Cook-off Winner Caramel Bread Pudding

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup white sugar

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup heavy cream

1 3/4 cup coffee creamer (flavor of choice, I've done caramel and sweet cream and both were super good)

1 stick melted butter

1 loaf (about 1 1/4 lbs) challah bread (cut into 1 inch cubes and left out overnight so it is slightly stale)

1/2 cup caramel sauce, listed below (the rest is to be as the topping)

Caramel Sauce:

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter

1 cup maple syrup

1 1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions

To make caramel sauce: Combine white sugar, brown sugar, butter, and syrup in a pot and cook over medium heat until all Ingredients liquify. Remove from heat and add the cream. Be careful as the sauce gets very hot. (I did this all at home and brought the finished sauce with me to simply the process at the campsite, especially because it doesn't need to be hot to serve.)

To make the pudding/cream mixture: combine the sugar, eggs, heavy cream, coffee creamer, and melted butter in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the bread and fold to saturate and combine. Pour mixture and bread into a greased dutch oven and evenly spread/make sure the bread is mostly saturated.

Pour 1/2 cup of prepared caramel sauce over the bread and cream mixture and bake at 350 for 1 hour, rotating as normal every 15 minutes.

Serve hot with more caramel sauce to drizzle on top and any other desired toppings!

Cinnamon Rolls

 Cinnamon Rolls

Dough Ingredients: 

- 2 1/2 cups of flour                                        - 3/4 cup of milk

- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar                    - 4 tablespoons of butter

- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon                               - 1 egg

- 1 packet of instant yeast                               - 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Filling Ingredients: 

- 4 tablespoons of softened butter                - 1 tablespoon of cinnamon 

- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar                      -  1 teaspoon of nutmeg

Frosting Ingredients: 

- 4 ounces of cream cheese                         - 1 to 2 1/2 cup of powdered sugar

- 1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions: 

1. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt into mixing bowl. Add the milk and butter into a smaller bowl to be warmed in the microwave until butter is melted. Add the milk and butter to the dry ingredients along with the egg. Mix ingredients on medium-low until the dough is smooth. Let dough rest while you make the filling. 

2. Combine sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon into a bowl together. Soften butter for filling so that it can spread easily. 

3. Roll the dough out into a rectangle approximately 12'' by 8.'' Spread filling butter across the dough evenly. Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mix onto the dough. Roll the dough from the long sides of rectangle and cut into evenly sized rolls. Place into dutch oven (evenly spaced) and bake for 45 minutes. 

4. To make the frosting mix together all ingredients until the right consistency is achieved and distribute on the rolls after they have cooled. 

Beef Chili

 Beef Chili 

Directions: 

1. Cook beef in your dutch oven until the meat is no longer pink (about 5-7 minutes). Drain excess fluid. 

2. Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for about 45 minutes while stirring occasionally. 

Ingredients: 

- 3 pounds of ground beef                                                    - 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

- 2 cans of diced tomatoes                                                     - 5 fresh banana peppers, seeded and sliced

- 3 cans of black beans                                                         - 2 tablespoons chili powder

- 2 large onions (diced)                                                        - 2 teaspoons ground mustard

- 2 cans of tomato sauce                                                        - 1 teaspoon dried oregano, thyme, and sage

- 2/3 cup of hickory-flavored barbecue sauce                        - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

- 1-1/2 cups of water                                                             - 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

- 2 garlic cloves, minced

Jalapeño Poppers

 Ingredients: 

7 jalapeños 

8 oz cream cheese 

1lb bacon 

Directions: 

1. Cut the tops off the jalapeños and then slice them lengthwise and remove seeds 

2. Fill with cream cheese

3. Slice bacon in half, and then wrap half strips around the cream cheese filled jalapeños 

4. Prepare about 30 briquettes 

5. Place 12-14 underneath and the remaining on the lid 

6. Rotate dutch oven ever 15 min, and let the jalapeños cook for approximately 40 min until bacon is crispy 

Tortellini Tomato Spinach Soup

 Ingredients: 

1T olive oil 

1/2 cup minced onion 

1 garlic clove (minced) 

4-6 cups chicken broth 

1 (14 oz) can whole tomatoes (coarsely chopped)

1 (9oz) pkg fresh tortellini

salt and pepper to taste 

10 oz fresh or frozen spinach (chopped)

Directions: 

1. Prepare about 30 briquettes and place the majority underneath the dutch oven with some additional ones on top

2. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat 

3. Saute the onion and garlic, stirring often until onions are translucent, about 5-8 minutes 

4. Add broth and tomatoes, cover the dutch oven, and bring to a boil 

5. Add the tortellini and cook according to package instructions 

6. When tortellini is almost done, add spinach and salt and pepper

7. Serve immediately and garnish with Parmesan 

Korean BBQ Fried Rice (Kalbi Bokkeumbap)

 Ingredients:

- boneless beef short ribs

- KBBQ marinade sauce (at any Asian market)

- green onions

- sesame seeds

- cooked rice

Instructions:

- marinate rib meat for half a day in marinade

- cook marinated meat with 40 briskets, covering top and bottom

- add rice in when meat is fully cooked

- stir

- garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds

Nikuman

Japanese steamed pork buns

Ingredients

For the dough

• ▢10.6 oz all-purpose flour (plain flour) (plus more for dusting; 300 g (10.6 oz) is ROUGHLY 2 ⅓ cups)
• ▢2 scant Tbsp sugar ("scant” 2 Tbsp means “just barely” 2 Tbsp. 2 Tbsp granulated sugar is 25 grams but we only need 20 grams)
• ▢½ tsp kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
• ▢1 tsp baking powder
• ▢1 tsp instant yeast
  
