Cast Iron/Dutch Oven/Camp-Cooking Recipes

I also understand how nice it is to see the fire pit emerge in the spring.

This was late last April after some digging. I just couldn't wait any longer.
 
LostViking said:
This thread keeps getting better and better,

Taldesta,
Love that key hole fire pit.
Click to expand...


Thanks so much ...

This is a property that my parents retired to (cleared and began building on) in 1974. First they camped and cooked on this firepit along with their block-laying crew from Toronto. Then, once the shop was built, they plastic'd off a room in it where they lived until the house basement was built. They then lived in the unfinished basement until the house was complete, and in fact bartered dad's shop work for various completions on the home. He worked in his shop until a couple of years before his death at age 90!

So, this firepit is very important to me. I dug it out of the 'jungle', added the cooking keyhole, rounded it with brick chips from a repaired chimney here, set logs and benches, set boards on sawhorses for a table ...

This spring I added the chimney rocks, in faint hope that they would heat and rise the smoke away ... and that I would not be smelling like a smoking log after my cook-outs. They are blackening down ... but final analysis tells me that where there's fire there's smoke!

Back in the first days of the firepit, dad used what he had and welded chain for a grate.

134%20HISTORIC%20CHAIN%20GRILL%20750%20MED_zpscidc4hlr.jpg



PS: I see from the text that you posted Hudson Bay biscuits and more ... and, as with all the great recipes above, I cannot see much of them until I trek to wifi in town. I look forward to adding some tasty new recipes to my dog-eared, flour-dusted notes :thumbup:
 
Good stuff. Next one I want to try:

Dutch Oven Scrambled Eggs and Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 medium onion
1 small bell pepper
Optional ingredients (mushrooms, crumbled bacon, pepperoni, etc.)
2 eggs per person*
Salt and pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper
Garlic powder
Tube of store-bought biscuits
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

* Egg beaters may be substituted if desired. When camping, these might be easier to carry than eggs.

(1) On a cutting board, chop onion and bell pepper into a small dice. Also chop up any optional ingredients that you want to add to the scrambled eggs.
(2) In a bowl, beat the eggs; add the onion, bell pepper, optional ingredients, mixing together with a fork. Season to taste with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder.
(3) Prepare your fire using briquette charcoal or wood.
(4) Spread the vegetable oil around the bottom and sides of the Dutch Oven.
(5) When the pan is hot pour the prepared scrambled egg mixture in the Dutch oven.
(6) Cover and let cook, stirring occasionally.
(7) Prepare lid for baking the biscuits by pouring some vegetable oil onto the lid and spread it evenly around the lid using a paper towel.
(8) Open the tube of biscuits (or rolls) and brush both sides of the rolls with vegetable oil. Place the oiled biscuits on top of the lid.

Don't forget to stir the eggs once in awhile. Just remove lid (and aluminum foil if using), with the biscuits and set aside while stirring. Then replace lid with biscuits back on top of the Dutch Oven.

A minute or so before the scrambled eggs are done, sprinkle with the grated cheddar cheese. Place the lid back on to get the cheese to melt.

(9) Wait a few minutes until the biscuits brown, and then turn the biscuits over. When the biscuits are brown on both sides, remove from the heat.

------------

and then after that one:

Lamb chops with Cracked Pepper and Rosemary

Cook time 10 mins

Ingredients:
2 to 3 tablespoons coarsely-crushed black peppercorns
8 small loin lamb chops
1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon freshly-chopped rosemary leaves

​
Preparation:
Place pepper on a plate and press each chop firmly into pepper and press in with your hands.
In a cast iron frying pan, over medium-high heat, add olive oil and get it hot. Add peppered lamb chops and sear on both sides. Sprinkle lamb chops with salt. Reduce heat to medium (do not degrease the pan). Add beef broth and lemon juice; continue to cook until the lamb chops reach the desired done-ness, approximately 2 to 3 minutes for medium rare and an internal thermometer registers 120°F. Use a meat thermometer to test.

Remove lamb chops to an oven-safe platter, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and keep warm in a 200°F oven until ready to serve (needs to let rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving).
NOTE: During this time the meat continues to cook (meat temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees after it is removed from the heat source) and the juices redistribute.
Continue to cook the sauce, scraping any pieces of meat off the bottom of the pan and stirring them into the sauce. Let the liquid boil until liquid is reduced to a shiny glaze. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter and fresh rosemary.


Remove lamb chops from the oven. Add any lamb juices to the sauce. Spoon sauce over chops and serve.


Makes 4 servings.
 
