Dutch Oven Ham and Potato Gratin
Powdered milk, dried potatoes, and shelf-stable ham baked under coals with a crumb lid.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 103
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- 500 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Butter | 4 tbsp | keeps a week unrefrigerated in cool weather; ghee keeps longer |
|---|---|---|
| Dried minced onion | 3 tbsp | stands in for one fresh onion |
| Flour | 3 tbsp | |
| Powdered whole milk | 3/4 cup | reconstitutes to about 2 cups |
| Water | 2 cups | |
| Seasoned salt and black pepper | 1 tsp total | |
| Shelf-stable ham | 1 1/2 cups | canned or a vacuum-sealed pouch, diced |
| Dehydrated sliced or diced potatoes | 2 cups dry | rehydrates to about 3 cups |
| Hard cheese | 1/2 cup grated | aged cheddar or parmesan |
| Fine bread crumbs | 2 tbsp |
Method
- Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the dried potatoes and onion in a bowl or pot. Let them sit 15 minutes while you build the fire.
- Set the 12-inch dutch oven over about 10 coals. Melt the butter, then stir in the flour and cook it for a minute so it stops tasting raw.
- Whisk the milk powder into 2 cups of cool water, then add it to the pot in splashes, stirring the whole time until it thickens. Season with the salt and pepper.
- Drain any standing water off the potatoes and fold them in with the ham. Everything should be coated.
- Scatter the cheese and crumbs over the top and put the lid on. Bake with about 8 coals underneath and 17 on the lid for 20 minutes.
- Pull the coals off the bottom for the last five minutes if the edges are catching.
The original is a stovetop white sauce with fresh milk, fresh potatoes, and a chunk of refrigerated ham. None of that travels. Powdered whole milk makes an honest roux sauce, dehydrated potatoes rehydrate in the same boil you were making anyway, and canned or pouched ham keeps at ambient temperature until you open it.
The roux is the part worth doing carefully. Flour cooked in butter for a minute before liquid goes in is what keeps the sauce from breaking into grit when the potatoes hit it. Coals on the lid do the rest: the crumb layer needs top heat to brown, which is why the count is heavier up top than underneath.
Packing
Milk powder, flour, dried onion, and seasoning go in one bag as a sauce mix. Potatoes in their own bag, crumbs and cheese in a third. The ham pouch and butter ride in the cooler lid or a cool corner of the food bin.
Variations
- Swap the ham for a pouch of chicken or a handful of crumbled jerky.
- Crushed crackers work in place of bread crumbs and you probably already have them.
- No cheese on hand: another tablespoon of butter over the crumbs browns them just as well.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/au_gratin_ham_and_potatoes-1313.asp