I remember it like it was yesterday! I had all the requirements for the Boy Scout cooking merit badge accomplished — the menus, buying the food for the patrol, making the fire — all except for preparing a main dish that would be cooked over an open fire.
My grandmother lived with us while we grew up and she was a great cook.
Grandmother even had a big crock of grease sitting behind the gas burners in which she scooped from when frying, almost anything, and boy was that good!
Since Grandma was such a good cook I asked her what I might cook on the open fire to complete my merit badge requirements. She suggested beef stew.
Throughout the years I have tried it many ways, with different ingredients, but this is the recipe that I first used. A 10-inch cast iron serves three hungry campers.
INGREDIENTS
• 1 pound of stew mat
• 1 cup flour with 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, and 1 large plastic bag to shake beef in