Dutch Oven Heaven - Ribs, Potatoes and Apple Crisp

We went camping this weekend with my hubby's family.  Perfect time to bust out the dutch ovens.  We have one much loved and well used Lodge 12" oven, and I finally opened the box of a Cabela's brand 12" oven that his parents gave us for Christmas a couple of years ago.  While Lodge has always been the go-to brand of choice for me, I was very impressed by the quality of the Cabela's oven.  It has the awesome bonus feature of the lid being shaped nicely on the inside so that it can be used as a griddle.  My point with this rambling is that it is worth it to spend good money on a solid oven.  If you see a no-name brand one for sale for 20 bucks, run the other way.  It will drive you crazy and not yield the results you hope for.

I am not a scientific dutch ovener.  I have a few cookbooks that I've been given over the years in which the authors expound on the number of coals on top and bottom to achieve the right cooking temperature, rotating the lid every twenty minutes, knocking the ash off, using only a particular brand of coals...blah blah blah.  That takes the fun out if it, in my opinion!  Just like the way I cook at home, I especially do dutch oven by the seat of my pants and 90% of the time it works just fine.  The other 10% of the time it still tastes good because something about being outside = extra hungry.

I would like to bring up a couple of basic points for success, though.  Work in a well ventilated area.  We had a deep concrete fire pit at this camp site that we didn't use because the air flow would have been poor and taken the coals longer to heat up.  We simply laid down a square of heavy duty foil and heaped half a big bag of match light coals up.  Purists wouldn't use match light, but I'm not a purist :).  They work just fine and are far easier to get going than plain briquets.  I had the men fire up the coals while I prepped the food, and by the time the food was ready to go, the coals were too.  Perfect.

You need to make sure you have a pair of heavy duty leather gloves and some tongs to move coals around.  I have a lid lifter tool as well, which I think is on the "really nice to have but you can get by without it" list.  The tongs I use are my favorite el-cheapo stainless steel all purpose kitchen tongs.

In general, you will need more coals on top than on bottom since there is dead air space to heat between the top and the food.  For the things I cook, I just put as many coals as I can fit on top and bottom, evenly spaced.  Especially at higher altitudes, you need as many as you can get.  I don't have experience cooking dutch oven below 4,500 feet, so I can't give advice on the number of coals needed for you lowlanders.

If you're doing a few pots at once, stack them.  I check the food every 20-30 minutes and change the stack position if necessary.

Boneless Pork Ribs

5 pounds boneless pork ribs

1 large sweet vidalia onion

2 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce (we love Jack Daniel's Honey Smokehouse and Sweet Baby Ray's)

Cut the onion into thick slices, then quarter the circles so that you are left with good size chunks.  Place the ribs and onion slices into a 12" dutch oven and douse them in sauce.  Stir it around until everything is thoroughly coated.  Put the lid on, place it over a bed of coals, cover the lid with coals and let it cook merrily away.  Stir it after 45 or so minutes, then check it every 20 minutes or so thereafter and stir if needed.  Cook time will be 1 - 1.5 hours, depending on how hot your coals are.  You want them to be fork tender, so the longer they simmer, the more tender they'll be.

Awesome Potatoes

2 bags frozen O'brien style potatoes

2 cups carrot "pennies"

1 sweet vidalia onion, diced

1 pound bacon

2-3 T. butter or oil

salt and pepper

2 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese

Heat a 12" dutch oven over a bed of coals and toss the bacon in.  Cook until browned, then remove to dice.  Dump in the potatoes, carrots and onion and stir around until evenly coated with bacon grease.  If there wasn't enough grease left over, add another 2-3 T. butter or oil as needed and stir well.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, stir in the diced bacon and put the lid on.  Cover the lid with coals and let cook for 30 minutes.  Stir, and cook for another 20 minutes.  The vegetables should be tender at this point and lightly golden.  Sprinkle the cheese over the top in an even layer and put the lid back on for another 10-15 minutes.

