Adventures in Cooking

We managed to stimulate a real interest in cooking and some very good public
relations by accident recently. I demonstrated the preparation of a "Mud Hen"
as
a featured item for local newspaper and as a result we have had several cooking
contests at camporees and additional follow-up stories in newspapers. We have
found that the Scouts love to cook exotic dishes that are definitely beyond the
normal - - - and people love to read about this. So in the hopes that there
might be some other exotic dishes out there, I offer the "Mud Hen" recipie in
exchange for your unusual dish. I would hope that some of our international
Scouters would have something to contribute from which we can all benefit.

MUD HEN

1 whole cornish game hen or small chicken
1 head of cabbage salt and pepper
appropriate stuffing (1 to 2 cups) to fill cavity of bird
can be chopped onion, potatoes, carrots, crushed garlic, etc.
or commercial bread stuffing, precooked rice, etc.
or chopped apple, apricots, orange, or other fruit
1 cup either barbecue sauce or appropriate fruit jelly or marmalade
string
soccer ball sized ball of thick mud or preferably clay

Remove innards and clean hen, coat inside and out with salt and pepper . Mix
appropriate stuffing and half of either barbecue sauce or fruit jelly and stuff
bird. Coat bird with remaining sauce or jelly. Carefully remove whole cabbage
leaves and completely wrap bird, minimum of 3 to 5 layers thick. The cabbage
leaves will fit the bird nicely. Wrap with string and secure. The mud should be
the consistiency of very heavy dough. Flatten the clay or mud ball to a
pancake
about 1+ inches thick. Place wrapped bird in center and bring edges up and seal
together. Thickness of mud should be at least 1 inch. Discard excess mud. You
should have up to a basketball sized ball of mud. Place in a fire pit lined
with
coals and heap more coals on top. This can also be accomplished with charcoal.
Mud ball must be completely surrounded by hot coals. Cook for at least 90
minutes (for small bird) up to 3 hours (for larger bird). Don't undercook; err
on the side of safety. Carefully remove coals, use shovel to carefully remove
baked hen to clear area. You might have to use a mallet to crack open the mud
ball. Ignore smell of cooked cabbage. Discard mud and outer cabbage leaves.
Serve to hungry Scouts.

Hints:
Don't use river mud - it will stink. Clay works great if available.
Don't undercook - no second chances here; your pot is gone when cracked
Practice on small hen first - will serve maybe 3 or 4.
Volunteer to wash the pot after dinner.

OK, let's hear from others.

George
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
George W. Huffman Lilly Research Laboratories DC 1523
Huffman_George_W@Lilly.com Lilly Corporate Center
(317)276-4251 Indianapolis, IN 46285
"Anyone who takes seriously anything I say shouldn't be allowed on
the network in the first place."
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

From: HUFFMAN GEORGE W (MCVAX0::RX15559)

To: FOREIGN TRANSPORT ADDRESSEE (MCDEV1::IN%"SCOUTS-L@TCUBVM.BITNET")

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