Cauliflower & Onion Casserole

This recipe is modified based on the one found here: https://www.simplystacie.net/cauliflower-bake/

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 cup yellow onions, chopped
• 3 tbsp salted butter
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 large eggs
• 1 ½ cups Bisquick
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Before class:

Cut 1 head of cauliflower into florets. Microwave for 5 minutes in a glass dish with a little bit of water covered in plastic wrap (this helps steam/soften it)

Cut 1 onion and three cloves of garlic. Fair warning, when I made this in class, a lot of people said, "Wow, there is a lot of onion in here." I used a pretty large onion, and it wasn't very strong, so the flavor was fine, but the texture was a bit odd; all that is to say, if you don't want an excessive amount, do 1/4-1/2 onion. 

At class:

Heat up 24 briquettes. 

While you wait for it to heat, mix the eggs, Bisquick, milk, and cheese in a bowl.

When the briquettes are hot, put 10 below the Dutch oven and 14 on the lid. With the lid off, add all the butter, let it melt, and then sauté the onions and garlic. Once the onions look almost done, add the cauliflower to finish softening it. 

When the vegetables are soft, pour the egg mixture over the veggies. 

Bake for ~50 minutes. I needed to start a second batch of briquettes in order to fully cook the dish. 

Lemon Pepper Chicken
With Tomatoes and Potatoes

Ingredients:
Lemon Juice
Lemon Pepper Seasoning

Kiko-man Soy Sauce

Chicken Breast
Tomatoes

Potatoes

Steps:
Cut about 3 chicken breasts fully de-thawed into smaller pieces so they can cook thoroughly. First, butterfly the chicken breasts, then slice into small pieces (think flatter more rectangular dicing).

Marinade (amounts can be tweaked to preferences)
-Cover your cut up chicken breast thoroughly in lemon pepper seasoning.
-Get a good zip-lock bag (think gallon sized, that you aren't worried about leaking) double bag to be safe.
-Put all the chicken in the bag
-1 cup of lemon juice
-A big splash of avacado oil (or olive oil)
-Mix in the bag thoroughly
-Add 1/4 cup of soy sauce

Close both bags securely.
Leave in fridge (for at least 2 hours, however preferably start this the night before or morning of)

Cooking
(for convenience you should partially pre-cook the potatoes, boil 4 or 5 big potatoes to about 80% completion at home (if you can't tell err on the side of cooked more)) 
Cut the potatoes into 4ths or 5ths

Get 4 garden variety tomatoes, dice.

Put a small amount of oil at the bottom of your Dutch oven. And put Dutch oven over the briquets. Mostly drain/empty the marinade leaving only a little of it to go in with the chicken. Put all chicken into Dutch oven.
Close lid.

25min later flip all chicken,
close lid.

10 min later
add tomatoes and potatoes.

10 min later
stir

another 5-10 min the dish is probably done but make sure to use a thermometer or cut up some of the chicken pieces (the largest ones) to check if the chicken is fully finished.

 

Dutch Oven Beignets (2026 winner)

Ingredients (From Scratch)

• 3 cups (415g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1 cup warm whole milk (about 100°F)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 1/2 to 2 quarts vegetable oil (for frying)
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Also make sure to have a bowl that can be used to mix the doughnuts after they are finished

Directions

1. Start the Dough

In a mixing bowl, combine:

• Flour
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar

---

2. Bloom the Yeast

In a separate bowl, mix:

• Warm milk (~100°F)
• Remaining 1 tablespoon sugar
• Yeast

Let sit about 5 minutes until foamy.

---

3. Make the Dough

• Beat the egg into the milk/yeast mixture
• Add to the flour mixture
• Mix until a wet, slightly shaggy dough forms

Add melted butter and mix until incorporated (about 1 minute).

