Dutch Oven TV Spots, and other events!

This week has been a fun and busy Dutch oven week!

Last Tuesday, I had a remarkable opportunity!  I was able to do a cooking demo live on TV!  As a part of Channel 2's noontime news show, I got to show how to make Chicken Wrapped Bacon!  Here's a link to the video of the event!

It was lots of fun to do.  I was pretty nervous.  I have done TV interviews before, but never when I was cooking.  Still, I think it came off ok! You be the judge.

Then, on the weekend, I got to go to the West Jordan Stampede and help the Storm Mountain Chapter of IDOS do demos for the passers-by.  I did Chicken and Potatoes, and Pizza, both from the book.  I also got to judge the cookoff, doing the breads.  My friend Andy from backporchgourmet.com was there, also, judging for his first time.  Then, later that evening, his wonderful wife gave birth to his wonderful baby!  Congrats to Andy!

Then, today, I made my version of the Deconstructed Hamburger.  It turned out great, and I'll include that recipe as a separate posting.


Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Events and Signings for "The Best of the Black Pot"!

Spoiler: Shameless Self-promotion to follow!

Hey, folks!  Here's the current schedule of signings and appearances in the Northern Utah Metro Areas, for the rest of May!  I hope to see some folks out there!

• Thu 5/3 - Murray Costco (5201 South Intermountain Drive - About 5300 S and State) - 5-7p
• Sat 5/5 - IDOS Spring Gathering/Convention (Legacy Events Center 151 South 1100 West, Farmington, UT) 9:00a-2:00p
• Wed 5/9 - Salt Lake City Costco (1818 South 300 West) - 5-7p
• Thu 5/10 - Orem Costco (648 East 800 South) - 5-7p
• Sat 5/12 - American Fork Fresh Market (135 East Main Street) - 1-4p
• Wed 5/16 - South Ogden Costco (3656 Wall Avenue) - 5:30-7:30p
• Thu 5/17 - South Ogden Costco (3656 Wall Avenue) - 5:30-7:30p
• Wed 5/23 - Pleasant Grove Macey's (931 West State) - 4:30-8:30p
• Wed 5/30 - Sandy Costco (11100 S. Auto Mall Drive) - 5-7p
• Thu 5/31 - Murray Costco (5201 South Intermountain Drive - About 5300 S and State) - 5-7p
• Sat 6/2 - Eagle Mountain Pony Express Days Cookoff - Judging (Nolan Park East 7838 N Sparrow Hawk Way) 9a-1p

Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Thoughts on Dutch Oven Competitive Cooking

This last week, as a part of the start of my book promotion, I got the wonderful opportunity to help judge the World Championship Dutch Oven Cookoff!  Here are some thoughts on competitive cooking, that I excerpted from my book, "Best of the Black Pot: Must-Have Dutch Oven Favorites".

Here I am, tasting the desserts!

It seems like half the cooking shows on TV these days are competitions.  Even the cupcakes have wars, now.  My son loves to watch them all. While I admit that sometimes I can get caught up in the drama of the moment, for the most part, I’m not so much a big fan.  I’ve been a competitor in dutch oven cookoffs as well.  The two salmon dishes in this chapter were my cookoff recipes, as I competed.

Here are some of my random thoughts on competitive cooking.

The people who do cookoffs are really good Dutch oven chefs.

This is especially true of the World Championship Cook Off, but all of the competitors I’ve seen, even at small, local cookoffs, are really good.  I’ve been very impressed.

The people who run dutch oven cookoffs work really hard.

Organizing and running a cookoff is some seriously hard work.  Setting it up, promoting it, getting sponsors and prizes, scheduling the judges, and many other tasks, make it a very time consuming challenge.  Usually, it’s done for free.  My hat’s off to these people.

I always seem to choke when I cook competitively

Having said all that, I’m not a big fan of competing, myself, because I don’t seem to do well.  I can cook under pressure, even under tight time constraints, but for some reason, when I compete, I choke.

A good example is the blackened salmon.  I did a practice run the week before, and it was incredible.  The timings all came out right, the salmon was to die for, and each of the other dishes was perfect, too.  Then, the morning of the competition, it all fell apart, and I made mistake after mistake.  It was a mess.

For some, it brings out their “A” game

However, I’ve talked with others, and they say that the pressure makes them cook better.  It makes them develop their best recipes, and hone their techniques.

Dutch oven competition is always friendly.

One thing I have seen constantly is how friendly Dutch oven cookoffs are.  I don’t see the viciousness or the backbiting that are so prevalent in other competitive events.  I’ve seen contestants share tools and ingredients with each other, and they’re always swapping stories and recipes in the downtime.

