Getting Back in the Saddle

I've been away for quite some time and I'm trying to get back in the sadle but it will be a slow go and I'll intentionally take it slow in the process. I'll not detail what's been going on suffice it to say I've had to adjust my activities and the degree to which I have been exerting effort in participating in varois activities.

So, let me get started by picking up where I left off with another recipe from my Gramdfather's cookbook. The recipe in the notebook is tittled Butter Scotch Pie. Here's the recipe as he penciled it in his notebook just in case the image I included is a bit blurry:
2C brown sugar
1/4 C butter - 1 C sweet milk, 2 beaten eggs, 2 tblsp flour

     Boil milk sugar and butter till thick. Remove from fire & add flour stirred in cold milk & eggs. Cook until thick. Pour in two baked crusts.

So, a couple of things I'd like to point out that runs through many of the recipes is that there are terms used back in the day and, in many cases, the instructions appear to be incomplete. The lack of additional instructions I attribute to the fact that my Grandfather didn't need to take further notes. Remember, this was his notebook. He wasn't necessarily sharing it with anyone although I'm certain he did on occasion. He had committed to memory what needed to happen next and didn't need to take more notes. This is one of the challenges for me to figure out.

As far as terminology goes you'll note the reference to "sweet milk". That's what regular whole milk was called back then and differentiated it from buttermilk. I have seen him also make references to sweet cream in other recipes. Sweet cream is fresh cream, what we might call just cream or whipping cream. Now, in discussions with family and other cooks who have memories from their childhood tell me that cooks often used what was available because the just couldn't hop in the car and run down to a supermarket. When a recipe called for sweet cream and fresh cream wasn't available they might have substituted it with sour cream.

I need to talk about my grandfather's reference to "fire". I have found in many of my Grandfather's recipes  heat control was not described in degrees, but in terms of low, medium, and high ovens. This is because well into the late '50's he and my Grandmother cooked on a wood burning stove in their farm house kitchen.

So, stay tuned. I'm going to test this in the kitchen first then I'll try it outside in the black pot.

My Grandfathers Bannock Recipe

I was browsing through my Grandfather's cookbook last night and came across a recipe for a bread I had no experience with. So, I figured a little homework was in order. Now, for our friends in Canada this will probably be old news because, as I understand it, Bannock has been is a well known recipe for quite some time.

After a little Internet work and perusing a couple old cookbooks here's what I came up with. First, based on the info from the Internet it was clear that this is an excellent bread for the campsite and can be done in a Dutch oven (It's a bread recipe so, Duh! of course it can be done in a DO) or prepared and cooked in a cast iron skillet over an open camp fire. Since this is my first attempt at this recipe I tried it in my indoor kitchen first.

The following is from an old cookbook I have, Flatbreads & Flavors, A baker's Atlas, Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid, 1995, William Morrow and Company, New York.
"The original Bannock was a Scottish bread baked on a griddle and made from oatmeal, barley, or wheat. It probably came to North America, with the Hudson's Bay Company, as the company was the first to introduce wheat flour to the Northern parts of Canada. As flour sold by the company's trading posts gradually became a part of the local diet, so to did Bannock, but in a form not necessarily resembling it's plain Scottish ancestor (Scottish Oatcakes, similar but with slightly different ingredients and different cooking method - RNB). When berries were available, they went into the Bannock batter.When there was meat or fish, it was chopped up and included."

"Bannock is now made all across the north of Canada, in households and in hunting and fishing camps, by native peoples and newcomers alike.It's a quick and fuel efficient way to make bread, and almost foolproof, even when made over a campfire."

Well, for ol' Splatterdab, it was the "foolproof" part that intrigued me. In addition, although I have no specific evidence, my theory is that a recipe this simple and quick must have been a go-to bread for the chuck wagon coussies in the late 19th century. I'll keep looking for any chuck wagon versions of`the recipe.

So, here's the recipe and for this version I decided to add apricots rather than berries.


Apricot Bannock
Ingredients
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs baking powder
1 cup dried apricots - diced
1-1/2 cup water

Instructions
Bring oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease skillet or DO. In bowel, mix dry ingredients, Add diced apricots. Make well in middle of dry ingredients, pour in water and stir quickly until mixed. Dough should be stiff but moist. transfer to DO and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

To bake over campfires or bottom heat source, use a cast iron skillet and cook over a medium heat, covered, for 10 minutes or until brown on bottom. Slide onto lid, flip over and bake until browned on other side. Remove and cool.

