S'Mores Cake

Ingredients

1 Pre Baked Angel Food Cake

6 Hershey’s Chocolate Bars

2 pkgs Honey Maid Graham Cracker Squares

½ lrg pkg Jumbo Marshmallows

Instructions

Step One: Tear the Angel Food cake into pieces and place in the bottom of the dutch oven.

Step Two: Break the Honey Maid squares into pieces and cover the cake, mix a few pieces into the cake pieces.

Step Three: Layer on the Hersheys Chocolate Bars (I used about 5 bars, you can use more or less depending on what you like).

Step Four: Cover the top with the Jet Puffed Marshmallows.

Five: Put 10 briquettes on bottom an 14 on top. Cook until the marshmallows are golden brown and toasted. About 8-15 minutes. Check and turn frequently so they don’t burn (about ever 5 min). 

Door Slammer Chicken

• 8 Chicken Breasts, skinned & browned in the Dutch Oven
• 2-8 oz. bottles of Russian Dressing (substitute for Catalina for cranberry chicken)
• 1 bottle (12 oz.) pineapple apricot jam (substitiute with canned cranberries)
• 1 pkg. instant onion soup

Mix sauce and pour mixture over chicken. Bake in oven for 1 1/2 hours. Heat should be 350 degrees, which in a 12" dutch oven is 10-12 briquets underneath and 15-16 on top. Replenish heat from time to time if needed.

Taco Ring

One of my favorite college meals that I adapted for the Dutch Oven. Tasty, easy to add veggies to, and great for packed lunches. Enjoy!

Feeds 2-4 people (I recommend doubling the recipe)

Ingredients

Taco Ring

-1/2 lb ground beef

-1 package crescent rolls

-1/8 Cup Grated Cheddar Cheese

-Taco Seasoning (to taste)

-1 T Water

Add-ons

-Shredded Lettuce

-Diced Tomato

-Olives

-Sour Cream

Instructions

1. Heat 30 coals

2. Brown ground beef in skillet or Dutch Oven lid over 25-30 coals until fully cooked.  Mix in water, taco seasoning, and cheese. Set aside. 

3. Place covered Dutch oven on coals (12 on bottom, 16 on top) to preheat.

4. In a pie tin (or similar pan that fits inside the Dutch Oven), lay out crescent roll dough with about 2 inches of the wide end on the pie tin, small ends pointing out like a sun. Wide ends will overlap by an inch or two. Use a spoon or your fingers to press down the overlapping dough.

5. Spoon 1-2 Tablespoons of meat mixture onto the wide portion of each crescent roll. Fold narrow ends over the meat, and then back towards the outside of the pie tin. It should look like a stuffed crescent roll. You may need to press the free end of the folded crescent roll underneath the stuffed portion and pinch to seal. 

6. Place pie tin on rocks in Dutch Oven so that it is not directly touching the bottom. Cover and let it cook for 25 minutes. Note that you will need to add a few minutes if you check and look before it is done.

7. Once the top of the rolls are golden, remove the pie tin and enjoy with the recommended toppings! The lettuce, olives, and tomato can be placed in the middle of the Taco Ring for a nice presentation.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

 

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• 4 ½ cups whole wheat flour (576 grams)
• ▢1 ½ cups warm water (110-115 degrees F)
• ▢⅓ cup olive oil
• ▢⅓ cup honey
• ▢¼ cup vital wheat gluten optional
• ▢2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and mix in the honey. Let that sit for 5 minutes, or until the mixture gets creamy and a bit bubbly. 
• 2. In a large mixing bowl or bowl fitted for a stand mixer, mix together salt, vital wheat gluten, and 3 cups of flour.
• 3. Add the oil to the water mixture. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the water mixture. 
• 4. Mix by hand with a wooden spoon or on low speed using the stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, until the flour is completely moistened.
• 5. Stir in an additional ¾ cup of flour into the dough mixture. If the dough is still sticky add up to another ¾ cup of flour, adding only ¼ cup at a time, until the dough is not sticky and easily pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
• 6. Turn the stand mixer to medium-low and knead the dough for 5-10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and shiny. Alternatively, to knead the dough by hand, turn the dough out onto floured work surface. Fold the dough over itself and repeat, kneading for 10-15 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
• 7. Place the kneaded dough into a large mixing bowl that has been lightly greased with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size. This should take about 1 hour, depending on ambient temperature.
• 8. Once the dough has doubled, punch dough down and shape in one 2-pound loaf or into two 1-pound loaves. Place the loaf or loaves into a greased loaf pan. Use a 9x5" pan for a 2-pound loaf, and two 8x4" loaf pans for two 1-pound loaves. Place some rocks in the bottom of the Dutch oven to keep the pan out of direct contact with the oven bottom.
• 9. Bake the bread at 350 degrees F (14 coals on top, 10 on bottom for a 12 in oven) for 35-40 minutes for a 2-pound loaf and 25-30 minutes for a 1-pound loaf, or until your bread reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees. This is what the recipe I was using said, but for the 1-pound loaf I used, starting from a cold oven it took about 45 minutes. With the coals on top, put them in a ring around the outside of the lid, not putting many or any in the middle, to help keep from burning the top of the loaf.
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Cashew Chicken

