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Mountain Camp Biscuits
3 CUPS FLOUR I TEASPOON SALT 11/2 TABLESPOONS BAK- ING POWDER (LESS FOR HIGHEST ALTI- TUDES) I CAN EVAPORATED MILK I CUP WATER 1/3 CUP SHORTENING (OR LESS, DEPENDING ON ALTITUDE) With a Denver Sandwich in hand, or through a mouthful of Camp Biscuit, just sit by the fire and join in the chorus of "Sweet Betsy from Pike": "Did you ever hear tell of sweet Betsy from Pike, Who crossed the wide prairie with her lover Ike, With two yoke of cattle and one spotted hog, A tall shanghai rooster and an old yaller dog?
Sing-too-rall-i-ral-i-oo-ral-i-ay, Sing-too-rall-i-oo-ral-oo-ral-i-ay."
And to aid digestion afterward, join in a lively square dance or jig-down to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw."
I CUP MASHED POTATOES
An ingredient list built for a Dutch oven at elevation, with potato in the dough to keep it from drying out over a fire. A few of the quantities need translating before you start.
- The altitude notes are the pointAt elevation leavening acts faster and doughs can rise and then collapse. Common high-altitude guidance is to cut baking powder somewhat above about 5,000 feet and more still at 7,000; the parallel note to reduce shortening may follow similar reasoning, though the recipe itself gives no figures.
- "One can" evaporated milkLarge evaporated-milk cans have run around 14.5 fluid ounces, while the usual modern can is 12; which size is meant here is not stated. With the additional cup of water this is a wet dough by design, closer to a drop biscuit than a rolled one.
- Mashed potatoesA cup of plain mashed potato, cooled, goes in with the wet ingredients. It adds moisture that survives a long bake in a covered pot and helps keep the crumb soft the next morning.
- ShorteningSolid vegetable shortening or lard, cut in cold so it stays in pieces. Rubbing it fully into the flour gives a cakey biscuit rather than a flaky one.
- HeatIn a home oven, biscuits of this kind want 425F for 12 to 15 minutes. In a Dutch oven, aim for the same effect with more coals on the lid than underneath, so the top browns before the bottom scorches.
- YieldThree cups of flour with this much liquid should give somewhere in the range of a dozen to sixteen biscuits, enough for a camp breakfast for several people.