FOP Leader Handbook

Stoves

General Stove Safety

(See also, Stoves/Fuel under Policies and Procedures.)

Who can use stoves?

• Stove use should always be supervised by a leader.
• No more than 2-3 people should be allowed in the cooking area - too many cooks knock over stoves.

Where are stoves to be used?

• No cooking on picnic tables.
• Fueling of stoves and storage of fuel bottles should take place at least 50 feet from the cooking area and any bodies of water.
• While on campus, stoves are to be used in designated areas only. These areas are: the Science Center overpass, the parking lot behind 6 Prescott St.

When in use:

• Never step over or near stoves - give them plenty of room. Make sure your FOPpers observe this as well.
• Never leave operating stoves unattended.

Troubleshooting:

• Never dissect stoves or open the fuel cap in the lighting area (danger of fuel spillage).

Lighting:

• Always stay on your feet when lighting a stove.
• Roll up your sleeves when lighting a stove.

Storage:

• Stoves should be carried upright and depressurized in packs, in separate compartments from food - ideally in different packs than the food to prevent fuel contamination.
• Fuel should be stored in a secure area during the winter months.

Remember, the stove causes burns so treat it appropriately. The stove fuel we use is white gas and it is flammable! Emphasize stove safety with your FOPpers so that you will never have to deal with the agony of burns.

How to Use the MSR Whisperlite Stove

All thanks to the user manual on MSR’s website.

-Parts Overview and Steps for Operation

Cooking

Eating well is a crucial part of any outdoor activity. If you are hungry, your FOPpers are probably hungrier. Take GORP breaks and check-in with the group to see how they are feeling. Hunger and low blood sugar can lead to irritability at best, accidents at worst.

So what exactly does one eat on FOP? This cooking section will give you an idea of typical FOP meals and some basic pointers to keep in mind. But remember that flexibility and creativity are key!

But How Do I Actually Cook?!

So you’re in the woods, the stove is fired up at last, and you’re ready to impress your FOPpers with some good ol’ home cooking, but you haven’t a clue. Things to remember:

• Keep it simple. You are in the woods, not a Tuscan villa. A hearty meal that is edible, even if bland, is better that a gourmet-attempt-turned-scat. There is elegance in simplicity, and not all flavors are exotic creations. A grilled cheese and tomato soup at the right time can be just as “gourmet” as some sort of thing with braided goat cheese florettes.
• One major seasoning like curry or taco is enough for each recipe. If people want to go crazy, hand the spice kit around as the meal is served. The complex blending of surprising blends of tastes from around the world is appropriate for chefs with years of training in yuppy California restaurants. On the trail, keep it simple and, ironically, you’ll be called gourmet.
• A reasonable amount of that seasoning is better than an overwhelming amount. This is art, not football, so be delicate. If you think there’s not enough, hand the spice kit around afterward. On the other hand, food needs seasoning to taste good. Consider proportion and the amount of food you’re cooking: a teensy little pinch, mixed into a ginormous pot, will not result in much flavor per square inch.
• Soapy, bland food? Add salt. Not enough salt is the most common reason camp food tastes boring. Plenty of salt in with the vegetables and butter at the beginning of any recipe gets the vegetable juices flowing. Really, a hefty pinch is appropriate. On the trail, with limited cooking techniques enough salt can really add the flavor that makes a simple meal simple and not bland.
• Keep an eye on your vegetable rations. Fresh is better than rotten. Always.
• Be creative! Cooking doesn’t have to be a chore on the way to eating; it can be an adventure in and of itself.

Recipes

The following are a selection of FOP’s most often-used recipes.

Fajitas

• If using dehydrated beans, it’s a good idea to line the billy can with a plastic bag and mix the beans in that. Then you throw out the bag instead of cleaning the pot. - Add the taco seasoning to the beans.
• Another option is quesadillas: put a tortilla in the skillet, top with cheese, beans and veggies, and top with another tortilla. Fry until lightly golden, then flip. Done when the cheese is melted, so it helps to cut small or thin slices.
• Add sauteed peppers and onions and you have fajitas!
• Open the refried beans bag, put it in the billy can, and fold the top over the edge of the can to keep it open. You can pour the boiling water straight into the bag, our bags are special. They take a lot more water to rehydrate than you think. You can then tie the top of the bag, cut a hole in the bottom corner, and dispense the beans by squeezing them through the hole. Warning: if you use this method you will get comments on how much the beans look like poop.

