I am often reminded how wonderful the simple things can be. This past Sunday was beautiful, with lots of sunshine and temperatures in the low 60s. The day begged for firing up the grill so that’s exactly what I did. It was nothing fancy or complicated, just bratwursts and a hobo pack filled with potatoes, bacon, onions and garlic. It was a simple affair for me, my wife, and my daughter, who ate some potatoes but has yet to develop a taste for any sausage type food beyond hot dogs and breakfast sausages. Yes, I know….it’s something I need to work on. Especially living here in Wisconsin. Most people up here are born with an instinctual love for the almighty brat!

Hobo packs are a camper’s and griller’s best friend; packets of aluminum foil filled with all sorts of goodies left to cook over an open fire. Add a good amount of oil and butter and the vegetables both steam and fry creating a great side dish to any grilled meat, or even taking the place of the meat all together. Hobo packs can be simple and straight forward, or they can be filled with exotic vegetables and spices. Most start with a base of some starchy vegetable, usually potato, yams, taro, turnips, carrots, or any other root vegetable. Other vegetables, aromatics, herbs and spices are added to taste and the whole thing is wrapped in a few layer of foil and allowed to cook over an open fire.

This recipe is for a very simple hobo pack, made with ingredients almost everyone has lying around the kitchen most of the time. This makes this a great recipe for last minute meals or an “on the fly” cookout. Feel free to add any touches and flourishes you wish.

A word about cooking hobo packs. First don’t make your packet too thick or it will take forever for it to cook through. I usually spread the ingredients out so that they aren’t more than 2 inches deep. It is best to use a covered grill as you can then cook by indirect heat (placing the coals on 1 side of the grill and placing the packet on the other side. This way you only need to flip the packet about every 10 minutes. If you don’t have a covered grill you will need to cook the packet over direct heat, which will require you to flip the packet every 4-5 minutes to ensure that nothing burns.

Potato Hobo Packs
serves 4

3 slices bacon, thick cut, chopped
4 medium potatoes, skin on
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. butter
Salt
Pepper

Light your charcoal and let it burn down until covered with white ash. Meanwhile, cook the bacon until crisp.

Remove from skillet and drain, reserving 1 Tbsp. of the rendered fat. Mix the butter, bacon fat, and garlic in a small pot and heat until the butter is melted. While the bacon is rendering slice the potatoes about 1/4″ thick. Slice the onions also.

Take 2 18″ pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil and lay them on the counter, one lengthwise the other one on top and perpendicular to the first one. Lay half the potatoes on top, along with half the onions. Season liberally with salt and pepper and drizzle with half of the butter, bacon fat mixture. Place the cooked bacon over this, then repeat with the remaining potatoes, onions, and butter mixture, again seasoning liberally. Tightly fold the top piece of foil then the bottom piece of foil to make a secure packet. Take another piece of foil and laying the packet seam side down, wrap the foil around it. This seems like a lot of foil, but I often use this much to make sure I have no blow outs, which can send potatoes pouring all over your grill. You can get away with just 2 sheets, but you need to be extra careful when flipping the packets. Spread the coals out on 1 side of the grill and place the hobo pack on the other side. Cover the grill and cook for 30-40 minutes, flipping the packet over every 10 minutes. Insert a knife into the packet to test the doneness of the potatoes. When they have just the slightest amount of resistance remove from grill and allow to finish cooking, off the heat for 8 minutes longer. Unwrap and serve.

It seems to be a universal truth that kids hate brussels sprouts and who can blame them, especially if they were all served like my parents served them; cooked to death then drizzled with vinegar. It’ no wonder that many of us ever outgrow that hatred. That’s too bad because brussels sprouts can be a wonderful vegetable. Sure, overcooked they can be mushy, slimy and sulfurous, but when cooked properly they have a wonderful earthy quality about them and just a hint of a sharp bite that makes them lively.

While many people still prefer to blanch them whole, or cut them in half and blanch them, before giving them a quick saute in butter, I prefer to pull them apart so that each leaf is its own individual. I then saute the raw leaves and finish them by steaming them with a little liquid. Sure it is a little more time consuming this way, but I like the resulting texture and flavor cooking brussel sprouts this way.

