Now that we’re all cooking at home much more often, I’m finding cookbooks like Foil Pack Dinners (via Amazon) extremely handy.
Author Julia Rutland presents “100 Delicious, Quick-Prep Recipes for the Grill and Oven” in this newly published cookbook. Let’s take a look inside and see what helpful recipes await!
Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.
Chapters include:
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Yardbirds
- Chapter 2: Carnivore Cravings
- Chapter 3: Catch of the Day
- Chapter 4: Handhelds
- Chapter 5: From the Garden
Right away, the Introduction teaches us about cooking with aluminum foil, including the difference between heavy-duty foil, standard foil, grilling foil, heavy-duty nonstick foil, and grilling bags. The tips continue with an explanation of when you might use flat style packages and when you might use tent fold packages, and info on Foil Packets 101. A quick section explains how to use aluminum foil in the oven, on the grill, and over a campfire. There’s an important safety section too for cooking with aluminum foil and high temperatures.
I’m a lifelong vegetarian, so I’m going not personally going to utilize the Yardbirds chapter, the Carnivore Cravings chapter and the fish chapter. I can definitely see why you might want to cook chicken, beef and fish in aluminum foil packets – it sounds so handy and makes cleanup easier, I can imagine.
In the Yardbirds chapter (I haven’t heard that term often!) you’ll find recipes for things like Chicken Piccata, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Turkey with Sweet Potatoes, Thai Chicken Curry with Cauliflower Rice, and Creamy Chicken and Green Chile Enchiladas. I just noticed a handy recipe for a quick enchilada sauce, tucked in as a bonus.
Each recipe includes the temperature for your oven or grill, an estimation of how many sheets of aluminum foil to use, whether to use a flat or tent package, and how many people the recipe will serve. Not every dish has its own photograph, but at least the photographs included here are attractive and make the food look tempting.
The Carnivore Cravings chapter starts off with an explanation of “the hobo pack,” a dish involving a ground beef patty and assorted vegetables. This chapter includes recipes for Irish beef stew, easy meatloaf, stuffed cabbage rolls, baby back ribs and Ham and Brussels au Gratin.
Let’s examine the chapter on fish – “Catch of the Day.”
The author tells us “if any protein were designed specifically for foil packet cooking, it’s a fish fillet.” Recipes shared here include Bourbon & Bacon Shrimp, Scallops Adobo, Grilled Garlic Mussels, Sesame Salmon and Asparagus, and Herb Trout in Foil.
Next up is the Handheld section. This chapter involves sandwiches and breads cooked in foil: Toasted Muffaletta Sandwiches, Egg Florentine Breakfast Sandwiches, Salmon Burgers, Crab Cakes, and Beef Fajitas. I can see several things here my boyfriend would be ecstatic to learn how to make on the grill in foil!
Now we come to a chapter I’m looking forward to checking out: From the Garden. At last some recipes I’d personally like to try out! For example, Garlic Butter Broccolini, Cheesy Garlic Scalloped Potatoes, a Potato Zucchini Bake, and a simple ratatouille. I don’t care for squash so I will probably skip the Spiced Acorn Squash Rings, but I bet many of you would love to make that in autumn. I just spied a cheesy riced cauliflower recipe I’m dying to try, and I’m intrigued by the Orange Broccoli and Smoked Tofu recipe.
I notice that every recipe I’ve looked through in this cookbook has easy-to-procure ingredients – nothing too fancy, and mostly stuff you’d already have around your house anyway.
Since I foresee we’ll be cooking outdoors more often when social distancing has relaxed a bit (we’ll still want to be cautious and host small outdoor gatherings, not big indoor parties) I’m looking forward to using this cookbook for our grilling and fire pit cooking this summer!
-Carrie
