Dutch Oven Layered Breakfast

Ranch food stirs images of campfires and Dutch ovens lined up over a long cookfire. You get a vision of cookie laboring under the noonday sun behind a rustic chuckwagon. Chicken fried steaks, scratch biscuits and Amy Tanner's apple crunch are dishes you expect on the range.

That’s the kind of food you'll find in C.W. "Butch" Welch’s new cookbook, Retro Ranch: A Roundup of Classic Cowboy Cookin', published this spring by Collectors Press of Portland, Oregon.


Dutch oven layered breakfast with roasted corn-on-the-cob and cottage fried potatoes.

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals in the wilderness. Nothing hits the spot like savory breakfast sausage or smoked bacon sizzling over the campfire. (Steak and baked potatoes are my next favorite meat.) So, Cee Dub's Dutch oven layered breakfast hit the spot for dinner last night.

For the test run I tweaked the layered breakfast some. Not to worry because Cee Dub often preaches this on his cable television shows. He’s encourages his viewers to use what’s left I the grub box.

My philosophy is similar. A recipe is a starting point. You then add and remove ingredients to suit your taste buds (within the structural limits of the recipe, of course). You'll often find that I’ve rewritten recipes on 'Round the Chuckbox to fit my family’s tastes.

I cut the recipe in half and baked it in a 10-inch Dutch oven. I then added a layer of diced roasted Anaheim and jalapeno chile peppers to the dish. Instead of mustard, I seasoned the breakfast with cumin and minced garlic.


Anaheim and jalapeno chile peppers raosting over the campfire. Once the skin charred, I wrapped the chilies in plastic wrap for a few minutes to make removal of the skin easier.

DUTCH OVEN LAYERED BREAKFAST

Cee Dub's layered breakfast is kind of a savory bread pudding with a cheesy crust. It uses meat and savory seasonings like dried mustard to form a custard-like casserole that'll overwhelm your taste buds. Use this recipe as a springboard to flavorful breakfast casseroles, like my Southwestern version (see description above).

I've printed the recipe as it appears in Retro Ranch. Be sure to bake the casserole for the full time. You get a soggy mess if you don't. I recommend adding the cheese halfway through baking to prevent burning. Add the cheese sooner for a crispier crust.

Butter
10 to 12 slices bread, trimmed and cubed
2 cups ham or sausage, cooked and diced
12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
6 to 7 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons chopped onion
3-2/3 to 4 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat 12-inch Dutch oven lid by rimming with 18 to 22 burning briquettes. Butter oven; add bread, sprinkle meat over bread and cover with cheese. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over cheese. Using 6 to 7 briquettes under oven and briquettes on lid, bake until knife inserted in center of mixture comes out clean. To bake in conventional oven, preheat to 325 degrees. Butter 9- x 12-inch baking dish; bake 1 hour.

Serves 4 hearty to 8 lighter portions. Cut recipe in half for a 10-inch Dutch oven.