Camp -- Three-Bean Salad

"Three-bean salad is adult food." That's what my staff told me at camp last week.

"Campers don't eat exotic salads," I warned two years ago. 'Exotic' meant any salad except except tossed green salad and potato salad.

"Prepare small quantities of salads such as three-bean, cucumber and onion, and marinated tomato for the adults and some older campers."

Undaunted by my cook's warnings (all mothers) -- and my own writing -- I directed the salad cook to prepare a large pan of three-bean salad for the campers last week.

This camper frowns at the cole slaw and three-bean salad as she passes the salad bar. The Independence Day barbecue featured a full salad bar in the outdoor dining area.

About two gallons of the stuff was prepared and placed on the salad bar for each lunch and dinner.

By Saturday morning, a medium bowl of the salad with an R.I.P sign sat near the dining room exit. In between its creation and demise, two staff members (myself and a male counselor) each did their personal best to reduce stocks.

I can affirm this one fact: kids at the Northern California FC Camp consumed less than half of the three-bean salad.

This is one tradition the kids choose to ignore. It seems that we need to leave three-bean out of the mom, apple pie and grilled burger equation.

Tossed salad with ranch dressing was more to their liking. It seems these mothers know a thing or two about kid's tastes.

What happened to the three-bean salad, you ask? Two quarts came home with me. A bowl a day and it'll be gone by Sunday.

And the rest? Sad to say, I listened to a few mothers and resisted the urge to freeze it for the 2008 camp.

THREE-BEAN SALAD

This recipe makes about 3 quarts. One or two recipes are sufficient for a camp of 150 children of mixed ages and adults for the salad bar for a week. One recipe prepares 24 (1/2-cup) servings if portioning is called for.

Add additional sugar for a sweeter salad if desired. Substitute canned cannellini beans for the green or kidney beans if desired. Use beans with contrasting textures when selecting beans to use for the salad.

1-1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 (15-ounce) cans green beans, drained and rinsed
2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 (15-ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, diced fine
1/2 green bell pepper, diced fine
1/2 red bell pepper, diced fine
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

Heat vinegar, sugar, oil, salt and pepper together in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasional, about 5 minutes. Cool dressing to room temperature. Combine canned beans, onion, green and red bell pepper, parsley and cooled dressing. Mix well and chill until service. Portion into 1/2-cup servings if desired.

Camp -- After the Picture

Monday I had the honor of taking the official camp photograph for the second year. After the director released the campers for dinner, I continued taking pictures as the crowd dispersed.

The young counselor in the blue t-shirt spotted the camera in action as I varied camera settings. She was in dreamland in the three preceding shots. Once in camera range, she pulled her shoulders back, gave her head a slight tilt and smiled. The result -- a perfect pose.

Shot settings: f/22, 1/30 second shutter speed, 27 mm focal length in aperture-priority mode.

Camp -- Friday Barbecue

We grilled 157 chicken hindquarters Friday afternoon for our traditional Talent Show cookout. The campers ate all but the last 25 pieces of chicken. To ensure well-done chicken, I pre-bake the poultry in a 325-degree F convection oven for about 40 minutes. This eliminates the under-cooked chicken jitters. In six years of camp, I've never had any complaints of raw chicken using this method.

Staff perform K.P. duties on Friday eventing. This frees the campers to eat and get ready for the Talent Show, which started at 7 p.m. The meal is served on paper plates to give the dishwashers a break. Barbecued chicken, scalloped potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, seasoned broccoli and hand-dipped ice cream were featured on the cookout menu. A full salad bar was also served.

Camp -- Vegetable Quiche

We have had little call to prepare vegetarian meals at the Northern California FC Camp in the past five years. This year, several campers noted they had a vegetarian preference on their application forms.

In response, we prepared several vegetarian alternatives. Admittedly, we didn't offer a vegetarian dish every meal. The call for vegetarian meals isn't that great at this point in our camp's history. If this year is an indication, we may need to pay more attention to this trend in the future.

We found the easiest way to prepare a vegetarian dish is to remove the meat the main entree when it works. On Tuesday evening my second cook prepared two 12x20x2-inch hotel pans of meatless lasagna (she assembled six pans of beef lasagna as well). At the end of the night, approximately 25 percent of the campers ate the vegetarian lasagna.

Friday's breakfast consisted of freshly baked cinnamon rolls, sausage link and a breakfast casserole. I used leftover bacon and an unopened bag of frozen French fries to form the base for a breakfast fritatta.

Since I had already prepared a savory custard mixture for the fritatta, it was easy to saute several quarts of aromatics for a vegetarian quiche. The vegetable quiche was more popular with the staff than the campers. The campers favored the fritatta.

