To the grill
June 1st, 2009 by Elizabeth Phillips
It’s funny how we celebrate Mother’s Day with flowers, chocolates, or breakfast in bed, while Father’s Day demands vigorous activity, meat and fire. I guess the move from spring to summer partly explains the shift, but our view of the distinct roles of parents probably accounts for most of the difference. Traditionally, Mom wrangles kids all week, whirling around white-tornado style. In fact, studies show that women continue to do most of the scrubbing and soaking, whether or not they’re employed outside the home. Mother’s Day, then, allows Mom a day of peace on which the world revolves around her instead of the reverse.
The observance of Father’s Day still presumes that Dad has spent the week at the workplace, safe from the chaos of children, isolated from their pleasures. The holiday allows him a day of special contact with the kids. They certainly celebrate him, but the family might also catch a baseball game or— better yet — play Wiffle ball in the backyard. After all that office time, Dad needs to romp.
However, today’s dads pitch in at home more than their forebears, just as more moms than ever are wage-earners. To many of us, the “Leave-It-To-Beaver” scenario seems outdated. Even though our evolving work lives haven’t wiped out classic gender roles, we have to recognize that nowadays Dad throws on a (figurative) apron about as often as Mom wears the pants. So I’m content to give Dad a break from housework on Father’s Day, while catering to his testosterone-fueled need to grill. His hybrid life — working stiff, dish-washing daddy — requires a hybrid solution.
Around here, grilling season begins in earnest after Memorial Day, and is in full swing by mid-June. The challenge, then, is to devise a menu that provides relief from burgers, hot dogs, and steaks while requiring little or no effort from the Father’s Day honoree (and not too much from Mom and kids, either). We want something creative that will allow Dad the fun of playing grill chef but spare him the prep work.
A few years ago, I came upon this recipe in Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby’s License to Grill, a cookbook that’s indispensable to me come summer. Schlesinger writes of learning to make Hobo Packs as a Boy Scout. The simplicity of the technique should appeal to the kid in any dad. The recipes I’m including can be prepared ahead of time by older kids, or little ones with the assistance of an adult — probably Mom, in this case. Dad can make his own fire. He’s big enough to play with matches.
Hobo Pack Cookery
Adapted from License to Grill, by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby
This method can be used to cook a variety of foods in the coals of a campfire or your Weber grill. The basics are the same no matter what: for a pack that will feed about four people, you’ll need 4 2-foot sheets of heavy-duty foil. Lay two down, one on top of the other. In a medium bowl, combine ingredients (see below) and toss gently. Place your ingredients in the center, then lay a third length of foil on top. Fold the edges of the foil together on all sides, closing the pack, then roll them up till they bump into the food, forming a ridge around the perimeter. Place the pack right side up on the fourth length of foil and fold the four sides over the packet, one after another.
The fire is ready for your hobo pack when it’s past its peak and dying down to coals covered by a thin film of gray ash and a few flickering flames. (If you are going to cook anything over the coals, such as grilled vegetables, best to do it before roasting the hobo pack.) Place the packet in a cleared area and heap up coals all around, but not directly on top. Cook, shifting the packet as needed so it’s always in contact with glowing coals, 20-30 minutes, depending on ingredients and fire’s intensity. Remove pack from coals, unwrap and serve at once.
My experience with this recipe was that I needed plenty of charcoal in the grill so there was enough to pile up and last a full half-hour. Nothing nastier than a half-baked hobo pack. Cook it long enough, and some of the food may char near the foil, but the inner stuff will taste great.
The following are two combinations from License to Grill. The amounts account for the likelihood that some of the food will burn. If this technique works for you, though, experiment and make up your own hobo packs. The spirit is improvisational, after all. Hobos and campers never have all the “right” ingredients.
Authentic Hobo Pack, Old Style
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 onion, quartered but not peeled
• 1 large baking potato, washed and quartered lengthwise
• 1 large carrot, unpeeled, quartered
• 1 large tomato, quartered
• 1 cup ketchup
• salt and pepper to taste
Cook 25-30 minutes.
Sausage Hobo Pack with Onions, Peppers & Green Grapes
• 1 ½ lb. hot or sweet fresh sausage, cut into small chunks
• 2 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
• red bell pepper, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
• ½ cup seedless green grapes, halved if large
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup chopped fresh herbs: any one or a combination of parsley, thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, or basil
• ¼ cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
Cook about 20 minutes, depending on the intensity of the coals.