Dutch Stand and Herder Spuds

By Guy Perkins, Camp Chef

If you want to get away from the smoke of a fire and use briquettes for your dutch oven cooking, place your briquettes and oven on some kind of table or metal plate to keep them off the ground. If placed directly on the ground, heat will be drawn away from the charcoal--even more so if the ground is damp. While a metal trashcan lid or tinfoil is better than bare ground, a Dutch Stand works much better and is very convenient.

Place on non-combustible surface only.

Here's a dutch oven recipe for Herder Spuds that my father learned from local sheep herders, and taught to me. The recipe makes a good starting point for an array of various potato dishes; but, I like 'em without any additional embellishment: dry, peppery and full of onions with the Crisco adding a nifty flavor! You will need:

• A 12-inch dutch oven
• About 32 charcoal briquettes
• 1/4 cup of Crisco shortening
• A dozen good Russet baking potatoes, cut in half then sliced 1/4" thick
• Two large yellow onions, sliced 1/2" thick
• Two tablespoons of black pepper

Light and heat the briquettes until they are glowing red. Place your oven on top of 10 of the hot briquettes and melt 1/4 cup of shortening. Add potatoes (evenly layered) followed by the onions. Sprinkle pepper over the top and cover. Place the remaining charcoal briquettes (about 22) on the lid of the oven.

Stirring the spuds after 30 minutes.

Allow to cook for 30 minutes. Then stir to break them down a bit; cover and cook for another 20 minutes. Cook them longer if you like them softer. Also if you like, you may add about 1/2 cup of water at a time. The recipe makes a traditional "back in the day" neutral potato dish that goes well with any meat and veggie meal.