Its Stuck and Won't Come Off- Cleaning tricks

Well, they always say, a well seasoned cast iron pot or pan is as good as any Teflon coated non-stick pan out there.  I believe it.  But I also know that I'm still not an expert cook and I can get things stuck on even Teflon pans.

So, when we are out camping, what do we do when we've got something stuck to the inside of our Dutch oven since using ANY soap is a big no-no?

Cheesy Noodle-Corn Casserole

We made this recipe the other night as a side dish for our supper.  I really enjoyed it.  Matt didn't care one way or the other (but, his opinion doesn't really count given he doesn't like Macaroni and Cheese).

While this is a great side dish for a picnic, I also think with a few add-ins (such as ham or browned ground beef) this could become a main dish too.

Cast-Iron Skillet Pizza Dip

Okay, Okay, this isn't a D.O. recipe.  But it is still for the campsite and probably would work in a Dutch Oven so I thought I'd share it anyway.

This dip is great served with Ritz or other buttery type crackers (heck could be good with any pretzels or any type of crackers- Triscuit, Club, Townhouse, etc.).  This dip was a life saver- it kept the hungry kiddos at our campground from whining too much.

Campfire Pizza Dip
Cast Iron Skillet

1 8-ounce package cream cheese (we use the 1/3 fat kind)
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
1/2 of a 8-ounce jar pizza sauce
1 -2 cups mozzarella cheese

Set the cream cheese out to soften enough that you can blend in the Italian Seasoning.  Once mixed, spread into an 8" cast iron skillet.  Top with pizza sauce and then mozzarella.  Heat over the campfire or a camp-stove until the mozzarella is melted (we covered our pan with foil to keep heat in, if you have a lid use that instead).

While snacking away, we thought that the following things would be quite tasty to be added in as a layer to the dip.  When you give them a try, let me know how they taste:

Finely diced pepperoni or Canadian bacon
Some ground beef or Italian sausage
Diced peppers
Diced onions
Diced mushrooms
Diced tomatoes
Black olives

Enjoy!
~Erin

Cinnamon Apple Bread Pudding

While at Rocky Mountain, we made sure to make dessert on both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday night we made the chocolate cake, which we've already featured on here once.  On Sunday night, we made this TASTY bread pudding recipe.  I mean, what isn't to love?  Substitute bread cubes with cut up cinnamon rolls?  Diced fall apples and a brown sugar crumble topping?  Heaven.

French Dip Sandwiches

Okay, we'll admit it, this wasn't our best effort as far as campground cooking goes.  But, that isn't to say, this isn't worth giving another shot.

So, over Labor Day weekend, we camped at Estes National Park in Colorado with some family.  Our list of dishes to cook over the weekend included baked beans (found here), chocolate cake (found here), French Dip Sandwiches, Cinnamon Apple Bread Pudding (new post coming)  and Pizza Dip ( new post coming).

This recipe really has lots of promise, but we had a few slip ups in our exectution.  Here were the issues we had:

1.)  It takes a long time to cook.  Matt and I aren't very good with remembering about kids being hungry.  Our 10 and 8 year old neice and nephew were with us.  Sure, our 18-mo old has to eat early, that is a given.  So we fed her a hot dog.  But the other kids were starving, asking "when will it be done?".  So, if you give this a shot, allow plenty of cooking time.

2.)  Tough Meat.  We need to figure out what cut of meat is best and how best to cut it.  So, we got a rump roast.  The guy at the meat counter assured me that this would be perfect for a French Dip.  Well, our meat ended up tough.  So, we either need make one or all of the following changes: a different type of roast, make sure we are cutting the meat correctly (it was dark and we sort of hacked at it not paying any attention to the grain of the meat), or adjust the cooking time.

Those issues aside this recipe has pomise.  We will give it another shot and report back.  In the meantime, try it and give us any tips you might come up with.

Old Pans Turned New- A cleaning and reseasoning process

As promised, we are ready to reveal our “new” old cast iron skillets. Two Wagner Ware and one Griswold. Getting these things spiffed up was quite the task, that mostly Matt did.