JUST THE BAREBONES: TEXAS COWBOY STEW
Many outdoor excursions are centered on the adventure; exploring all day and by night you’re exhausted. Maybe a couple hot dogs, a quesadilla, a few beers and you're ready for bed. While these classic campfire meals are easy, tasty and usually do the trick, sometimes you just need more to sustain energy for the next day. If your next outdoor excursion allows enough time for you to cook up a hearty meal on the embers of your campfire, then we have a stew for you.
We drew out the ingredients of our version of the Texas Cowboy Stew with an easy 5-step process below.
Meal: 'Texas Cowboy Stew'
Yield: 5-8 people | Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes
Cookware: Barebones Cast-Iron Dutch Oven
A look at the ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 pounds of ground beef
- 6 large tomatoes or 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 4-5 cloves of garlic
- 1 large onion
- 2 jalapeños
- 3 bell peppers
- 3 potatoes
- Kosher salt
- Ground black pepper
- 1 bottle of your favorite lager
1. Preparation: you will need to chop the veggies so that they are all a similar size (to ensure a smooth equal broil). Cut the jalapeños, onion, garlic, and bell peppers up into smaller than bite-size pieces. The potatoes will be cut into larger wedges and the tomatoes are a whole ‘notha story!
2. Mix it all together and let the vegetables sizzle on the hot embers for 3-4 minutes. When the veggies have softened, add in the ground beef and stir until it is all mixed together. Put back on embers for 4-5 minutes and then check on the meat.
3. Next, pop open your favorite lager and add as much as you like to the mixture (a reminder that the more beer that you add, the juicier or even soup-ier, it might get). Again to the embers, bring the pot to a boil.
4. Take off the heat, add salt and pepper; now taste.
5. Grab any bowl you can get your hands on and enjoy with your friends by the campfire. Should be the best darn mix you’ve ever had!
Photo story by Ryan Valasek
Written by Mattson Smith
