Pioneer Cookouts

Cowboy Coffee

On the TrailNo filters on the trail. Grounds went straight into the pot, and a splash of cold water sank them to the bottom. Some old-timers swore by a crushed eggshell to settle the grounds and smooth out the bitterness.

Ingredients

• 12 cups water
• ¾ to 1 cup coarse-ground coffee
• Pinch of salt, optional
• ½ cup cold water, to settle the grounds

Method

1. Bring the water to a rolling boil over the coals.
2. Pull the pot off the heat and let it sit 30 seconds so it stops boiling.
3. Stir in the coffee and salt. Let it steep 4 minutes.
4. Pour the cold water down the inside of the pot. It sinks the grounds to the bottom.
5. Pour slowly so the grounds stay put. Leave the last inch in the pot.

Thick-Cut Bacon

On the TrailCured bacon and salt pork kept for weeks without ice, so they rode in the wagon from the first day of the trip to the last.

Ingredients

• 3 lb thick-cut bacon
• Freshly ground black pepper, optional

Method

1. Lay the bacon in cold skillets, then set them over medium coals. Starting cold renders the fat slowly and keeps it from curling.
2. Cook 10 to 14 minutes, turning often, until crisp and deep golden.
3. Drain on towels. Crack a little pepper over the top if you like.
4. Pour the drippings into a heatproof can and save them for the eggs, potatoes, and cornbread.

Campfire Scrambled Eggs

On the TrailFresh eggs were a treat on the trail. To keep them from breaking on a bumpy wagon, cooks packed them down in barrels of flour or cornmeal.

Ingredients

• 24 large eggs
• ½ cup milk or cream
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp bacon drippings
• 2 tbsp butter
• Chopped chives, optional

Method

1. Whisk the eggs with the milk, salt, and pepper.
2. Melt the drippings and butter in the skillet at the cooler edge of the fire. Eggs want gentle heat.
3. Add the eggs, let them set for 30 seconds, then push them slowly with a spatula into big, soft curds.
4. Pull them off the heat while they're still glossy. They'll finish cooking on the plate. Top with chives.

Sourdough Biscuits

On the TrailChuckwagon cooks guarded their sourdough crock like gold. A healthy starter meant fresh bread every morning, and it's said some cooks slept with the crock on cold nights to keep it alive.

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• ¾ cup cold butter or lard, cubed
• 1½ cups active sourdough starter
• ½ to ¾ cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp melted butter, for the tops

Method

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
2. Cut in the cold butter or lard until it looks like coarse crumbs with some pea-size pieces.
3. Stir in the starter, then add buttermilk a little at a time until you have a shaggy dough.
4. Pat the dough out 1 inch thick, fold it over on itself three times, and pat out again. Cut 2½-inch rounds, pressing straight down without twisting.
5. Grease the Dutch oven and set the biscuits in so they just touch. Let them rest 15 minutes while the coals get ready.
6. Bake 18 to 22 minutes, turning the lid and oven every 6 minutes or so, until tall and golden. Brush the tops with melted butter.

Sawmill Sausage Gravy

On the TrailThe story goes that this gravy got its name in Southern logging camps, where cooks stretched a little meat, flour, and milk to feed a whole crew.

Ingredients

• 2 lb bulk breakfast sausage
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups whole milk
• 1½ tsp coarse black pepper, plus more to taste
• Salt to taste
• Butter, if the sausage is lean

Method

1. Brown the sausage in the skillet, breaking it into small crumbles.
2. Don't drain it. You want about ½ cup of fat in the pan, so add butter if it's short.
3. Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and stir for 2 minutes to cook out the raw taste.
4. Pour in the milk slowly while stirring, so it doesn't lump.
5. Simmer 5 to 8 minutes, stirring, until it coats a spoon. Season heavily with pepper and salt to taste.
6. It thickens as it sits. Stir in a splash of milk to loosen it before serving over biscuits.

Fried Potatoes & Onions

On the TrailPotatoes and onions kept for weeks in a cool wagon box, and a skillet of them fried in bacon fat could feed a crew on almost nothing.