Splatterdab

Where the cowboy coffee is always hot.

Venture Outdoors Festival at Millcreek Township 19 JUN 2010

It was a great Saturday with weather that couldn't be better for some serious Dutch oven cooking. And, that's what was happenin' at Millcreek Park. I was representing IDOS and the Storm Mountain Dutch oven Chapter with Debbie Hair, the IDOS President, and one of our newest members, David Smith, a fellow Veteran. We did demos during the day and I gave a demo later that afternoon in the St. Marks Hospital Demo tent.

The Venture Outdoors Festival is a celebration of outdoor recreation. This unique festival is designed to increase awareness, participation, and appreciation for the many recreational opportunities available in Utah. This annual, free, family-friendly event features live music, recreation clinics, guest speakers, giveaways, creative children's activities, and great food all day long. The U.S. Army band was there playing some great music and they also set up a couple of rock climbing walls. And of course, dutch oven cookin' with ol' splatterdab.

In my demo I did a couple of things. First, I talked about how easy it is to get started with Dutch oven cooking by using gear that's inexpensive and readily available. And second, I demo'd an age old favorite among Dutch oven cooks - the Mountain Man Breakfast. I haven't met many DO cooks that haven't received rave reviews on whatever their version of the recipe is. In fact, from pot-to-pot my recipe will frequently change on the fly.

So, here's this post's recipe:

Mountain Man Breakfast for a 12” Dutch Oven
This variation on the Mountain Breakfast is from my friend Gary House, “The Outdoor Cook”
His web site is at: http://www.cooking-outdoors.com/

1 sausage log (I like Jimmy Deans Sage - RNB)
1 onion (chopped)
2-3 stalks green onion (chopped)
2-3 garlic cloves (chopped}
8-12 eggs (scrambled)
Several mushrooms (sliced)
1 bag shredded hash browns
1 bag “Sharp” chedder cheese (12oz)
Garlic salt
Pepper
Parsley (dried)

Preparation:
Fry up sausage and onion. Add chopped garlic. Cook till sausage is almost done. Drain.
Optional:
At this point you could fry up the potatoes till browned. Or throw in some pre-cooked red potatoes.
Add all of the other ingredients (Except cheese) and mix up real good. Cook for about 40 minutes until egg is done.
Rotate lid and pot in opposite directions every 10 minutes or so to eliminate hot spots (there are differing opinions on whether you need to rotate the lid and pot. Your call - RB).
Last 5 minutes add cheese to top to melt.

I use a 12″ Dutch oven with 8 coals on bottom and about 16 on top. You will use a lot more on bottom to fry up sausage so just dump the total amount on bottom to start then adjust to bake.







Splatterdab
Where the cowboy coffee is always hot

150th Anniversary of the Pony Express

Wow! Its been a while. I would like to say that there was some cataclysmic event that prevented me from posting but I suggest that you take a look at the clause in my blog title - "when I get around to it". OK, OK, I know laziness ain't no excuse but I've been busy with my new German Shorthaired  Pointer, and constant companion that I rescued, Homer, the chuck wagon wonder dog.



He and I wound up cooking, well he spent most of the time sunning himself and barking at other passing mutts, with some good friends - Waly, Debbie, and Cheesy Cindy (there's a story there so stand by). We were very happy that we were able to support the Sandy, Utah Museum and the Pony Express Association.

So, here's the deal. The riders from the Pony Express Association started out in Sacramento, CA and are retracing the Pony Express route on to St. Jo, MO. At several relay stations along the way are celebrations honoring and recalling the history of the Pony Express.

Ol' Splatterdab setup the chuck wagon, with the help of Waly, across the street from the museum. The fare for the public and the riders was Cowboy Beans, Dutch Oven Taters, thanks to Debbie, rolls, and varieties of dump cakes, thanks to Debbie and Cindy. So, what did Ol' Splatterdab do? Well, supervised of course. Can't leave women in the kitchen alone ya know (boy, am I gonna catch it for that one).

