Cinnamon Buns

Butterflied Chicken

And Scotch Eggs!

I’ve been attempting to ruin this camp oven for about three months now.  I just left it outside on the patio not dried well when I put it up. It has been rained and rained on. Finally enough moisture got inside to cause some flash rust. This was the oven that was raw cast that I seasoned in an earlier blog post this spring.

It was kind of messy but certainly not as messy as some of my friends ovens I’ve worked over. I added a little conditioner and let it sit for a few minutes and then I just started wiping it down turning the cloth to a new spot every time. Eventually the rust was removed. That took maybe five minutes total.

The marshmallow dessert I did in a previous blog was cooked in this oven. Tasted great. I left some rusting on the outside after I had rinsed my charcoal dust off. When it gets good and orange I’m going to show you the alfalfa pellet clean up method that Colleen Sloane taught me.

Get out and cook!

GP

I bought some crescent dough, chocolate chips, marshmallows and Reese’s baking pieces. I laid out the dough and then patted evenly the chocolate chips and Reese’s into the dough.

I then placed a large marshmallow on it and rolled it up.

I placed them in a Deluxe Camp Chef ten inch oven.

I put 8 coals in a circle around the outside edges. Then 14 on top. After thirty minutes I removed the oven from the bottom coals.

In 45 minutes I took off all but three of the remaining coals from the top. Those I left to keep it warm. And well, what I got was a pretty good product.

I did try a bite with a scoop of ice cream and that really took it over the top!

GP

Like many things my parents prepared, I over looked getting the recipe. So I had to figure it out. And in the fashion of our family cooking…..I didn’t write down the exact measurement of ingredients as I figured it out. And I failed the first time when the noodles broke up to resemble pop corn shrimp. But the taste was there. I just didn’t have them quite thick enough and didn’t drop them into a boil.

In an earlier blog “In Search of Noodles” I promised the recipe, so here you go as close as I can recall how I do it. Really, I just kind of feel my way through it and that is some of the fun.

I boiled/simmered the wild Turkey legs for 6 hours in a heavy cast iron pot until the meat fell off the bone.

You can see the thin white tendons piles with the leg bones. They are abundant and the bird knows how to use all of them in his mobility. I think they could outrun a good saddle horse. I know they can out walk me.

The stock is very clear and void of any fat.

I used 8 eggs for one batch and a cup of egg substitute for the low fat batch.
Approximately one cup of 1% milk (any milk will do just watching the fat grams for me), approximately two cups of flour, and one tablespoon of baking powder. I mix moisture and flour until I have a consistency of sticky not quite bread dough. If I scoop it with a big spoon it needs the help of another spoon to drop it into the boiling stock. While it resembles a dumpling to many observers, it really is more of a noodle consistency.

In the stock I boil for thirty minutes, one onion diced and four stalks of celery. I leave out the salt and allow folks to season how they wish when the noodles are finished. I like sprinkling Creole seasoning on mine.

In the boiling stock I drop the “tablespoon gobs” of noodles and let them cook for about thirty minutes on a simmer, stirring once about half way through.

The verdict: Well they don’t last long and it takes about two to fill you up. Some folks liked the real egg version better. I can’t tell the difference. This can be built with the poultry of your choice.

While summer has been late coming and we made them in the cool spring. You’ll really appreciate them on a cold winter day.

Good Cooking,

GP

Here are a few pictures from the gathering.  To see more, click here to go to our Facebook page.

After the dishes were judged the youth teams went out and sold their fair to the hungry folks and neighboring high school that showed up for lunch.

Then it was into the auditorium for the announcement of winners.

And now the much anticipated COSTUME AWARD. While their Koopa Subs- Italian Meatball Sandwich, Sourdough Rolls, The Super Mushrooms and  PRINCESS Peach Shortcake missed out by a couple of points……..how do you loose completely when a Gorilla and guy in a pink dress show up with the vittles?