Brussels Sprouts with Pecans & Dried Cranberries
1 1/2 pounds Brussels Sprouts
2 slices Bacon, diced
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Butter
1/4 cup Pecans, toasted
1/4 cup Dried Cranberries
1/3 cup Madeira (Sherry works great also)
Salt
Pepper

Core and peel apart the brussels sprouts. Thinly slice the tight centers of the brussels sprouts. In a large skillet cook the bacon over medium high heat. When brown and crispy remove from pan and pour off all but 1 Tbsp. of bacon fat. Add the butter to the skillet and allow to melt. When the foaming subsides add the the brussels sprouts and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes longer, continuing to stir. Toss in the dried cranberries and the Madeira. Continue to cook until the Madeira as reduced to almost dry and the brussels sprouts are tender. Add the pecans and cooked bacon. Season with salt and pepper and serve. This serves 4 as a side vegetable.

This past Saturday my brother and his wife came up to spend the weekend. The plan was for them to arrive in time for dinner on Saturday and then they and I would head out and hit one of the local haunted houses for a good scare. The wife opted to stay home and take care of our daughter. She may love a good scary movie, but haunted houses, with all the loud noises and people jumping out, at her, just isn’t her idea of a fun time. The weather was cool, bordering on cold and just a little rainy so I was looking to make something that was warming, soul satisfying, but not overly heavy. I wasn’t in the mood for soup or chili and stew seemed a little too heavy when I remembered that it had been awhile since I had made risotto. Served with pan roasted chicken breast, it would be the perfect dish for the night; warm and comforting, yet it wouldn’t weigh us down as we ducked ghouls and ghosts and ran from bloodthirsty serial killers. Since it is Autumn, I decided to garnish the risotto with mushrooms and fresh sage, which also made a wonderful compliment to the simply pan roasted chicken breasts.

Mushroom Risotto
6 ounces Mushrooms (use a few varieties. I used white, shiitake and portobello mushrooms)
1 each Shallot, minced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 1/4 cups Arborio rice (or other Italian rice normally used for risotto such as Carnaroli)
1/4 cup White Wine
4 cups Chicken Stock
2 tsp. Fresh Sage, minced
2 Tbsp. Fresh Chives, minced
4 Tbsp. Butter
1/4-1/3 cup Parmesan, grated
Salt
Pepper

Bring chicken broth to a boil, reduce heat and allow to stay at a simmer. Meanwhile heat a large pot over high heat and add 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil. Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and saute until golden brown. Add shallots and garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add remaining olive oil, then the rice. Stir until the rice is coated with oil then add the wine. Stir the rice and cook until the wine is full absorbed. Turn heat down to medium high. Add about 1/2 cup of the stock and cook until absorbed, stirring the entire time. Add another 1/2 cup of stock, stirring and cooking until absorbed. Don’t stop stirring the risotto. The stirring is the key to a good, creamy risotto. Continue this process until the rice is al dente. Don’t over cook the rice or it will be too mushy. It may not take quite all the stock or it might take just a little more than the 4 cups depending on the rice and will take about 18 minutes to cook. Add the sage about 1/2 way through the cooking process. When done remove from heat and stir in the butter and Parmesan cheese.   Check the seasoning and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.  Have everything else, that you are serving, ready as risotto does not like to sit around and will continue to cook and get mushy if not served right away. When serving garnish with the fresh chives. This makes enough risotto for 4 generous side dishes.

It won’t be long before another corn season is behind us, here in Wisconsin. Then we will have to rely on frozen corn or corn that was picked thousands of miles away and shipped to us. I won’t even mention the canned stuff. The frozen stuff isn’t bad, in fact it often is a better choice than the “fresh” stuff in winter. At least the frozen stuff is picked at its peak of ripeness and processed within days of picking. The ears of corn you see at stores, in winter, were shipped thousands of miles to make it to the local megamart, and who knows how long ago it was picked. With corn that time is very important and crucial to the sweetness of it. Once corn is picked the sugars start converting to starches immediately. There’s some truth in that old saying that for the sweetest corn you need to cook it in the field! Within hours this process starts and within a few days the process is complete, turning a sweet, vibrant, ear of corn that’s full of flavor into something rather bland and boring. The last couple of weeks, I’ve been stuffing myself with fresh, locally grown corn with the knowledge that I won’t have that privilege much longer.

