I’m fascinated with cowboy movies. In fact, I probably own the entire John Wayne video collection as well as a few from TV shows like Rawhide. My favorite scenes are ones with cattle drives (I can never remember where they’re going) and morning breakfasts.
The cook always cuts strips from a side of bacon, fry them in a cast iron pan and then hang huge coffee pots filled with coffee grounds, eggshells, chicory (and who knows what else) on a spit of some kind over a campfire. Man, that’s the life…or so the movies like to make you think it is.
But, there’s some truth to the coffee process. There IS such a thing as cowboy coffee and it’s easy to make. This strong, black coffee is hearty enough to get anyone started for the day. To make it all you need is one to two cups of freshly ground dark roast coffee, an egg shell (boil the egg first, please) and about four and one-half cups of water.
—Bring four quarts of water to a boil in a large saucepan or stovetop coffee pot.
—Add the coffee grounds and egg shell and continue to boil for two to three minutes or until the coffee is dark and it smells done (I know this is not scientific; but that’s what the old cowboys used to do).
—Once the coffee is ready, remove the pot from the heat and let it stand for two more minutes. Slowly add the one-half cup of cold water to settle grounds to the bottom. Strain if desired.
Well, if it doesn’t put hair on your chest I don’t know what will!