Feed the thundering herd of hungry people, and chances are good that this is all you'll have left over.  The quantities in these recipes fed a crowd of 13, with 4 of those people being little kids that didn't eat much. 

Apple Crisp

6 large apples of assorted varieties (jonagold, golden delicious, gala, granny smith, etc.)
3 T. flour
1 T. cinnamon
4 T. butter, cubed
Cloves, nutmeg, ginger as desired

Topping:
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup whole wheat or all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 T. cinnamon

Stir together the topping ingredients except for the butter until well combined, then cut in the butter.  I often do this part with my hands to make sure that the butter gets evenly distributed.  I also usually make the topping in advance to make prep easier at the campsite.

Thinly slice the apples.  In a small bowl, stir together the flour and spices.  Sprinkle over the apple slices and toss gently to coat.  Dot butter over the apples, then layer the topping evenly over all of it.

Lay on a bed of coals and place a layer on top as well.  Cook for 30 minutes, then check apple tenderness.  Cook for up to an additional 20 minutes until the topping is nicely crisp and brown and the apples are fork tender.  Serve warm with ice cream.

Apples Two Ways

I recently procured a bushel of honeycrisp apples. Oh heaven! We mostly have been eating them fresh, but one can only eat so many fresh apples. So I dusted off an old favorite that I haven't made in a few years, and also gave a recipe from Leigh Anne's blog a try. They're quite a bit different from each other, and both quite delicious. This first one came from a Junior League of Denver cookbook I received as a wedding present. I have to confess that when I opened cookbooks in the heap of wedding gifts, I was not very enthusiastic. It took me a few years to fully appreciate what a great gift they were. This Junior League has been the source of some darn good meals over the years, and I wish I could remember who gave it to me so that I could go back and really thank them in earnest. Anyway, I digress. Here you go:

Apple Breakfast Tart (anytime tart, really)

Crust:
1 ¼ cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
¼ t. nutmeg or cinnamon
½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
½ cup butter, chilled
1 egg
1 T. milk

Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
2 egg yolks
½ t. vanilla

Topping:
2 large McIntosh, Fuji or Granny Smith apples, cored and thinly sliced
1/3 cup sugar
½ t. cornstarch
½ t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 10 inch tart pan or pie pan. In large bowl, combine the dry crust ingredients. Cut butter into flour mixture until crumbly. In small bowl, beat egg and milk and add to flour mixture. Blend until dough forms a ball and pat dough into prepared pan.
Blend cream cheese and ¼ cup sugar, then add egg yolks and vanilla and beat until smooth. Spread evenly over crust. Layer apples over cream cheese mixture in circular pattern, slightly overlapping slices. In small bowl, combine remaining topping ingredients and sprinkle over the apples.

Bake 30 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before serving. Delicious with a dollop of vanilla whipped cream on the side.

***In the past, I have always made this with nutmeg in the crust. This time I switched it to cinnamon, and really liked it. Both ways are good. I find that this is also best eaten the first or second day. Over time, the crust gets soft. I usually make this in a 10 inch round tart pan, but this time I made it in a recently procured rectangular tart pan. It was so much easier to place the apples and to slice it in that shape. You can also use a springform pan in a pinch.


These puppies are RICH! Leigh Anne's original recipe called for making these in a jelly roll size pan. I put the crust dough down on one of those pans and immediately realized that if I was going to make it stretch all the way across and cover it, I'd have a veeeeeeeery thin crust and I'd be frustrated and angry by the time I finished fussing over it for 15 minutes. So I scooped it back out and used my rectangular tart pan instead, and had lovely thick bars. Next time, I will dice the apples much smaller for easier spreading. The hint of lemon, light and crispy crust, and cinnamon glaze on these is really delicious.

Apple Bars (from Your Home Based Mom)

Cookie Layer:

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups flour

Cream fats and sugar. Blend in flour. Pat on bottom of 10x 15 pan (or half that size for thicker bars - see above). Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until light brown.

