Camping Breakfast Chili

Bending the yardstick at 20” in diameter, the camping pan has the kind of size that makes you stand up and take notice. Chili as art devolves (at times) into mental gymnastics, with new ideas and a fresh approach curiously truant. The penicillin presents as a change of venue and, in the parlance of artists, a change of “canvas.” Traveling 130 miles and shuffling into the pine woods surly provided the adjustment in locale. The camping pan provided a stark billboard on which to broadcast chillin’ chili goodwill.

Ingredients:

1 lb bacon (pork bacon works best)
12 eggs
4 green onions, chopped
1 T chili powder
½ C spicy pickled carrots (zanahorias)
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese
Large flour tortillas

Directions:

1) Build a moderate campfire.
2) Place a cooking grate over the fire. The flames should be well under the grate, as a high fired will result in burnt chili. No one wants that.
3) Place pan on cooking grate.
4) Toss bacon into the pan and cook until bacon is nice and crisp.
5) Remove bacon to a clean plate and pour out most of the grease. Careful here, don’t start a grease fire or burn yourself (or spill your beer/coffee).
6) To the pan add the eggs and chili powder.
7) Break the yolks as you cook the eggs and turn frequently.
8) When the eggs are nearly set, add onions, cheese and spicy carrots.
9) Continue cooking until cheese is melted and the eggs have set.
10) Remove pan from cooking grate and briefly cook your tortillas on the grate.
11) To serve, place tortillas on plate and fill with camping breakfast chili.

Tasting Notes:

The pan is ready. Are you?

Silly isn’t it? 1 pound of bacon, 1 dozen eggs and a bunch of other stuff and the pan is merely 1/3 full. WTF?

Extreme closeup. My sister was once bitten by a moose…

In tortilla and ready to rock (your world)

It is not the size of the pan, it’s the breakfast you cook in it. It would have been fun to take a time-lapse video of the near-Herculean process. Leveraging all the fire cooking skills in my arsenal is fun and (in this case) extremely rewarding. This breakfast was out of sight. All ITP, including the guest involuntary tasters rated this chili as outstanding or amazing. My modesty compels me to confess that any meal with this much grease and spice is bound to be a hit. Was it worth driving 130 miles to indulge in this mega-pan morning chili? Absolutely. All the best to camping friends old and new.