American Chef: Road Trip--Tuesday

Chef led the tour of the great American west, starting in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Bridge. The campers heard all about a trip out to Napa Valley and to Marin County, where the Marin Agricultural Trust tries to keep the farms there from selling out to the developers. Everyone wants to live in California! Next we moved up the coast to the Pacific Northwest and heard about the Native American tribes. Thanks to the bounty of the sea and forest, the population there has always been wealthy, living off the fruits of the fertile land. Traveling through the Southwest and Texas, the geography changed dramatically to high desert and eerie wind swept plains.

After learning from chef how to thicken with flour--by making a roux, adding beurre manie at the end, making a slurry, or keeping the starch granules separate with sugar--the campers learned how to make a Bechamel Sauce. And just in time--Grace and Mia needed to do that for their recipe!

Soon the campers were back in their units, baking potatoes, zesting oranges and lemons, chopping vegetables for chili and salad. It was quite a kitchen session! While listening the the Songs of the Pioneers, the campers made themselves a potlatch of interesting dishes, very nicely arranged--and tasty too!

The buffet lunch included the perfectly sauced Chicken Tetrazzini, California Club Salad with Avocado and Bacon, Orange County Muffins, Monte Cristo Sandwiches, Blueberry Pudding Cake, Ranger Cookies, Buffalo Chili, Twice Baked Idaho Potatoes,
Teriyaki-glazed Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon, Potato Salad with Cucumbers and Capers, Cheddar Apple Bread, Peach Cobbler and Raspberry and blueberry Lemonade. Next stop on our Road Trip: the Heartland!