Grilled Chicken and Vegetables

Instead of using my dutch ovens I decided to barbecue today.  Using a charcoal grill I off-set my heat by placing all the hot briquettes onto one side of the Weber Kettle and cook the chicken on the the opposite side.  I added a handful maple wood chips to the briquettes for extra flavor, don't add too much or your meat will just taste like wood.  Make sure when place your lid on that the vent is over the chicken and opened half-way for medium heat.  This is not as fast as if you grill a chicken over direct heat but it makes for a juicy, perfectly cooked and tastes like you have been smoking it all day.

When I normally use my smoker I make a homemade rub. but today I wanted to use this Smokehouse Maple rub and it was delicious.  It has a smoky sweet flavor with just a little bit of heat.  I used bone in skin on chicken thighs for this recipe.  I rubbed a little bit of oil on the chicken and then generously covered the chicken with the seasoning.   Place the chicken on the opposite side of the hot briquettes and cook it for 2 hours or until your chicken is almost done (use a meat thermometer to check, it should just be under 165°)  and then brush your favorite barbecue sauce on.  You don't want to put the barbecue sauce on too early because the sugars in the sauce will make it burn.  Cook 10 more minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165°.

For the vegetables I did the same thing as the chicken, added little oil and rubbed with the seasoning (today we used onions and squash but any vegetable would be great).  I placed them directly over the briquettes when I put on the barbecue sauce on the chicken and cooked until tender.

Thanks for reading, and get out there and get cooking! 

Dutch Oven Taco Meat

With it being so hot here is it nice to cook something outside to keep our kitchen cooler.  Today I made this taco meat and it is really easy and you can adjust to your taste preference.

Dutch Oven Taco Meat

1 pound ground beef

1 large tomato diced

1 large onion diced

1 large bell pepper diced

taco seasoning

1/4 cup water

Combine the beef, tomato, onion and bell pepper in a 12 inch greased dutch oven.  Cook it at 350 degrees using 17 briquettes on top and 8 on the bottom.  Your time will depend on how quickly the meat and vegetables cook.  When the meat is done add the taco seasoning to taste and add the water.  Cook with the lid off for about 10 minutes so the water evaporates out and serve.  

Thanks for reading, and get out there and get cooking!

Dutch Oven Baking Powder Biscuits

Biscuits have been my nemesis in dutch oven cooking.  I have tried and failed at them so many times I don't want to mention.  And now finally I have done it and they are great!  They are big, fluffy, and perfectly cooked on bottom.   When I first stared I used butter as the fat in them but after reading a few blogs and YouTube videos I found that shortening is the way to go.

Dutch Oven Baking Powder Biscuits
2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup milk

I actually doubled this recipe to fit my 12 inch dutch oven and to make them larger biscuits.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Cut in shortening with a pastry cutter or 2 knives.  Stir in enough milk just until the dough sticks together (if you add too much milk and it becomes sticky just add more flour)

Roll out the dough to 1 inch thickness and I used a mason jar to cut them out, or you can use a biscuit cutter or even a cleaned out tuna can.  Place in a 12 inch dutch oven.  I cooked it at 350 degrees and here is what I did different; Normally when cooking at 350 degrees you would place 17 on top and 8 on the bottom but for this I placed 5 briquettes on the bottom of the dutch oven and 20 on the top.   I never replaced the bottom briquettes, just let them burn out.  I did replace the top ones as needed.  Every 10 minutes turn the dutch oven a quarter turn.  Cook for 30 - 40 minutes.  I did hear a cowboy say that lifting the lid will add 5 minutes to your cooking time so don't open the lid until at least 30 minutes.

Here is a great YouTube video on making them

Thanks for reading, and get out there and get cooking! 

Dutch Oven Challah Bread

One of my students brought in challah bread for one of our training breakfast meeting and I knew I wanted to try it in my dutch oven.  This recipe for Jewish Challah Bread is easy and delicious.   I used my oval dutch oven and since there is not much information about temperatures for this I had to figure it out.  I used the same temperature scale that I would use on my 14 inch dutch oven using 22 briquettes on top and 12 on the bottom for 375 degrees.  I cooked this 45 minutes or until the top is nicely brown and the bread sounds hollow with you knock on it.  Since the oval dutch oven does not have legs I used 2 dutch oven lid stands to cook it on.

Thanks for reading, and get out there and get cooking!