VEGETABLE QUICHE

I raided the salad bar cart for the diced bell peppers and shredded carrots. The broccoli was left from an earlier dinner. Any combination of vegetable should work for this quiche.

Don't heat the custard higher than 185 degrees F. This is the point in which the custard mixture coagulates. If the quiche is heated any higher, the eggs tend to curdle. An over baked custard becomes watery as moisture separated from the toughened protein.

If desired, evenly divide cooled vegetables between four 9-inch patially-baked pie shells. Pour custard mixture into pies and bake as directed. Cut each pie by six.

Filling:
1/3 cup margarine or butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups diced bell peppers
1 cup shredded carrots
1 quart steamed broccoli
6 tomatoes, diced

Custard:
12 eggs, beaten
1 pint heavy cream or half-and-half
1 quart milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Saute the vegetables in butter over medium-high heat until soft and most of the liquid has evaporated. Empty vegetables into an oiled 12x20x2-inch hotel pan and cool.

Beat together eggs, cream or half-and-half, milk and seasonings. Pour over cooled vegetables. Place the pan in a 375-degree F oven. Bake until the filling is set, about 20 to 30 minutes. A knife inserted in the center of the quiche will come out clean when it's done. Cut the quiche 4x6 to serve 24 campers.

Camp -- Danger in the Kitchen

Twice last week my desk was unmercifully attacked by flying glasses of iced tea. It seems we had a clutz in our midst this year. Of course, repeated warnings by the self-professed clutz went unheeded by this chef -- after all, one wants a cold drink nearby when the mercury tips 90 in the kitchen.

Camp -- Home and Rested

As I said last year, "I'm showered, rested ...." We delayed our trip home by one day with a stopover in San Jose to see the grandchildren. The nice thing is that I don't have to return to work until Tuesday!

Blog posting got a little thin by the end of the week. Working long days leaves little mental energy to process photos and write blogs.

This is an exhilarating scene to any cook -- a battery of pots lined up on the 12-burner range. A mire poix browns in my newly re-seasoned 14-inch cast iron skillet. It flavored the stock for gravy in the stainless steel pot to the left. The two tall stockpots contained water for mashed potatoes, and a mushroom sauce slowly simmered in the second stainless steel pot. I later used the 17-cast iron skillet to saute chicken breasts for the senior banquet.

Each year we serve a nice dinner to the senior campers on Thursday night. Disco was the theme this year. Some of the high school aged campers wore clothing that I would've been embarrassed to wear in the 1970s. The seniors had a good time. My son -- the official banquet taster -- said that he enjoyed the sauteed chicken breast with mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes. "Dad, I ate it all," was the report. The roasted baby carrots with thyme didn't appeal to him.

Camp -- T-Shirts

Each day, Elisa and I have worn a different camp t-shirt each day. Last Sunday, she wore her oldest shirt from the 2002 session. I'm wearing my shirts in descending order. I started Sunday with the 2007 shirt. We met in the middle on Wednesday with 2004.

Camp -- Anatomy of an Independence Day BBQ

Here's an anatomy of tonight's Independence Day barbecue and dinner. All time is based on the 24-hour clock.

1600 -- lit a 20-pound bag of charcoal for the Dutch ovens.
1620 -- placed 14-inch skillet over coals. I used a stack of three 14-inch Dutch ovens as the cooking platform the the skillet.
1625 -- added 1 pound chopped bacon to the skillet to brown for the beans. At the same time, I dumped 1-1/2 #10 cans of baked beans into two 14-inch deep Dutch ovens. Added a 17-ounce bottle of catsup, two large spoons of mustard and 6 ounces brown sugar to each bean pot as well and stirred.
1630 -- lit a 20-pound bag of charcoal for the barbecue grill.
1633 -- stacked the bean pots on top of a 12-inch Dutch oven. I used 9 coals under the bottom pot and a ring (about 25) coals on each lid. The 12-incher served as the base since I didn't want to place coals directly on the sidewalk.

1640 -- added 1 #10 can of drained apples to each of three 14-inch regular Dutch ovens. I then mixed a sugar-cinnamon mixture into each pot of apples. The filling mix was made of 2-3/4 pounds granulated sugar, 8 ounces cornstarch, 3 tablespoons cinnamon and 1 tablespoon salt. The filling was divided between all 3 pots.