---

4. Knead

• Knead for about 6 minutes
• Dough should be tacky but workable

---

5. Let It Rise

• Shape into a ball
• Place in a greased bowl and cover
• Let rise 1–2 hours, until doubled

---

6. Prep Frying Station

• Heat 1.5–2 quarts oil in a Dutch oven
• Set up:
  • Cooling rack + baking sheet
  • Bowl with sifted powdered sugar
  • Tongs or slotted spoon

---

7. Roll & Cut

• Roll dough to about 10x14 inches, 1/4-inch thick
• Cut into 16 rectangles
• Let rest while oil heats

---

8. Fry

• Heat oil to 325°F (The oil should be hot enought that the dough floats after about 5 seconds in the pot)
• Fry in batches:
  • 1.5–2 minutes per side
  • Until golden brown

---

9. Drain & Coat

• Remove and let drain briefly (~1 minute)
• Toss in powdered sugar while still warm

Shortcut Option 

If you want something faster and more foolproof:

 Use Cafe du Monde beignet mix. It can be bought online through Amazon or at a few grocery stores in the state.

Lasagna

 

Beef Bolognese Sauce

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 brown onions, sliced
• 500g beef mince
• 80g streaky bacon, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 4 button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp porcini powder
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 c beef stock
• 700g jar of passata
• 1/2 c red wine (or cranberry/pomegranate/grape juice)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs thyme / 1 tsp dried thyme

Bechamel Sauce

• 50g unsalted butter
• 1/4 c flour
• 500ml full cream milk
• 100g vintage cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 heaped tablespoon grana padano or reggiano parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• sea salt flakes, to season
• freshly ground black pepper, to season

To Assemble

• 1 pkt lasagne sheets, you’ll need approx 250g
• 100g mozzarella cheese, grated

The Bolognese and bechamel are best made beforehand. Assemble in dutch oven and then cook using 36 briquettes to start, adding on additional at the end to brown the top.

Instructions

Bolognese

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F.
2. In a cast-iron French oven, add the oil to the pan. On a low heat, saute the onion until translucent.
3. Add the bacon and garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
4. Add the minced beef to the pot. Cook on low-med heat until the mince is just cooked.
5. Add to the pot the remaining ingredients. Stir to fully combine and bring to simmer point. Pop the lid on the pot and put it in the preheated oven to slow cook for 2 hours.
6. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Bechamel Sauce

When you have 30 minutes left of cooking time with the Bolognese, start on the bechamel sauce.

1. On low heat, melt the butter in a small saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the flour and stir until it forms a paste. Cook, stirring continuously, on low heat for 5 minutes. We are cooking out the flour to make a base for our sauce.
2. Add 1 cup of milk, continually stirring to allow the milk to incorporate into the flour mixture (or roux). At this stage, change from using your wooden spoon to stir to a whisk. It will make it much easier to get a smooth, creamy sauce.  Gradually add the remaining milk a little at a time, stirring continuously until the mixture resembles a thick, creamy sauce. A bechamel sauce can take a lot of liquid, so don’t be afraid if it looks really runny. Cooking the sauce will cause the sauce to thicken. If it thickens too much, just add a little more milk.
3. Add the grated cheeses and stir through to melt them into the sauce.
4. Season with sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper.

To Assemble

1. Lay the bottom of your Dutch oven with lasagna sheets. If they go up the sides of the pot a little, that’s fine, as long as the base is covered. 
2. Top with roughly half of the Bolognese and spread evenly over the top of the pasta sheets.
3. Add a layer of lasagna sheets.

4. 
   Pour the bechamel sauce evenly over the top of the pasta sheets.

5. Add a layer of lasagna sheets.

6. Top with the remaining Bolognese mixture and gently spread into an even layer.
7. Add a layer of lasagna sheets.

8. Pour the remaining bechamel sauce evenly over the top of the pasta sheets.

9. Top with grated mozzarella.

10. Bake in dutch oven at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Add additional briquettes to the top of your dutch oven for a nice brown top.

11. Leave to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Creamy Chicken and rice

 

This is an easy to make meal that tastes really good and is hard to mess up.

Needed Ingredients:

2lb shredded cooked chicken

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

8oz of cream cheese

2 tbs dry ranch dressing powder

1 tbs Italian dressing powder mix

1 cube of butter

Saute 1/2 onion (optional)

4 cups of cooked rice

Process:

I marinated my chicken before hand in a marinade mix of ranch dressing powder and Italian dressing powder. 