 Ingredients: 

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts

1/4 cup cornstarch  

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1/4 cup soy sauce 

1/2 cup of chicken broth 

3 cloves of garlic 

1 tablespoon brown sugar 

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce 

1 teaspoon sesame oil 

1 cup of unsalted cashews 

salt and pepper 

1. Start by warming up roughly 20 briquettes. 

2. Chop chicken into cubed pieces. Place in a large plastic bag and add salt and pepper to taste. 

2. Add cornstarch and toss until chicken is fully coated. 

3. Distribute all 20 briquettes under your Dutch-oven to ensure even cooking. Pour olive oil into pan and allow to heat (until reaches its smoking point). 

4. Add chicken to pan so it is distributed in a single layer.  Cook until each side of the chicken until golden brown. 

5. In a bowl combine soy sauce, chicken broth, garlic, brown sugar, hoisin sauce, and sesame oil. Whisk until fully combined. 

6. Add cashews and sauce mixture to pan. Simmer until the sauce has thickened. Placing the lid on top of your Dutch-oven for a few minutes may aid in the thickening process. 

7. Serve with rice and vegetables. 

Recipe from: https://therecipecritic.com/cashew-chicken/?fbclid=IwAR1iVBfRVQaaNRhvsG-8qcD8PQW3A9x_EMkH1hwQ6ytyNgwwBHQI2KLe0r0

Chicken Coconut Curry

 (Adapted from JoCooks.com)

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 pounds chicken breasts skinless and boneless, cut into bite size pieces

½ teaspoon salt or to taste

½ teaspoon pepper or to taste

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoon curry powder

1 cup chicken broth low sodium

14 ounce coconut milk (1 can)

14.5 ounce diced tomatoes (1 can)

2 tablespoon tomato paste

2 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Heat 28 briquettes. (I placed them exclusively under the Dutch oven, which seemed to work pretty well.)

Heat the olive oil in Dutch oven. Add the chicken to the Dutch oven and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink. (I cooked it until it was mostly done)

Add the onion, garlic, curry powder and stir. Cook for 2 more minutes (I probably did closer to 5) then add the chicken broth, coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato paste and sugar. Stir everything together, bring to a boil then cover with a lid (If I were to do this again, I wouldn’t cover it, as it turned out quite runny and somewhat bland. If it had time for some of the liquid to boil off, the taste would have been much stronger and it would’ve had a better texture). Simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Garnish with parsley and serve over rice.

Scalloped Potatoes

 This is adapted from a recipe my family grew up eating often as a side for Sunday dinners. It lends itself to handle different herbs, spices and add-ins well, so have fun. I included what I typically mix in as optional ingredients.

Ingredients

4 TBS Butter

4 TBS Flour

1 tsp Sugar

1 1/2 tsp Salt (or to taste)

1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper (or to taste)

2 tsp Onion Flakes

3 cups Milk

6 cups Thinly Sliced Potatoes (think potato chip thin, I enjoy using reds with skins on, but russets also work well)

Spice it up:

2 tsp Dried Rosemary (optional)

1 tsp Dried Oregano (optional)

1 tsp Dried Basil (optional)

1 tsp Paprika (optional)

1 tsp Dried Parsley 

1 TBS Minced Garlic (more or less to your taste, I personally love garlic so I added a bit extra)

1 cup diced ham or cooked bacon bits (optional)

1 1/2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese (grated)

Directions

Melt the butter (add garlic here if desired and let it cook for one or two minutes until fragrant). 

Add flour, sugar, salt, and pepper and stir until smooth. Gradually add in milk. Stir in potatoes and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally (if desired, mix in spices/herbs, half of the cheese, and ham at this point). Cook at 350 for 50-70 minutes (adding the rest of the cheese on top at about the 50 minute mark). I rotated the dutch oven every 15 minutes or so. 

Do NOT stir for the 50-70 minutes, you want the top to brown nicely. It will be very loose at the beginning, but as it cooks the mixture thickens very nicely. If the melted cheese results in too much grease pooling, you can dab it with a paper towel once it has browned. 

 I used 7-8 coals on the bottom and about 24 on top with a deep oven, be ready to place about 15 more on top and 3 or 4 underneath halfway through.