1643 -- topped each apple pot with half of the crisp topping. The topping was made from 3 pounds brown sugar, 1-1/4 pounds rolled oats, 1-1/4 pounds all-purpose flour, 1-2/3 baking powder, 1-3/4 tablespoons baking soda and 2 pounds softened margarine. I stored the topping in the refrigerator between uses to keep the margarine from melting.
1646 -- stacked the apple crisp Dutch ovens. I placed a ring of charcoal on each lid. I didn't use bottom heat.
1658 -- stirred bacon and onions into the beans and rotated the bean pots.

1700 -- started grilling the hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken.
1715 -- rotated the apple crisp pots.
1731 -- rotated the bean pots.
1735 -- added the second layer of crisp topping to the apple pots. I add the crisp topping in two batches to make sure that it's crisp throughout.
1753 -- rotated the apple pots.
1805 -- started serving dinner to 155 campers and 5 guests. The first bean pot and first apple pot went to the serving line.
1815 -- the last of the hamburgers and hot dogs were removed from the grill. I also removed all heat from the apple pots.
1820 -- second apple pot went to the serving line. I started washing the Dutch ovens and lids inside the kitchen.
1822 -- second bean pot went to the serving line.
1832 -- third apple pot went to the serving line.
1844 -- the last camper went through the serving line. The cooks and servers (from Cabin 5) finally had a chance to eat.
1846 -- called seconds.
1848 -- I sat down with my wife to eat my own dinner.

1850 -- the meal is done. We served 97 hamburgers (3 fell into the fire!), 59 hot dogs 41 left over) and 34 pieces of chicken (6 leftover) for 155 campers. The meal also included two 14-inch deep pots of baked beans (about 10 quarts) and three 14-inch pots of apple crisp. Three-bean salad, potato salad, cole slaw and all the fixin's for hamburgers and hot dogs were included on the salad bar. The campers ate all of the apple crisp and most of the beans.
1903 -- I cleaned the last two Dutch ovens.
1905 -- all leftovers have been placed in the walk-in refrigerator.
1912 -- I ate my second piece of chicken.
1920 -- walked into the air conditioned office to relax and get off my feet. Now that the blog is written, it's time for a shower!

Camp -- Spoon Licking Chef

A note to all aspiring camp cooks: Only the camp chef is authorized to lick the country gravy spoon!

Camp -- Ultimate English Miffin

Wednesday is English muffin day at Northern California FC Camp. We prepared 144 "Mac" muffins this morning. The campers ate 120 sandwiches for firsts (about 80% acceptability). The remaining muffins were scooped up after the seconds bell.

The cooks (and one camper to left) prepared each muffin by scooping scrambled eggs and ham onto an English muffin bottom. A slice of American cheese went on top followed by the muffin top. They sandwiches were baked for 3 minutes in a 350-degree convection oven.

Next year I'd like to try this recipe from the American Egg Board. It's attributed to Cynthia Ackerman of Phillips Elementary School in Hampton, Virginia.

I like the idea behind this recipe because the cheese helps bind the eggs and aromatic together into a product that can be cut into individual servings.

ULTIMATE ENGLISH MUFFIN

This recipe makes 48 servings in two 12x20x2-inch hotel pans. Serve one English muffin with filling per camper. And be ready to serve seconds!

48 hard-cooked large eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 pounds onion, chopped
3 pounds green bell pepper, chopped
3 pounds ham, chopped
Black pepper, to taste
1-1/2 pounds shredded cheddar cheese
1-1/2 pounds shredded mozzarella cheese
48 English muffins, slit in half

Heat convention oven to 350 degrees F. Mix eggs, ham, bell pepper, onion and pepper in bowl. In spray-coated 12x20x2-inch hotel pans portion about 9 cups egg mixture per pan.

In separate bowl, mix cheeses. Sprinkle 1-1/2 pounds cheese mixture over egg mixture in each pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until cheese is melted and mixture is thoroughly heated.

Bake English muffins on baking sheets in oven for 5 minutes. Cut each pan into 24 sections. For each serving, use spatula/scoop to lift section onto each muffin bottom. Cover with a muffin top; serve immediately.

Camp -- Cream of Tomato Soup

With temperatures hovering in the low to mid-80s this week, soup is an attractive alternative to a large lunch.

I decided to make split pea soup at the last minute yesterday. The Safeway checker remarked at my eight pounds of spit peas, "That'll make a large pot of soup!"

"It's too hot for soup," she added.

It may be warm to those who live along the coast, but campers at Northern California FC Camp have been enjoying the moderate weather. Many of our campers come from the Central Valley where 80 degrees is a pleasant day.

CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP

This recipe will serve 40 (6-ounce) or 30 (8-ounce) servings. You can use make cream of tomato from any tomato sauce recipe or from a canned tomato sauce. Simply combine one-part tomato sauce, one-part broth (chicken or vegetable) and one-part cream sauce. Heat through and adjust seasoning to enhance its flavor.