Judging apples vs oranges

One of the challenges with cookoffs has to be the judging.  It is challenging to compare dishes against each other.  I mean, we are talking apples and oranges, here.  Literally, in some cases!  Is this one a better apple than this one is an orange?  What’s the basis for comparison?  Sometimes, I don’t envy the judges their jobs.  Judging any kind of creative endeavor is difficult.

It’s made particularly difficult by the fact that, as I mentioned before, those that tend to participate in Dutch oven cookoffs tend to be good at it.  So, as a result, you have to draw the line between varying dishes that are all top quality.  How can you call a winner?

Now, even thought I’m not the best performer in competition, I have been in and around quite a few of them.  I’ve noticed a lot of things about the competition, so here’s my advice on how to do well at a cookoff:

The best tasting food doesn’t always win

There are a lot of things other than the final product that add up into your final score.  First of all, in addition to the tasting, the garnish and presentation is a part of the score.  In addition, how you present the food can pre-condition the judges opinions of your dish.

Also, there are people called “field judges” who score you on your time spent preparing the dishes.  If your preparation area looks cluttered, disorganized, or even dirty, you can be marked down.  Many people will bring fancy tablecloths and other bits of decor for their preparation areas, and they often will get higher scores for that. How you interact with other competitors and with any spectators could be factored into your score as well.

There are some “standard dishes” that tend to win cookoffs.

While variety and innovation are a good thing, they don’t tend to win cookoffs.  Ribs are very popular, as are roasts of both beef and pork.  Stews and chilis don’t do as well, because it’s a little more difficult to find a great way to present them visually. I also haven’t seen chicken dishes win as often.  International dishes, like asian cuisines or pastas also don’t tend to be as popular.  Exotic dishes that the judges would be unfamiliar with could also be more challenging.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try these.  It does, however, mean that you’re up against additional stress to prove your dish is great.  Make it incredible, and make it look great, and it could win out!

Planning and timing are a BIG deal.

In a cookoff, all of the chefs will begin cooking at the same time, and all will have a deadline time to turn in their dishes.  Some cookoffs stagger the times, so main dishes are presented to the judges, and then, a while later, breads, etc...

In either case, you’ll want to plan your cooking so that each dish will be finished, garnished, and ready to present to the judges right at the time when it’s due.  If you have it finished too early, it won’t look as fresh and won’t be at the peak of its flavor.  If it’s done too late, you might have to present an incomplete dish, or might even be disqualified.

So, begin with the end in mind.  I created a spreadsheet and planned out each phase of each dish, counting backwards in time from the presentation deadline.  That way, at any given moment in the competition, I knew what I needed to be working on.
Cook with a friend.

One of the biggest mistakes I made in my cookoff experiences is that I cooked alone.  First of all, pulling off three dishes in three hours to competition quality is crazy for a single person.  Second, having a friend there with you is a lot more fun.

Even with my own difficult experience in cookoffs, I really think that at some point, everyone should do a competition.  It’s a wonderfully unique experience, and you’ll learn a lot about yourself and about Dutch oven cooking by doing it.  Go into it for the experience, not necessarily for the win, if you have to.  Do your best, and have a great time.







Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Come to the WCCO at the Sportsman's Expo!

This weekend is a big one in the Dutch Oven world.  At the Utah Outdoorsman Expo each spring, the International Dutch Oven Society (IDOS) hosts its World Championship Cook Off.  Teams from all over come to compete.  Come on out and see some incredible cheffery!

In addition, just north of the cooking area (if they set up like they have in years past), there's the IDOS booth, with membership information and a demo area.  They'll be staging classes all weekend long.

Yours truly will be doing a class on the basics of knife use on Thursday, right after they announce the day's finalists for the cookoff.  I'm excited to be doing it.  I'll be showing how to shop for a good chef's knife without breaking the bank, how to keep it sharp, and how to wield it on some chicken and veggies for a nice, easy chicken soup.  Come see how to swing a sword!

For info on location and discount tickets, etc... here's the announcement on the IDOS website.  Anyone interested in dutch oven cookery should be haunting that site anyway!






Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

A Shameless Plug for a Great Organization and Book

As they prepare for this year's World Championship Dutch Oven Cookoff, at the Sportsman's Expo in Sandy Utah, each cooking team has to submit their recipes in advance.  This is for two reasons:  One is to have them be verified to make sure that they comply with all the rules, and the other is so that all the recipes can be compiled and published in an annual cookbook.

Now you have a chance to cook with the greats!  For only $15 (+ $3.50 S&H), you can have this commemorative cookbook, and see what's being made at the contest of the best Dutch Oven Chefs in the world.

The Top Ten Reasons to Get Your Copy of the 2010 IDOS World Championship Cookoff Cookbook!

