Dutch Oven Cooking and Recipes

Since coffee may have been more important than food, I will start my series of recipes with traditional directions for making it over a campfire.

Cowboy Coffee

Put cold water in a large coffee pot,(not a perculator), pan, or even a coffee can. Throw in a large handful of coffee for each quart of water. Bring to a boil for about thirty seconds, remove, and pour a small amount of cold water (about a cup) to settle the grounds. Let set for a few minutes and drink.

Shirley Oliver's Washday Cobbler

In the days when washing clothes was a big process that utilized a lot of energy, scrub boards, homemade soap and the likes to which we modern women have hopefully never been exposed, ladies were still expected to cook meals for their (very often large) families. Each woman had her own quick favorites to fix. Among them were varities of cobbler dubbed "Washday Cobbler." I got this easy, modern version from Shirley Oliver of Congress, who often fixed it after long days of herding cattle.

2 cans pie filling (any kind)
1 yellow cake mix (any brand)
Margerine or butter

In a 12 inch dutch oven, melt 1/3 cup of butter or margerine. Throw in the pie filling and top with the cake mix (dry). Dot with the butter or margerine. Place oven on a shovel full of coals that has been removed from the fire and place shovel full of coals on top. Cook, checking often to make sure cobbler is cooking all right. Add coals on top or bottom if it is not cooking fast enough, or remove them if it is cooking too fast. Cobbler is done when cake mix is browned and fruit is bubbly.

Gravel Gerties' Gravy

This recipe was given to me by a lady who, with her husband, Rocky John, owned gem shops in Phoenix and near Prescott. They often went rock hunting with our family and Gertie would make this gravy to go over our biscuits in the morning.

1 pound pork sausage(Any brand will do. I like Bashas' store brand, as it is often less fatty than some other brands.) 1 can evaporated milk (Gravel Gertie called this ingredient "canned cow") Garlic salt Black pepper 1/2 cup all purpose flour Water

Brown sausage in 12 in. dutch oven, crumbling with a potato masher or fork as you cook. Drain off excess oil. Make a watery paste with the flour and toss in with the cooked susage and milk, adding water and stirring to desired consistancy. Add garlic salt and pepper to taste. Makes several cups and will serve a crowd.

Cheese Enchiladas (Sonoran Style)

When I lived on the Mexican border in the town of Naco, Arizona, I learned that Sonorans will often stack their enchiladas instead of rolling them and these enchiladas Sonorensas are especially adaptable to the Dutch oven.This recipe was developed by my brother, Jim Koning, when he worked for my trail ride operation as a Dutch oven cook.

21 corn tortillas
2 1/2 lbs. shredded longhorn,or Cheddar/Monterey Jack mixed
2 medium onions, diced fine
1 15 oz. can Las Palmas red enchilada sauce
1 15 oz. can Las Palmas red chile sauce
1 15 oz. can Las Palmas green enchilada sauce
Vegetable oil

Heat 12 in. Dutch oven with a little oil. Fry tortillas individually for a few seconds, but not long enough to make them crisp. Set aside on a plate and allow to slightly cool while you open the can of red chile sauce and put it in a large bowl. Add tortillas while still warm and let stand for about three minutes. While tortillas are soaking, line a 12 Dutch oven with tinfoil. (The foil is optional, but it really helps when cleaning) Arrange five tortillas, overlapping around the bottom of the oven. Layer with cheese and onion. Pour some red and green chili sauce over this. Layer eight tortillas overlapping each other over the top of this, repeat the onions and sauces, and finally eight more tortillas, cheese, onions and remaining sauce. If there is any red chile sauce left in the bowl, pour it over the top as well. Place the lid on the oven, and remove a shovel full of coals from the main bed of coals, or fire, and place oven on them. With your shovel, place some coals on the top of the lid. Do not place enchiladas directly back into the main bed of coals, as they burn easily. Heat through until tortillas are soft when tested with a fork and cheese is melted throughout. You will have to keep checking your oven every ten minutes. If it looks as though the enchiladas are cooking too quickly, remove some coals from the top, or lift your oven off the coals if the bottom seems to be getting done too quickly. It should take from 30 to 45 minutes to complete the cooking, depending on the type of wood or charcoal you are using. Serves 8

Spanish Rice

This is my own recipe. I do not always cook rice well, and it took a lot of experimenting with various ingredients to get this to the point that it tastes like something other than wallpaper paste. However, most people now say they like it, so I am including it for you.

2 cups long grain white rice.
4 cups chicken broth (You can use chicken bullion. It is easier to transport on camping trips.)
1 16 oz. can plain whole tomatoes.
1 medium onion, chopped fine.
1/2 bell pepper, chopped fine.
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced (This is best, but garlic powder is sometimes easier on camping trips.)
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. salt (If using chicken bullion, use only 1 tsp. salt.) 1/2 cup vegetable oil.

Place dutch oven on coals. Pour in oil. Heat. Add rice to brown, stirring frequently. Quickly add all other ingredients. Cover and cook until liquid is absorbed. Serves 5.

Dutch Oven Biscuits

This is an old time chuckwagon recipe. There are no milk or eggs in these biscuits, as there often were none available on the range. Many dutch oven cooks argued that water made lighter biscuits than milk. I use vegetable oil as a shortening, but the original chuck wagon cooks used lard or bacon grease.
Biscuits made with bacon grease are especially delicious and worth trying if you are not too concerned about your arteries at the moment.

4 cups all purpose white flour
4 level tsps. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
water

Line a 12 inch dutch oven with foil. This is optional, but it helps in cleaning and the foil makes a nice serving dish. Remove foil lining and place oven and lid (separately) directly on campfire or hot coals for about five minutes to heat. While oven is heating, thoroughly sift together dry ingredients. Add oil and enough water to make a thick dough. Handle or mix as little as possible. Lightly flour a board and pat the dough out on it to about 3/4 inch to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits and place them in foil lining with sides touching. You can squeeze and crowd them in. You can use anything for a cutter. I usually use an empty 8 oz. tomato can or a 15 oz. can. Styrofoam cups (I use 8 oz. ones) are great, too. Remove oven from fire using a dutch oven hook and place liner with biscuits into it. Uaing hook, remove lid from fire and place on oven. Spread a shovel full of coals on the ground, putting oven on top of them. Spread another shovel of coals on top of the oven. Do not place oven back into the fire or the main bed of coals, as bread is delicate and can easily burn. You will have to check your biscuits after the first five minutes, and then several times throughout the cooking process. If they are cooking too quickly, remove some of the coals. Sometimes you have to move the oven itself off the coals for a few minutes. Biscuits are done when golden brown. Makes from 10-12 biscuits.

Along with the food cooked in the dutch oven the beverage of choice was usually strong black coffee in as large a quantity as possible. Sad was the day that a camp was out of coffee. All sorts of substitutes from nature were used--such as jojoba beans and pods from the crucifixion bush--and maybe other things equally nasty until more coffee arrived and, I am sure, dispositions improved. At that point the cook came out of hiding, breathed easier, and put on a pot of what has become known in many circles as "cowboy coffee."