I'd never heard of it until I opened this month's Cook's Country and read the essay about cowboys cooking their meat and potatoes in 10-gallon milk cans out on the trail ride. It's like the Midwestern version of boiled New England dinner (also reminded me of Wisconsin fish boils in a way), but with brats instead of corned beef . . . plus beer!
And then later on the BBC, I read about how scholars now think 25% of American cowboys were African-Americans, most likely ex-slaves (just as so many cowboys were ex-soldiers, too, I believe.)
So, I had cowboys on the brain and decided to make milk-can supper, or as we called it tonight "cowboy dinner." The kids loved the story and devoured the meal. I can see making it with all manner of meat--chicken, pork chops--as long as you brown them first and layer them well, putting the longest-cooking items like the potatoes and carrots near the bottom and the meat towards the top. Also, I used chicken stock instead of beer tonight, to make sure the kids would like it the first time. And not brats--we used kielbasa. (And I ate my new favorite vegetarian "sausage" on the side, apple and sage by Field Roast available at Whole Foods--Bud likes it better than kielbasa.)
I think we should make this for Gommie and Pop when we are in Texas, but with some Texas beef sausage from Prasek's . . . and maybe, even though it'll be 100F, we should go to the George Ranch again!!
(I just asked Mama to look to see what the George Ranch had going on in July and she said, "It's got hot going on.")
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Milk-Can "Cowboy" Supper
adapted from Cook's Country
2 lbs. kielbasa, cut into big chunks about 1 1/2-2" long (we used 2 kinds, one more peppery than the other)
6 red potatoes, washed but unpeeled
1 small cabbage, cut into wedges and unstacked
1 1/2 cups baby carrots
1 onion, cut into wedges
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
4 ears of corn (I put in 4 frozen ears and it worked wonderfully)
1 1/2-2 cups chicken broth
10 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
1 green bell pepper, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
Brown the kielbasa in a little oil until browned all over (about 6-8 minutes on medium high.) Remove from pot (I used a Dutch oven.) Layer ingredients in pot in this order, bottom to top: red potatoes, cabbage wedges (unstacked and all spread out flat), baby carrots, onion, garlic, and corn. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; add bay leaves and thyme. Distribute kielbasa on top and pour in chicken broth. Bring to boil, cover, and simmer approximately 15-20 minutes. Add green bell pepper on top and cook 15-20 minutes more until potatoes are tender (use long skewer to test doneness.) Remove to serving platter and discard bay leaves and thyme. Enjoy!