My favorite way to eat corn is grilled, on the cob. It’s a simple enough process, just soak fresh ears of corn in water for a few hours, then grill for about 20 minutes over a medium grill, turning constantly. Remove and allow the carryover heat to finish cooking it, in the husks for another 5-10 minutes. Peel, slather with butter, salt and pepper and enjoy.

Another one of my favorite ways to prepare corn is this Corn and Bacon Relish. This wonderful dish can be made year round as it doesn’t require absolutely fresh corn. Sure, with fresh, local corn, this dish is sublime, in my opinion, but there are enough other flavors going on that frozen corn makes a perfectly acceptable dish also. This relish makes a great garnish for fish (especially salmon and trout), pork or chicken. It works great on its own, as a side dish. It’s great stirred into mashed potatoes, and makes a wonderful garnish for a number of soups such as pumpkin or squash soup. The list of items it goes well is almost endless.

Corn and Bacon Relish

1 each Red Pepper, roasted, peeled, and diced
3 cups Fresh Corn
2 slices Bacon, chopped
1/2 each Red Onion, small dice
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Thyme, fresh, leaves only, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp. Chives, fresh, minced
1 Tbsp. Cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Veg. oil

In a large sauté pan render bacon until crisp. Remove bacon, but leave bacon fat in pan. Add a little veg. oil if necessary and sweat the onion and the garlic. When soft add the corn and sauté until done. Toss this in a bowl and add the bacon, peppers, herbs, vinegar, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper.

I don’t know about the rest of the country, but this year hasn’t been a good year for tomatoes in Wisconsin.  July and August have felt more like September and October, with cool, cloudy days being the norm while 80 and 90 degree weather seems to have been the exception.  This has put a damper on the tomato harvest this year with  smaller yields and late arrival at the farmer’s markets.  While still way better than grocery store tomatoes, the tomatoes, at the market, this year aren’t up the their usual standards.  I have heard many complaints about the tomatoes rotting on the vine before being fully ripened so many farmers are forced to pick them a little sooner than they want to resulting in firmer, less juicy tomatoes that seem a little more acidic than normal.  Again, though, even in a year like this, the locally grown tomatoes are light years better than any tomato bought at your local megamart.

In the last few years, tomato tarts have become all the rage, and rightfully so.  They are a great way to showcase the various flavors and colors of the the heirloom tomatoes that have become more and more popular over the last decade or so.  Fortunately, the internet abounds with recipes for such tarts, and finding one you like isn’t that difficult.  That being the case I thought I share another great way to show off those wonderful summertime tomatoes-Scalloped Tomatoes.  Scalloped Tomatoes is a wonderfully rustic dish that seems right at home among other country fare yet there is something elegant in it’s simplicity.  In the simple recipe that follows please be sure to use “fresh” bread crumbs (from slices of fresh bread or just slightly stale bread that you pulse in a food processor) and not that dried out stuff that comes in a can, from the store.  That stuff has its place but not in this recipe.

Scalloped Tomatoes
4 1/2 cups Fresh bread crumbs
1/3 cup Butter, melted
2 tablespoons Fresh chives, minced
2 tablespoons Fresh parsley, minced
1 tablespoon Fresh thyme, minced
6 each tomatoes, ripe, thickly sliced
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Combine bread crumbs, butter and herbs and mix. Season with salt and pepper. Press half of crumb mixture into a large (9×13) baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place a single layer of tomatoes on top. Sprinkle tomatoes with more bread crumb mixture then another layer of tomatoes. Continue until all tomatoes and breadcrumbs are used up, ending with a layer of bread crumbs. Return to oven and bake until tomatoes are warmed and the crumbs on top are golden brown (approx. 10 minutes)

This recipe is easy to adapt to suit your tastes. To give it an Italian flair, replace the butter with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, add fresh Basil and Oregano to the herbs, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.