1. It's sure to be a NY Times Bestseller.  Someday.
2. It's full of recipes by winners
3. They've been tried and tested in competition.
4. These recipes aren't bland ol' out-of-the box, open-a-can slop.  Theyt're made-from-scratch culinary delights!
5. Tired of adapting from your old Betty Crocker cookbook?  These recipes are dutch oven recipes!
6. What, you gonna learn how to cook watching "Chopped" reruns?
7. You can help support the IDOS, which helps support Dutch Oven cooking overall
8. You start off searching for recipes on the net, and somehow you end up watching Weird Al videos on YouTube.
9. It's a timeless tome that answers the deepest question life offers: "What's for dinner?"
10. It'll make you a champion cook in your own family, in your own back yard!

So, get the book and try the recipes!  Or, get the book, come to the World Championship Cook-off, and cheer on your favorite teams!


In all seriousness, I got the book from last year's cookoff, and there are some kickin' recipes in it.  Look over the recipe titles here, and you'll see that it's well worth it. It will also help support the worthy organization of the International Dutch Oven Society.

Also, since the FTC now requires full disclosure, I must say that if you buy one, I won't make a dime.





Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.



Mark's Other Blog Posts: Endorsements and Life Examples

The Dutch Oven Challenge!

It has been Brought!

Like I mentioned in my last post, Andy J at the Back Porch Gourmet issued me a challenge in the dutch ovens.  We would give each other a list of three ingredients that would need to be used in a completely original recipe.  He gave me Pork, Oranges, and Curry.  I gave him Fish, Dill, and Potatoes.

The whole idea, as I understand, isn't really to see who's the best.  We really can't taste each other's dishes.  The idea is just to push us out of our comfort zones a bit and see what we can each do.  And to have a little fun in the process.  I tried a little trash talk, but really, I'm not too good at that...

I was really feeling out of the zone.  It was strange.  Since the original challenge stated the the recipe needed to be "wholly original", I didn't even go online for ideas.  I just mulled over ideas in my head, and got some great suggestions from Jodi.

Here's my result:

Dutch Oven Orange Curried Pork Chops

12" dutch oven
15 coals below
20 coals above

• 4 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 2 med onions, chopped
  
• 5-6 green onions, chopped
• 4-5 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 canful water
• 1 canful rice
• salt
  
• pepper
  

• Pork chops
• kosher salt
• curry powder

• 1 jar orange marmalade
• zest of 1 orange
• juice of 1 orange
• cinnamon

I started out by chopping up and mincing all of the veggie ingredients in the first set.  I mixed all of the first set in the dutch oven.  Pretty easy, so far.

In the next set of ingredients, I had to make some choices.  I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to put the curry directly on the meat, or include it in the glaze.  In the end, I decided to put it on the meat.  I rubbed the meat, both sides, with kosher salt and curry powder.  Then I layered the pork chops over the veggies, rice, and liquid.  I had about 8-9 actual chops, so I had to overlap them in a circle.

Finally, I mixed the marmalade, the zest, the juice, and the cinnamon into a glop and spooned it onto the meat.

I put that out on the coals.  It cooked for about an hour.  Some of the rice in the middle ended up not fully cooked, so I probably should have gone longer.  There was still some liquid that could have been absorbed.

I served it up with a twist of orange, and sprinkled with minced mint leaves.

In the end, it was a really interesting flavor.  The rice, and even the meat, had a rich creaminess that I'm sure came from the coconut milk.  The spices gave it a very interesting flavor, one that I'd not tasted before, so it was neat to have something almost completely new.

So, thanks Andy!  Here's his response!





Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

A Dutch Oven Duel!

Andy J, who joined me for a cookout last August, recently sent me this email:

Mark,

I am throwing down the cast iron gauntlet. I hearby challenge ye to a cast iron duel. If ye choose to accept the challenge, here are the terms:

1. I will choose 3 ingredients:
   a. Meat
   b. Spice
   c. Fruit or Vegetable or Starch

2. Ye must cook a one pot dutch oven dish with the 3 ingredients. Ye may add any additional ingredients so long as they do not nullify these terms. (See number 3.)
   a. The ingredients must be as common and available as possible. I do not expect ye to backpack through the mountains of Nepal for the rare Joo-Joo Truffle or some such.
   b. The ingredients may be up for interpretation. For example, if I say Chicken, ye may use chicken breasts, wings, nuggets, whatever ye wish. If the ingredient specifically states Rib Eye Steak, then there can be no choosing.
      i. Although it states the ingredients may be up for interpretation, meat is meat, so ye may not substitute stock for meat, or eggs for meat, although these items could be added. I will however, consider tofu a 'meat' only because the readers of ye blog may be vegetarian.
      ii. No matter who you talk to, ketchup is not a vegetable.

3. It must be delicious.

4. Ye shall hearby document the entire process, including experiences at the grocery store, prepping the dish, cooking the dish, and most importantly, eating the dish.