Then I cooked the chicken in my dutch oven, then shredded the chicken. 

Then I sauted onions

Then on low heat I mixed everything (except rice) and let it simmer for 30 minutes. 

After this the meal was ready to be served.

Greek Bread (Horiatiko Psomi)

 

Ingredients

Bread

• 2 ½ tsp Active Dry Yeast

• 1 ½ cups Water (Tepid/Lukewarm)

• 1 tbsp Honey

• 2 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour (plus extra for flouring)

• ½ cup Finely ground Semolina flour

• 2 tsp Salt

• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Add-ins (Optional)

• ½ cup Firm Feta cheese (cut into ¼-inch cubes, kept cold)

• ¼ cup Kalamata olives (pitted, chopped, and blotted completely dry)

• ¼ cup Sun-dried tomatoes (drained, chopped, and blotted completely dry)

Topping/Garnish

• 1 pinch Flaky sea salt

• 1 tsp Dried oregano

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir the yeast, tepid water, and honey. 

2. Add the all-purpose flour, semolina, salt, and olive oil to the yeast mixture. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir until a sticky, shaggy dough forms and no dry flour remains (thicker than cake batter but not a solid ball of dough).

3. Cover the bowl tightly. Place in a warm, draft-free spot and let rise for 3 hours, or until the dough has roughly doubled in size and looks bubbly.

4. Generously flour a work surface and scrape the dough onto it. IF NOT USING ADD-INS: Gently pull the dough into a rough loaf shape. IF USING ADD-INS: Gently pull the dough into a rectangle shape. Sprinkle 3/4 of the dry olives, tomatoes, and cold feta over the surface. Fold the dough into thirds like a letter (bottom to middle, top down). Flatten slightly, add the remaining mix-ins, and fold once more into a round ball. Place the shaped loaf onto a large sheet of parchment paper.

5. Preheat the dutch oven to be about 430°F. For a 12-inch oven, you need 9-10 briquettes on the bottom and 18-19 briquettes on the lid. Preheat the empty dutch oven (with lid on) for 15–20 minutes.

6. Using the parchment paper as a sling, carefully drop the dough into the hot Dutch oven. Sprinkle the dough with flaky salt and oregano. Replace the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Every 10 minutes, rotate the pot to prevent hot spots.

7. After 30 minutes, remove the lid. If the bottom coals look weak/ashy, replace them with 5–8 fresh, glowing briquettes. Continue baking with the lid off for 10–15 minutes until the crust is a deep mahogany brown and the internal temperature reaches 200°F–210°F.

8. Lift the bread out and move it to a cooling rack immediately. Let it rest for at least 30–60 minutes before slicing to allow the internal crumb to set.

Easy Dutch Oven Pizza from Scratch

 Ingredients:

   Dough:

- 2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) active dry yeast

- 1 cup warm water

- 1 tsp sugar

- 1 tsp salt

- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 tbsp olive oil (optional, but I used it and it turned out great)

- extra oil and flour or parchment paper to keep dough from sticking to oven 

 Toppings (whatever you want! Here're the ones I used):

- tomato sauce

- shredded mozzarella

- diced bell pepper

- diced yellow onion

- precooked grilled chicken with garlic

- balsamic glaze

 Instructions:

Beforehand:

- Mix water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit 5-10 mins until foamy

- Add salt and olive oil

- Stir in flour gradually until a soft dough forms. Knead 5-8 minutes until smooth and elastic

- Cover and let rise 45-60 minutes (until doubled)

 Assembly:

-  Preheat dutch oven: 8 coals on bottom, 20 on top. Lid on and wait 10 minutes.

- Lightly oil pan and sprinkle flour on top. OR use parchment paper

- Press dough into a circle slightly smaller than dutch oven

- Pre-bake crust: put just dough in dutch oven for 5-7 minutes

- Remove lid and add toppings 

-  Cover and cook another 10-15 minutes (or until cheese is melted and crust is fully cooked). Rotate orientation of oven and lid every 5 minutes. 

- Remove pizza from coals and slice. Drizzle glaze on top (optional)