German Fruit Soup

Ingredients:
½ cup dried apples
½ cup dried apricots
½ cup dried currants
½ cup dried peaches
½ cup dried prunes
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. sugar or honey
2-3 Tbsp. flour
1 cup cream
In a 12” Dutch oven, simmer the fruit in the salted water
for about an hour or until the fruit is tender but not falling
apart. Add additional water, if necessary. Mix the sugar,
flour, and cream together making sure there are no lumps.
Add slowly to the soup until it begins to thicken. Cook for
another 5-10 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick before
serving. Serve hot or cold. Use homemade oatmeal cookies
for crackers.

Deep Dish Cranberry Eggnog Pie

While in Alaska I came across this recipe and have since
adapted it for use in a Dutch oven. I make this in a 10”
aluminum Dutch oven, which doesn’t have legs, and bake
it elevated inside a Deep 12” Dutch. This is more involved
than most recipes that I prefer, but the taste really makes it
worth the extra effort!
Ingredients:
1 package store-bought 9 inch pie crusts
12 oz. package fresh cranberries
1¼ cup sugar or honey
2 Tbsp. flour
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cup eggnog
3 eggs, well beaten
Have the package of pie crusts at room temperature before
you start. Take the two crusts out of the package and work
them together with your hands to form one ball. On a
floured cutting board roll the dough out into one large
circle. Try to get it at least 13-14 inches in diameter. Line a
10” Dutch oven with the crust, taking care not to break it
as you fit it to the bottom and sides. Crimp the crust to the
top of the DO. Pour the cranberries into the pie shell along
with all but ¼ cup of the sugar or honey. Set the 10” DO
inside a Deep 12” DO with three brass canning rings on
the bottom. Bake the crust and berries for about 15 minutes
or until the crust just begins to brown with 12-14 briquets
underneath and 25 on the lid. While waiting for the crust
to brown, cream the ¼ cup sugar and flour with the cream
cheese. Slowly add the eggnog while vigorously mixing
with a wire whisk. To this, add the well beaten eggs and
mix well again with the whisk. When the edge of the crust
has lightly browned, pour the eggnog mixture on top of the
cranberries. Continue baking for about 50 minutes or until
filling sets. Serve well chilled!

Avoid Food Shortages in Camp

Most developed campsites are inhabited by such
critters as chipmunks and squirrels. Leaving
food out on the table unattended for just
a few minutes could easily result in a food
shortage for the human campers.

Apple Kuchen

This German recipe makes a great dessert or you can
serve it in the morning as a coffee cake.
Ingredients:
4 cups grated apples
1½ cup sugar
3 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1½ cups shortening
1½ cup buttermilk
3 eggs beaten
Topping
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon, ground cloves,
or ground allspice (optional)
Mix together all the dry ingredients and cut in the
shortening with a pastry cutter or use a couple of dinner
forks. Add the buttermilk and the beaten eggs, and mix
well. Add the diced apples to the batter. For the topping
use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour and
sugar, or use your fingers to work together. Sprinkle this
on top of the batter before baking. Bake in a 12” Dutch
oven and bake for an hour with 5-6 briquets underneath
and 16-18 on the lid.

English Crumble Dessert

Ingredients:
1 can fruit or berries
1 cup white flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ stick butter (not melted)
Dump the fruit into an 8” Dutch oven. Mix the flour,
sugar, and butter together with a pastry blender until well
blended. Top the fruit with the blended mixture. Bake for
about 30 to 45 minutes, using 4 briquets underneath and
rim the lid with briquets. Serve plain or with ice cream. A
variation is to add some cinnamon to the flour, sugar, and
butter mixture.
Brad Garner

Matt’s Bavarian Roast Apples

Ingredients:
6-8 apples, cored
4 Tbsp. raisins
6 Tbsp. chopped walnuts, hazelnuts, or pecans
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 Tbsp. dark rum
1 ½ cups white wine
1 daub butter per apple
Mix the raisins, nuts, and sugar together. Sprinkle with the
rum. Spoon this filling into the cored apples and dot the
filling with a daub of butter. Arrange the apples in a 12”
Dutch oven and pour in the white wine. Set the DO over
8-10 briquets and put 18-20 on the lid for 30-40 minutes.
In camp we’ll drizzle a little sweetened condensed milk
over each apple, but at home we use homemade whipped
cream.
Matt Dykas