Complete Dutch: (scored high points in all areas of the contest)

Team 65- Kalua Pork, Hawaiian Sticky Rice, Island Brownies, and Pacific Cool Breeze Sherbet and yes…they did the ice cream in a Dutch oven. (Sorry didn’t get a photo)

Best Dessert:  Team 67- Pina Colada Cake

Pina Colada Cake
12 Inch Dutch oven

Cake
3 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 ¾ oz box vanilla instant pudding
1 Tbs. baking powder
2 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup + 2 Tbs. butter; softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp. grated orange zest
2 2/3 cup sugar
5 egg yolks; room temperature
1 ¼ cup pineapple juice
1 ¼ cup water
8 egg whites; room temperature
½ tsp. cream of tartar

Glaze
½ cup pineapple juice
½ cup coconut milk
½ cup Captain Morgan’s spiced dark rum
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting
8 oz cream cheese; softened
½ cup butter; softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¾ tsp. coconut extract
2 16 oz. boxes powdered sugar
2 Tbs. Captain Morgan’s spiced dark rum
½ cup crushed pineapple; well drained
12 oz. flaked coconut

Prepare cake batter:  Sift together flour; pudding, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a large mixing bowl beat butter, vanilla, and orange zest until soft.  Gradually mix in 2 cups sugar until light.  Beat in egg yolks one at a time.  Combine pineapple juice and water in a measuring cup.  Alternately mix dry and wet ingredients into the butter and egg yolk mixture starting and ending with dry ingredients.  DO NOT overbeat the batter.  In a separate bowl whip egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.  Gradually mix in the remaining 2/3 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff but not dry.  Gently fold egg whites into batter one at a time.  Batter will be thick.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 12” Dutch oven.  Pour batter into Dutch oven and spread evenly to sides.  Bake using 10-12 coals bottom and 14-16 coals top until lightly golden and top spring back when touched, about 90 minutes.  For best results rotate oven and lid 90 degrees in opposite directions ever 15 minutes while baking.  Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes.  Invert cake onto a rack and finish cooling.  Cut cake in half horizontally.  Separate halves.  Place in icebox until chilled.

Prepare Glaze:  Bring pineapple juice, coconut milk, run, and powdered sugar to boil over medium to high heat stirring constantly.  Reduce heat and continue to simmer for 10 minutes stirring constantly until mixture thickens slightly.  Be careful not to burn!  Remove from heat.  Stir in vanilla.

Prepare frosting:  In a large bowl cream together cream cheese, butter, vanilla, coconut extract, and rum.  Slowly mix in powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.  Transfer 1 cup frosting to another bowl and stir in pineapple. 

Assemble cake:  Brush all of the glaze over the cut sides of both halves of cake.  Set one cake layer on a place cut side face up.  Spread with pineapple frosting.  Top with second layer, cut side down.  Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting.  Press coconut into frosting on top and sides of cake.  Return to icebox and chill for 1 hour.  Garnish with whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

And the winners are……Tune in tomorrow for the recipes!

Everybody sing…If not for the courage of the heat building crew….the event might be lost….the event might be lost. (Dates you if you can remember that song wreck)

Many a prayer was said that day while preparing the dishes.

Others looked for inspiration from technology, I guess!

But mostly a whole lot of cooking going on.

Many of you own one but I have found that many folks purchased it and then got intimidated by it and didn’t use it or, they had some pilot error and didn’t pursue it any longer. That is kind of sad because it truly is an easy thing to use.

The history of this oven begins with Dent Sorenson of Salina, Utah. Dents wife had become unable to eat oily foods. As a school teacher who during the summers rode for the cattle association, this put a kink in Dent’s family weekend Dutch oven gatherings. Other than give up the tradition, it sent Dent to thinking, how to cook with no oil? His first Ultimate was cut and welded from a tire rim. Dent was finding it difficult to find a foundry that could cast this piece. When he finally found one the price was pretty high at retail and they demonstrated it and sold a few. Camp Chef bumped into Dent at a Sports Show cooking away on our Pro Series stove with the Ultimate Dutch Oven. We were able to help Dent get it manufactured for a price that worked in the consumer’s retail price range.  Dents kids continue to work consumer shows showing how the thing works, and many of our dealers carry the item.

Let me use photos to show you how easy this is to use. At a later date I will use it with the Enhancement Pack.

This chicken breast and veggie meal can be done in an hour. I pushed it a bit because I promised to feed the support crew before they had to help in shipping. Time is just a matter of applied heat. I am answering a question that we often get as well. “Can I use this on my stove top”? I wouldn’t use it on a glass top range for fear of the legs scratching it but that is just me.

This recipe will have only the fat in it that comes from a little spray down of the top rack to help with the clean up of the rack. That isn’t even necessary, again, just me.