Curried Couscous

• 2 part couscous, 3 parts water
• Bring water to boil. Add couscous and stir. Cover, remove from heat, add the curry powder, if you’re going to, now - it makes it easier to stir it in evenly. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Fluff and it’s ready to serve…cool, huh?
• Meanwhile, back on the ranch: Stir fry veggies in margarine. Remember order (onions cook slower than carrots cook slower than broccoli) and sprinkle on a little water (just a few shakes now and then) as they cook. This atomizes the margarine and gives everything a nice flavor. Apples are a fun addition too! Glaze this mix by adding a little brown sugar toward the end.
• When the couscous is done, add the veggies, along with peanuts (enough so there are some in every serving) and raisins. Probably someone will complain about at least one of these ingredients. Oh well…problem FOPpers. Curry is not very spicy, so don’t be afraid, add enough for a nice golden color. If there’s any doubt, taste it as you go. Wait, however, to add black pepper. It gets very spicy if it cooks in.
• Another trick is breakfast couscous. Cook couscous according to the above recipe. However, add brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and powdered milk for a tasty sweet treat.
• Raisins and nuts add a lot of flavor, as well as a sauteed onion.
• Margarine adds some richness.
• Brown sugar can be tasty too.

Mac and Cheese

• You could probably make this one in your sleep…7-10 minutes to cook the pasta.
• Spices are good for making the dish more interesting: garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper are all great but you might want to check with people or allow individual spicing.
• Adding real cheese, a few tablespoons of margarine, and some powdered milk (about a fistful size of milk with just enough water to make a thick liquid) can make the dish more authentic. Add it all at the end.
• Or, if you want, you can toss out the Kraft package and make the real thing: cook pasta, drain out almost all the water leaving a little bit at the bottom (like a 1/2 cup). Add about 1/2 cup margarine and 2-3 cups diced cheese, stir. Put 1/2 cup of powdered milk in a bowl and add just enough water to make a thick liquid, add it to pasta. Put back on the stove on low heat, stirring frequently, until the cheese is melted.
• Once the macs are done, do not drain all the hot water. Leave a little bit and add the cheese powder, and a bit of margarine. You may also want to add extra cheese, onion or garlic. Stir and watch it all goo. Mmmmm.
• Fried macs: once it’s all done, fry it up in batches in the fry pan in margarine. Yum!

Spaghetti Dinner

• 4 parts water/ 1 part pasta
• Boil water with a pinch of salt. Add pasta and a dash of butter or oil to avoid sticking. When pasta is done (taste test! and look at the cross-section), drain quickly so it doesn’t get soggy.
• Add choice of sauce: tomato sauce (tomato paste, a little brown sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, veggies), or gado-gado peanut sauce (peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, onion, garlic, crushed peanuts). Tomato sauce should be warmed up; gado-gado is best stirred up in a bowl and added to warm pasta.
• Fresh veggies (peppers, carrots, onions) taste really good in the sauce. Chop/dice them and sautee them in oil or margarine, then add tomato paste and water and other spices.
• Tomato paste from the can is bland and thick. Add water and a TON of spices: garlic, oregano, basil.
• Brown sugar, like 2-4 tablespoons, added to the sauce makes a huge difference.

Gado-Gado

• Pasta
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• Pinch of salt and onions if you want
• Make pasta. Heat all other ingredients together and then mix with pasta… mm….mmm.

Thanksgiving

• Boil water in pot and pour slowly into dried potato bag (don’t put potatoes into pot). This gives you more control on the consistency.
• Put the gravy powder into the saucepan and slowly pour water in until you have an acceptable consistency. Cook until gravy thickens.
• Pour hot water into stuffing bag.
• Cook up some carrots if you have time.

Quesadillas a la Orenstein

• Dice a pile of cheese
• Heat some margarine in the frying pan
• Place the tortilla in the frying pan, add a layer of cheese, garlic, oregano, and basil, then either fold the tortilla in half or add another tortilla on top. You can also sprinkle the spices on the outside. Cook until the bottoms are browned, flip and cook again until browned and cheese is melted.

