Tin Foil dinner suggestions

[gcnphkr]

"if anyone knows or has heard of a "foil dinner" recipe for pancakes or combination of them and a breakfast meat etc."

 

Not foil dinners. But we have cooked bacon, eggs and hash browns in paper bags. If it works in a paper bag it should work in foil. Biscuits cook fine in foil, so you might be able to do some sort of pig in the blanket.

[moxieman]

Search older topics on the forum. This topic comes up almost every year.

 

Also, Reynolds Foil maintains a whole recipe database. From the Cooking Method Drop-down menu, choose "Packet Cooking".

 

http://www.reynoldspkg.com/reynoldskitchens/en/recipes/recipe_search.asp

[dScouter15]

As far as the foil pack breakfast idea goes, one of our patrols came up with an idea that looked like it worked pretty good: start with some eggs, some biscuit dough, and a buffet of any other stuff you want (meats, cheese, veggies, salsa, whatever). Start by cutting the biscuit dough into small chunks. In your foil pack, put a handful of bits of biscuit dough on the bottom, and then crack and egg over the top of it. Then, layer on whatever veggies, meat, cheese, etc you want. Maybe sprinkle a couple teaspoon of milk or water on top to keep everything moist. After you securely wrap up the foil pack, give it a gentle shake to try to spread out the liquid a bit. Then cook over coals.

 

I didn't personally sample this dish, but it sure looked like it turned out good for the patrol that made it. I think they served it with some salsa or hot sauce on the side, and it looked and smelled real good.

 

I would imagine you could experiment with replacing the biscuit dough with some powdered pancake mix, but I'd think you'd probably want to pre-mix it with water/milk/eggs before putting it in the foil pack...(This message has been edited by dScouter15)

[Scoutfish]

I've only done it once, and that was during BALOO class.

 

We made the tinfoil tents , but used hamburger patties. Really large patties. Then you could ad sides such as green beans, potato slices, corn on the cob ( 1/3 ear size pieces)...whatever.

 

One thimng I learned though was that using 1 or 2 cabbage leaves on the bottom creates a protective layer that: steams and keeps the main food from burning on the bottom.

 

Also, to grill chicken breast thouroghly without overcooking the other ingredients...cut the breast ino 3/4 inch wide strips with scizzors.

[SMT224]

Several years ago we were doing hamburger foil dinners on a Troop camping trip. I first had a discussion with the Scouts on food safety, the dangers of ground beef when we did not have adequate hand washing facilities, and how therefore I would be the only one handling the ground beef.

 

As the fire burned, they chopped onions, carrots, & potatoes. We put all the ingredients on a picnic table for easy assembly. I was at another table with all the hamburger and a pile of pre-cut squares of foil. The Scouts formed a line, I put a heap of hamburger on the foil, and the Scout carried the foil over to the table where he could add the other materials, seasonings, and then seal it and take it to the fire. Everything was planned to ensure there would be no contamination.

 

I turned around after several Scouts had taken their hamburger and was shocked to see they were all kneading the potatoes, onions and carrots into the hamburger! Not what they were supposed to be doing! Their hands were covered with hamburger! I asked them if they had any recollection of the food safety talk I had given earlier in the day. They all said they remembered it well, but "foil dinners are better this way!"

 

[Venividi]

Recently ran a Baloo class for 20 people, and used this to keep it simple:

 

2 containers of waterless hand sanitizer

1 box food service gloves

 

frozen hamburger patties - one per person registered, plus a few more

5 lbs of potatos. Sliced them with the food processor the night before, and stored them covered with water in a plastic container in the fridge, then transfered to a cooler.

3 lb of onions. also pre-sliced in a food processor

4 2 lb bags of mixed frozen vegetables. (Had one bag left over)

2 containers of margarine - used in the foil pack to help prevent burning

Assortment of spices - seasoned salt, steak blend, oregeno, etc.

