Garlic Cheese Swirls in the Skillet
Yeast dough rolled around garlic-herb cheese and baked in a cast iron pan over coals.
- calories
- 290
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 83
- protein
- 8 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 55 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 1 1/2 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Active dry yeast | 1 tsp | |
| Sugar | 1/2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp | for the dough |
| Shelf-stable milk | 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp | boxed UHT, or 2 tbsp milk powder plus water |
| Butter | 1 1/2 tbsp, softened | plus more melted for brushing |
| Egg | 1, beaten | |
| Garlic | 1/2 tbsp, minced | jarred works |
| Boursin or other garlic-herb cheese | 1/2 cup | |
| Unsalted butter | 1/2 tbsp, softened | for the filling |
| Grated parmesan | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | for the filling |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp, chopped | dried is fine, use 1 tsp |
Method
- Warm the milk until it is barely above body temperature, no hotter. Stir in the sugar, sprinkle the yeast over it, and leave it ten minutes until it foams.
- Mix in the salt, softened butter, egg, and garlic. Work in the flour a half cup at a time, then knead on a clean surface eight to ten minutes until the dough stops sticking to your hands.
- Cover the bowl and set it somewhere warm for an hour. Near the fire, not on it. Cold air doubles the wait.
- Mash the garlic-herb cheese with the unsalted butter and the 1/2 tsp salt until smooth.
- Press the dough into a rectangle about a half inch thick. Spread the cheese to the edges, scatter the parmesan, roll it up the long way, and cut into six or eight rounds.
- Set the rounds cut-side up in a greased 7-inch to 10-inch cast iron skillet. Cover and let them puff twenty minutes.
- Bake over a bed of coals with a lid and more coals on top, about 35 minutes. Rotate the pan a quarter turn every ten minutes so one side does not scorch.
- Brush with melted butter and scatter the parsley over the top.
This is a car-camping recipe and it stays one. Yeast dough needs an hour of warmth, a cooler for the egg and butter, and a pan you would never carry on your back. The only real adaptation is the milk: boxed UHT or reconstituted powder behaves the same as fresh here, since the milk is only there to warm the yeast and soften the crumb.
Coals, not flames. A skillet set in a live fire scorches the bottoms before the middles set, and the middles of a swirl are dough on all sides. Bank the coals underneath and put more on the lid so heat comes from both directions. Rotating the pan matters more than the exact time, because no camp fire burns evenly.
Packing
Mix flour, yeast, sugar, and dough salt into one bag at home. Cheese, butter, and egg ride in the cooler. Carry the parmesan and dried parsley in a film canister.
Variations
- No cooler? Use a whole-egg powder and shelf-stable cream cheese with garlic powder and dried herbs stirred in.
- Skip the rise entirely and use a biscuit dough of 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour and 3/4 cup milk. Less bread, same swirl.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/boursin-garlic-swirls