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Thursday August 26, 2004

Hearty fare for hungry firefighters and finicky kids

by rebecca ets-hokin

Often during the summer, I’m asked to write about interesting news from Camp Tawonga. Baruch HaShem, nothing interesting had been happening. Most recently, the most exciting thing I came up with was the family of squirrels I adopted. Only hours after I submitted that last column, plumes of smoke were visible outside the camp dining hall.

That smoke was the beginning of what is now known as the “Early Fire,” named for the 160-acre forest fire’s proximity to Early Intake, part of the Hetch Hetchy reservoir and about two miles north of camp. The fire was 75 percent contained within a few days and posed no threat to camp. We did have the pleasure and honor of having 18 vigorous firefighters sleep at camp and share three meals with us.

The kitchen staff pulled through once again. We began with a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and English muffins, pizza and a salad bar for lunch. The firefighters spent International Dinner with us, a camp buffet offering dishes from all over the world. One particularly popular dish is Di Gradstein’s Mandarin Chicken. We also delivered a couple hundred brownies to the firefighters’ camp located a few miles down the road.

Breakfast Eggs | Serves 6-8

4 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 cups leftover roasted potatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, through the press
1 bell pepper, sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
12 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 cups shredded cheese

Heat the butter in a large skillet, over medium heat. Add the potatoes, onion, garlic, bell pepper and tomatoes. Sauté for a few minutes, until the onions begin to soften, and the other vegetables are heated through.

Beat the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper. Pour the eggs into the skillet, and stir over medium heat until the eggs are just barely set. Fold in the cheese and serve with toast or English muffins.

Di’s Mandarin Chicken | Serves 8

1 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4 oz. each)
1 Tbs. fine sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 2-inch chunks
2 cups mandarin oranges
1 onion, sliced

Pour the orange juice concentrate into a baking dish. Lay the chicken in overlapping layers and sprinkle with the salt, pepper and cilantro. Cover the chicken with the pineapple, oranges and onion.

Bake the chicken in a preheated 375-degree oven for about 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with steamed rice.

M&M Brownies | Makes 2 dozen

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted
4 oz. unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 cups M&Ms

Beat the eggs with the sugar until light yellow and thickened. Stir in the vanilla, chocolate and butter. Sift in the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Stir in half the M&Ms. Pour the batter into a lightly greased 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining M&Ms over the top.

Bake the brownies in a preheated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, and cut into squares.

Rebecca Ets-Hokin is a Bay Area cooking teacher and food professional. Her columns alternate with those of Louise Fiszer. Questions and recipe ideas can be sent to J.

or to joerebecca@hotmail.com.

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