Ingredients

• 5 lb russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in ¾-inch cubes
• 2 large onions, sliced
• ½ cup bacon drippings or lard
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 green bell pepper, diced, optional

Method

1. Optional head start: boil the potatoes 5 minutes, then drain well. They'll cook faster at the fire.
2. Heat the drippings in both skillets until shimmering.
3. Spread the potatoes in a single layer. Leave them alone for 5 minutes so they brown.
4. Turn and keep cooking, turning every few minutes, for about 10 minutes.
5. Add the onions and bell pepper. Cook 10 to 15 minutes more, until the potatoes are crisp outside and tender inside.
6. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika.

Cinnamon Fried Apples

On the TrailDried apples kept for months in a flour sack, so they rode along on nearly every wagon. Cooks soaked them overnight and fried them up for breakfast or pies.

Ingredients

• 8 firm apples, cored and sliced ½ inch thick
• 6 tbsp butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• ¼ cup water or apple cider
• Squeeze of lemon

Method

1. Melt the butter in the skillet over medium coals.
2. Add the apples and stir to coat. Cook 8 minutes, stirring now and then.
3. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and water or cider.
4. Cover and cook 5 to 8 minutes more, until tender but still holding their shape.
5. Uncover and let the syrup thicken for 2 minutes. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Country Fried Steak with Pan Gravy

On the TrailRange beef was lean and tough, so trail cooks pounded it thin, rolled it in flour and fried it in lard in a heavy skillet. Fried steak was the cowboys' favorite, and nothing went to waste: the browned bits left in the pan became the gravy.

Ingredients

• 12 cube steaks (about 4 lb), or round steak pounded ¼ inch thick
• Dredge: 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp salt, 2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp paprika
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• About 1½ cups lard or high-heat oil, for frying
• Pan gravy: ½ cup pan drippings, ½ cup all-purpose flour, 5 cups whole milk, 1½ tsp black pepper, salt to taste

Method

1. Pat the steaks dry and season both sides lightly with salt and pepper.
2. Mix the dredge in one shallow pan. Whisk the eggs and buttermilk in another.
3. Coat each steak in flour, then the egg mixture, then flour again, pressing so the coating sticks. Let them rest 10 minutes so the coating sets.
4. Heat about ½ inch of lard in each skillet until a pinch of flour sizzles right away, about 350°F.
5. Fry in batches without crowding, 3 to 4 minutes per side, until deep golden and cooked through. Keep them warm on a rack near the fire.
6. For the gravy, pour off all but about ½ cup of drippings and keep the browned bits. Whisk in the flour and cook 2 minutes.
7. Slowly whisk in the milk and simmer 5 to 8 minutes, until it coats a spoon. Season with plenty of pepper and salt to taste, and spoon it over the steaks.

Cube steak is mechanically tenderized, so cook it all the way through. Check the thickest piece with an instant-read thermometer: at least 145°F, then a 3-minute rest.

Cowboy Beans

On the TrailDried beans were the backbone of the chuckwagon: light to haul, nearly impossible to spoil, and filling after a long day in the saddle. Cowboys had plenty of nicknames for them, "whistleberries" among the politer ones.

Ingredients

• 2 lb dried pinto beans
• ½ lb salt pork, diced (or thick-cut bacon)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 jalapeño, diced, optional
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, optional
• About 12 cups water
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Sort and rinse the beans, then soak overnight. (Short on time: boil 2 minutes, then let sit 1 hour.) Drain.
2. In the Dutch oven over coals, cook the salt pork 8 minutes until the fat renders.
3. Add the onion and jalapeño and cook until soft. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, and cumin for 1 minute.
4. Add the beans and enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a simmer, then pull some coals so it bubbles gently.
5. Cover and cook 2 to 3 hours, stirring now and then and adding hot water as needed, until the beans are tender.
6. Stir in the tomatoes. Taste before salting, since salt pork is salty. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes to thicken.

