Cast iron cooking: A hearty meal for kitchen or campsite

  When I was growing up, my favorite meal my mom used to cook was hamburger stew.

  Though it’s comprised of very few ingredients, it’s delicious because it has just the right blend of spices in a tomato sauce base. She always made it in a cast iron skillet, which was standard cookware in our home.

  I especially liked to eat the stew with my dad’s pan de campo (Spanish for “camp bread”). He used to mix up some biscuit dough, gently pat it out on lightly floured surface and cook it in a cast iron skillet on the stove top or outside over a campfire.

  Then he’d cut the tender, flaky bread in pie-sized slices while it was still hot and slather butter on it. It’s ideal for sopping up the last drop of stew from a bowl.

  So whether I was in the kitchen with my mom or out in the desert ranching or fur trapping with my dad, our meals were prepared in cast iron cookware.

  Cast iron can be heated to very high temperatures, and it holds the heat well, making it ideal for campfire cooking. It can be hung from a pole over a large flame, set on a grill slightly above a smaller campfire or set directly onto hot coals, depending on what is being cooked.

  One variation of pan de campo (also called cowboy bread) is made in a Dutch oven, like camp biscuits are.

  An old hunting guide I used to know taught his niece and me to make camp biscuits in a cast iron Dutch oven. He preheated the Dutch oven and lid separately over hot mesquite coals.

  Then when the coals had burned down until they were ashen, he pulled just enough of them from the fire to set the Dutch oven on.

  After placing the Dutch oven directly on the coals, he placed a single layer of coals on top of the Dutch oven lid. The biscuits were done within 15 to 20 minutes.

  Dutch oven bread is moister than stove top bread, but the latter’s crispier crust is often desired with campfire stews or pinto beans.

  I’ve included my mom and dad’s recipes with this article, so you can give them a try if you plan to head out to the desert to go deer hunting next month. Ingredients such as Bisquick, canned milk, potatoes, onions, garlic, tomato sauce and spices can be easily packed in a chuck box.

  And the hamburger can of course be packed in an ice chest, if there’s any room left after packing the beer. Disclaimer: I am not implying that deer hunters drink beer.

  What I am saying, however, is that if there is no room left for fresh meat in the ice chest, canned roast beef can be substituted for hamburger in the stew recipe.

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HAMBURGER STEW

1 pound lean hamburger
2 large potatoes, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 eight-ounce can tomato sauce
2 cups hot water
1 large cube beef bouillon, dissolved in the hot water
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
Dash of chili powder
Dash of Mexican oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
A few drops of Worcestershire sauce
About a tablespoon of cooking oil

  Preheat 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil. Brown hamburger, onion and garlic. Add potatoes.

  Meanwhile, mix tomato sauce and beef broth with the remaining ingredients. Add tomato sauce mixture to skillet ingredients and stir well. Reduce heat to low, and simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes until potatoes are tender and sauce has thickened.

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PAN DE CAMPO

Biscuit dough (Try Bisquick, which is ideal to take camping as opposed to all the ingredients to make it from scratch.)
Cooking oil

  Mix biscuit dough kind of moist and gently pat out to an almost 12-inch diameter on a lightly floured surface. Do not overwork dough or bread will be tough. Poke holes all over surface of dough with fork (allows steam to escape). Leave dough to rise for about eight to 10 minutes.

  Meanwhile, preheat 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add thin layer of cooking oil; wipe off excess with paper towel. Carefully maintaining shape of dough, transfer it to skillet. Reduce heat to low. After five or six minutes, flip bread over with a spatula. Cook for another five to six minutes, then remove from heat.

  Flip onto a plate and let sit for about five minutes. Slice like a pie. Serve warm with butter and hamburger stew. Topped with butter and jelly, pan de campo also goes great with bacon and eggs that have sizzled and sputtered in a cast iron skillet over an open mesquite fire.