Chorizo breakfast bake

Patrick Fortner took this Sausage-Pomodoro Brunch Bake and turned it into a tasty Southwestern-style breakfast casserole with some brilliant substitutions.

I need to remember to take photos of the food spooned out
into a dish!

• 1/2 lb breakfast sausage
• 1/2 lb chorizo
• 1 can Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 2 small cans green chilies
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack or Colby Jack cheese
• 12 large eggs

Cook the sausage in a skillet. Drain and set aside. Grease a 10-inch Dutch oven and line the bottom and sides with the crescent roll dough. Line the bottom with the sausage. Beat the eggs, then mix in the tomatoes and green chilies and about half the cheese, and then pour the mixture over the sausage. Cover with the rest of the cheese and bake.

Cook with 6-8 coals on the bottom and 12-14 coals on the top for 45 minutes or until set in the center.

Dutch Oven Macaroni and Cheese

Mac & Cheese, with small shell pasta.

First, this is a ripoff of a recipe from Bill Mohondro. Just sayin'.

• 1 16oz package elbow or shell macaroni
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (a guess)
• 6 (ish) slices American cheese or Velveeta
• 1 cup (guess) milk

Cook the macaroni according to package directions. Don't overcook. This can be done in advance and brought out to camp to save time.

Put about half the macaroni in a 10-inch Dutch oven. Cover with 1.5 cups of shredded cheddar, or whatever it takes to make a good layer of cheese. Top that with slices of American or Velvetta cheese to cover.

Put in the rest of the macaroni, and then top with another layer of cheddar cheese.

Pour in enough milk to fill the Dutch oven 1/3 to 1/2 way.

Cover and put 8 coals on the bottom and 14 coals on top. Cook 40 minutes or until the top is browned. If you need to keep it warm, just leave a couple of coals on the lid.

Goes great with smoked sausage or just about anything!

Dutch Oven peach pie

I thought I had published this before, but apparently not, so here is a quick version of the Dutch Oven Peach "Cobbler" which is really a pie.

• 1 pkg ready-made roll-up pie crust (like Pilsbury). There are two in the package.
• 1 1/2  16oz package of frozen fruit like peaches, cheeries or what have you. One package is not enough, two is too much.
• 1 tbl flour
• 1 cup sugar
• Cinnamon/Sugar mixture
• 1 stick of butter or margarine, or squeeze Parkay.

Mix the frozen fruit in a gallon zip-lock bag with the sugar and flour. You can do this in advance and put it in your cooler for later in the day.

Like any dutch oven meal, you'll need your coals in advance, so be sure to light them 15 mins before you need them.

Grease a 10-in dutch oven with Pam or butter. Unroll one of the crusts and line the bottom of the pan. Pour in your fruit/sugar mixture. Unroll the second crust and put it on top, pinching the edges together to try and seal together the pie. Spread out slices of butter on the top of the crust, or criss-cross with Parkay. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Use 5 or 6 briquettes on the bottom of the oven, and 12 to 14 on the top. Cook for about 45 minutes until the top is golden brown. 

Dutch Oven Lasagna

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic

oil for above

1 jar (+) spaghetti sauce (I sometimes add small jar of tomato paste)

1 lb ground beef

.5 lb ground italian sausage (or several links out of casing)

some sliced black olives

spices like oregano, basil

1 cup ricotta cheese

1.5 lbs shredded mozzarella

Parmesan cheese

1 box lasagna noodles

You basically make a sauce how you like. I start by sauteing onions and garlic, browning the beef and sausage, draining fat, then adding spices and such.

In a bowl, mix 1 lb mozarella with the ricotta and some Parmesan cheese.

I put a couple tablespoons of water in the bottom of a 10-in Dutch oven. (A note on lasagna noodles: I don't cook in advance. I just break the hard pieces and layer. I will buy oven ready if I see them, but I also do this with regular noodles. Always have. In home over or Dutch oven.) I break and layer lasagna noodles on the bottom, and then a small layer of sauce. If these burn, just don't pull this layer onto plates. Then layer noodles, 1/2 cheese mixture, sauce, noodles, 1/2 cheese mix, sauce. Top with more Moz cheese and a thick layer of Parm cheese.

6 coals on the bottom, 12-14 on top. Cook for 45 mins or so.