Fruit Crisp

• Either bring extra dried fruit or use from GORP (apricots and cranberries are particularly good). Dice the fruit into small pieces. You basically want enough to make a layer of fruit in the fry pan.
• Put the fruit in the fry pan with some brown sugar (a few tablespoons), water (1/4-1/2 cup). Cook until the fruit gets soft and the liquid thickens. If it dries out before the fruit gets soft add some more water.
• In a bowl, mix together about 4 Tbs margarine, 3 Tbs brown sugar, a packet or two of oatmeal, some cinnamon (1 tsp), and some grape nuts (1/4 c). Mix with a spoon or your fingertips into a crumbly bowl of good stuff.
• Spread the topping over the fruit in the pan and cover the pan with the lid. Turn the heat on the stove down as low as it can go. Cook for a while, it helps if you can to hold the pan in the air above the flame. Basically you’re looking to get heat trapped in the pan by the lid without overheating and burning the bottom. You’ll never really get it completely crisp, you just want to melt the topping a bit.
• Warning: If you cook it a long time and the fruit burns a bit it’ll taste really good but it will be really hard to clean the pan. To make the clean up easier later, you can do the initial cooking of the fruit in a separate pan (or scoop it into a bowl and wash out the pan) and then use margarine to grease the fry pan before adding the fruit and topping.

Backcountry Samosas

• Fill 1/4 to 1/3 of your pot with water. Then pour the dehydrated peas into the cold water and begin heating.
• Once the water reaches a boil, add lentils.
• Boil for about 8 minutes, or until both the lentils and peas are cooked.
• Assess the volume of excess water in the pot – is this the amount of water you need for the potato flakes? You want the level of water to be at least 1 inch above the volume of the peas and lentils. Note: it’s better to undershoot the amount of water than to overshoot. You can always add more (purified) water if you need to adjust the consistency. Drain until you feel that the amount of water is appropriate.
• Take the pot off heat and add potato flakes until you reach a (slightly less thick) mashed potato consistency. Add purified water as needed.
• Add margarine and spices for taste. Make sure to use generous amounts of curry – the mixture should be yellow.
• Add filling to tortillas, and if time allows, pan fry the tortillas. Feel free to also serve the torts and filling separately as deconstructed samosas.

Extra Creamy Hot Chocolate

• Add margarine (and powdered milk) to make it taste richer and also more calories for cold days.

Horchata

• Mix water and powdered milk in a bowl. Stir in cooked rice and sweeten with brown sugar to taste. This recipe is best used to get rid of leftover rice on cold and rainy nights in need of some sweetness. It is inspired by Rick Li (SC ’19) and was submitted to the handbook by Sarah Flynn (SC ’20).

Elephant Ears

• Heat up a pan. Then rub margarine on both sides of a tortilla and throw the tortilla on the pan to lightly fry it. Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar on top of the tortilla, fold it, and then serve once the tortilla is golden brown and the cinnamon/sugar/margarine mixture is warm and gooey.

Scrambled Brownies

• Buy a package of brownie mix. Add water to make a thick liquid. In a fry pan put in a bunch of margarine (3-4 Tbs) and melt it. Add brownie batter to the pan let it cook for a minute or so then stir with spatula. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until it thickens to a consistency similar to scrambled eggs. Serve it up warm and gooey.

After the Meal

All leftovers and scraps must be bagged and carried out, even leftover scraps of noodles and rice in pots and bowls. No food should ever be buried. Encourage FOPpers to eat every last bit during the meal, so that they get enough caloric intake and so that you’re not faced with a pot full of leftovers which has gotten cold and unappealing.

Food scraps do attract animals. Be vigilant in maintaining a clean “kitchen” and avoid introducing power bars, peanut butter or some other item into the diet of the animals.

Sump Hole

When you make your sump hole, dig a six-inch pit and be sure to strain everything you pour into it. It’s a good idea to turn your sump hole into a little hygiene station: make it home base for the trowel and the soap, too.

Cleaning Pots and Dishes

Be scrupulous about picking out as much food from pots as possible before rinsing. Never bring anything but a clean pot to the water. Dirty pots, pans, bowls, and cups should never go to the stream for cleaning or for rinsing. Instead, bring water for washing at least 200 yards away from the water source. Get out all the food bits, then scrub the pot. Then rinse with water and sump the water. Dump rinse water at least 200 yards away from the water supply, and strain it through a screen strainer. Soap can be used sparingly, primarily to cut grease on cookware. It is highly concentrated and a few drops will suffice for an entire pot inside and out. It is important, though, that you rinse thoroughly: associated risks of residual soap on cookware include diarrhea and other gastro-intestinal problems.

Tips

• How to strain pasta (or try): Put the lid tightly on the pot and hold firmly. Let water out slowly while holding tight to the top with gloved hands. Or, poke holes in a plastic bag, and use it as a strainer. (be careful not to melt the bag).
• Leave a little extra water in the pasta when you strain, since everyone is dehydrated anyway. Soupy pasta is all right in the woods.
• Use water from pasta in hot chocolate.