Apple Layer:

2-3 Golden Delicious Apples, peeled, cored and diced small to equal 2 cups
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 t. grated lemon peel
1 beaten egg
1 t. vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

Melt butter in saucepan. Blend in brown sugar, apples, lemon peel, beaten egg and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into apple mixture. Spread evenly over cookie layer and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 t. cinnamon
2-3 T. milk

Combine in a small bowl and blend until smooth. Glaze top of apple layer while still slightly warm and cut into bars.

Spicy Caramel Apple Bars

I was looking through some older postings in the edit mode and saw that I never published this. Originally it was supposed to show up last October or so, but it can be enjoyed anytime really. Pardon the yellow tint to the photo- I should have taken the time to edit it!

Spicy Caramel Apple Bars
1 pkg. spice cake
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
3/4 cup saltine crackers, finely crushed
(about 1/2 stack)
1 jar caramel topping (I used Smuckers)
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Blend together the cake mix, butter and egg. Add crackers and mix together. Reserve 1 cup of mixture and press the remaining cake mixture into a greased 13x9 baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and pour the caramel sauce evenly over the cake base. Add the apples, and top with reserved crumb mixture. Bake an additional 20 minutes. The bars will set up as they cool. I think they taste better on the second day.

Squash...it's what's for dinner.

Taking a picture one handed with a sad baby in the other arm resulted in this. Not the best looking thing, but I promise it really tasted good. Even my fairly picky 6 1/2 year old said so. We were a bit overzealous in our gardening this year, so we have scads of squash sitting on the front porch waiting to be turned into something delicious. This one is a keeper.

Acorn Squash stuffed with Apples

2 small acorn squash, cut in half and seeds removed

1 large Granny Smith apple, finely chopped

1/4 cup golden raisins

1 t. orange zest

1/2 t. each cinnamon and nutmeg

1/2 cup butter, melted and divided

1/4 cup brown sugar

Place the four halves cut side up into a microwaveable dish (I used a pyrex pie pan). Put a tablespoon or two of water in the bottom and cover with saran wrap. Poke a hole to vent it and cook for 10 minutes on high. Meanwhile, chop up the apple, stir in the raisins, spices, orange zest and half the butter. Mix the remaining butter with the brown sugar. Carefully remove the squash from the microwave when done and drain off the excess water. Brush the inside surfaces with the butter and sugar mixture and pour the remainder equally between the four cups so that it pools in the bottom. Divide the apple/raisin mixture equally between the four. Sprinkle a little bit more brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon on top of each and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until the apples are soft.

To prove I'm not totally useless

Spew's Stolen Caramel Apple Pie

I have a love affair with all things caramel apple pie. I found this recipe somewhere in my travels and tweaked it to get things just right.

Pie Crust:

I just use a frozen Marie Callender's frozen crust, but make your own dough if sufficiently motivated.

Filling:
5-6 medium apples – some say Jonathan or Granny Smith, but whatever you like best
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 tablespoons heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter

Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter
2 crushed toffee bars – either Skor or Heath Bars

Filling:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Peel and chop apples. The apples should vary in size from quarter-sized to half dollar sized slices. The chopping will take some time, but I hate pies with only big chunks of apples. Sprinkle pieces with lemon juice to keep them looking fresh. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl and add apples pieces. Toss to mix. Add vanilla and cream. Try to use good vanilla, not just the cheap store brand imitation, it makes a difference. Melt butter in heavy skillet or saucepan. Add apple mixture and cook approximately 8 minutes or so. This will help to soften the apples. Make sure to stir and flip the apples continually with a spatula as the sugar will caramelize rapidly. If you are stirring constantly there should be no sticking. Place into the pie shell.

Streusel Topping:
Combine the flour and sugar. Mix in butter with fork until coarse crumbs. Add the crushed toffee bars – the best way to crush them is to break them while in their wrappers. Sprinkle over the pie.

Baking:

Place pie on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees F. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake about 45 minutes longer. Check on the pie often as I have not yet perfected the cooking time – it may take a little more than 45 minutes. The streusel will look like it has burned spots, but these are just melted chocolate. I like to think of them as little pieces of deliciousness. This pie is great.