First Dutch oven dishes- recommendations

[Bobbie Mayer]

Okay, the campfire/charcoal ban has been lifted, just in time for my camping trip. So my Dutch Oven will get a tryout.

My question: I'm looking for a main dish or side dish and a dessert that are relatively easy for someone new to Dutch oven cooking, but impressive. Ingredients should not be frozen (can't keep them frozen all week.) Any suggestions? It is a 5 quart 10 inch deep Lodge oven.

Bobbie

[carlkeigley]

Here's some recipes from Food Network.
I haven't tried cooking with a Dutch oven yet.

Dutch Oven Recipes : Food Network : Recipes and Cooking : Food Network

Multiple Links:
http://www.google.com/search?q=dutch...hrome&ie=UTF-8

[Bobbie Mayer]

Thanks. I can find lots of recipes, but I'm smart enough to know some have to be more fool-proof than others so I'm looking for tried and true, for beginners. I do know the concepts of how to cook and I have the tools.

[HerseyBA]

When I first started working on a friend's chuck wagon in the 90's doing chuck wagon cooking contests, we won frequently with a simple old fashioned pot roast and vegetables. Start the meat first and simmer for a couple of hours on the back of the fire, add the vegetables, finish cooking, make the gravey and you are done. It cooks while you prepare other things like beans, peach cobbler, and sour dough biscuits. The nice thing about a pot roast is that once you prep the meat and vegetables, the rest is not very labour intensive. When it is finished it looks as though you have worked your buns off.
Good luck with the new DO.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Bobbie Mayer

Okay, the campfire/charcoal ban has been lifted, just in time for my camping trip. So my Dutch Oven will get a tryout.

My question: I'm looking for a main dish or side dish and a dessert that are relatively easy for someone new to Dutch oven cooking, but impressive. Ingredients should not be frozen (can't keep them frozen all week.) Any suggestions? It is a 5 quart 10 inch deep Lodge oven.

Bobbie

Anything you can cook in your oven or crock pot and be done in a dutch oven. I would suggest you start with something you've done in your kitchen. A crock pot stew is an easy place to start.

Another is beans and little smokies. I like to use 3 different kind of beans from cans and maybe add a can of tomatoes. Just dump it all in, coals under and double the number of coals on top, stir every 15 to 20 minutes. Cook for about an hour. You could add coarsely chopped onion, and other veggies to suit.

[theresa p]

bobbie- --i am so glad that you started this thread. i, too, have a new dutch oven that hasn't yet been pressed into action.

i did find another forum, camp-cook.com, that has alot of friendly folk who regularly cook using multiple ovens.
good luck and keep us posted, as i will cook vicariously thru your experiences til i have my own!!

[Bobbie Mayer]

I found a recipe for sausage and beans and little smokies would make an easy way to do that. Plus I love them. I like the idea of a few kinds of beans, too. I'm going to do cornbread (have to try baking) and cinnamon rolls, and then I found a green beans and potatos recipe that sounded good. Pot roast sounds great but in warmer weather like this I don't want to have a fire going for that long.

[Marg]

Peach cobbler: 1 cake mix, I use spice, 1 can peaches, drained (use juice in cake mix), line Dutch oven with aluminum foil, pour in drained peaches, pour in cake mix. Put on lid. Put Dutch oven on about 8 red hot briquets, place 6-8 red hot briquets on lid. Bake for about 30 minutes. After about 10 minutes, look inside very quickly, will give you a good idea about how much longer to cook. Yum, Yum!!!!!!!!!! Marg in NW California

[ShawnKK]

Bobbie, you have to do the Mountain Man Breakfast. I chop my taters up and use the Food Saver on them so less work when your ready to cook. Matter of fact, most of what I put in there is already done like bacon, onions, peppers ect all in the FS bag. I use the Dutch Oven at home all the time on weekends. I only cook on cast iron.