• ▢1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, rice bran, canola, etc.)
• ▢160-170 ml water (start with 160 ml of water and add more if needed; depending on the weather, you might need more or less)

For the filling

• ▢2 dried shiitake mushrooms
• ▢½ cup water
• ▢1 green onion/scallion
• ▢6.3 oz cabbage (4 leaves)
• ▢1 tsp kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
• ▢¾ lb ground pork
• ▢1 knob ginger (Roughly 1" or 2.5 cm or 15 g)
• ▢1 tsp sugar
• ▢1 Tbsp sake
• ▢1 Tbsp soy sauce
• ▢1 Tbsp roasted sesame oil
• ▢1 Tbsp potato starch or cornstarch
• ▢freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Gather all the ingredients.
• Put 10.6 oz flour, scant 2 Tbsp sugar, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp instant dry yeast, and 1 Tbsp oil in a large bowl. While mixing the mixture with chopsticks or a wooden spoon, slowly pour 160-170 ml water into the mixture and mix until incorporated.
• Lightly dust your hand with flour to keep the dough from sticking too much. Use your hand to knead the dough, pressing it down and reshaping it. Form it into a ball.
• Sprinkle the working surface with flour. Transfer the dough onto the surface and start kneading. This is how I knead. First, press the top half of the dough, pushing forward slightly. Then pull it back and fold it in half and press it forward again with the heel of your hand twice. Then turn the dough slightly and repeat this process for 10-15 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth and silky. Sprinkle the dough with a little bit of flour at a time to help decrease the stickiness.
• Form the dough into a smooth, round shape, gently tucking loose ends underneath. Coat the bottom of the bowl with oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about 30-60 minutes.
• While you’re waiting for the dough to rise, make the filling. First, soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in ½ cup water. Place something heavy on top so the whole shiitake will be submerged. Set aside for 10-15 minutes.
• Thinly slice the scallion. Remove the tough core of the cabbage and chop into 1” (2.5 cm) pieces.
• Sprinkle the chopped cabbage with 1 tsp salt to draw out excess water.
• Once shiitake mushrooms are hydrated, squeeze the liquid out, cut off the tough stem, and mince the mushroom tops.
• In a large bowl, combine ground pork, scallion, and shiitake mushrooms. Squeeze the excess water out from the cabbage with your hands and add it into the bowl.
• Grate ginger and add all the seasonings (1 tsp sugar, 1 Tbsp sake, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp potato/corn starch, and freshly ground black pepper).
• Knead the mixture well until it is well combined and looks pale and sticky. Set aside (or cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge) until the dough is ready.
• Once the dough has doubled in size, dust the working surface with flour and divide the dough in half and then roll each piece of dough into a log. Cut each log into 5 even pieces and then cut each piece in half. You can divide into fewer pieces of dough to make bigger buns. It's also easier to work with smaller dough to make nice pleats when you wrap because it's hard to hold a big dough and filling in one hand. Form each piece of dough into a ball and dust the dough balls with flour to avoid sticking to each other. Space each ball apart and cover loosely with a damp kitchen cloth to avoid drying out. Let them rest for 10 minutes.
• Take a ball of dough and flatten it with your palm. Then roll it with a rolling pin into a round sheet. Here’s how I roll the dough. Hold the top of the dough with the left hand and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough with the right hand. You only need to roll up and down on the bottom half of the dough. After rolling 1-2 times, rotate the dough about 30 degrees with the left hand. Repeat this process until the dough becomes thin. The center of dough should be thicker than the edge.
• Scoop 1 ½ Tbsp of filling and place in the center of the dough.
• Hold the dough with the left hand and seal the bun using the right index finger and thumb. First, pick up a corner of the dough with your right index finger and thumb and pinch together (left picture). Without moving your thumb, use your right index finger to pick up the dough and pinch it with your thumb while rotating the dough clockwise with your left hand (right picture).
• Repeat this process about 10-12 times (= 10-12 pleats) until you seal the last part of the dough by pinching it tightly. Here are some tips: your left thumb should hold down the filling and use your left fingers to turn around the wrapper. Use your left index finger to help to pleat. Also, lift up the pinched pleats slightly while you make the new pleat so the filling stays inside the dough.
• Once you finish sealing the last part of the dough, twist the pleats further with your right index finger and thumb to maintain a tight seal. If you’re left-handed, reverse the directions.
• Easy Alternative Option: Wrap the filling by bringing the dough up around the meat to the top, forming little pleats with the excess dough, then slightly twisting the dough to close it and pinching it firmly to join the edges.
• Place the bun on a piece of parchment paper that fits the bun (for small size, 3” x 3”). Cover the finished buns with plastic wrap and repeat this process with the rest of the dough. Let the buns rest for 20 minutes.
• Fill the bottom of the Dutch Oven with water with some kind of elevated platform above the surface of the water. I used rocks and a simple baking grate. 
• Prepare 18-24 coals and place them all underneath the Dutch Oven and bring the water to a boil. Place the Nikuman on the elevated surface in the steam. Let cook for 10-15 minutes depending on size.