Cabin Cooking: BBQ Pouch Potatoes

This year I grew potatoes in three places. The first was up on the hill using soil I've composted over the years. It's pretty dry up there, but I do get quite a few spuds if I am diligent about watering. My potato success story is growing them in barrels on the cabin deck. This year I grew two types, Norland red potatoes in one barrel and Yukon Gold potatoes in another.

This week I dug up my potatoes to store for later use. Here are the Yukon Golds. I dried them outdoors before wiping them clean with a dry paper towel. Rather than keep them wrapped in newspaper in a bucket like last year, I bought plastic baskets at the Dollar Store that fits nicely under the bed downstairs. That is the coolest place in the cabin, so I use it as "root cellar."

In winter, I cook potatoes inside the fire box of my wood stove. But now that it's summer, the BBQ is the quickest and coolest place. Here's my summer version of Pouch Potatoes.

Pouch Potatoes

The ingredients can vary, but my staples are potatoes, onions, green peppers and herbs. Start with a large rectangle of aluminum foil. Using a paper towel, spread about one teaspoon of margarine up to about one inch of the edge. Slice potatoes (enough for two servings) and place them on the foil. Top with sliced onions and green peppers. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs. I like Rosemary, Thyme, Basil and Sage, but you can use whatever you like.

Pull the foil up and seal the edges by folding them over several times. This makes a cooking pouch that should not leak. Sometimes I use a second piece of foil to double the pouch, especially when I'm going to cook them in my wood stove. But on the BBQ, a little dripping doesn't hurt a thing. Cook for about 15-20 minutes over low heat on each side to get them crispy good.

Open the pouch and dig in. This time we used them as a side dish to go with Wayne's BBQ roast. Yum! -- Margy