5. The recipe shall be original in the whole, and the recipe shall be posted for all to see. (see documentation of step 4)

6. Ye shall post the experience on the interwebs for all to see and enjoy.

So, do ye accept the challenge? If so, I would expect to see a counter challenge with a list of my ingredients.

If ye be of valor, here are your ingredients. Choose your weapons wisely.

1. Meat - Pork
2. Spice - Curry
3. Fruit/Veg/Starch - Orange



Well, I'm not one to turn down a challenge.  Especially from a knight so brave and skilled as Sir Andrew.  I quickly responded with this missive:



Andy,

Sorry, I'm lagging way behind.  This is a GREAT idea.  Your challenge ingredients look fun, too.  It might be as much as a week or two before I get to cooking it, though.  Is that OK?

Here are your ingredients:

       a. Meat:  Fish
       b. Spice:  Dill
       c. Fruit or Vegetable or Starch:  Potatoes


The only downside here is that we really should get together and cook these challenge meals, then sample each other's dishes.  I just don't know when we could do this.
   
    Mark


Well, we discussed (via electronic carrier pigeon) the possibilities of staging this fated duel face to face, but soon realized that it was a futile effort.  We must cook, each man in his own fair land, and the fame of our heated cast iron battle will needs be shared far and wide in song and legend.

So, a few days ago I was in the grocery store, and I started checking out pork, to see if anything inspired me.  I did come to one conclusion:  Pigs is Pricey!  I thought about getting a pork roast, and then pulling it and serving it over a rice/orange/curry kinda thang.  That sounded good, but that made it a two-step, instead of a one-pot meal.  I probably coulda gotten away with that, but in the end I decided I'd go with some pork chops.

I'm still not too sure how I'm going to do it.  I've got some ideas that I think are really cool, but I'm not certain.  One thought is an orange curry kinda glaze thing, and probably still over rice.  It might be cool with an orange marmalade...  Hmmmm...

At any rate, my plans are to cook it up this weekend, probably Sunday.  As always, I'll keep you posted!






Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.



Mark's Other Blog Posts: You're All Unique!

Mark and Brendon Make Chili in Dutch Ovens!

And we have the video to prove it!

Remember when I said that cooking is less of a recipe and more of a process?  That it's more than just a list of ingredients?  True that.  And, at the same time, not so much.  I will elaborate in a minute.  Bear with me.

Last night was our ward (A Mormon church congregation) annual chili cookoff.  About fifteen or twenty or so of us all presented our best chilis.  There were judges, and many others that just came to have some great food and fun with friends.  It's been one of our best attended ward activities, almost as much as the Christmas party.

So, like I said, I made the white chili.  I was very meticulous about the process.  I stepped through things one bit at a time, and did everything just right.  And, honestly, I think it was the best chili I'd ever made.

Brendon, on the other hand, pretty much ignored process.  He soaked his beans a while, and he browned the meat before hand, but other than that, he just pretty much added his ingredients as soon as he had them ready.  And his chili tasted great, too!  In fact, his won a very enviable prize that night:  "Best 'what's-your-secret-ingredient' Chili".  Brendon had a great time telling people afterward that it was cilantro. 

Mine won the "Best 'puts-hair-on-your-chest' Chili".  I'm not sure what that means, but I'll take the prize, anyway!

I pretty much followed the ingredients from the other time that I did the white chili, with a few exceptions.

Dutch Oven White Chili

12" dutch oven
16-20 coals below

• 1 lb dry black eyed peas

• 1 lb bacon
  
• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lb ground turkey

• 1-2 cups chicken stock
  
• 4 cups water
  
• 2 sweet peppers, diced (I like to use different colors, like yellow, orange, and red)
  
• 1/2 to 1 jalapeňo, diced, with seeds
• Salt and pepper to taste

• 4-5 green onion, chopped
  
• fresh cilantro, chopped
  
• More salt and pepper, if needed
  
• Juice of 1-2 limes, to taste
  

• ~1/4 cup corn masa
  

I started out the night before putting the black-eyed peas into a bowl with a lot of water to soak.  It's important that there be a lot of water, because I've soaked beans before and had them completely absorb the water.  So, flood 'em out!

In the afternoon, when it was time to start cooking, I fired up some coals and put the dutch oven on.  The first step was to cook up the bacon.  I cut it into one inch chunks and dropped it all in.  It took a while, but once it was done, it hadn't rendered out that much grease, not like normal.  So, I just added the sliced onions and the minced garlic to sautee.

Once those were good and carmelized, I moved that all to the sides and put the ground turkey in the middle to brown.  When that was done, I stirred it all together.

This whole process probably took about 45 minutes, so I had to replenish the coals along the way. 

Then, I drained off the murky water the beans had soaked in, and added the stock and the fresh water.  I went ahead and measured the water as well, so that it was more accurate.  I don't know that it mattered much, but I did.