We find that 20 to 35 percent of the campers will take a hot soup on most days.

4 ounces salt pork or bacon
8 ounces diced onions
8 ounces diced carrots
4 quarts tomatoes, fresh or canned, coarsely chopped
2 quarts tomato puree
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried thyme
Granulated sugar
1 gallon cream sauce, hot
Salt, to taste
White pepper, to taste

Render the salt port or bacon in a heavy sauce pot, but don't brown. Add the onions and carrots and sauteed until slightly softened, but don't brown. Add the tomatoes and their juices, the tomato puree, garlic and herbs.

Add up to a quart of chicken stock if needed to thin if needed. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, until reduced to the desired consistence.

Strain the sauce through china cap. Press down on the solids with a spoon or ladle to extract all the juices and some of the pulp. Add a little sugar if necessary to temper the acidity of the tomatoes.

Stir in the hot cream sauce. If the soup is too thick, thin out with a little chicken broth. Season with salt and ground white pepper to taste.

Camp -- Croutons

We saved the heals from the Texas toast (used for French toast) this morning and used them to make croutons for the salad bar. This is a time-tested way to use stale bread from the week. And it's not that difficult to prepare each morning.

SEASONED CROUTONS

This recipe will yield about 2 to 3 quarts of lightly browned croutons. Use bread heals throughout the week to make croutons. Use your favorite seasoning mix for the croutons.

2 pounds sliced bread
4 ounces butter or margarine, melted
1-1/2 tablespoon seasoning mix

Cut bread into 1/2-inch cubes. Place bread cubes in a large bowl. Toss with butter or margarine and seasoning. Brown lightly in 375-degree F convection oven for about 6 to 7 minutes. Cool and store in an air-tight container.

Camp -- First Meal

The parents have gone home, with a tear or two, I'm sure. The first meal is secure in the belly's of the campers. And there's a lot of hoopin' and hollerin' going on at the amphitheater as I type.

Northern California FC Camp for 2007 is in session ...

Camp director "bullhorn" Mike polices the chow line tonight. The bullhorn is a recent addition to Mike's kit as camp director. It extends his reach to be sure.

Chicken tenders, oven baked potato wedges, buttered broccoli and barbecue sauce is a good opening meal because of its simplicity. It gives the kitchen staff a chance to get back into good food production habits after a year's break.

I've been thinking of replacing the meal after six years. We served 128 portions to approximately 150 campers and staff tonight. I purchased four 10-pound boxes of the tenders. It took five boxes a few years ago. I'll look at this over the next year.

I described the meal here in 2005. The recipe for the marinated tomatoes is found here.

FRANCONIA POTATOES

They key with these potatoes is to crisp them well without burning.

33 pounds russet potatoes
1 pound margarine, melted
2-2/3 tablespoons salt
1/3 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon paprika

Scrub and rinse potatoes. Don't peel. Quarter potatoes lengthwise and place into 2 large bowls. Add salt, black pepper and paprika to melted margarine. Stir to combine.

Drizzle 1 cup seasoned margarine over potatoes in each bowl. Stir gently to coat potatoes well. Place approximately 50 potato wedges on each 18x26-inch sheet pan. You need 6 sheet pans per 100 portions.

Using convection oven, bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes on high fan, closed vent until browned and done, turning once. CCP: Internal temperature must reach 135 deg F or higher for 15 seconds. CCP: Hold for service at 135 deg or higher.

Approximately 2-1/2 sheet pans of cooked potatoes fit into each 4-inch hotel pan. Serve 3 wedges each. Acceptability is 85-90 percent.

Camp -- First Meal Coming Up

The crew is hanging around the kitchen right now, ready to go to work. EM and AK were reading over the menu and production worksheet a few minutes ago. AK is scrubbing the potatoes for dinner (one of two meals with fresh spuds).

In the meantime, the other AK (husband and wife!) set up the dirty dish area with soak tubs for the silverware and dish racks for the plates. He took 15 minutes to explain operation of the dish machine to DB, who mainly worked in the kitchen last year.

The good news is that we've found an additional worked to help from Monday afternoon on to the end of the week. LG (our third Lisa -- from this point on their nicknames will be M, K and G!) worked as my third cook during our third year in 2004. And she come with skills -- LG has restaurant experience in the family business.

It's time to go to work. I'll post late tonight.

Camp -- Dealing with a Suddent Reduction in Staff

Everything was all set for camp staff-wise this week. I had nine kitchen volunteers lined up for the week, including myself and my wife.

