Last week creamy scalloped potatoes accompanied a grilled tri-tip roast for a fund raiser and silent auction in Pleasanton, California. The potatoes, along with spicy pink beans in a red sauce and the roast, formed the menu.
A mixed green salad, dressed with a vibrant line-cilantro vinaigrette, and Dutch oven peach crisp completed the meal.
Sixty generous alumni from Florida College enjoyed a great meal and raised over $1,800. The money will fund scholarships for students from Northern California.
CREAMY SCALLOPED POTATOES
This recipe will serve 50 (1/2-cup) portions from two 2-1/2-inch hotel pans. Fifteen pounds potatoes, as purchased, will yield about 12 pounds when peeled and sliced.
Always use a shallow dish for scalloped potatoes. Don't stack the potatoes many more than 1-/2 to 2 inches high. Otherwise, you'll end up with a crispy-brown top and undercooked potatoes inside.
To bake in a 14-inch Dutch oven, arrange 4 pounds sliced potatoes as instructed. Pour 1-2/3 quarts sauce over the potatoes and bake as directed. Bake with 8 charcoal briquettes under the oven and 20 on the lid. Extra coals may be needed during the last 15 minutes to hasten browning.
WHITE SAUCE:
6 ounces unsalted butter
6 ounces all-purpose flour
4 quarts whole milk
1 quart half-and-half
4 teaspoons salt
White pepper, to taste
8 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
8 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
2 bunches chives, chopped
1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
POTATOES:
15 pounds potatoes, as purchased
2 pounds onion, sliced thin
Heat butter in a heavy sauce pot over low heat. Add flour and make a white roux. Cool the roux slightly.
In another sauce pot, scald the milk. Gradually add roux, stirring constantly with a whisk. Bring sauce to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to a simmer and lightly simmer 10 to 15 minutes.
Add cheeses to sauce and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Add parsley and chives, stir and remove sauce from the heat.
Peel and eye the potatoes. Cut into 1/8-inch slices. Place 6 pounds potatoes (edible portion) in each buttered 2-1/2-inch hotel pan (2-1/2 x 12 x 20 inches), alternating potato layers with onion.
Pour 2-1/2 quarts sauce in each pan. Lift the potatoes slightly so that the sauce can run between the layers. Cover with foil and place each pan in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.
Uncover and continue baking until the top is browned and potatoes are tender. Total baking time will be about 1 hour. Each 2-1/2-inch hotel pan will serve 25 (1/2-cup) portions.
Recipe adapted from Professional Cooking, 4th edition.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Creamy Scalloped Potatoes
Labels:
camp cooking,
potatoes
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Boot Chief

PACIFIC OCEAN (Sept. 21, 2007) - Chief Yeoman Alex Magee puts the chief petty officer combination cover on Chief Culinary Specialist Rodrigo Sabanga during the pinning ceremony aboard guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem (DDG 63). Stethem is part of the Forward Deployed Naval Force stationed in Yokosuka, Japan.
U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Danny Ewing Jr.
Labels:
chief petty officer,
ship's cook,
US Navy
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Tex-Mex on the High Seas
Carne quisada is a "stewed meat made with beef, onions, bell peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, comino, which is then served over white rice, or with Spanish rice and refried beans," according to the Tex-Mex Dictionary. The stew can be served on a warm flour tortilla and eaten as a soft taco.
SOUTH CHINA SEA (Sept. 16, 2007) - Culinary Specialist Seaman Casey Steinhauer, of Huble, Texas, prepares carne guisada in the aft galley aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63). Casey is preparing 1,500 servings of carne guisada as one of the dinner entrees. Kitty Hawk is nearly four months into her summer deployment from Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan.
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Kyle D. Gahlau.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Kyle D. Gahlau.
Labels:
ship's cook,
stew and meat pies,
US Navy
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Fund Raiser Menu

Here's the menu for Saturday's event:
- Grilled Santa Maria-style Tritip
- Creamy Scalloped Potatoes
- Piquinto Bean with Spicy Red Sauce
- Pico De Gallo
- Mixed Greens with Cilantro Vinaigertette
- French Bread with Sweet Butter
- Peach Cobbler
I found this recipe on the El Dorado Hills Fire Department website.
5 ripened tomatoes, seeded, small dice
1 red onion, small dice
3 jalapeno peppers, seeded, fine dice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Mix all ingredients in bowl. Season to taste with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Chill and serve.
Labels:
BBQ,
camp cooking,
meat
Toma Toes at Patrick's



Labels:
tomatoes
Saturday, September 08, 2007
From Apple Hill to the El Dorado Western

