Lemon Blueberry Biscuits

      From a 1996 edition of Taste of Home magazine these delicious biscuits are similar to the Lemon Blueberry Drop Scones I've already posted (and forgotten I'd made!) but the addition of an egg and baking soda makes them lighter and flakier.  The batter is the perfect consistency for spooning into your oven and of the grated lemon peel adds a subtle tartness to the glaze and biscuits.  In my 10 inch dutch oven the biscuits were ready in 18 minutes after baking with 10 coals in a ring around the bottom and 22 on the lid.  Just a tip, you'll need to pick up two containers of lemon yogurt because it only seem to come in 6 oz. cartons these days.

Lemon Blueberry Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (8 oz) lemon yogurt
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 cup fresh or unthawed frozen blueberries
Glaze
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 Tblsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

     Lightly oil or spray dutch oven.
     In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined.
     In another bowl, whisk yogurt, egg, melted butter and 1 tsp lemon peel until blended.
     Add wet ingredients to flour mixture; stir until just moistened.
     Fold in blueberries.
     Drop by 1/3 cupfuls into prepared dutch oven.
     Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes or until golden brown.
     In small bowl, combine glaze ingredients; whisk until smooth.
     Drizzle glaze over warm biscuits.
     Makes 12 biscuits.

Spoon batter into well-oiled oven

Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes or until golden brown

Drizzle with lemon glaze while still warm

Light and airy biscuits brimming with blueberries
and they stay moist the next day 

Stagecoach Chicken

     When I stumbled upon this recipe, I just knew it had to be good.  It's by far the best oven fried chicken I've ever had.  The skin is amazingly crisp and the chicken is as juicy as can be.  I would suggest preparing your chicken and setting up your assembly line before you light your coals, that way you can bread the chicken and bake it right away.  You might want to pack a pair of disposable gloves as the preparation is a bit messy.  In my 12 inch dutch oven, the chicken baked with 12 coals in a ring around the base of the oven with 28-30 briquettes on the lid.  I left it alone and in one hour it was perfectly done.  Leave the Shake and Bake at home and give this buttery, crunchy chicken a try.

Stagecoach Chicken
1 1/4 cups ranch salad dressing
1 egg, slightly beaten
7-8 pieces cut up chicken
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups corn flake crumbs
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

     Lightly oil or spray 12 inch or larger dutch oven.
     In medium bowl combine salad dressing and egg; set aside.
     Rinse chicken with water and drain well.
     In medium bowl, combine flour, salt and pepper.
     Place corn flake crumbs in separate bowl.
     Dredge chicken pieces in flour, dip in salad dressing-egg mixture then roll in corn flake crumbs.
     Place chicken pieces in single layer in prepared dutch oven.
     Drizzle with melted butter.
     Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until fork tender.
     Makes 4 servings.

Place chicken in single layer in dutch oven then
drizzle with melted butter

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to an hour

Incredibly crisp but still tender and juicy inside

Chili-roni

     After I made this Hunt's Chili-roni, I went right out and bought the ingredients to keep on hand in case of an emergency.  A great power outage recipe, nothing requires refrigeration.  It's pretty tasty for a canned ingredient chili, the fire roasted tomatoes give it a hint of freshness and if you add the toppings you'll be going back for seconds.  Saute some chopped bell pepper and onion before adding the rest of the ingredients to give it more of a made from scratch flavor.  I substituted with black beans but use any two cans of your favorite variety.  In my well oiled 10 inch dutch oven, the chili simmered for 30 minutes with 10 coals in a ring around the base of the oven with 18 briquettes on the lid, it's camping keeper and surprisingly good.

Chili-roni
2 15 oz cans Chef Boyardee Beefaroni Pasta
1 14.5 oz can Hunt's Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, drained
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 15 oz can dark red kidney beans, rinsed, drained
1 15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed, drained
OR 2 15 oz. cans black beans, rinsed, drained
1 Tblsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin

     Lightly oil or spray dutch oven.
     Place all ingredients in prepared oven; stir to combine.
     Bring to a boil using as many coals as needed to bring to a simmer.
     Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until bubbling and cooked through.
     Top with sour cream, shredded cheese and sliced scallions if desired.
     Makes 6 servings.

Stir all ingredients in your dutch oven

Simmer for 30-40 minutes

A good cool weather camper's dinner

Cherry Bliss Brownies

     In honor of Valentine's Day and President's Day both falling on the same weekend, I felt like celebrating with a chocolate cherry dessert.  These luscious brownies from Lucky Leaf are an easy way to combine both flavors and bake up very nicely in your 12 inch dutch oven.  I would suggest having both layers mixed and ready to go before lighting your coals, that way you can assemble the brownies while they are heating.  Also, having your butter and cream cheese at room temperature will insure a creamy consistency without any lumps in the batter. 
     Keeping in mind it was 20 degrees outside when I baked these, I placed 12 coals in a ring around the bottom of the oven, 18 around the outside of the lid with 8 briquettes placed evenly the center.  I left them undisturbed and in exactly one hour the cream cheese layer was golden brown and they had baked perfectly through in the center.  Be sure to let them cool completely before lifting them out with the parchment paper or if you can't wait, cut them while they're still warm directly from your oven.
   
