A camping staple for us is a heavy-bottomed cast iron skillet. It can be used in the camper on the stove, on a grill or over an open flame. We recently went on a weeklong camping trip in a Cruise America camper, and had an amazing time making semi-gourmet food while keeping it simple and low on dishes.
This recipe creates a delicious Mexican-inspired dish with only one pan. You’ll need a bowl too, but other than that, the dishes will be minimal.
Cooking it on a grill (I cooked it on My Traeger Tailgater) that has a lid that closes will allow you to get even heat on the top and bottom to melt the cheese and heat it through. But some careful fire crafting and aluminum foil and you can do essentially the same thing over a campfire. If the weather doesn’t permit a campfire, you could also cook it inside your Cruise America camper on the stove. Just use a lid to cover the pan, and cook on very low heat until heated through.
Ingredients:·Eight corn tortillas·¼ cup vegetable oil·1 pound of lean ground beef·½ a yellow onion, chopped·½ a leftover baked potato·1 can of whole corn kernels or fiesta corn·1 ½ cups shredded or small-diced cheese·1 can of enchilada sauce
Directions:In a skillet (preferably a camping-friendly cast iron one), cook chopped onions in a tablespoon of vegetable oil until just softened. Add ground beef and cook thoroughly.
Crumble with a spoon or spatula as needed. Drain any excess grease from the cooked beef. In a bowl, combine ground beef, leftover baked potato cut into small cubes, and can of corn, drained. Stir well and season to taste with salt and pepper or a rub. Stir in 1 cup cheese and set the entire mixture aside.
In the same pan from earlier (you don’t need to wash it), pour in about ¼ cup vegetable oil (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan to allow for shallow frying). Heat on medium until oil is hot.
Carefully place tortillas, one at a time, into hot oil and fry briefly. This should only take 30 seconds per tortilla. Remove tortillas and drain on a paper towel, keeping covered.
Pour off remaining oil from pan when done frying the tortillas. You can leave about 1 tsp in the pan. Pour in ¼ of the can of enchilada sauce, and spread evenly in pan.
Spoon several tablespoons full of beef mixture in the center of a tortilla. Carefully roll up tortilla around filling, and place in the prepared pan, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
Pour remaining enchilada sauce on top of rolled tortillas. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup cheese on top.
Place entire skillet in grill and cook at 350* for 15 to 20 minutes until heated through. If you don’t have a grill, place the skillet on the grate of a campfire, with the fire to the side (indirect heat). Cover with aluminum foil and heat for 30-40 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.
Serve immediately.