Crewman Bill Rogers, a local retiree who drives a tractor at one of the Apple Hill ranches, supplied the five-gallon bucket for the roofing job.
I wandered out loud: "Why is Apple Hill buying prepared apple filling? I thought its reputation was built on fresh ingredients like recently picked apples."
Bill assured me that his employer makes apple pies with fresh apples from the ranch. You know, the kind with a six-inch high crown of sliced apples that have been sweetened with sugar and cinnamon. The ranch uses sliced apple pie filling from a five-gallon bucket for turnovers.
A nice slice of apple pie with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream would've hit the spot in the 90-degree heat on the roof.
Labels:
El Dorado Western Railway,
fruit
Friday, September 07, 2007
California State Police

Labels:
fairgrounds
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Kitchen at Castle Rock Fire
These are the first fire camp kitchen photographs that I've found this summer ...
Fire crews completed hand lines and bulldozer lines around the Castle Rock Wildland Fire this morning. The 48,520-acre has burned in the Sawtooth National Forest in south-central Idaho. Mop up and rehabilitation of the burned area will continue. Lightening ignited the fire on August 16, 2007.
Next to the smoke and yellow glow of the fire line, the camp is one of the most visible aspects of any firefighting operation. A camp can grow from a few tents to a bustling city within a days.
All aspects of logistic support for the fire are centered out of the fire camp, which is located at the Upper River Run ski area, just south of Ketchum. The camp is the domain of the of the vast logistics apparatus, led by Logistics Section Chief John Olney.
The Idaho Mountain Express reported that Olney's workforce of 150 men and women erected the camp "in under three days." Like any small city, this one has all the essential services you'd expect, including a state-of-the-art kitchen.
The job of feeding 1,640 firefighter and support personnel (called "overhead" in fire lingo) fell to Incident Catering Services, a mobile catering company from Snohomish, Washington. The Idaho Mountain Express reported on Wednesday, August 29, 2007:



Photo credit goes to Pat York and Gary Chase (second picture).
Fire crews completed hand lines and bulldozer lines around the Castle Rock Wildland Fire this morning. The 48,520-acre has burned in the Sawtooth National Forest in south-central Idaho. Mop up and rehabilitation of the burned area will continue. Lightening ignited the fire on August 16, 2007.
Next to the smoke and yellow glow of the fire line, the camp is one of the most visible aspects of any firefighting operation. A camp can grow from a few tents to a bustling city within a days.
All aspects of logistic support for the fire are centered out of the fire camp, which is located at the Upper River Run ski area, just south of Ketchum. The camp is the domain of the of the vast logistics apparatus, led by Logistics Section Chief John Olney.
The Idaho Mountain Express reported that Olney's workforce of 150 men and women erected the camp "in under three days." Like any small city, this one has all the essential services you'd expect, including a state-of-the-art kitchen.

The Food Unit, headed up by Danny Fox, sent 245 hot dinners out to firefighters on the line last night, via helicopter. They then served 1,280 meals at the camp, after dishing out 3,350 sandwiches at lunch.
"Today we served 13,000 lbs of food," explained Ray Keener, owner of Incident Catering Services of Seattle. "At breakfast we went through 500 lbs of eggs and 450 lbs of sausage."
Dinner tonight is lasagna, and the smell of tomatoes and garlic wafting from the kitchen in Upper River Run parking lot is a welcome respite from the constant charred smell of burning trees.
"You have to have a passion to feed people, take care of people," explained Keener, when asked how he manages his demanding role. "Or else you have to be nuts!"




Labels:
camp cooking,
forest fire,
incident/disaster feeding
Monday, September 03, 2007
California State Fair

As a rule, fair food doesn't impress me. I don't relish eating fried Coke (this year's fad food at the fair). Our $35 meal consisted of corn dogs, burritos, fries and soft drinks. This cord dog stand was located in the middle of the midway.
Labels:
fairgrounds,
family
Sunday, September 02, 2007
You're Being Watched
When I'm in Eldorado National Forest I do what comes naturally -- I drive the forest roads. My family has always questioned the sanity of steering a four-wheel-drive truck over less-than perfect roads.
They express their displeasure in my leisure activity by questioning my driving ability. It's kind of the equivalent of "Are we there yet?" Frequent admonishments -- "Don't get lost" and "Don't get stuck" -- come from the back seat.
My son should know by now that that I aways find my way home. Getting stuck? Let's just say he's helped me extricate the truck from more than one snowbank.
We encountered three small herds as we drove down into the Alder Creek basin from Iron Mountain Road. No. 29 kept her distance as I tried to quietly maneuver through the trees. These docile creatures wore loud cow bells that clanked they made their way through the forest.
I caught this cow standing in the middle of Alder Creek upstream from the crossing at Morrison Ranch. Last spring that water would've been about three feet deep in this area. Remind me not to drink the water next summer.
They express their displeasure in my leisure activity by questioning my driving ability. It's kind of the equivalent of "Are we there yet?" Frequent admonishments -- "Don't get lost" and "Don't get stuck" -- come from the back seat.
My son should know by now that that I aways find my way home. Getting stuck? Let's just say he's helped me extricate the truck from more than one snowbank.


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