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.
Here's the recipe:

Dutch Oven French Dip Sandwiches
10" Dutch Oven
14 coals on top, 8 on bottom- need to keep adding heat to keep consistently simmering

4 pound beef roast
2 packages dry onion soup mix
1 large sweet onions, sliced thin.
½ cup soy sauce
Enough water enough to cover meat

Combine everything together.  Cook over hot coals for 2 hours or so.  We cooked the meat to about 160° in the center.  Sliced it (still a tad pink in center) and returned it to the juices while waiting to have the rest of supper get finished up.

End result:  This recipe has promise, flavor was good.  We just need to figure out what to do about the meat.  Either a different cut of beef, lower and slower cooking, or get some light and slice it right.

~Erin