| River Recipes - Trans Pecos Chicken |
| by Louis Aulbach |
Editor's Note: River Recipes is a new
column that will hopefully appear in each HCC Newsletter in 2010. If
you have a tried and true river recipe, send it to lindagorski@cs.com.
We want all our river cooks out there to contribute to this column. I,
unfortunately, struggle even with home cooking so, in defense of my
fellow paddlers, will not be contributing :-)
Here's one of Louis Aulbach's favorites. Trust me -- I've had this one
and it is absolutely delicious. Happy eating!! Linda
Trans Pecos Chicken Pot Pie
This one pot meal is best enjoyed in a wilderness setting around a
small campfire with family and friends who have spent a good day hiking
or canoeing.
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The Piggy Panther pictograph |
Although I have fixed it many times, the most recent occasion was on
the third day of a week long canoe trip down the Pecos River of West
Texas (that's in Judge Roy Bean territory near Langtry). We had spent
three days running the rapids of the Pecos on the 60 mile trip from
Pandale, Texas to the boat ramp at Lake Amistad. On this third day on
the river, we had the good fortune to visit both the famous "Piggy
Panther" pictograph site as well as the Harkell Canyon pictograph site.
After negotiating the rocky ledges and standing waves of the Harkell
Canyon Rapid and slipping past the hazards of Pin Rock Rapid, a mile
farther down stream, our group made camp on a rock ledge beside a calm,
deep pool along the river.
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| Chalk Cave |
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In the sun-warmed camp site at Chalk Cave on the east bank of the Pecos
on a cool November afternoon, I baked this recipe in my 12 inch cast
aluminum dutch oven. The last spoonfuls were scraped from the pot in
the fading sunlight of the Trans Pecos, but the satisfying taste
remains in your memory for a long time. Try this dish and create your
own good times with good friends.
Ingredients:
Cream of Broccoli Soup - 1 can
Cream of Mushroom Soup - 1 can
milk - 1/2 cup
thyme 1/4 tsp
pepper 1/4 tsp
garlic powder - 1/2 tsp
fresh broccoli - 1 cup
fresh carrots - 1 cup
fresh potatoes - 1 cup
onion - 1, diced and cooked
chicken breasts - 2 cups diced and cooked
Biscuits:
flour - 2 cups
baking powder - 1 TBL
salt - 1/4 tsp
margarine - 1/2 cup (one stick)
milk - 2/3 cup
Note: you can use powdered milk and water, for the milk (1/3 powder to
1 cup water).
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Louis Aulbach cooking up Trans Pecos Chicken on the river. |
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Photo by Linda Gorski |
Boil the broccoli, carrots and potatoes in a 2 quart sauce pan until
tender. Combine soups, milk, thyme, garlic powder, pepper, broccoli,
carrots, potatoes and chicken in the dutch oven.
Make biscuits. Place flour in a mixing bowl, add baking powder and
salt. Cut margarine into the flour mixture. Add milk and blend into a
dough. Knead and roll the dough into a circle of about 3/4 inch thick.
Cut out biscuits about 2 inches in diameter.
Top chicken and vegetable mixture with biscuits. Bake in a covered
dutch oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, until biscuits are
done.
Serves four hearty appetites.
PS: Bake some brownies for desert.
This is just one of the delicious river recipes that will become part
of Louis Aulbach's upcoming book, "The River Guide to
Good Eating".
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The Chef,
Louis Aulbach |
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The End ~~~
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