[Bobbie Mayer]

What is the mountain man breakfast? (Sounds familiar; maybe it was in the Lodge book.)

I just did my shopping but still need one thing I forgot at one store, second store didn't have.

[ShawnKK]

MMB is everything one would want for breakfast.

Dutch oven Mountain Man Breakfast - Part 1 - YouTube

[ShawnKK]

One other thing. I started using cotton balls I keep in a pint mason jar soaked in alcohol. I don't use the charcoal fluid no more. And it is cheaper. Just use 2 to 3 cotton balls. Don't forget the hard coal. They last longer and you can re use them.

[Bobbie Mayer]

I use a chimney starter. No lighter fluid needed, just a bit of newspaper.

[ShawnKK]

If you really want to be the talk of the camp grounds get a Kamado Kooker (Green Egg) and do a pork shoulder. Low and slow will take about 15 hours to cook but you will know everybody at the camp grounds. I do not have the mini one (cooker) but waiting on a good deal. Seems the price has went up since I bought the big one for the house.
Little Red Kamado Grill at Menards

[Byron Kinnaman]

There's my special breakfast...
Starts with Italian spicy ground sausage.
Add a couple packages of pork gravy mix.
Then a nice layer of grated cheese.
Top that with either eggbeaters or whipped eggs.
A few biscuits from the tube.
Cook until the eggs are done
Serve all that under each biscuit.

No lunch will be needed.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Originally Posted by ShawnKK

If you really want to be the talk of the camp grounds get a Kamado Kooker (Green Egg) and do a pork shoulder. Low and slow will take about 15 hours to cook but you will know everybody at the camp grounds. I do not have the mini one (cooker) but waiting on a good deal. Seems the price has went up since I bought the big one for the house.
Little Red Kamado Grill at Menards

I have friends who have one of those and love it. I'm not big on outdoor cooking when I'm not camping. (And no thanks to pork shoulder.) Though the little one might be fun to have around someday.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

There's my special breakfast...
Starts with Italian spicy ground sausage.
Add a couple packages of pork gravy mix.
Then a nice layer of grated cheese.
Top that with either eggbeaters or whipped eggs.
A few biscuits from the tube.
Cook until the eggs are done
Serve all that under each biscuit.

No lunch will be needed.

Does the cardiologist join you for breakfast, or come by later? (Or are the eggbeaters enough to ward him off?)

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Bobbie Mayer

Does the cardiologist join you for breakfast, or come by later? (Or are the eggbeaters enough to ward him off?)

That's a once every 5 years meal. Like I said no lunch needed.

[Donna D.]

Do a Google search here on FiberglassRV for anything DO shared by "Lori Sanders" She's the (award winning) Queen of DO cooking (and Mike) at All Molded Towable gatherings

I've felt honored to join in several workshops that Lori and Mike have given at egg gatherings...

Also, Linda Renk offered this.. cool beans!

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...hop-39000.html

[Otters]

Originally Posted by Marg

Peach cobbler: 1 cake mix, I use spice, 1 can peaches, drained (use juice in cake mix), line Dutch oven with aluminum foil, pour in drained peaches, pour in cake mix. Put on lid. Put Dutch oven on about 8 red hot briquets, place 6-8 red hot briquets on lid. Bake for about 30 minutes. After about 10 minutes, look inside very quickly, will give you a good idea about how much longer to cook. Yum, Yum!!!!!!!!!! Marg in NW California

I use basically the same recipe for pineapple upside-down cake. But use white, yellow or angel food cake mix and mix with large can of crushed pineapple with the jusice. Then put stick of butter and 1/4-1/2 c brown sugar (depending on how sweet you like it and the size of your DO) in the bottom of the DO; after it carmalizes a bit, put a small can of sliced pineapple over the brown sugar, add the cake batter and cook for about 30-40 min. I like to use a large zip log bag to mix the batter. Saves cleaning a bowl. Also line the DO with foil for an easy clean up.