At that point, I let it cook for quite a while.  A couple of hours, really.  I kept replenishing the coals, looking more for a steady simmer than a rolling boil.  Once the beans were cooked soft, you can pretty much consider your chili "done", but I kept going.  Partly because the chili cookoff was still an hour or so away, but also to get more simmering in on the flavors.

A word on the heat:  I would recommend putting a half-jalapeno in the chili to start with, and then, after about 10-15 minutes of simmering, checking the taste.  If it still needs more heat, then you can add it.  That way, you can give it as much oomph as you like.

The final step was the last bits of flavoring and thickening.  I like the corn meal is a great thickener in chili.  It blends well with the southwest kinda feel of the meal.

One of the great things about chili is that it can be anything. That's one of the things this chili cookoff shows me each year.  All these dishes, and they're all so unique and so different, and yet, they're all chili.  What is it that makes them all "chili"?  Some have meat, some don't.  Some have beans, and some don't.  Some are hot and some are sweet.  Really, what is it that defines "chili"?

The cool thing about that is that you can really do almost anything.  There's no reason not to jump in and try it, because you really can't screw it up!





Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.



Mark's Other Blog Posts: "Alleluia" Needs More Work, Hope for 2010,

Guest Blogger: A Dutch Oven Cookoff - By Andy J

My good friend Andy sent me this report (at my request) on his participation in the Salt Lake City Weekly Dutch Oven Cookoff. Enjoy the reading, and the recipe!


2009 City Weekly Dutch Oven Cook Off

I'd like to thank Mark for the privilege of being able to post my experiences on the Black Pot!

Let me begin by saying that I am somewhere between a novice and an intermediate Dutch Oven chef. Yes, I at least consider myself a chef. I suppose an introduction would be a good start- I'm Andy Johnson, born and raised near the Salt Lake, UT area, and I've never traveled farther east than Denver, south as Tijuana, north as Seattle, and west as Orange County. No, I'm not sheltered, I just haven't been to see the world yet. With this said, you can probably guess that I like life in the West. Something about the clean mountain air, crystal clear water and blue skies keeps me here. So Dutch Oven cooking came natural to me, as I can use it from my patio to the mountain top.

I entered the City Weekly Dutch Oven cookoff, mostly to try my luck at competing, and a part of me really wanted to win. Every participant walked away with a Skookie pan, graciously donated by Camp Chef. I can't wait to use my new Skookie pans! The competition had no entry fee, and only required a deposit to hold your place in the contest (fully refunded).

At the glorious hour of 5:30 AM we set off to the babysitters and then the contest. I've got to give a big shout-out to my sister in law for watching our son at such an early hour. At the venue, we drove in on the park and set up and then had to move the vehicle by 7:30. The venue was the farmer's market at Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City. After a quick meeting with the judges, we start cooking. I was doing Mushrooms Belaggio, which were the same recipe (with a few tweaks) that I did at Mark's Birthday DOG Here is the recipe:

Mushrooms Belaggio
Andrew & Melissa Johnson

• 6 pounds white mushrooms (stems removed)
• 2 cups bread crumbs
• 1 pound Asiago cheese
• 1 pound Mozzarella cheese
• 1-2 bunches green onions (chopped)
• 1 jar Alfredo sauce
• 1/2 pound bacon (cooked and crumbled)
• olive oil
• dash parsley
• dash sage
• dash dried garlic
• salt
• pepper
• dash basil

12" deep Dutch Oven
12 below
18 above or 325 degrees

Remove mushroom stems. Mix 1/2 of the following: bread crumbs, Asiago, Mozzarella, green onions, bacon and all the spices. Stuff mushrooms with mixture and place crown down in the Dutch Oven in layers, adding a small layer of bread crumb mixture in between each layer. Bake for 45 minutes until mushrooms are tender. Add Alfredo sauce and cook until simmering.

Add remaining ingredients in following order: bread crumbs, bacon, cheeses. Add more coals (about double) to the top of the oven to bake cheese into a crust. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Serves 6-8 May be used as hors d'oeuvres, a main dish over pasta, or in french bread as sandwiches.

After my pot passed the rancid test... it wasn't rancid, I decided not to light the coals until about 8:45 because the competition was 4 hours long, and I didn't want to overcook my mushrooms. by 9:00 - 9:15 the coals didn't seem to light, and I was beginning to worry. I fanned them with a small cutting board and by 9:20 they were hot enough to spread. The contest required that the fires be off the ground, and I didn't have anything fancy to put the coals on, so we used old pizza pans and some bricks to get the coals elevated. Meanwhile we did our prep work and got the mushrooms layered in the oven.