Assortment of condiments to add after cooking was complete - catsup, mustard, bbq sauce, hot sauce.

 

At the Baloo level, keep it as simple and inexpensive as possible, and discuss the other options and embelishments. One of the Baloo handout pages covers additional foil pack options.

[ScoutNut]

I agree with Venividi. That is usually what I do for my BALOO classes also.

 

The frozen hamburger patties are great. They are very cost effective as you don't need high quality. The ready made portions make splitting them up a breeze. I allocated 2 patties per person and never had leftovers.

 

The food service gloves and hand sanitizer are a must.

 

Do as much prep work before the course as possible. Chop, cut, grate, etc. Then put it all in ziplock bags.

 

Anything that can be frozen, should be. It helps it to stay safe, and adds moisture.

 

I like the cream soups for gravy as they also add nice flavor.

 

Instead of margarine I use spray oil. It is easier to just give the inside a quick spray.

 

If you need your food to cook quicker, consider canned veggies. You can even get canned potatoes. Empty the cans into ziplock bags. That way you don't have to deal with washing and recycling cans on site. Also, you can just reseal leftover bags with no mess.

 

For a BALOO course what you need is cheap, and quick. Fancy can wait until the participants do their own outing. Some other cheap meat options are smoked sausage, precooked frozen breakfast sausages, spam, and frozen meatballs.

 

Check out your local Aldi Foods, or other volume, non-name brand, food store, for good prices.

 

Don't forget a dessert. Baked apples work great, but can take up a lot of space/heat.

 

Just a note with the trail mix - you have an unknown mix of folks, with no health forms. Nut allergies can be deadly. I would go with rice chex, pretzels, M&M's, raisins, and maybe some flaked coconut, but no nuts at all.

 

 

[RANBOW]

And dont forget to tell them about coring out the apples and adding m&m's to them. that the only way to really do a baked apple on a campout. :-)

[resqman]

Diced Ham chunks

Pineapple chunks

Diced Sweet Potato/Yams

Sprinkle of cimmamon

Spinkle of brown sugar

Splash of canned yam/potato or pineapple juice or butter

 

 

Chicken(fileted if too thick)

Onion slices

Green pepper slices

Canned corn

Canned new potates, diced

Salt & Pepper

Couple pats of butter,or splash of teriakyi sause, or couple spoons of cream of chicken soup

 

 

Apple, cored

Several shakes of cimmamon inside apple

Several shakes of nutmeg inside apple

Spoon or two of brown sugar inside apple

Pat or 3 of butter

[resqman]

Read the back of the cans for suggested serving sizes.

 

Buying #10 cans of veggies at Sams/Costco/BJs may be a cost saving. Otherwise buy the store brand canned veggies. Figure one 16oz can of veggies per 4 people. 4oz of protien per person. Sliced raw onion per 4 people

1 raw yam/sweet potato per 3 or 4 people. Bell pepper per 3-4 people.

 

Slices cook quicker than dicing. Try to keep all cut veggies same size to provide more even cooking. Large chunks of potatoe take longer to cook than small chunks of potato.

 

Much of the slicing/dicing/chopping can be done at home prior to the campout. Store in ziptop bags or plastic resealable containers for transport. Rinsing white potatoes in clear water for a few minutes will help to wash out some of the starch and reduce browning during storage. You can also add "Potato Whitening" to the potatoes to prevent browning during storage.

 

Usually have a table set out with foil squares at one end and a series of bowls with the fillers along the table. Spoons in each bowl and people laddle a few items into their foil. Spices and sauses come next to add flavor and liquid. At end of line, recommend a squirt of butter or liquid/juice/soup/sauce to aid in cooking the food.

 

Mustard squirt bottles can be used to "write" their name on the exterior of the foil. It will leave an easy to read label on the outside of the foil for identification when they are all in the coals. Cooks brown and easy to read.

 

Some people put a wet paper towel between two layers of foil. The wet towel adds steam but also prevents burning or scorching of the food.