We’re having a Hobo Dinner on Saturday (the 12th) and we need ideas! What kinds of things do you like in them. How much of each ingredient should go in it?
We expect to have to feed 25-30 people. Any ideas and tips will be enormously appreciated.
Thanks to all in advance!
By the way, I’ve exhausted stuff I’ve found on the web, most of it is just a list of ingredients with no quantities.
What exactly is a “Hobo Dinner”? I’m picturing boiling a boot with some onions for a couple of hours…
Are you going to try to build a rocket to Uranus?
What’s a hobo dinner?
I’m picturing Boiled Boot Under Glass as a main course, a little Chateau King Kong in a chilled glass, perhaps some Roadkill Pheasant…
The only thing I know is that you dig a pit in your yard, throw in charcoal and stuff, lay a grate over it then put a garbage can on the grate. (This really should be a new garbage can, I mean ideally 
) You throw in whole bunches of different stuff, beef, pork, carrots, corn whatever I guess. Cook it, then serve it up.
I’ve never done one before so I was hoping for ideas. I think we’re saving the “boot” for dessert.
Make sure you clean the hobo very well before cooking. They don’t have the best hygiene.
When I was a Girl Scout we made hobo packets when we went camping, is that what you’re thinking of? Ground beef, carrots, potatoes (pre-cooked or cut up small), etc, with plenty of worchestire worchestersire worwhatever sauce. Tasty.
Er, in foil, duh. In the fire.
The traditional hobo meal is Mulligan stew.
Here’s a recipe – on of many, I have no doubt.
A can of baked beans heated over a campfire under a bridge?
I’ve never even heard of hobo dinner, but it reminds me of a show I saw on Cajun cooking. Throw in some chickens and sausage and liquid, cook forever, throw in some onions and potatoes and okra and whatnot and then whole seafood, cook some more, and so on. Timing would be important. Maybe you could find something to help plan it on a Cajun cooking website.
I’ll be checking my mail box daily for my invitation! 
[QUOTE=The Chao Goes Mu]
The only thing I know is that you dig a pit in your yard, throw in charcoal and stuff, lay a grate over it then put a garbage can on the grate. (This really should be a new garbage can, I mean ideally 
) You throw in whole bunches of different stuff, beef, pork, carrots, corn whatever I guess. Cook it, then serve it up.
I’ve never done one before so I was hoping for ideas. I think we’re saving the “boot” for dessert.
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So, stew?
(Ah, yes, I see BrainGlutton has answered that).
I camp cook for around 50 people, so halving that, I get something like:
10-15 pounds cheap meat, cut into cubes with a few hearty beef bones, preferably with the knobby cartiledge at the ends. Dredge the meat in flour.
Heat your cooking vessel, pour in some oil and brown the beef - meat and bones. Keep it moving, and scrape off all the lovely brown burnt looking bits.
Add enough water to cover the meat by about an inch or two. Add 2 Tablespoons salt and 1 Tablespoon fresh black pepper. A Tablespoon of thyme. A dozen whole allspice and 4 or 5 bay leaves. Let it simmer for about 2 hours. Skim off any frothy foam that comes to the surface periodically.
After a couple of hours, when the meat it starting to get tender, add veggies. Anything really, onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, turnips, rutabegas, burdock root. Barley is also good, and stretches a stew if you want to save money. Canned or fresh chopped tomatoes, for a more acidic stew. You want just about equal amount of total vegetables as meat you start with - so about 10-15 pounds. Just let your friends start peeling and chopping, and when you get to “enough”, stop. Don’t put in any tender veggies, like peas or green beans yet, or they’ll get soggy.
Simmer another hour or so until the root veggies are soft. Then add the tender veggies. Adjust seasonings.
If it’s not thick enough, use a corn starch slurry to thicken.
I’ve never heard of this, but could probably fake it for our friends. (The hobo dinners I know are the packets with hamburger, veggies, and sauce.) Quantities for that sort of thing depend on what you like, how much you eat, cut of meat, etc.
Frinstance, in some sort of boneless meat (sausages, roasts, etc.) you could figure 1/4 to 1/2 lb of meat per person, depending on how hearty you’ll eat. I’d think you wouldn’t want any very thick cuts (maybe an inch or less).