Last edited:
Here is one I did a while back for a contest on the Becker Forum




Off The Grid Breakfast,

Or

Just because you live like a Savage, doesn't mean you have to eat like one.


This is a highly technical meal with very precise measurements and careful timing. It should only be attempted by highly trained professionals!!


Up comes the Sun,


Maybe it will help with this,


First, chop some wood into fire size pieces,


Something like this,


Get a fire going,


Add some wood and while your fire is getting bigger, grind up some fresh Coffee,


And get this going,


The Raw Materials, (sounds like a cool name for a band, doesn't it?)
Mostly just a bunch of leftover crap from Corned Beef dinner on Sunday night.


Chop up an onion, Did you know if you chop off a little bit of the bottom, it will sit flat and not slide all over when you are trying to cut it up?


Melt about 2 tablespoons of butter in your hash pan,


Add Onions,


Chop up the left over potatoes, and a little red pepper,


When the onion gets translucent, add the peppers,


Let that cook for a bit, then add the potatoes, salt and pepper to taste,


Chop up the left over Corned Beef,


When it looks about like this,


Add the Corned Beef,


Stir it up and let it cook, at this point it was up to 17 degrees so I covered it for a bit.


Now comes the highly technical part,

Dice up a clove of garlic real small,


When the hash is done to your liking, add the garlic, and stir it in,


Slice up the left over bread,


Warm up the egg pan,


Add the eggs, and throw on the toast,


Slide'em to the middle and cover with your plate, to warm the plate and eliminate any runny egg white issues, and while you're at it flip the toast and butter,


And there you have it. Off the grid Hash, eggs, toast and coffee,
 
Breakfast followed up by another cup of coffee,



And a selfie of me and the dog, just to prove it was us,
 
Oh man you guys. I have been dreaming of Dutch oven for long time. Maybe I have to get one soon, finally.
 
One of the camps I work at does a spaghetti and sauce meal for the camp outs. On "expedition" (carry the food) there is always one night camped nearer the base where we drop in and get the supplies, also means not hauling cast iron. the kids love it. So far I've only done it with private school boys, some of whom never even see cooking let alone do it themselves, and I have to teach everything from food safety to opening cans (hey I'm there to teach life lessons, might as well be one of them) We keep it simple, but man is it good. On some camps the kids stay in cabins for most of the week, and do just one night in tents farther away, by the lake, so that's dinner for them. Heaps of fun to do, and while its a bit of work to have 15 boys help you cook a meal, its really fun. Some guys just do it all themselves, but the only thing I manage is the fire, and moving the pots, the boys figure out everything else, and if they don't, well we might have crunchy carrots in the sauce, or slightly bland if someone looses the salt. They still get right in, even the picky eaters. Of course then I get to kick back a bit while they scrub everything down (Love the look on their faces when I say the cast-iron needs to be shiny!) And for some kids that meal is the biggest challenge of the week, not canoeing or high ropes, its cooking for others, and having to do something for a meal.
 
Not a stupid question.

No, it was a flat cut. But I see no reason why you coludn't use canned.

The potatoes and the corned beef were already cooked from a boiled New England dinner. So I imagine it would work fine. I might try it some time just to see. I just try and utilize all our leftovers efficiently.

One ingredient I didn't mention was heavy cream. I think I used half & half for this one. When the hash is all done, remove from heat and stir in a tablespoon of heavy cream. It adds flavor and hepls bind everything together.

The cream thing learned compliments of Ethan Becker's mom from her book The Joy of Cooking.
 
Last edited:
Codger_64 said:
These posts make me hungry! Apple Brown Betty anyone? Or green tomato cobbler?
Click to expand...


Michael, thanks for the suggestion!

Green tomato cobbler sounds so good ... and I wanted to wait until lots of wild berries ripened. Mash-up recipe and dutch oven on the bbq seemed like the perfect combination. I think that, for the firepit, I would use heavy duty aluminum foil container inside the dutch oven, as for other fruit-with-cake desserts.

First, I had to beat the birds and four footers of all sizes to the berries and was chewed out roundly by one particular squirrel for the intrusion.

070%20BLACKBERRY%20BOWER%20750%20MED_zpsxnehikev.jpg



To what I could gather easily of the wild blackberries and raspberries, I added some other fruit on hand.

