When they put together meal plans for patrols heading out on a seven day excursion at Daymar Adventure Centre and Canoe Base near Englehart, Ont., staff have more than the Scouts' immediate health and welfare in mind. The menu is designed to help them learn new skills and practise old. It gives them opportunities to try different cooking styles and techniques and to taste new foods.
A daily menu includes, on one side, a food list and duty roster for each meal and, on the other, recipes and tips. As the days go by, the meal sheets include fewer and fewer details, increasing the challenge and opening up creative approaches for adventuresome cooks.
The emphasis is on lightweight foods available at a supermarket - dried and powdered ingredients, a few small tins, no bottles. Foods you can eat without cooking (hard sausage, cheese, fruit leather) are always a good idea. particularly for days when you face a tough trip and could reach your destination very late and very tired.
This list of appropriate supermarket foods offers a good guide for menu planning. The heavier or bulkier possibilities are more suitable for canoeing than hiking, so choose wisely.
You can add many of these things to other dishes or use them to make your own GORP.
Use the One Minute Boil for eggs. Boil them one minute, remove from heat and cover pot. Let stand three minutes for soft eggs, five minutes for hard.
Prepare rice (you need 12 cups water and your biggest pot). Put dried fruits in a pot with just enough water to cover and let stew while rice is cooking. This makes an excellent chutney side dish for the curry.
Add cream of celery soup mix to cold water and milk and stir well. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, reduce heat and simmer three minutes, adding onions, peppers, chicken soup base and mushrooms. Add tuna, liquid and all. Add curry powder to taste (about 3 teaspoons is perfect). Serve over rice.
These will keep for several days without refrigeration.
Mix together spices. Crumble meat and, with the hands, thoroughly mix in spices. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Mix again and refrigerate another 24 hours. On the third day, shape into five rolls about 38 mm in diameter. Place 50 mm apart on a metal rack and bake at 150 degrees F (65 degrees C) for 8 hours, turning every 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cream together 1 cup margarine and 1 cup chunky peanut butter. Beat in 1 3/4 cups brown sugar, 2 beaten eggs, and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract. Mix in 2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 tsp baking powder. Stir in 2 cups granola or quick oatmeal, or 1 cup raisins and 1 cup chopped roasted peanuts. Drop by huge spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and flatten with a fork. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 18 large cookies.
Mix together
At camp, stir 2 to 3 tablespoons of mix into a cup of hot water. Add a dab of margarine.
The quantities given make enough basic mix for eight people. Turn it into any number of delicious delectables during evening bake- ups.
Mix together
Then try some of these "basic" recipes. If the Scouts are young and relatively inexperienced in camp cooking, hold some practice cooking sessions before you go so that they can test out planned recipes in easy conditions under supervision.
Basic Bannock: Add approximately 1 cup water to basic mix and stir until moist but not sticky. Shape as you like and bake in a pan in a reflector oven. Good for breakfast.
Basic Blueberry Pancakes (serves 10): Mix powdered egg into basic mix. To 6 cups basic mix, slowly add about 3 cups water or enough to make a batter-like mixture. Stir in wild or freeze-dried blueberries to taste. Dollop onto a hot griddle and watch for holes to appear. When slightly dry around the edges, flip and brown the other side.
Basic Cinnamon Buns: Add about 1 cup water to 6 cups basic mix to get a bread dough consistency as for bannock. Flour a work surface and roll or press out dough to about 12 mm thick. Mix together 3 tbsp margarine, 3 tap cinnamon, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 cup raisins. Spread the mixture over the surface of the dough and roll it up. Slice into rounds about 25 mm thick, place on a greased baking pan, and bake in the reflector oven.
Basic Date Nut Cake: Mix together basic mix, brown sugar, egg powder, chopped dates, orange peel, and chopped nuts. Add enough cold water and oil to form a moist sticky dough. Pour into greased baking pans. For extra flavour, sprinkle orange drink crystals on top, then bake in the reflector oven.
You can also use basic mix to make the crust for individual supper pizzas cooked in a reflector oven. As well as dough, you need spaghetti sauce mix, hard pepperoni, dried onions, mushrooms and bell peppers, hard cheese and Parmesan cheese.
John Curtis is the summer program director at Daymar Adventure Centre and Canoe Base. The article is based in part on resources he offered during a session on dried foods at a fall Scouters' conference in Hamilton Region, and in part on supplementary information he provided. Many thanks.