Once the dish was on the heat, it was a matter of waiting for them to cook. I took the opportunity to mingle with some other contestants and learn from them. Next to us on one side were two friends that were cooking stuffed deep dish pizza, using 14" camp chef deluxe lids inside a 16" dutch oven. They required a lot of coals to get their pizzas done, but they tasted SO good! Two sisters on the other side of us were doing a pork loin roast, and had brought out a stripped down gas barbecue that they used for a dutch oven table. Further down, a father and his daughter used a steel bucket as a method to keep the coals off the ground and were cooking some really good chili. Another contestant was there with his aged mother cooking the best ribs I have ever tasted. The thing I like best about Dutch Oven cooking is that it brings all walks of life together for a common thread.

At 11:00, one hour to judging, the mushrooms were done and I added the sauce for 20 minutes, and then added the bread crumb mixture and cheeses to form the crust. The trick to winning (I've been told) is to make the dish look pretty. So my plan was to create a ring of garnish on the side with fresh parsley, and take dried parsey and make the sponsors' logos in the middle. To do this, we cut a stencil out of posterboard with an Exacto knife and laid it on top of the crust, dusting crushed dried parsley flakes over the top. The City Weekly logo turned out well, and the Camp Chef logo was a little fuzzy with all the intricate cuts that had to be made. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the finished product, because I was so nervous getting it pretty that I didn't even think to take a photo.

At high noon we put the completed dish on the Judges' table to be torn apart. I didn't get a report card, but the judges seem to like it when they tasted it. While the judges' scores were tallied we returned to our booths and cleaned up while the public sampled the remaining dishes.

Let me say a few words about the public: You never know what you're going to get. I commented on a guy's shirt that had Native American pictograms silkscreened on it, and he commented that there was evidence in Native American art for alien landings. Another woman was talking to me at the end of the show and mentioned that she had started cooking in (insert strange sounding French word here) pots, and asked my advice on oils... she wondered about mineral oils and mentioned that that oil was good on wood....? At the end of the show, City Weekly passed out some Camp Chef pot scrapers, and this lady asked if she could have one of mine. Obviously I said no, and I think she was a little hurt, but she didn't wake up at 5:30 and spend all day in a hot booth. Nope, this pan scraper is my badge of honor.

The judges' results were in, and in third place; Dutch Oven potatoes. Second: Southwest Salmon with Shrimp and Scallops. First....Pork Wellington. So we didn't win, but I had just planned on having a fun time, and that's exactly what happened. Plus, I got to go home with a Skookie set!

I learned so much just by competing. If you want to learn more about dutch oven, try the recipes in this blog until you feel comfortable cooking your own creations, and then find a small cook off near you and enter. You won't be sorry.

Andy Johnson
Check out Andy's music website!

Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

The View From the Other Side

So, on Saturday, I had a very interesting experience. I was asked to be a field judge for the Eagle Mountain Pony Express Days Dutch Oven Cookoff.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I'd participated in the cookoff the previous two years, and had interacted with field judges each time. Still, interacting doesn't mean the same as doing.

I read over the instructions and the judging criteria the night before. They had all turned in their recipes. Part of what I was supposed to do was to make sure that they cooked their chosen recipes in a safe and correct way.

Actually, that's not entirely true. My job was to watch them do it and mark them down if they did it "wrong". It seemed that all of the criteria in the scoring was based on messing up. I thought that was strange. They got 3 points in each of five categories. The highest score was defined as "satisfactory", and the others were things like "Needs Minor Improvement", "Needs Major Improvement", and "Don't Eat Their Food". There were no provisions for someone doing something exceptionally well.

That would have made my job much easier. See, the teams all knew what they were doing, and did a pretty good job of it. So, with a few minor exceptions, they all did "Satisfactory". So, how am I to distinguish?

But it was a lot of fun. I got to know some good dutch oveners, and it was fun.

	Here I am, yours truly, walking out to the judges table from the cooking area. Like I have said before, it's not often that I get a picture here in the Black Pot, and that's probably a good thing! In addition to a fun new experience, I also got to keep the cool embroidered apron!
	These guys were new to competition, so it wasn't a surprise that they didn't place as high, even though their dishes were well done. When you've competed a while, you learn certain touches in presentation and style that really impress judges. I really liked their bread, and I want to try their spicy chicken, too!
	This guy cooked with his 14-year-old daughter. They made a great team. In addition to helping him cook, she did all his dishes. I wonder if I could work out an arrangement like that with Brendon...
	The judges table! The judges were an interesting mix. About half were local celebs, and one was the author of a food storage cookbook, and there were two that actually had some cooking skills. The judging was difficult, too. I was allowed to taste everything, but as a field judge, I didn't vote in the taste testing. In all but a very few cases, it was tough to pick a favorite!
	This one's the winner's main dish. It was wonderful! Ribs with a homemade BBQ sauce. I thought the shrimp on the edge was a nice touch, too.
	This one was incredible, and I want to make it at home sometime. A pork rib roast with a brown sugar and pepper sauce. Man, it was gooooooood.
	The winners! Not only did they win the prize, qualifying for the World Championship Cook Off next spring, but they also won the Mayor's Choice award (second year running!). This couple also competed for the first time with me the first time I did the Eagle Mountain.

