The first thing that pops into my mind when I think of Dutch oven cooking is a camping trip and campfire cooking. Camping meal ideas from past memories used to be primarily burgers, hot dogs or steaks, a pot of beans and maybe some foil wrapped potatoes baking in the campfire. Other campfire memories of meals include stone soup, chili, and stew. There’s no question that a Dutch oven works great for many of the above. When we limit ourselves to those choices though, we are missing out on some real flavor treats. When we think of it as more than a pot, but actually an oven, we open a…
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“Breakfast, it’s the most important meal of the morning!”
Growing up, we always heard about how breakfast was the most important meal of the day and so often we would hear about the importance of a big hearty breakfast. Sometimes when I joke around, I refer to breakfast as the most important meal of the morning. Mom always made sure we had something on our plates before we headed off to school in the mornings. A favorite of mine as I recall was cheese toast, which was nothing more than an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich. After moving out of the house and being responsible for my own breakfast, things changed. The reality in my world today is that breakfast…
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Who’s obsessed with Chocolate Cobbler? I’m not obsessed!
Who’s obsessed with chocolate cobbler? I’m not obsessed! I know, admitting the problem is the first step to overcoming it. I’m not sure I want to overcome my affection for chocolate. Recently, I saw a post on a friend’s Facebook feed that was a memory she was sharing from six years previous. That memory happened to be a recipe for chocolate cobbler. Her post indicated she was ready for some and I responded that there would be some coming to a campfire soon. My thought at the time was to test it and if it worked, take it along to an upcoming camping trip that we might both be attending.…
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Chile, chilli, or chili?
Do you want to start an argument about chili? Is it “chili”, “chile”, or “chilli”? Are we talking about a country, a type of pepper, a seasoning, or a dish? There’s all kinds of camps that will jump at the chance to argue about chile, chilli or chili. I’m not talking about the South American country, that’s a whole other definition and word origin. When we’re on food, first there’s a question about the proper spelling of the word and whether it relates to a meaty, delicious, sometimes burn your mouth, food item also called chili con carne by some. Or, are we talking about the pepper or a particular…
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Fruit, eggs, batter and more; must be healthy…
When cooking for our own enjoyment and for that of others, to me, first and foremost, the mission is to fix something that tastes great. Since first impressions make a difference, it’s nice if what we prepare looks good too. A well made, Pineapple Upside-down Cake can meet both of those goals. Years ago my only experience with Pineapple upside-down cake had been what I had grabbed while in a cafeteria line where I ended up with what I remember as a dry white square piece of cake with a slice of pineapple on top and a cherry. It was not all that great. No, it wasn’t even a little…
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Minimalist? Nah.
Have you ever played with a puppy with a squeaky toy or some sort of a throw toy? They get all excited about those things. While playing, have you ever taken a second toy in your other hand and held a hand on either side of the dog’s head? (I know that’s teasing it, don’t judge me, I’m just painting a word picture.) What happens then, in my experience, is that the pup can’t decide which way to go and all it does is shake its head back and forth. It’s kind of funny to watch but from the dog’s perspective it’s got to be frustrating. Instead of enjoying the…
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Melt in your mouth and mess up your hands…
Every time ribs are on sale, I buy a slab or two and frequently, some go straight to the freezer. With an upcoming project, freezer space is at a premium so time to make some room. My basic pattern for rib cooking is to use a dry rub of seasonings, place the ribs on a bed of sliced onions, then put the dutch oven on a ring of coals with another ring on the lid. The best way for tender results of most meats is cooking slowly over time. While they will be fully cooked in an hour or less, longer in this case equals more tender. I’ve found that…
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Creamy Pizza Rice
Recently, when shopping at Sam’s, the marketing efforts of Royal Basmati Rice paid off as the bright ink on the burlap bag caught my eye and somehow a 20 lb bag of rice that was not on my shopping list ended up in my cart. That afternoon I made a Creamy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole that will find its way into a future post. The next week, I decided to put together a Pizza Rice Casserole that is the subject of this post. Realizing that I had more rice than recipes, I posted a request on my personal Facebook page for suggestions. A number of folks responded so over…
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Challenge accepted! (Apple Dumpling Edition)
In a group we are both in, Lora, a camping friend of ours, posted the following: “I know someone said something about apple something…. Now I can’t find the post. Anyway here is my favorite apple recipe, maybe Uncle Mike can figure out how to do it in a Dutch oven. It is soo good!” What followed was a link to Genius Kitchen’s recipe for Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings. The instructions there are simple and the results delicious. The challenge was adapting this to a Dutch Oven and from the looks of the recipe and accompanying comments, it would be worth the effort. So, challenge accepted! Here’s our take on…
