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Chuckwagon Cooking


The morning began with the Chuckwagon cook getting up around three in the morning. He would take coffee pots from the spit and pour what was left over from the night before, sometimes even into the boiling stew for added flavor.


Adding fresh water to his pots, he would bring to a boil and set aside the spit to stay warm. Good coffee should be 180 to 200 degrees (f) when the coffee grounds are added. 2-1/2 cups of grounds per 20 cups of coffee or in modern 12 cup-conversion, 7 Tablespoons to 12 cups. The grounds were placed directly into the water to cook. After about five minutes, the coffee was done, but to serve, the cook added one cup of cold water to the pot. This allowed the grounds to immediately settle to the bottom of the pot. Sometimes egg shells were placed in the pot to help the grounds settle, but topped off with cool water also does the trick. The coffee was fresh, hot, and served black. If you were a green horn, sugar and dry dairy of evaporated milk was added; which resulted in the real cowboys teasing you.


Nothing truly tastes better than a fresh cup of the cowboy coffee with the aroma of wood burning and the fresh roasted grounds brewing. Added to the tradition of coffee as a mainstay for the cowboy on the range, the chuckwagon cooks had several traditional main stays they prepared daily. Good hot biscuits became a mainstay with coffee and were much anticipated every day.


Wagon Train Biscuits 2 cups flour


4 teaspoons sugar 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon soda


4 teaspoons baking powder 2/3 cup (lard) shortening 2/3 cup buttermilk


Measure all dry ingredients and place into a large bowl. Cut in shortening thoroughly, until mixture looks like meal. Stir in buttermilk.


If dough is not pliable, add just enough buttermilk to make a soft, puffy, easy-to-roll dough. Round up dough on lightly floured cloth-covered board. Knead lightly 20 to 25 times, about 1 minute. Roll out until 3/4 inch thick. Cut with floured biscuit cutter (you could also use a glass). Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 450 degree oven for about 10 to 12 minutes.


Hoe Cakes


1 cup self-rising flour 1 cup self-rising cornmeal, or from a mix (recommended: Aunt Jemima’s) 2 eggs 1 Tablespoon sugar 3/4 cup buttermilk 1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon water 1/4 cup vegetable oil or bacon grease Oil, butter, or clarified margarine, for frying


Mix well all ingredients, except for the frying oil. Heat the frying oil or butter in a medium or large skillet over medium heat. Drop the batter, by full Tablespoons, into the hot skillet. Use about 2 Tablespoons of batter per hoe cake. Fry each hoe cake until brown and crisp; turn each hoe cake with a spatula, and then brown the other side. With a slotted spoon, remove each hoe cake to drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Leftover batter will keep in refrigerator for up to two days. This takes about 15 minutes to cook and will make about 17 round cakes.


For outdoor cooking, I like using the open skillet preheating over the coolest part of the coals for about a minute or two warming up bacon grease. You can use vegetable oil or butter if you prefer over using bacon grease. Once the cast iron skillet has been preheated, move it over the warmer part of the coals and add the batter just as indicated above in directions. You can make them larger adding one additional Tablespoon of batter of mixture. Cover with butter and maple syrup.


84 TEXAS LONGHORN JOURNAL i JULY 2017


The following two recipes are heartier selections, which were more traditionally served later in the day. I can only imagine that a good strong cup of Cowboy Coffee was an accompaniment to whatever selections were served throughout the day.


Green Chili


Lard Flour


3-4 lb pork roast


1 - 15oz can stewed or diced tomatoes 2 - 8oz cans chopped green chilies 3-4 whole jalapenos 1 large onion


salt & pepper to taste 3 cloves of garlic (or to taste) 1- 15 oz can refried beans (optional) 1/2 teaspoon cumin 2 teaspoon chili powder 2 cans chicken stock


Slice pork into small pieces and brown with garlic and 1/4 diced onion in lard. Add flour towards the end for thickener. Then add 3-4 cups of water, one can of chicken stock, and salt and pepper. Cook several hours until pork begins to fall apart. Chop remaining onion, slice whole jalapenos into thirds, and add with all other ingredients. This will cook for several more hours on low heat. Be cautious as the chili easily sticks to the bottom of the pan. Taste periodically for “hotness” of the jalapenos, and depending upon taste, remove when it reaches your desired “heat.” When close to complete, if the chili is too thin, remove about two cups liquid in a bowl, whisk in more flour for thickening, and return to the chili. Serve with flour tortillas. Great poured over burritos.


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