Thah Winnahs and Champpeeens!

The World Champions!

I don't do so good at competitions, myself. In my practice runs before hand the food turns out GREAT. Then, when I go and actually compete, I fall apart. At least that's what happened at Eagle Mountain last year. What a mess!

This last weekend at the International Sportsman's Expo in Sandy, UT, they had the annual IDOS World Championship Cookoff. In order to compete, you have to win a local, IDOS-sanctioned cookoff. I really wanted to be there. In fact, I had volunteered to be a cook's aide. But there was a Family Links conference for parents of disabled children that same weekend. My wife and I never miss that.

Anyway, this year my hat's off to Tori and Terry Lewis. Here's an article about it, with their winning recipes. They won with a main dish of a crown roast. I'm kinda excited about that, because I've been thinking of doing a crown roast for this year's Mother's Day Feast.

Congratulations to Tori and Terry!

What I Learned Today

I cooked in the Eagle Mountain Pony Express Days Cookoff. I did it last year, too, and that was pretty fun, but this year was a total disaster. Part of it was that it was at a weekend that happened to be a very stressful one, personally, and so I had a number of distractions and setbacks. I ended up taking sixth place out of seven. Not good.

I do have to say, though, that it was VERY well run. Those that were in charge and those that did the judging did a GREAT job.

The biggest thing I learned is that I will never do another competition/cookoff again as a solo act. If I can’t get some help as a team, it’s not worth it. As a solo, you are working right on the edge the whole time. If something goes wrong (as did right off the bat this morning), you have some flexibility to adapt and work it. As a solo, you just have to roll with it, and you have very little room to work.

I also learned that when you coat salmon with blackening spices, you want to shake off the extra. I didn’t this time, and it was waaaay too spicy. Also, use a thicker cut of salmon. It’ll be more moist in the end.

The bread turned out great. The glaze even worked as I wanted it to. But I did it a little bit differently. I covered the top in whipped egg, and added honey to the glaze to make it thicker.

I also realized that with only a few exceptions, the most recent cooking I’ve been doing has all been big project meals and preparations for cookoffs. I’m weary, and I need to get back to cooking for fun for a while. Back to trying new things, back to learning new strategies.

Anyway. See you all next week!

Dutch Oven Blackened Salmon on Veggie Rice

So, I’ve been struggling with what to cook at the Eagle Mountain Pony Express Days Cookoff. I finally settled on some recipes, and last Sunday, I did a trial run. The cookoff is for three dishes: A bread, an entrée, and a dessert. I finally decided on the braided bread with an orange and brown sugar glaze, a blackened salmon on a bed of rice and veggies, and the paradise pie knockoff recipe I did a while back. I had to work out a schedule, that was pretty tight, to be able to deliver the three dishes on time.

I started out with mixing and kneading the bread. I used the same basic recipe I always use, but I halved it, because of what happened last time! Once it was kneaded, I set it aside to raise.

Then I started on the paradise pie. I got that made and on the coals.

Next I started on the spice mix for the salmon and the veggies for the rice. Here’s that recipe:

Mark’s Dutch Oven Blackened Salmon on Veggie Rice

2x 12” Dutch Ovens
20+ coals beneath each one

• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1 Tbsp crushed coriander
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp coarse ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp thyme
• 2 Tbsp paprika
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 1 tsp oregano

• 4-6 salmon fillets

First, I mixed all the spices in a ziplock bag. Then I cut the skin away from the salmon filets and cut them into chunks about two inches wide. I put the fillets into the bag, closed it, and shook it all up to really coat the salmon. Then I pulled the salmon out and put them into another bag, letting them sit and absorb the spices for about an hour.

About this time, the Paradise Pie was done, and I pulled it off the coals. I left it in the 10”, thinking that I’d reheat it later. The bread was ready, too, so I punched it down, and stretched it into three long ropes and braided them. I placed that back into a dutch oven, in a circle, and set that aside to proof (the second raise).

Then I started on the rice. I started by chopping up all the veggies.

• 2 sweet peppers (I used half each of red, yellow, orange, and green, for color)
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and sliced
• 4 green onions, sliced

• ¼ lb smoked sausage, thin sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 tbsp minced garlic

• 1 cup rice
• 2 cups chicken stock

• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 2 lemons
• salt and pepper

Once the veggies were all chopped, I put the onions, garlic, and sausage on the coals to brown. Once those were ready, I put in the veggies, the rice, and the stock. Then I added the lemon stuff and the seasoning. I covered it and left it on the coals (I transferred some to the top) for about 20 minutes, until the rice was done.

