SouthEast Camper

Posts Tagged ‘Dutch Oven Recipe’

This Dutch Oven Camp recipe is very similar to a chuck wagon cowboy recipe called “Big Old Mess”. Big Old Mess is very filling and easy to make. This is a very easy starter recipe for the beginning camp cook.

1 lb Smoked Sausage
1 Bell Pepper
1 Anaheim Pepper
1 Large Sweet Onion
1/4 tsp Hot Pepper Flakes
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Barbecue Sauce, Nothing Fancy
2 tbsp Hot Sauce
2 tbsp Cider Vinegar
Vegetable Oil

Serves two hearty appetites.

Cut the smoke sausage into 1″ thick rounds and set aside. Cut onion and peppers into large bite size chunks and set aside. In a measuring cup add barbecue sauce, hot sauce, cider vinegar, brown sugar and hot pepper flakes. Stir well to desolve the brown sugar and set aside.

This recipe will require shifting charcoals from top to bottom twice to complete the dish, but its worth it.

Start with 20 charcoal briquettes. Put 10 coals under a 10″ Dutch Oven. Add a tiny amount of vegetable oil, wipe oil to cover bottom of the Dutch Oven. Add the smoked sausage to the Dutch and brown on both sides. Add the chopped vegetables and sauce mixture to the Dutch Oven, stir and cover. Remove all but 4 or 5 coals from the bottom and put on top with the remaining coals. Bake for about one hour stirring ocassionally. Add more coals as needed. Once the vegetables are tender, remove lid and put about 10 coals underneath. Bring mixture to a slow boil to reduce and thicken the sauce. Be careful not to burn the sauce. If it gets too hot remove a few coals from underneath.
Serve the Sweet and Heat Smoked Sausages with refried beans and tortillas. The hot peppers and hot sauce can be bumped up for the heat lovers and the cider vinegar is what gives it that little sour twang. “Oh Boy” is this GOOD!

To learn more about charcoal placement and temperatures
Visit “Cooking with Charcoals”

I hope everyone is having a Good Memorial Day. This is a big weekend for cooking out, grilling and or doing barbecue. I thought I would post a few pictures showing you what we did.

I smoked a Pork Shoulder in my grill / smoker for about an one and a half hours, just to get the good smokey flavor. I used the indirect grill method. Use a cheap aluminum pan filled with water and about 25 charcoal briquettes on each side. Then I transfered it to my 12″ Dutch Oven with a trivet on the bottom and cooked it low and slow. I ringed the top of my Dutch Oven with charcoals and put about 4 or 5 underneath. I cooked it for about two and a half hours using two batches of coals. Also included with our dinner was Scalloped Potatoes and Barbecue Pintos Beans.

I hope you like it. Give it a try at your next cook out. I’ll post the Pinto Recipe in the near future.


A well-seasoned cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven is a must for golden brown crust, while hot turn the cornbread onto a plate, leave it bottom side up to preserve its crunchy texture.

1 cup Yellow Cornmeal
1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar (optional)
1 cup Buttermilk
1/4 cup Bacon Drippings, Corn Oil or Melted Butter
2 Large Eggs

Grease a 10 inch Dutch oven and set on 4 or 5 charcoals and ring lid all the way around with charcoals to preheat. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients, stirring well; add to wet ingredients to dry ingredients stirring just until moistened. Pour into hot Dutch and put on preheated lid. Rotate 45º on coals to even out the hot spots on the bottom. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown or use the smell test. Remove from Dutch oven and serve.

Or

Grease a 10 inch cast-iron skillet and put in oven while it preheats to 400º. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients, stirring well; add to wet ingredients to dry ingredients stirring just until moistened. Pour into hot skillet. Bake at 400° for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from skillet and serve.

If it’s not cooked in a cast iron skillet it’s not Southern. I have a cast iron skillet dedicated to nothing but Cornbread.




My dad would make this on our weekend camping trips. We called it “Potluck Stew” as it was different every time we had it.

2 lb Beef, cubed (stew meat)
1/4 cup flour
3 pkg Gravy Mix (Beef or Mushroom)
6 Medium Potatoes, cubed
5-6 Carrots, sliced 1/2″ long
2-3 Celery Stalks, sliced 1/2″ long
2 Medium Onions, cut chunky
2 Bell Peppers, cut chunky
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1 Bay Leaf
1/4″ tsp Dried Parsley
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Water
1 pkg Biscuits

Toss the meat in flour to cover. Heat oil in a 12” Dutch oven, add onions, peppers and meat. Cook until meat is browned. Add remaining ingredients, except gravy mix. Mix gravy mix with water per the directions and pour over meat and vegetables. Add more water to almost cover everything, if needed. Lay biscuits out over the stew. Cover and cook until celery and carrots are fork tender.

This dish is very versatile, leave off the biscuits and add spuds, peas, beans or what ever you have in the cooler or fridge. The biscuits can be bake in another Dutch oven, got to have bread for sopping up all the gravy.

Serves about 6 – 8