Potatoes I’d guess at around 1/4-1/3 pound per person, again depending on how much you like potatoes. (We can figure 1/4 lb for mashed, but 1/2 lb for fries; boiled fall in between.)
Same sort of thing on the veggies. Figure up an approximate serving per person and multiply by the number of people. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the overall total and downsize your serving estimates if you put lots of different things in. Not many people are going to eat 5 pounds of food, even if it’s lots of different kinds!
The only recipe I saw called for liquid to steam the food. This would be important, else it’s not going to cook. It didn’t explain how you keep the food out of the liquid so that it steams instead of boiling. And it did specify lining the trash can with heavy duty foil.
A similar meal is a shrimp/crab/crawfish boil. Toss potatoes (small, whole, red), andouille sausages, onions, whatever into a big pot of water. Add some Old Bay seasoning and boil until done. Add corn-on-the-cob and your seafood and boil for a few more minutes. Line big tables with freezer paper or butcher’s paper, dump everything onto the table, and chow down!
Hobo Stew is a family tradition at my house. You need a large Pot (or Garbage can) and enough ingredients to fill it. As others have pointed out, it is basically a Midwestern version of a seafood boil.
The ingredient amounts are variable and you will probably have to guesstimate that out yourself, but the ingredients are just about anything you wish to add. Our families’ version is assorted sausage (real kielbasa, and smoked sausage), Red Potatoes, Corn on the Cob (cut into halves), Carrots (Cut in large pieces), Cabbage (quartered then each wedge halved), water and beer to cover, salt and pepper. Nothing fancy. You just put the pot on the fire and get it to boiling and let it go for a few hours while the party gets started.
I’m sure just about any addition of a “boilable” meat that would hold up to the long cooking would do …think Ham, Sausage, and /or Corned Beef/Brisket. You could make it a little more interesting with some other veggies and seasonings, but the real deal is very basic and gets a lot of it’s flavor from cooking over a fire.
I forgot onions… whole onions are added.
[QUOTE=devilsknew]
The ingredient amounts are variable and you will probably have to guesstimate that out yourself, but the ingredients are just about anything you wish to add. Our families’ version is assorted sausage (real kielbasa, and smoked sausage), Red Potatoes, Corn on the Cob (cut into halves), Carrots (Cut in large pieces), Cabbage (quartered then each wedge halved), water and beer to cover, salt and pepper. Nothing fancy. You just put the pot on the fire and get it to boiling and let it go for a few hours while the party gets started.
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Yum, that sounds really good. I may have to try that.
I generally prepare about 1-2 pounds of food per person - perhaps a bit more if dealing with shells (like seafood), bones (like chicken) or cobs of corn. This may be an overestimate, and you may send home Doggy Bags, but I know I’ll just die and go straight to hell if someone goes hungry on my watch, so best to be overgenerous!
devilsknew, that sounds pretty good with sausages. Other meats, not so much IMO.
WhyNot, I’m giggling over here. Your method of food estimate is the same that my friends and family use (i.e., not enough food = straight to hell)…which is why we generally have enough food for a small army every week when we cook potluck. Even when we try to not overdo! Leftovers for everyone!
Let’s see…I don’t know exactly, but I can help you with the guesitimation of ingredients.
A Garbage can full…
Maybe 5 small bags (3 lbs. I think?) of new red potatoes.
About half a pound of meat per person, more or less… I’d go with 15lbs. of assorted sausage.
20 ears of corn (cut in half)
1 small bag of yellow onions.
8 heads of cabbage
8 bags of carrots
At least, a twelve pack of beer, more if you are inclined. Water to fill.
Salt and pepper.
Boil for a minimum of a few hours and stir every once in a while. I think it tastes better with about six hours.
Again, these are just estimates on 25-30 people… I could be way off.
[QUOTE=redtail23]
WhyNot, I’m giggling over here. Your method of food estimate is the same that my friends and family use (i.e., not enough food = straight to hell)…which is why we generally have enough food for a small army every week when we cook potluck. Even when we try to not overdo! Leftovers for everyone!
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I was taught by a Martha Stewart wannabe (who am I kidding, Martha Stewart only *wishes *she was as fabulous as Mrs. Rush!) who once told me, seriously, that one should plan the amount of food by considering how much of each dish you’d need to have on hand if all the guests ate nothing but that dish, and make double that.
I’m not quite that bad. But I am glad after every party that I have a deep-freeze!