So, let's get to this blog post's recipe which is a variation on the beer bread recipe. This also brings us back to my explanation of my introduction of Cheesy Cindy. So, beer bread is a wet bread and the recipe is simple:
3 cups self rising flour
1 Tbs sugar
12 oz beer (not light)

Mix the ingredients well and pour into a greased 10" Dutch oven. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

Now, Cindy had not made a beer bread before so I handed her the recipe to work from and I suggested that she could get creative and use an additional ingredient such as red crushed pepper, garlic or other spices. I think she made a batch of beer bread using those and others. Mind you, I encourage creativity but Cindy asked me a question about an ingredient I didn't expect. She said, "Where's the cheese". Now, have you ever heard of a chuck wagon cook carrying cheese. Ol' Splatterdab gave her a look like she had just asked me a question in some foreign language. "No, thar ain't no cheese in this camp. What aire ya thinkin'?" Well, Cindy bein' the creative creature she is found some cheese. I'm thinkin' she stole it from somewhere but anyway she put it in a batch that was near done that was made up using a brown ale from the Wasatch Brewery.  You can use a regular beer like Bud or Coors. But, the brown ale turned out a bread with a very interesting character and darker color. And I will admit, it was pretty dad-gum good. Thanks Cheesy Cindy.

All-in-all, it was a very good day. We all worked pretty hard and I really want to thank Debbie, Cindy, and Wally for their volunteering to help me and the Sandy Museum. A very special thanks to Colleen Sloan, Skip and Audrey, Will Ward and his son (apologize - can't remember the young man's name) for helping me break camp and getting me on the trail home.

Splatterdab
Where the cowboy coffee is always hot.

2010 IDOS World Championship Cook Off

It's been just over a week since Brian & Lisa Blodgett won the 2010 IDOS World Championship Cook Off with their Bacon-Herb Wrapped Pork Tenderloin, raspberry Pineapple Sweet Bread, and Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping. I'm here to tell ya friends, that was some good eatin. And, their competitors weren't far behind with some stick-to-yer-ribs dishes. If I'm not mistaken there were only a couple of points between 1st and 2nd and 5 points between 1st and last. That should tell ya how good these cooks really are. Oh, that shady lookin' hombre in the picture with Brian and Lisa has been identified as Ranes Carter, this years (and last's) WCCO organizer. What a great job he did. Much of the WCCO succes goes to Ranes.  He can trail with my outfit anytime. For more pics of the finalists and their dishes check out: WCCO Finalists and their Dishes.
Here are the pics of Brian & Lisa's winning dishes.

Now, if yer a wantin' to see a dynamite photo show take a look at this one: 2010 IDOS DUTCH OVEN Cook-Off created by Dee McMillan. Thanks Dee!

OK, it's that time again. After looking at all those terrific dishes and thumbing through the WCCO cookbook I decided to share something simple that I remembered from scouting.

For a fun and tasty dinner, try this dish that uses onions as the cooking container. And don't wait until you go camping; you can cook this at home in the coals from your living room fireplace.

You'll need the following ingredients and supplies:

• 3 large onions
• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) of dry mustard
• Salt
• Pepper

Place the ground beef, egg, mustard and salt and pepper to taste in a large mixing bowl. On a cutting board, slice the onions in half horizontally. Coax the center sections out of the onion, leaving each half with two to three outer layers, or about 1/2-inch (13-millimeter) thickness, intact. Set these shells aside; they'll be your baking dishes. On the cutting board, chop the onion centers and add them to the other ingredients in the mixing bowl. Work these ingredients together until they're well-mixed.

Spoon the hamburger mix into the bottom half of each pair, mounding the mixture into a rounded ball above the edge. Cover the hamburger mound with the other half of the onion. 

Now, I first learned this as a foil dinner meal and wrapped the finished onion in foil and threw the thing in the camp fire. For the DO try skewering the two onion half's with toothpicks. 

Place each pair of onion halves in the Dutch oven. Bake at a medium heat for about 30 minutes. The temperature at the center of the concoction should not be less than 155 degrees. Remove the onions from the oven and allow to cool until they can be handled. The onion half's might still be hot so be careful when separating. As always, experiment with spices and different ground meats. 