Cee Dub’s Pecan Pie

You know you’re in the South when pecan pie tops the
list of pies on the restaurant menu. Throw a small package
of pecan halves into the grub box along with a storebought
pie crust and you’ll surprise everyone with this easy
pecan pie.
Ingredients:
¼ cup butter
1 cup maple syrup.
(Real maple syrup is best)
½ cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 cup pecan halves
1 9 inch unbaked pie crust
Melt butter in a skillet and add the syrup, sugar, salt, and
eggs. Beat well with a wire whisk until well blended. Add
pecans and pour into the pie shell. Carefully set the pie
on a wire rack in the bottom of a 12” Dutch oven. Set the
DO in the firepan with 10-12 briquets underneath and
20-22 briquets on the lid. Bake for about 35 minutes or
until filling sets. Note: I’ve found preheating the DO lid for
fifteen minutes prior to baking is best.

Dutchman’s Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:
4 large apples, peeled and cored
4 pie crusts, 9 inch
4 tsp. butter, in pads
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
Line a 12” Dutch oven with heavy-duty aluminum foil.
Lightly grease foil to avoid sticking. Add ¼ cup water
between DO and aluminum lining. Soak the peeled and
cored apples in lemon water during preparation to keep
them from turning brown. Unfold one pie crust on floured
pastry board. Place cored apple in center of crust, sprinkle
with cinnamon, pack hole of apple with brown sugar, and
place one pad of butter over hole. Carefully fold pie crust
up over the apple and loosely fold pie crust around apple.
Prick several holes in upper part of the dumpling with fork
and place each dumpling into lined DO. Do the same
with the other apples. A 12” DO is large enough for four
dumplings without touching side of DO or each other.
Bake for approximately one hour with 10-15 briquets
spaced under the DO and approximately 20 briquets on
top of DO. Add additional briquets as needed. Check
progress and rotate lid and DO every 15 minutes to avoid
hot spots. When crust is browned, remove DO from heat
and allow dumplings to cool uncovered before attempting
to remove from lining. Can be served warm or cold. Place
in bowl, pour on milk or cream, or large scoop of vanilla
ice cream if served warm, sprinkle more brown sugar to
taste, and enjoy.
Dan said this is an old “Pennsylvania Dutch” family recipe
from his Mother and Grandmother.
Dan Miller

Pre-heated Dutch Oven

Use your camp stove to brown meat and sauté
ingredients. When you finish the recipe and place the DO
over the charcoal your DO being pre-heated will shorten
cooking times.

Cee Dub’s Holiday Cobbler

Ingredients:
3-4 cups sliced apples
3-4 cups fresh cranberries
4 Tbsp. tapioca
2 cups honey
1 Tbsp. grated orange rind
¼ stick butter or margarine
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
In a large mixing bowl, stir the apples, cranberries, and
tapioca together. Pour the honey over the top and stir to
mix. Let the mixture set for 20-30 minutes while you start
your charcoal briquets and make the pastry. Pour the apple
and cranberry mixture into a 12” Dutch oven and sprinkle
with the grated orange rind. Dot the filling with butter and
dust with cinnamon and nutmeg, to taste. Place cobbler
pastry over the filling and bake for approximately 1 hour
with 6-8 briquets underneath and 22-24 on the lid.
Cobbler Pastry
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cubes butter, softened
2 cups flour
Cut cream cheese and butter into the flour and work
dough into a ball. Chill for at least an hour. Roll out in a
circle about 11 inches in diameter on a floured cutting
board or pastry cloth.

Baked Pears

(from Dutch Oven and Camp Cooking, Series III)
Ingredients:
5 pears, stem ends cut off and tops cored out
3-4 Tbsp. brown sugar
5 tsp. chopped pecans
1 tsp. cinnamon
2-3 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. blackberry syrup per pear
1 cup apple juice
Whipping cream as topping for serving
Place prepared pears in a 12” Dutch oven. Top the
trimmed pears with brown sugar, chopped pecans,
cinnamon, and butter. Spoon the blackberry syrup on
top of the other toppings. Add the apple juice as cooking
liquid. Cover and bake using about 6-8 briquets under the
oven and 18-22 briquets on the lid. Bake for about 45 minutes.
Serve warm with whipping cream poured over the top.

