Cuisine on the Trail

The food on our four wheeling trip to Utah was certainly worth a mention. We ate very well indeed. As I mentioned in the prior post, we were 9 vehicles so storage space was not an issue. Most vehicles had refrigerators so keeping food cool and fresh was also not a problem. We had a variety of cooking utensils from Dutch Ovens to pressure cookers up to seriously large grills so we had no limitations there.

The Chefs at work.

Of course, we also had the best of cooking implement of them all - the engine itself.

I had heard of cooking food on the manifold before, but had never tried it (not that it is appropriate for my daily drive car). The whole thing just sounds so unpredictable and it is perhaps not the most hygienic of conditions for food preparation. However, that proved not to be the case, and we had many several engine prepared meals. We wrapped pork ribs in foil and placed them around the engine in the morning and by the end of the day they were perfectly cooked. Tamales wrapped in moist paper towels and then in foil were ready by lunchtime. It was also great for warming things like burritos and the grilled cheese sandwiches were superb.

Careful placement is what it's all about.

Googling the topic of engine cooking when I got home shows that it is not that unusual – there are even books on the topic with cooking times measured in miles rather than minutes.

As far as the drinks went, not only could we keep the beers cold in the fridges, Andy made great Gin and Tonics at the end of the day. When Dan caught up with us (he had mechanical problems before the trip) he brought along an excellent espresso machine that made the most wonderful cappuccinos and espressos for our early morning caffeine fix. Check out the nice layered cappuccino below.

Mine was a double-shot cappucino with 2% milk