Driver Lifestyles
The Road Chef
In the early days of motoring and trucking, roadside diners and restaurants were sometimes a rarity along the two-lane roads that criss-crossed the U.S.A.
Hungry drivers had to be resourceful if they wanted a hot meal, but didn't want to take the time to grill their food at a roadside rest area. And, so was born manifold cooking.
This typically involved wrapping meat, potatoes and vegetables in tin foil, wedging the package onto the engine's exhaust manifold and proceeding down the road. A few hours later, the meal was cooked and ready to eat! (Depending on engine heat)
There are some folks who still utilize the engine cooking method, but with the AC/DC appliances available to the professional driver today, there's no need to pull the hood to make your dinner anymore.
For the driver with even the most modestly-size sleeper, (no stove) cooking in the truck can be accomplished with a few readily-available heat sources. Refrigeration can be provided by a simple ice chest to store the perishable ingredients. A little imagination and, oh yeah, recipes and you won't have to spend those big bucks for the truck stop buffets any longer.
Cooking devices
Microwave
Crock pot
Electric frying pan
Burton stove
Electric rice cooker
Toaster
In addition to the typical cooking utensils, a supply of the zip-lock plastic bags and plastic tubs in various sizes will work for storage of the ingredients and leftovers. They're cheap, too.
Happy cooking!
The following are road-tested recipes found on the Internet:
Pork-n-Taters
1 oven bag
1 tray pork chops
6 small potatoes
1 large onion
1 large green pepper
Salt
Pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Heavy aluminum foil
Chili Cheese American Fries
2 Russet potatoes
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
1 can Wolf brand chili
3 slices American cheese
2 8-inch tortillas
Peel and slice potatoes. Boil to 3/4 doneness and cool. In an 8 x 11 skillet that covers both burners, sauté sliced onion rings and diced garlic in olive oil.
Add diced potatoes and brown. Cover with can of chili and heat ingredients together. Lay cheese slices over mixture. Cover with tortillas and let mixture steam them. Once steamed, remove and fold into quarters. Place mixture on plates and lay tortillas alongside.
Ragin' Cajun Pasta
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 Vidalia onion, diced
4 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms
1-1 1/2 T. cajun seasoning
1/2 tomato, diced
4-5 T. whipping cream
Parmesan cheese to taste
2 T. butter
1 package Ramen Noodles (discard flavor packet)
Put butter, bell pepper, onion and mushrooms into disposable aluminum loaf pan. Plug in Burton Stove to Go and place pan into stove. Close lid, cook one and a half hours. Stir vegetables. Add Cajun seasoning, whipping cream and tomato.
Stir well. Break up Ramen Noodles into small chunks. Put into loaf pan, trying to get as many noodles as possible beneath the vegetables and into the liquid.
Close stove and cook for another hour. Stir well and top with parmesan cheese.
Chicken Pot Pie
1 chicken
1 can mixed vegetables
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 box Jiffy pie crust
10-12 T. water
Mix pie crust. Pat 3/4 of crust into a loaf pan. Mix chicken, vegetables and soup; pour into pan. Pat remaining pie crust flat and put on top. Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until crust is browned and the middle is hot and bubbly.
Biscuits
4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 T. baking powder
Dried milk (optional)
Powdered eggs (optional)
Pour all ingredients into a plastic bag. Add enough water to make very stiff dough. Flour a 4 x 8 bread pan. Bake until done.
Baked Ham with Apples and Raisins
1 center cut slice of ham
2 boxes Sunmaid raisins
2 cored and quartered apples
Brown sugar
1/2 cup orange juice or water
Place apples, raisins, brown sugar and liquid in a Reynolds cooking bag. Mix well. Add chopped slices of ham. Put in Burton Stove To Go, cook one and a half to two hours. Serve with your choice of vegetables, which can be cooked at the same time as the ham.
Beef Roll-Ups
3 slices very thin round steak
Spicy mustard
2 dill pickle spears or broccoli
2 slices muenster or Swiss cheese
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
Preheat portable stove before beginning. Line with aluminum foil. Tenderize steak with dull edge of knife, making very thin. Spread with mustard. Place cheese on top of mustard. Add pickle or broccoli. Roll and tie with butchers twine. Put one envelope of onion soup mix into cooking bag. Shake.
Place steak roll-ups into bag. Add 1/2 cup water. Cook about one and half hours or until tender.
Chicken and Dumplings on the Run
2 or 3 skinned boneless chicken breasts
1 large potato, diced
1 large onion, sliced
11?2 cups celery, chopped
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 roll Pillsbury biscuits
Chop chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add to Crock-Pot along with vegetables. Add water to cover contents. Cover the pot with a tight lid. Put setting on high.
Drive for three hours while Crock-Pot cooks dinner. Stir dinner and add cornstarch to thicken and create a gravy base. Take biscuits and arrange them on top of the stew. Put lid back on and cover. Set on low cook. Dinner will be done in 10 to 15 minutes.
Scalloped Apples
3 Granny Smith apples
1?2 cup apple juice
1 T. cinnamon
plug in stove before preparing
Place all ingredients in a cooking bag. Cook about 20 minutes or until tender. To make it a crisp: Mix 1 cup of oatmeal with 2 T. sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle on top of apples. Let steam about 5 min.
Roast and Veggies
Roast
Lipton onion soup mix
salt and pepper
potatoes, carrots, celery
Put the roast in an oven bag and sprinkle the dry onion soup mix on top; salt and pepper to taste. Close bag and then wash the potatoes, carrots and celery and place them in another bag and close. Put both bags down into a Crock-Pot with about 2 inches of water in the bottom.
Spread the tops of the bags under the edge of the lid to cut down rattles. Turn on high for about 2 hours, then on
low for 2 to 3 hours depending on the size of the roast.
Spaghetti & Meatballs
1 package of spaghetti noodles
1 lb. of hamburger
1?2 green pepper
1?4 onion
1 clove of garlic
Salt and pepper
1 can tomato sauce (16 oz.)
1 egg
1 package of seasoned crouton snacks
Crush green pepper, onion and garlic in garlic press. Mix green pepper, onion, garlic with the hamburger, egg and crushed seasoned crouton snack.
Salt and pepper to taste. Make meatballs and place in Crock-Pot. When meatballs are cooked, add tomato sauce and let stand for 1 hour. Cook spaghetti noodles and serve with meatballs and sauce.