005%20BLACK%20AND%20RASPBERRY%20FRESH%20750%20MED_zpsmxfjc6r2.jpg



Tomatoes are named 'Mortgage Lifter' ... just has that olden day feel to the name :rolleyes: Tomato/sugar/water mixture to be lightly boiled

008%20GREEN%20TOMATO%20DICED%20750%20MED_zps2ih89udy.jpg



Berries and flour mix

011%20BERRY%20AND%20FLOUR%20MIX%20750%20MED_zpsicjnhpnr.jpg



Lightly boiled tomato and berry mixtures combined

015%20TOMATO%20AND%20BERRY%20MIX%20750%20MED_zpsoupnj697.jpg



Raw dough dropped on top

021%20DOUGH%20TOPPING%20750%20MED_zpstmoueqvs.jpg



Just fits into the dutch oven on the bbq (edit - I removed the dutch oven lid and just lowered the bbq lid to brown rather than steam the topping)

023%20DUTCH%20OVEN%20ON%20BBQ%20750%20MED_zpsps5frsig.jpg



There is just enough room to the side of the dutch oven to turn corn on the cob, right on the grill (soaked in water beforehand)

025%20PLATED%20SALAD%20AND%20CORN%20750%20MED_zpsivjadxx1.jpg



Only one thing left to top off a meal with delicious grilled corn on the cob, and that is .... tada!


Baked green tomato/berry cobbler

029%20COBBLER%20BAKED%20750%20MED_zps3sszmkb5.jpg



Gotta say, although I rarely make desserts, this was well worth the effort.
 
Last edited:
Simply outstanding!

Your meals look so much healthier than mine.

The berries look fantastic. I know they are a two year crop. But my berries rhyme with duck.
Last year they were even worse.

The year before I couldn't pick them fast enough. And walking my woods. I actually thought hunters had dumped apples under my trees to bait deer. Last year not so much. This year remains to be seen.

Good thing jam and preserves were made in volume two years ago. It is looking lean again. Enough Rasberries to eat along the trail. But not the gallons of two years ago.

Awesome job on the cobler.
 
LostViking said:
And a selfie of me and the dog, just to prove it was us,
Click to expand...

Being authenticated in a selfie with your dog ... you're definitely you. :thumbup:

Last winter I had a major fail that I did not post. Long Tailed Pie ... dried appricot bannock braided on a pole to bake. I did not account for the steam rising from the coals hitting the snow. The poor bannock got steamed, rather than baked ... it started glopping off the poles, so I caught it in a frypan to finish. The whole mess just tasted like bitter campfire smoke. The dogs loved it.
 
LostViking said:
Your meals look so much healthier than mine.

The berries look fantastic. I know they are a two year crop. But my berries rhyme with duck.
Last year they were even worse.

The year before I couldn't pick them fast enough. And walking my woods. I actually thought hunters had dumped apples under my trees to bait deer. Last year not so much. This year remains to be seen.

Good thing jam and preserves were made in volume two years ago. It is looking lean again. Enough Rasberries to eat along the trail. But not the gallons of two years ago.
Click to expand...

Lazy camper, lazy cook here. Grabbing a mittful of salad greens and slicing a bit of cuke and tomato is so easy to fill part of a plate and I do mostly just keep my meals very simple. Not necessarily healthier, but ... easy. The cobbler, well some things are worth the effort. Your Chicken on Thyme is a must try for me ... and one heck of a fun read.

In "Art's Old Canadian Recipes" there is a breakfast that I would like to try soon ... creamed fish on toast. Looks like something a lazy cook would appreciate with her morning coffee!

This has been a spectacular year for berries and insects. Can the bears be far behind. Yesterday in Home Hardware the woman standing next to me looking over the garden equipment told me that a young black bear had chewed up all 4 of her 100' watering hoses! This is a new one on me. In past, during one heavy fruiting cycle, I could not keep the bears out of my apple tree. They reached up and broke branches, climbed through the limbs like orangutans. Now I know how a lot of wild apple trees get that 'low' profile.
 
Get some galvanized roof flashing and wrap it around the tree trunks so they cant get their claws into the bark....

http://www.lowes.com/pd_22243-205-70414_1z0uk2m__?productId=3025308&pl=1

049821660147_04489232.jpg



Overlap the metal flashing about 8-10" so that it will expand with the trunk. Use heavy rubber bungees to keep the flashing in place [unless you really want to use short 1/2" nails :P...tack the metal in place at the center of the piece and let the flashing naturally wrap and overlap at the ends... ]



multiple layers equating to height should help keep them from climbing the trunk. The trick is to figure out how high you need to go. If you start 12" off the ground, layers totaling 30-36" high should be more than enough to keep them out.

EDIT: Look at the legs and see the reddish-brown wrappings on them? That's copper flashing that Richard Proenneke used on his smokehouse to keep the animals out. Same principle, just on trees.

food-cache.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top