Enjoy.

Way too Busy & too Far Away from Home

Well pards, yet again my day-time job has interfered with my real passion, specifically, subjecting all ya'll to my ramblin's but a few of ya to my trail grub. So, what have I been up to?

My job took me to Alexandria, VA for 3 weeks of excruciating management training. I will say it was valuable, just long. So, while I was at the Learning Tree training facility I had the privilege to meet two lovely ladies who run the facility who also have a passion for cooking. We got to talking and, of course, I brought up the subject of Dutch ovens. I kind of got a blank stare. Well, what an opening for me. They probably got more info about DO's then they really cared for. But, I did turn them on to the IDOS site and ordered them the IDOS World Championship Cook Off cookbooks.

While I was there I had the opportunity to frequent the local pizzeria, Pizzeria Venti, for a long-neck and some pretty dadgum good meatballs. I was also introduced to the owner as a Dutch oven cook from Utah and she mistook that too mean she had a chef in her presence. Well, I corrected that misconception quickly indicating that I was just an 'ol simple chuck wagon cook and I don't have any of that fancification training.   It turns out that this same eatery delivered our lunch to us during the training. Val, the owner, is a wonderful lady who runs the place with her hubby. Can't believe I didn't get a picture with her. Well, being the wonderful magnanimous guy that I am (heh!) I jotted down a recipe on the back of the lunch order that was faxed over. I learned she'd be processing the orders. Well, that turned into an exchange of 3 recipes during the last week. So, work didn't take the cookin' part away totally.

Now, if these ladies are watching here's a heads up. I'll be back in July and I just might have a surprise fer ya'll.

So, recipe time. Here's some grub recommended by my friends in Texas

Armadillo Eggs

Ingredients:
2 Eggs
6-oz pkg Pork "Shake and Bake"
½ lb pork sausage (Crumbled)
1 cup (8-oz) grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cup Bisquick mix
1 cup (8-oz) Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 26-oz can seeded jalapeños, whole

Directions:
Preheat your DO (or kitchen oven) to 350º F
Beat the eggs and put aside.   Place the pork-coating mix in a small bowl and set aside.
Fry up the sausage and crumble.  (Wait till it cools a bit before you crumble it, hot sausage will burn your fingers.)
Mix the cheddar cheese, sausage, and Bisquick together.  Using a rolling pin, flatten the mixture until its about ¾ of an inch thick.
Stuff the Monterey Jack cheese into the jalapeño peppers.  Wrap each pepper in the Bisquick mixture.  Using your hands, roll each pepper into and egg shape.  Dip each armadillo egg into the beaten eggs, then roll in the pork-coating mix.
Arrange the armadillo eggs in the DO (or on a cookie sheet if in your kitchen oven) and bake for 20-25 minutes or until crisp.

Black Pots and New Homes

This past weekend I had the absolute pleasure to travel down to Hurricane, UT, just outside of Zion National Part and help out a black pot caterer, my friend Crazy Richard Christensen and his lovely bride Ann. Crazy Richard picked up a gig with a new home developer who was participating in an area Parade of Homes show. This particular developer has an incredible area that includes a panoramic view of the mountain around Zion National Park. Every single home has been designed to blend with the natural landscape and no cookie-cutters - every single home will be unique.

OK, enough of that, let's talk about what we did. Crazy Ricard was asked to set up a Dutch Oven menu that could feed, well, a bunch. We had no idea how many people would be floating through the model home and the giant tent display that that demonstrated all of the features and opportunities the new community provided. The first thing the visitors ran into when they exited the model home and entered the tent was Crazy Richard and yours truly, Splatterdab. The first comments we heard were, "We couldn't wait to get outside to see what was cooking. The aroma was filling the house." For the kiddies and those wanting a quick bite we had dogs and burgers going on a Camp Chief griddle placed on top of a Camp Chef gas stove. For the black pot dishes we had Cowboy Beans, Dutch Oven 'Taters, and to top it all off Crazy Richard crafted some cobblers that were a definite hit. I had one lady take a bite of a slice and before she finished it she asked if she could buy the whole danged cobbler. Made a few bucks on that one I'll tell ya. Of course, in my humble opinion, what really crowned it all was Splatterdab's own Cowboy Coffee. I used the basic recipe I talked about in an earlier post. Well, I'm here to tell ya, that got folks attention and they kept comin' back for more.