I used:

Three large Chicken breast halves
One small bag baby red potatoes
Two cups of baby carrots
Cup of whole mushrooms
Two small zucchinis- slice ½ inch thick
One head of Broccoli
Log Cabin Grub seasoning
Sweet Baby Ray’s Raspberry Chipotle BBQ sauce
1 cup Cranberry juice

Sprinkle Log Cabin Seasoning on cold chicken breast and let stand for 20 minutes.
Place Ultimate Dutch Oven (UDO) over burner and turn burner to medium-high (8 on this electric stove)

You can see I’m adding about a cup of juice.

I have removed the bottom rack of the UDO for this cook.  Add potatoes and carrots, cover pot with lid and let it cook for 20 minutes.

At 20 minutes add- broccoli, mushrooms and zucchini. Add top rack and spray with a little non stick vegetable spray then place on the chicken breasts seasoned side up. Replace lid.

Cook for twenty more minutes and then check the chicken with a thermometer, mine read 130 degree F.

Add the broccoli, replace and cook ten more minutes. Check temp in breast. Mine read 165….done! 

Add BBQ sauce to the chicken and the broccoli. Allow to sit three minutes. Then cut breasts in half. Serves six.

What is that smell? What are those black flakes? I’m brave enough to try this cooking in one this year, do I need to season it? 

Lets take this one at a time:

Smell- This rancid smell is usually caused from the use of to much and the wrong kind of oils used after cleaning your oven. Corn oil is notorious for going off. Sealing the lid of your oven and the temperature swings help this process along. Solution- leave the lid cracked, heat your oven after oiling it and put your ovens away dry.

Flakes-The black flakes are usually burnt food that didn’t get cleaned out very well and while the oils in it burnt, it didn’t adhere into the pores of the oven. So as the iron heaved with the temperatures it became loose and you have flakes.

Seasoned? – The majority of the ovens you purchase today will be seasoned and ready to use. Knowing if it is seasoned is the trick. Maybe you have an oven you have had for years and have not used. Chances are it is not seasoned. A way to know is that it will have a silver appearance and feel tacky. If you start to warm it you will see a liquid run, that is wax. All the wax needs to be removed. I wipe what I can off and then heat it slowly until all the smoking stops and it looks gray. The following photos explain the above issues.

Here is an oven I found laying around that was waxed and I am burning the wax off.

You can see the dry silvery color.

Doing the same to the well of the oven

Seasoned the lid using conditioner see the difference?

One wipe across the well with a rag of conditioner and it starts the seasoning process.

Now seasoned oven sitting on the Black Sports Grill lid, similar colors. As oil heats it carbonizes too much heat and you can burn it clean and gray again. Some real dirty ovens may need to be burn out. I have had to use an electric drill and wire brush to chip the old burnt food from several ovens I’ve repaired for folks.

Here is a bad oven that someone left dirty for a few months. I’ve seen worse.

A little conditioner and heat and the flakes start to pop up and off with a wipe.

A little elbow grease is all it took to remove these flakes

Charcoal dust on the lid a little brushing with a paint brush, rinse, dry and then add some conditioner and it looks like new.

Hope this helps.
Good cooking,
GP

What you need:

Two white cake mixes
Two bags of frozen fruit mixes
One bottle of orange soda
One cube of butter
Non-stick spray or oil
One packet instant brown sugar cinnamon oatmeal
One twelve inch Camp Chef Dutch Oven
( It won’t taste as good out of any other oven… really.)

I like to spray the inside of my oven, wipe the excess out, then coat the inside ¾ of the way up the sides of the well with cake mix by adding some to the bottom if the oven and tipping and shaking the oven.

“Dump” in fruit, spread and add one half of one of the cake mixes.

Spread evenly and pour one half the bottle of soda and using a fork slightly mix the soda and cake mix by raking back and forth through the cake mix.

Sprinkle evenly the packet of oatmeal .Add the other box of cake mix, and the rest of the soda and repeat the raking process.

Usually I add the cube of butter cut into pats laid on top of the mixture. I screwed up at the store and forgot even the Country Crock I now use. So I went without it and it was fine, and my heart liked it better.

It was windy and I used 8 coals on the bottom of the oven place down inside a 50 gallon barrel fire pit we had cut on edge. On top I did a solid ring of charcoal around the edge of the lid which if I recall was 22 because of the wind. I rotated the oven once and the lid once at 20 minutes. At 45 minutes it was finished.

It really gets odd looks with the orange color yelling out at you against the black pot. Good luck and have fun.

GP