves, and their 12-year-old son, Louis, he returned that night looking rather sheepish.

"Jonnie came home and told me he'd bought one instead," she remembers, laughing.

"It's been a very steep learning curve," she adds. "The first time we took her out, I didn't think it through. You have to envisage what the key facilities are in a normal kitchen: running water, something to chop on, and a bin – and make sure the equivalents are within easy reach."

Having spent a year learning to cook outdoors – "these days, we'll even go just for a couple of nights" – Annie says she's now got her own system.

"I buy enough perishable food for the first 24-48 hours, surround the food with lots of cold blocks, and then buy fresh for the rest of the trip.

"Shopping is part of camping; going to local markets and farm shops. You don't want to do a week's shop in advance."

Annie is also very aware that a camper van chef must be practical about their limitations.

"All of the recipes in my book start backwards," she laughs. "I tell readers how much washing up they're going to be left with at the end.

"You can cook some fantastic things outdoors, but if you're left with eight saucepans to wash, that's not much fun."

See how you fare with Annie's recipes.

Hot smoked salmon rolls

A Glastonbury favourite, there are two routes here, one hedonistic and the other slightly less so.

In the first, you butter your baguette or rolls on the outside as well as the inside before cooking them, to achieve a seriously crisp and buttery crumb.

The second route is to butter the inside only.

For one or two people, rolls will do nicely, whereas for three upwards, baguettes in varying lengths will play to a crowd.

Either way, fill them with smoked salmon, squeeze over a little lemon juice and grind over some black pepper.

You then have two ways of cooking them. Either heat a frying pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes, wrap the rolls in foil and heat for 4-5 minutes each side. Alternatively, without wrapping the rolls, toast them for a couple of minutes either side on the grid of a hot barbecue. Napkins all round and go.

Feta with pistachios in honey

Serves 6

Feta makes a good travelling companion: its shape,

texture and the fact that it comes hermetically sealed all make it a goer in the chill-box.

But more than that, I love this combination of the salty creamy cheese with the sweetness of honey, and although it's lovely to chip away at with a glass of wine before dinner, it will also stand in as a small sweet-come-savoury at the other end of it.

1 x 200g slab of feta cheese

Runny honey

A couple of handfuls of pistachios

Combine the pistachios with a couple of tablespoons of honey in a bowl, adding just enough to coat and hold them together. Spread these over the feta on a plate, drizzle over a little more honey and dig in with a knife, to help pile it on to whatever crispies you're eating with it.

Frankfurter goulash

Serves 4

Variation on the theme of bangers and mash, and not dissimilar to Dublin coddle. Frankfurters are great camping material, as they don't require any grilling or frying. This is real soul food, the sort of dish any ravenous herdsman would welcome at the end of a dusty day.

tin mug of unsmoked bacon lardons (1 x 100g packet)

3 large onions, peeled, halved and sliced

8 medium waxy potatoes, scrubbed or peeled

12 frankfurter sausages

A couple of bay leaves

Sea salt and black pepper

1 tin mug of chicken stock

Heat a large saucepan or casserole over a medium heat, add the lardons and fry in the rendered fat until golden. Add the onions and continue to fry, stirring frequently, until caramelised. Add the potatoes, frankfurters, bay leaves, some seasoning, and gently mix.

Pour over the chicken stock and gently simmer, covered, for 30-45 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and sitting in a rich gravy – but keep an eye on it towards the end to make sure it doesn't cook dry.

The Camping Cookbook, by Annie Bell, is published by Kyle Cathie Ltd, priced 12.99. To order a copy from the Yorkshire Post Bookshop, call free on 0800 0153232 or go online at www.yorkshire

postbookshop.co.uk. P&P is 2.75.