Camp Quiche Skillet
Bacon, cheese, and eggs baked in a skillet with no crust. A car-camping breakfast that holds six people.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 70
- protein
- 24 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 50 min
- water
- 180 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Bacon | 12 oz | chopped into half-inch pieces at home |
|---|---|---|
| Shallot | 1 | minced at home, carried in a small jar |
| Eggs | 6 large | or 3/4 cup powdered whole egg plus 1 1/2 cups water |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/2 cup | mixed with 1 1/4 cups water to stand in for half & half |
| Butter or oil | 2 tbsp | only if the bacon runs lean |
| Gruyere or swiss | 1 1/2 cups grated | hard cheese, holds a day out of the cooler |
| Kosher salt | 1 tsp | |
| Nutmeg | 1/8 tsp | |
| Cayenne | 1/4 tsp |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want steady heat, not flames.
- Set a 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet over the coals and cook the bacon until the fat renders and the edges crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Pull the bacon out and leave about a tablespoon of grease behind.
- Cook the shallot in that grease until it goes soft and clear, 5 minutes.
- Whisk the milk powder into 1 1/4 cups cold water in a bowl or wide-mouth bottle. Add the eggs, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne and whisk until it is one color.
- Stir a cup of the cheese and the shallot into the eggs, then pour it into the skillet over the bacon.
- Cover with a lid or foil, rake a shallow bed of coals under the skillet, and shovel a layer on top of the lid. Bake 25 to 35 minutes.
- Scatter the rest of the cheese on top for the last five minutes. It is done when the center stops sloshing and a knife comes out clean. Let it sit 10 minutes before cutting.
A quiche is a custard that happens to have a crust. Drop the crust and you lose nothing but the pastry work, which is the part you do not want to do on a picnic table. What is left is eggs, dairy, fat, and cheese set slowly in cast iron, and cast iron over coals does that job as well as an oven does.
The half & half becomes powdered whole milk and water, which sets nearly the same and does not need to survive a warm cooler. Bacon fat carries the flavor, so render it first and cook the shallot in it rather than starting clean. Coals on the lid matter: heat from below alone browns the bottom before the middle sets.
Packing
Chop the bacon and mince the shallot at home and pack them in separate jars. Grate the cheese into a bag. Salt, nutmeg, and cayenne go in one small container premixed so it is one pour at camp.
Variations
- Powdered egg and powdered milk make the whole thing cooler-free for a longer trip, at the cost of some texture.
- Swap the bacon for a bag of shelf-stable summer sausage cut into coins.
- A cup of instant potato flakes stirred into the eggs gives it body and stretches it to eight.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/classic-quiche-lorraine