The Sloppy Pig
Butter-fried ham and cheese on a grill grate. The bread should end up a little wrecked.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 89
- protein
- 24 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 11 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.
- Lunch
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Wheat bread | 2 slices | a dense sandwich loaf, not soft white |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 2 tbsp | the original called for a quarter cup; that is too much |
| Sliced cheese | 1 slice | American or cheddar, whatever melts fast |
| Sliced deli ham | 2 slices |
Method
- Get a bed of coals going and set a cast iron skillet on the grate. Medium heat, not roaring flame.
- Butter both sides of both bread slices. Both sides matters here.
- Lay the slices in the skillet and brown them, a couple of minutes a side.
- Pile the ham and cheese on one slice, cap it with the other, and press it down with the spatula.
- Flip once more and pull it when the cheese runs. If it holds together neatly, the fire was too hot.
This is a grilled ham and cheese that has been buttered past the point of restraint. Buttering both sides of both slices means the bread fries rather than toasts, and fried bread goes floppy under a hot filling. That is the whole point. The original name is a promise about texture.
The quarter cup of butter in the source is more than a two-slice sandwich can absorb, so two tablespoons is the working number. Keep the skillet over coals instead of flame: the cheese needs time to melt, and direct fire will blacken the bread before it does. Ham and cheese need a cooler, so this is a car-camping lunch. For a pack trip, use the summer sausage variation.
Packing
Ham and cheese ride in the cooler. Butter goes in a small screw-top tub, bread on top of the food box so it does not get crushed.
Variations
- Swap the ham for a foil packet of chicken and skip the cooler entirely.
- Shelf-stable summer sausage and a hard cheese make this work on a two-night trip with no ice.
- A smear of mustard inside cuts the butter.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/the-sloppy-pig