Cherry Bliss Brownies
Brownie layer
1 19 oz box brownie mix (9" by 13" size)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup water
Cream cheese layer
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
5 Tblsp butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tblsp flour
3/4 tsp vanilla
Topping
1 21 oz can cherry pie filling

     Lightly oil or spray 12 inch dutch oven; line with parchment paper.
     In large bowl prepare brownie mix according to package directions using oil, eggs and water measurements from this recipe.
     Spread batter in prepared dutch oven; set aside.
     Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until fluffy.
     Add sugar.
     Beat in additional 2 eggs, flour and vanilla.
     Drop spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture over brownie batter.
     Using a knife, gently cut through the batters to create a marble pattern.
     Spoon pie filling over top until completely covered.
     Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
     Cool completely before lifting from dutch oven and cutting into squares.

Spoon cherry pie filling over layers of cream cheese and
brownie batters

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until
tester comes out clean

These brownies are blissfully rich and delicious

Pigs-in-a-Blanket Bake

      Pillsbury brings us this easy and very fun to make breakfast casserole.  It's a perfect camping breakfast, especially when you're feeding a gaggle of hungry children.  It's the kind of recipe that kids will love to make as well as eat.  I don't see why you can't put the pancakes in your cooler and let them thaw completely overnight.  Using pre-cooked crumbled breakfast sausage would also be good in place of the smoked links.
     I assembled the casserole, then lit my coals which gave the pancakes time to soak up the liquid.  In my 12 inch dutch oven the casserole baked for 55 minutes with 12 coals in a ring around the bottom, 18 around the outside of the lid with 10 spaced evenly in the center.  After 40 minutes I sprinkled on the cheese and gave it 15 more minutes to bake.  When you get a whiff of pancakes coming from your dutch oven, it's probably done. 
     I can't begin to tell you how good this is, you get a forkful of moist, fluffy pancakes, smoky sausage, maple syrup and melted cheese in every bite.  A great way to eat a pancake breakfast without the griddle but I must warn you, it's so filling you might have to take a nap afterwards.

Pigs-in-a-Blanket Bake
2 16 oz boxes frozen buttermilk pancakes
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 14 oz package cocktail-sized smoked link sausages, chopped
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Maple syrup

     Lightly oil or spray 12 inch dutch oven.
     Remove pancakes from boxes; unwrap and carefully separate.
     Set aside to partially thaw.
     In large bowl, beat eggs and half and half with whisk.
     Coarsely chop pancakes.
     Add pancake pieces and chopped sausage to egg mixture; toss to coat.
     Let stand 5 minutes.
     Pour mixture into prepared dutch oven.
     Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
     Sprinkle with cheese, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes more or until edges are set and light golden brown.
     Let stand for 10 minutes.
     Cut into squares; serve with maple syrup.
     Makes 8-10 servings.

Allow casserole to sit while coals are lighting

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes then sprinkle with cheese

Bake for 10-15 minutes more or until cheese has melted

A one-pot pancake breakfast that feeds a crowd

Cowboy Beans

 
     Although it's in the 20's today, the lack of wind and brilliant blue sky beckoned me outside to give this campfire recipe a try.  Just a tip, when you're cooking in the frigid weather, you have to slow things down and remind yourself not to place your hot oven or lid on the snow or icy ground.  The extremes in temperature could easily cause it to crack.
     From Hillshire Farm, I have to say these beans are downright delicious and when topped with smoked sausage, they're guaranteed to leave you feeling fat and happy.  In my 10 inch dutch oven, I sauteed the bacon and onion over a full compliment of coals.  Once the bacon had browned I moved the bottom coals to a ring of 10 around the base of the oven and covered the beans with 20 coals on the lid.  They took a full forty minutes to cook and the smells steaming from my oven told me they were bound to be good.  This may become my new go to bean recipe which can easily be doubled if you're feeding a crowd of hungry cowhands. 

Cowboy Beans
1 package smoked sausage (Kielbasa)
1/4 lb bacon, chopped (about 4 slices)
1 onion, chopped
1 15 oz can baked beans
1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can Lima beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp prepared yellow mustard
2 tsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp salt

     Lightly oil or spray dutch oven.
     In large bowl combine beans, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, cider vinegar and salt.
     Cook bacon and onion over a full spread of coals until bacon is brown and onions are tender.
     Move bottom coals to a ring around base of dutch oven.
     Add bean mixture to dutch oven, stir until well combined.
     Cover with as many coals as needed on lid to bring beans to a bubble.
     Simmer for 20 minutes.
     Add sausage; cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until sausage is heated through.
     Makes six 1 cup servings.

Saute onion and bacon over a full compliment of coals

Add bean mixture

When beans have simmered for 20 minutes top with smoked sausage

Continue cooking for 15 minutes or until sausage is heated through

Tangy, smoky and most definitely filling