Dragon Stew

A quick recipe by Tony and the Dragon Patrol from Pack 61.


All Veg is done with the handfull method. Size of boys depends on how many handfuls.

* cubed beef, braised with a little oil and butter to bronw the meat or sear on the outside.
* onions - Yellow
* carrots - baby carrots in the bags snack size no cutting needed
* potatoes - Red small
* celery - just chopped for eating size like that for tuna salad
* stewed tomatoes (a must, even for one who doesn't really like them) - Can of these large size for a 12 quart pot
* Tomoto paste as standby. Sometimes needs a little thickening
* Sugar need this. The tomatoes and the carrots do not have enough natual sugar for the stew to not be bitter.
* water to cover all ingredients.
* Salt and pepper to taste.
* beef broth - Don't need this unless you are cooking ahead and can't stew the whole thing for about 3 hours.

Should cook at rolling boil for about an hour covered. Then about 2 hours or less depending on the size of the beef cubes and the veg. We typically had this ready to eat by 5:00 starting at 2:00 with the whole crew working on the activity under supervision.

Chicken and White Bean Chili

I don't have the reference for this recipe, unfortunately. It was some kind of dutch oven cookbook and uses that in the recipe, but I usually use a crockpot or stove pot.

Serves 8 to 10
2 tbs. olive oil
4 onions, chopped (I usually use less)
6 garlic cloves, chopped
4 (4 oz) cans chopped mild green chiles, drained
1 (12 oz) bottle regular (not dark) beer
2 cups chicken stock
3 tbl chili powder
2 tbl ground cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and black pepper
6 boneless, skinless chiken thighs, but into 1-inch cubes (I used canned chix at campout for ease.)
1 (15.4 oz) cans white northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15.5 oz) can chickpease, rinsed and drained
1 (15.5 oz) can cream-style corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice

Optional toppings
Grated cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses
Sour cream
Chopped green onions
Chopped tomatoes
Sliced jalapenos
Tortilla chips

LIghtly coat a 5 1/2-quart Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray. Over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, onions, garlic and cook until soft. Add the green chiles, beer, chicken stock, chili powder, cumin and red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to tase. Stir in the chicken. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes, or until the mixture is nicely thickened and the chicken is cooked (I always cook the chicken first anyway.)

Stir in the northern beans, chickpeas and creamed corn. (I usually dump it all together in the beginning, to be honest.) Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking. Stir in cilandro and lime juice and mix very well. Serve in large bowls, garnished with the optional toppings.

Easy Dutch Oven Cobbler/Pie

I make this cobbler at Cub Scout campouts, and it goes fast. Of course it goes best with french vanilla ice cream, so I usually serve it the first night of a campout before the ice cream melts in the cooler.

For each 10-in dutch oven:

Ahead of time:
In a zip lock bag, put:
1 1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla

In a small zip lock bag
* cinnamon & sugar mixture

Also bring:
1 stick butter (or squeeze Parkay)
1 package rolled pie dough (2 crusts). Found in the dairy aisle.
1 1/2 package frozen fruit (or about 4 cups?)

Assembly:
Get your coals going. A chimney worth of coals is more than enough for two cobblers. They don't have to be totally ashed to use (in fact, that's too late.) They just need to be well lit. So, get your fire started, mix your fruit into your sugar mixture, drink another beer (unless at a scout campout), then start assembling.

If you haven't already, put your fruit in your zip lock with the sugar mixture. It's good to get that mixed up and melding for 15 minutes or so. Unroll one of the crusts and center it at the bottom of the dutch oven. The edges should walk up the sides to make a bowl inside. Pour your fruit and sugar mixture in this bowl, but don't let it overflow. In fact leave a little room at the top. Unroll the other crust and lay it centered on top, and try to tuck in/squeeze together the crust edges to kind of seal them as best you can. It won't be perfect. Put some slits in the top crust for ventilation, cover with the cinnamon & sugar mixture, then drop cut 1/2 teaspoons of butter bits on top of the crust. (Or squeeze a bunch of Parkay in a nice criss-cross pattern.)

Cover the dutch oven. Put 6-7 coals on the bottom of the oven, and 14 or so on the top. It takes about 45 minutes to cook.

--
Christian McDonald