Skillet Greens with Bacon

On the TrailFresh vegetables were scarce on the trail. Cooks made do with onions and potatoes and whatever they could gather along the way. Turnip and collard greens cooked down with bacon are the Tennessee way to do it today.

Ingredients

• 5 lb collard or turnip greens, or a mix, washed well
• 1 lb thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Hot pepper vinegar, for serving, optional

Method

1. Strip the leaves from the tough stems and cut them into wide ribbons. Wash in several changes of water until no grit settles to the bottom.
2. Cook the bacon in the Dutch oven over medium coals until crisp. Lift out half for the top.
3. Add the onion and cook until soft. Stir in the garlic and pepper flakes for 1 minute.
4. Pile in the greens a few handfuls at a time, stirring as they wilt down.
5. Add the broth, vinegar and brown sugar. Cover and simmer gently 45 minutes to 1 hour, until tender. Turnip greens cook faster than collards.
6. Taste for salt and pepper, top with the saved bacon, and serve with the pot liquor and a wedge of cornbread.

Skillet Cornbread

On the TrailCornmeal was cheap, kept well, and filled a hungry crew. No oven needed, just a hot pan, a lid, and a shovel of coals.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cornmeal (stone-ground if you have it)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar, optional
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• ¼ cup melted butter
• 3 tbsp bacon drippings

Method

1. Put the bacon drippings in the Dutch oven and set it over the coals to get smoking hot.
2. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
3. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter.
4. Stir the wet into the dry just until combined. A few lumps are fine.
5. Carefully pour the batter into the hot fat. It should sizzle; that's your crust.
6. Cover, add coals to the lid, and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Dutch Oven Beef Stew

On the TrailChuckwagon cooks were famous for stews that simmered all afternoon and turned the toughest cuts tender. Whatever the herd and the wagon could spare went in the pot.

Ingredients

• 4 lb beef chuck, cut in 1½-inch cubes
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 4 tbsp lard or oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 8 cups beef broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 lb potatoes, cubed
• 1 lb carrots, cut in chunks

Method

1. Toss the beef with the flour, salt, and pepper.
2. Heat the lard in the Dutch oven over hot coals. Brown the beef in batches; crowding the pot steams it instead of browning it.
3. Add the onions and cook until soft. Stir in the garlic for 1 minute.
4. Pour in the tomatoes and broth and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom. Add the beef, bay leaves, and thyme.
5. Cover. Set the oven over a few coals with about 10 on the lid, and simmer gently for 1½ hours.
6. Add the potatoes and carrots. Simmer 45 minutes more, until everything is tender.
7. Taste for salt and pepper before serving.

Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

On the TrailCanned fruit was a prized treat on the trail. A warm cobbler at the end of a long day was worth riding in for.

Ingredients

• Filling: 3 cans (29 oz) sliced peaches, or 4 lb fresh peaches, sliced
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Topping: 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup melted butter
• 2 tbsp sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon, for the top

Method

1. If using canned peaches, drain one can and keep the juice from the other two.
2. Line the Dutch oven with parchment if you like (easier cleanup). Stir the peaches, juice, sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, and vanilla right in the oven.
3. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk and melted butter to make a thick batter.
4. Spoon the batter over the peaches in big dollops. It doesn't need to cover everything.
5. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, cover, and add coals.
6. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, turning the lid and oven every 10 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Rest 10 minutes before serving.

Southern Sweet Tea

On the TrailCowboys on the trail drank coffee, not tea. But it isn't a Tennessee cookout without a jug of sweet tea, so we're making an exception.

Ingredients

• 6 family-size tea bags (or 24 regular)
• 1 to 1½ cups sugar
• ⅛ tsp baking soda (takes the bitter edge off)
• 4 cups boiling water
• 12 cups cold water
• Lemon slices and plenty of ice

Method

1. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil, then take it off the heat.
2. Add the baking soda and tea bags. Steep 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Lift out the tea bags without squeezing them, which makes the tea bitter.
4. Stir in the sugar while the tea is hot, until it dissolves.
5. Pour into a gallon jug and add the cold water. Chill, and serve over ice with lemon. Make two batches for a big crowd.