Baked Apples

(from Dutch Oven and Camp Cooking, Series III)
Ingredients:
4-6 apples, cored
Butter or margarine
Sugar, honey, or brown sugar
Cinnamon/ nutmeg/allspice
Apple juice or water for cooking liquid
Place cored apples in a Dutch oven. Place a pad of butter
or margarine on top each apple in the cored out space.
Add sweetening and spices. Add the cooking liquid. Place
lid on the Dutch oven. Bake using 6-8 briquets underneath
and 18-22 on the lid, for about 20-30 minutes or until done.

Pack a Pastry Cloth

If you like to bake in camp consider packing a pastry cloth.
They take up little space and you can use your cutting
board for other slicing and dicing chores.

Amy Tanner’s Apple Crunch

Ingredients: The CRUNCH
¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 cup flour
1/8 tsp. mace
¼ tsp. salt
Ingredients: APPLES
6 apples, peeled/sliced,
Granny Smith/Northern Spies
½ cup red cinnamon candies (2 bottles)
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix Crunch ingredients in food processor. Or, laboriously
cut the butter into the mixed dry ingredients using a pastry
cutter. Line a 10” Dutch oven with aluminum foil. Place
apple slices into the DO and distribute to a fairly flat, even
surface. Sprinkle the cinnamon candies evenly over the
surface. Sprinkle the vanilla evenly over the surface. Top
with the Crunch. And again, distribute this over the surface
forming a flat, even covering. Bake for 45 minutes in the
oven at 375 degrees, or in the DO use about 7 briquets
under the Dutch and about 16 on the lid. Topping should
barely start to brown. Serve hot with the most decadent
vanilla ice cream you can find. Serves 4 to 6.
Jim Tanner

Unrolled Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients:
1 head of cabbage
Sausage and burger meat mixture
(Refer to the Stuffed Cabbage Roll recipe,
or just be creative!)
1 can sauerkraut, rinsed
1 can beer
Cut up ½ head of cabbage and put in the bottom of a
12” Dutch oven or crock pot. Put in the meat mixture
and spread evenly over the cabbage. Cut up the other ½
head of cabbage and put it on top of the meat mixture.
Add the rinsed sauerkraut over the top. Pour in the can of
beer. Cook at least one hour in a Dutch oven, using 8-10
briquets under the DO and 18-20 briquets on the lid. Cook
all day in the crock pot.
Allen Coffrin
Aurora, Colorado
Al retired from the State of Colorado as a state trooper
and training officer for 30 years, and likes to cook. He sent
this recipe to us after watching the episode of my public
television series, Dutch Oven and Camp Cooking, where
I made the Stuffed Cabbage Rolls. He stated that he has
been a cabbage roll lover for years, and has developed this
simple way to make cabbage rolls without rolling them up.

Quick Warm-ups

Always pack some instant hot chocolate and instant soups
for quick warm-ups on cold days. If the weather is bad
when you get up in the morning heat some water and put
it in a thermos to speed things up even more.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

(Golabki, pronounced go-WOMB-key)
(from Dutch Oven and Camp Cooking, Series III)
Ingredients:
1 head cabbage, about 3-4 pounds
Boiling salted water
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 ½ cups cooked rice
1 egg
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 can tomato soup
1 can crushed tomatoes
Remove the core from cabbage. Place whole head in a
large kettle filled with boiling salted water. Cover and
cook for about 3 minutes, or until softened enough to pull
off individual leaves. Repeat to remove all large leaves,
about 25 to 30. Cut out in a V-shape the thick center stem
from each leaf. Chop the remaining cabbage. Combine
pork, beef, onion, rice, egg, and seasonings, mixing
thoroughly. Place a heaping tablespoonful of meat mixture
on each cabbage leaf. Tuck sides over filling while rolling
leaf around filling. Secure with toothpicks. Put chopped
cabbage on the bottom of 12” deep or 14” Dutch oven.
Place cabbage rolls in layers on the bed of cabbage.
Combine tomato soup with crushed tomatoes. Pour over
cabbage rolls. Cover. Bake using about 8-10 briquets
under the Dutch and about 20-25 briquets on the lid for
about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Serves about 12-15.