I'm guessing that in the two full days I was there we served over 500 visitors, maybe more. They came from all over, San Diego, Las Vegas, Idaho, Phoenix, Denver and other places outside of Utah. Because we didn't know how many would be comin' the key to success here was keeping it simple and keeping it fast. Crazy Richard's menu reflected this necessity. So, that prompted him to offer up the Cowboy Beans, Dutch Oven Potatoes, and cobbler which was actually what many of us know as a dump cake. On arrival at the site in the morning, I got to work brewing the cowboy coffee in an 'ol graniteware coffee pot while Crazy Richard set up preparing the cobblers. I then immediately got to work on the beans and "taters once I got my instructions from Crazy Richard. After all, we was the chief coussie at this affair and I've learned that only a damned fool will argue with a skunk, a woman, or a chuck wagon cook. So, I followed his directions to the T.

As I have promised, each of these posts come with a recipe of some sort so here it goes for what Richard cooked up. By the way, Crazy Richard did this just like the cooks did on the trail - weren't no measuring cups or the like, just use yer own judgment. A heapin' handful here a pacel there. Though the best one was Just fill 'er up?. We were using 14 deeps for the beans and 'taters.

Cowboy Beans
In a medium hot oven fry up some sausage. Once the sausage browns throw in a good amount of diced red, yellow, and green bell peppers and a pacel full of onions. For the beans we used what was handy - pintos, kidney, black, and garbanzos. You want to use enough to almost fill the pot. add water. Bring up the heat so that it begins to bubble but then adust it down so that it starts a slow simmer and let her go. Longer the better. But, we only had about 3 hours before the event got started but that was plenty. Besides, they got better as the day progressed. About 30 to 45 minutes before serving Crazy Richard threw in a couple cans of chunky pineapple. So, this really was a sweet bean concoction rather than a spicy bean mix. If your beans are too thin, sort of soupy, you can do what Crazy Richard did and add about half a large can of Rosarita's Refried Beans. I was skeptical but it worked just fine.

Dutch Oven 'Taters  
Dice up some bacon so that it covers the bottom of the pot. Once the bacon starts to get crispy throw in a couple or 3 handfuls of onions. Pile on some sliced potatoes, enough to nearly fill the pot. We sliced the potatoes the night before and stored them in a bucket covered with water and sealed with a lid. Add salt and pepper to taste and finish off with a smattering of garlic then give it all a real good stir. Over a medium heat and stirring occasionally this should be ready in 35 - 40 minutes. Mind you, this was in a 14 deep so it won't take as long in a 12 regular. Once the steam starts coming out from under the lid you'll know it's ready to serve up. In one day we went trough 4 full pots of these 'taters.

Cobbler (Dump Cake)
This is your basic cobbler that, for many of us, was our first dish cooked in a Dutch oven. As I said, Crazy Richard chose this one because it's simple and he could keep knocking this delicious desserts as needed. So, thorw in some canned fruit filling of your choice. Richard did apple, peach, and cherry, On one I think he combine apple and peach. Next, dump in a box of cake mix. For apple, peach, or pear use a white or yellow cake mix. For cherries, use a chocolate cake mix. Then pour in some soda pop. For the peach, pear, or apple, use 7-Up, Sprite, or similar soda that suits yer fancy. Do not completely mix the ingredients. Just cut through it very lightly a could of passes if that. The natural bubbling that occurs during the baking process in a Dutch oven will mix the ingredients sufficiently. Depending on the weather, this could take around 45 - 60 minutes. About every 15 minutes use a lid lifter to turn the lid 1/4 turn (do not lift the lid off the pot). Also use the lid lifter and lift the entire pot by the bail and turn 1/4 of a turn over the coals. This will help to prevent getting hot spots and reduce the risk of burning. The idea is to have a nice evenly browned cake.

That's it. I really want to thank Crazy Richard and Ann for letting me be a part of their catering event this past weekend. The drive down from Utah was great, since it was my first time going to the St. George area. Some of the most beautiful scenery in the country and best of all, I met new friends, had great food, and had fun.