Vintage Camping Recipes


Here we go with my favorite no fuss recipe which really isn't a recipe at all - more a collection of whatever you've got in your fridge thrown together in a tin foil pouch and cooked in the coals until its steamy and delicious!

On our most recent excursion, an investigation of the fridge revealed:
1. Chicken
2. Potatoes
3. Onion
4. Carrots
5. Cream O' Chicken Soup

Wrap it all up in evenly portioned tin foil pouches (double foil just so you don't lose the goods during rotation), then add your favorite seasoning.  Heat the coals  to a nice grey and place the pouches on top!  Rotate them every 7 to 10 minutes and soon you'll be biting into a delicious hobo dinner that is the epitome of camping fare.

Note to Self:  Bring along some leather gloves and tongs so you aren't fishing these little gifts out of the coals with your bare hands.
Now I've been told you should pre-cook the meat so all you're really doing is re-heating.  However, I have a strong aversion to re-heated chicken.  Soooo.... I just ignore that rule and put everything in raw.  It takes a bit longer to cook, but the result is divine. Moist and delicious chicken, tender and perfect veggies - ooh I'm getting hungry. 
Now I know this is not a revelation in cooking.  Many folks do tin foil dinners many ways.  My friend Andrea made a custom dinner for each member of her family using hashbrowns, hamburger, cheese, corn or even sliced hot dogs - whatever each person likes!  I've also made them with summer squash, tomatoes, cheese, rice and veggies. The hooligans cooked their freshly caught rainbow trout in a foil packet with butter, salt and pepper, and I thought I died and went to heaven! Really anything you can imagine can be cooked in a tin foil pouch.   

I was delighted to see that Sunset Magazine had an article this month on "modern" hobo dinners!  They call them Hobo Bundles...not the kind that are wrapped in a red bandana and tied to the end of a stick. Very Chic, vegetarian friendly, Hobo Bundles.  Check them out here Sunset Magazine Hobo Bundles.  
So here's my question to you - What do you include in your favorite Tin Foil Dinner / Hobo Bundle?  Leave a comment with your recipe. I'll try them out and award a prize for the best one. You don't have to be a hobo to cook like one...so get cooking!

1 comment:

  1. This is a great way to make a good dinner without worrying about washing dishes. We've made pork, chicken, beef, and seafood this way. A few days ago, I did a Hobo Low-Country Boil for my mom's birthday dinner. I could probably do a blog post, or even an entire blog, about cooking this way.

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