Roasting food in the embers of a dying fire is one of the easiest and oldest ways of cooking in the worldΓÇöand it is still a favorite technique in Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps throughout the United States, where foil-wrapped meals are known as ΓÇ£hobo packs.ΓÇ¥ Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby, authors of The Thrill of the Grill, gained hobo pack skills as scouts and perfected the method over the course of hundreds of meals cooked on the beach. There is an element of unpredictability in cooking these packets (which can contain just about any combination of meat and vegetables), but thatΓÇÖs part of the fun, and there is no denying the intrinsic appeal of this method to the primitive cook in all of us.
Combine in a large bowl and toss well:
4 bone-in chicken breast halves, skin removed
8 small new potatoes
12 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 lime, sliced into very thin rounds
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
1 teaspoon minced fresh chili peppers
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Place in the center of a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil about 2 feet long. Cover with a second sheet of foil and roll the edges together on all sides to seal. Place in the center of a third length of foil and fold it up around the pack.
Prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire.
Place the pack on the bottom of the grill or fireplace, and pile coals up on all sides. Cook for 30 to 35 minutes, depending on the intensity of the coals. Remove from the coals, unroll the foil carefully, and serve at once.