Using Plastic Utensils

Be careful when cooking with plastic or plastic handled
utensils, they will melt when left or leaned up against a
hot Dutch oven.

Cast Iron Care

When using metal utensils with your Dutch ovens or cast
iron cookware, don’t use them to scrape food residue or
you will scratch the “cure” on the cast iron.

Polish Meat Balls with Sour Cream

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground beef
4 slices bread
2/3 cup milk
1 large onion, chopped
9 Tbsp. margarine
2 eggs, separated
1 Tbsp. dill
½ tsp. tarragon
Salt and pepper, to taste
Flour, small amount
½ lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 ½ cups sour cream
Cut crusts off bread slices and in a small bowl saturate the
bread in milk. Use a large skillet to sauté the onion in 3
tablespoons margarine until soft. In a large bowl combine
the ground beef, lightly beaten egg yolks, bread mixture,
onion, dill, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Beat the 2 egg
whites until they hold soft peaks and fold into beef mixture.
Form small balls from beef mixture and sprinkle with flour.
Brown meat balls in large skillet in 3 tablespoons margarine
over medium heat. In another skillet sauté mushrooms
in remaining margarine until browned. Add to meatballs
and stir in sour cream coating the meatballs. Simmer the
mixture, covered partially, over low heat for 30 minutes. Stir
occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste.

Flavoring Meat with Garlic and Basil

Some meat recipes call for making a small slit and inserting
a sliver or clove of garlic. For a different flavor try wrapping
the garlic clove in a small basil leaf and/or inserting a
couple of rosemary leaves with the garlic.

Shepherds’ Pie

Brad Garner of Midvale, Utah, collected this recipe, and
two others included in this book, over twenty years ago
while living in England.
Ingredients:
2 cups mashed potatoes,
if using leftovers, thin with milk
1 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 Tbsp.flour
1 beef bouillon cube
½ cup water
¾ lb. hamburger
Salt and pepper
Melt the butter in a 12” Dutch oven over the camp stove
and sauté onion until it begins to soften and brown.
Sprinkle in the flour and stir to mix. Crumble the bouillon
cube and add with the water. Add the burger and stir for
minutes and season to taste with salt and pepper while
you simmer the mixture. Turn the heat off and spread the
mashed potatoes over the top. Set the DO in the firepan
over 4-6 briquets with 22-26 on the lid and bake for 15-20
minutes or until potatoes are browned.
Brad Garner

Stuffed Venison Chops

(from Dutch Oven and Camp Cooking, Series III)
Chops
4-6 venison chops, thick and nearly split
Cornbread Stuffing
1 wedge cornbread, crumbled
3 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 Tbsp. chopped green chiles
1 egg
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
Pinch of paprika
¼ cup liquid, to moisten cornbread
Beef bouillon, or cooking liquid
Mix all stuffing ingredients together and stuff into chops.
Place on rack in 12” or deep 12” DO. Add cooking liquid.
Cook about 40 minutes to one hour, depending on
thickness of chops. Use about 8 briquets under the Dutch
and 18-20 briquets on the lid.

Rack of Venison

(from Dutch Oven and Camp Cooking, Series III)
Ingredients:
2 2-3 lb. racks of venison
6-8 cloves garlic, sliced
¼ cup olive oil
Cooking liquid: 1 cup red wine, beef broth, or
water
Heat oil in 14” or deep 14” DO. Add garlic and sauté. Add
racks and seer or brown in the hot oil with garlic, turning
frequently, until all sides have been browned. Lift meat
out, place rack in bottom of DO, put meat back on the
rack. Add vegetables and cooking liquid; then cover. Cook
for 1 to 1½ hours using 8-10 briquets under the oven and
20-22 briquets on the lid.