These have been a favorite of mine since childhood and family camp-outs. We always called them foil dinners but I've heard others call them 'hobo' dinners. Each child in our family was often invited to make their own, to fit their preferences, and mark their name with a permanant marker on the outside for identification after it was cooked. If we planned to travel a long way to our camping destination, the meat patties were frozen before going in the dinners and transported in a cold cool chest. These can be cooked in a 350 degree oven for an hour or more, but they're SO much better hot off the coals and eaten outdoors after a healthy day of outside play.
Igredients:
Meat (Ground Beef Patties, Chicken Breast, Sausage, or a fillet of Fish should all work well).
Vegetables, sliced, to compliment the meat
Our traditional dinners include:
Cabbage leaves (washed)
Carrots (baby or large carrots peeled, cut in bite sizes)
Potatoes (peeled and cut in bite sizes)
Ground Beef or Ground Turkey Patties
Onions, sliced (if desired)
Salt
Pepper
Ketchup, Mustard, Steak Sauce, etc. (reserved).
Start by placing two sheets of aluminum foil, shiny side up,(approximately 15-20 inches long, depending on the size of dinner you're wanting to cook). With the reflective side facing up, place a leaf or two of cabbage in the middle of the foil (the cabbage keeps the meal from burning while cooking--if preferred, layer newsprint between the sheets of foil for a similar effect). Layer in the vegetables and top with the meat. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper to taste. Top with another leaf of cabbage.
Wrap meal tightly to keep in juices and steam while baking. Bring either end of the foil together above the meal. Roll theses sides together, as though closing a bag of chips, until seal is snugly against the meal. Now, fold and roll in each short end till they also touch the meal and make a 'snug' packet. Place the dinner on hot coals to cook. Cook for one hour, or until the yummy aroma begins to fill the air, the vegetables are tender and meat cooked through; rotating or turning the dinner at least every fifteen minutes (Caution: Of course it's hot!)
When done, remove from coals and allow it to sit until it's cool enough to touch, place on a paper plate if desired. Open carefully allowing steam to escape and keeping ashes out. If desired, top with steak sauce, ketchup and/or mustard and enjoy!