Even though two less volunteers would staff the kitchen this year, I was confident we could do it. This was going to be the third year for this crew. And four staff, including myself, had been on board since the first year.

Sometime before 9 a.m., my lead cook left a message on my cell phone (I missed the call because it was set on silent). CD said she would only be at camp Saturday and Sunday, but expected her husband to be there all week. She was leaving the state Monday to unexpectedly attend to a relative. By early afternoon, both were flying out tomorrow and wouldn't be able to help this year.

I called my camp director mid-morning to tell him the news. At our last communication, he was going to locate an additional volunteer for the kitchen. Then three male counselors backed out and Joe had to focus on replacing them, which became more critical when more boys than girls signed up.

This presents a challenge for Camp 2007. We have become very comfortable during the past two years with 10 and 11 kitchen workers. Although seven is not a critical shortage of workers, it does set us back a few years in terms of progress.

Our first task is to locate one or two additional volunteers. This is a difficult task since most people have made plans for the holiday week -- or are working all week -- and can't take the time off on short notice.

From here, it's a matter of digging into our phone books and contacting potential volunteers. EM -- my dining room host and chef-in-training -- Joe and I each know a person who may be able to volunteer on short notice. At this point, we're each waiting for answers. (It looks like we need to establish a list of alternates for 2008.)

I also plan to discuss the following strategies with kitchen staff tomorrow during in-service training:

1. Part of the answer is we're going to have to work harder and smarter. This is where training for the past two years is going to payoff. The reality is we may need to work longer hours (a concern for the few with health issues). I plan to pay more attention to prep work and will encourage all staff to help with pots and pans throughout the day.
2. It's too late to re-design the menu. The food has been purchased and Sysco is set to deliver our big order tomorrow afternoon. But I'll look at the menu each afternoon and simplify production any way possible.
3. I will reorganize work assignments to better use talent and work habits. EM will replace CD as the morning cook, an obvious choice since she is being trained as my replacement. In the process I loose the best dining room host I know. I have few worries with EM at the helm in the front of the house.
4. We will look for volunteers from the counselor corps and senior campers (high school age) to operate the dish machine. This may help fill the gap and give my main dishwashers a break.
5. Purchasing more paper- and plasticware to reduce the load of the dish machine. The down side is the increased load on the garbage stream. This is problematic for the facility we rent, however. The dumpsters are always full when we arrive and garbage service doesn't arrive until Tuesday morning. EM and I have found one compromise -- purchase paper bowls for soup at lunch each day and for ice cream.

I sure my staff will have more ideas when we meet for in-service training tomorrow evening. I'm ready to present the challenges before us and to get them involved in finding answers.

As EM said over the phone this evening, "We'll make it." She's right. And that's a testament to a good crew.

It's Time for Camp

I could write a thousand words about this building. Hundreds of similar camp kitchens and dining halls are busy feeding boys and girls throughout the country this summer. It's the venue where children and staff are served generous helpings of comfort food during their week at camp.

Right now, I busy getting ready to chef my own camp kitchen. The menu is ready and my purchase order will be sent to Sysco Foodservice in a day or two. In the meantime, you can browse my posts from camps in 2005 and 2006.

I grew up at Camp San Joaquin sleeping in similar tent cabins as this one. The boys at the camp slept in a line of tent behind the Blue Box (kitchen, dining area and main lounge) and pool. For the record, we boys were always miffed as why the girls got to sleep in a hard-walled cabin (called the Long House).

Six to eight boys and a counselor lived in each tent for the week that was filled with activity. I lived in Tent 5 for the 1963 Intermediate Boys Camp (10 and 11 year-olds) with Rory, Paul, Lyle and Gary. Our tent counselor was Mr. Swisher of Fresno (Mrs. Swisher was the camp nurse that session).

Buddies Stephen Cater and Scott Schoenfield stayed in Tents 4 and 7 respectively. Scott and I share a birthday. Stephen's tent formed the Off Key Quartet. There may be good reason why I don't remember the group.

"Roger caught a field mouse and gave it to Gary," reported Paul, our official tent correspondent. "We put it in a large tin can. During the night it supposedly jumped out and spent the night with Gary. Tent 5 is the highest so far in tent clean-up. We usually win 10 points by inspection but all other times it's a mess."

While Tent 5 excelled in cleanliness, we lacked any skill in Wednesday's fitness competition. It seems Tent 3 came out on top with our tent coming in second to last. Not one Tent 5 name appears on the camp newsletter's sports page!

This kitchen and tent cabin in the pictures belong to the Berkeley Echo Lake Camp high in Eldorado National Forest. They're visible from the road into Echo Lakes. Hardly anyone was around the day that I visited last June 2.