While the rice was cooking, and the bread was cooking, I did the salmon. I put a lot of coals under a 12” oven with some oil in the bottom. I let it heat up a lot. I actually put a thermometer in the dutch oven, and heated it up to 300 degrees. Then I took the salmon fillets and put them into the oil and let them sizzle for about two minutes before I turned them over. The seasoning was good and black, and man, it smelled GREAT! After another two minutes, I pulled it off the coals, covered it with the dutch oven lid, and let the residual heat cook the fish the rest of the way through.

Just before the bread was done, I added the orange glaze to the top. It was made of:

• ½ cup brown sugar
• Juice from half an orange
• Zest from one full orange
• Liberal shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg

When the bread came out it was yummy! A bit too done on top, but the glaze tasted wonderful. I heated up the Paradise pie on the top coals of the rice, and melted the butter and cinnamon sauce in my 8” dutch oven on the bread’s coals. The pie I served up with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. The bread I served as it came out. The salmon was served on a bed of the rice. When I do it all for the cookoff, I’ll garnish them all up cool.

It really tasted good. I have to say, though, that these last few experiences where I’m cooking lots of dishes all at once are really tiring. That, and I find that I can’t pay enough attention to one dish to really make it the best I can. Once these cookoff adventures are over, I’m gonna go back to just cooking up one thing and learning how to really do one thing really well.

Another Big Dutch Oven Day

Yesterday, thanks to Ranes Carter, the Storm Mountain IDOS chapter head, I got to participate in the Spring Convention of the International Dutch Oven Society (IDOS). Held at the Utah Davis County Fairgrounds, there were three buildings in use. One held classes, one had vendor booths, and the third one had cooks. There were two parts for the cooks, one was called “A Taste of Dutch” which is where I got to be, and another was for a Youth Cookoff.

Mark Goes Public

I’ve not had many opportunities to cook for the public. This really was only my second time. The first was last year’s Eagle Mountain Pony Express Days cookoff. This wasn’t a cookoff (at lest not where I was) so we weren’t competing, it wasn’t a Dutch Oven Gathering (called a DOG by those that do them), it was really more of a demo, but on a bigger scale, with lots of cooks and booths.

When I arrived, I really had no idea what to expect. Fortunately, I was sharing a booth with Ranes, who was the organizer of the TOD part of the event. So, he knew what was going on. I was scheduled to cook a breakfast dish and a lunch dish, so I got there pretty early, and got set up and cooking right away.

Mark Becomes Official

Pretty soon, someone came by and let me know that in order to comply with health codes, I needed to wear either a hat or a hair net. I had seen some hats for sale at the IDOS main booth, so I jumped and ran over there. I’ve been intending to join IDOS for a long time, but their website doesn’t take credit cards or paypal, and I never had the cash in hand at any of the moments that I had the opportunity to sign up.

So, I signed up and bought a hat. I also got this years membership pin, which I proudly displayed on the hat. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized that in my hurry to pin it on and get back to cooking, I had pinned it in upside down. Oh well.

The doors opened to the public at about 9:00 am, and people started coming through. I had been cooking my dutch oven biscuits and gravy, and just about the time that real visitor traffic hit, at about 9:30 or so, it was all ready. The biscuits didn’t turn out as well as last week’s. I’d pulled a different recipe, and it just didn’t turn out as well. I could tell it wasn’t going to be the same, because the dough was heavier to begin with. But the gravy turned out great. I chopped the biscuits into sixths and put them into little tiny sample cups and poured some gravy on each one.

A lot of people liked them. I hope so, because I never got to taste it! All of a sudden I realized that it was all gone! I did hear lots of compliments, so that was a good sign.

Mark Sells Out

The folks at Rhodes Bread were part sponsors of the event, and in addition to doing a class over in the lesson/demo building, they also donated a ton of cinnamon rolls and other doughs for us to cook up and serve. So, since that was a part of the booth where Ranes and I were, I chipped in on that, especially after the biscuits and gravy were done.

Now, I’m a “make it from scratch” kinda guy, generally speaking. Last Halloween, for example, I decided I was going to make pumpkin pie, so I made it from pumpkins. Still, I gotta say, these frozen rolls turned out really nice. They take a while to thaw, and then to rise, but they cook up well. In this setting, especially, where you gotta make a lot for the people coming through, it worked out great.

Once we’d started cooking, one of the vendors came over and asked us to demonstrate his product. It’s an aluminum foil dutch oven liner. It looks basically like those disposable roasting pans that you can get in your grocery, but it’s shaped to fit into a standard 12” dutch oven.

At first I was skeptical. And, in some ways, still am. But Ranes and I agreed to help him out. So, we started cooking in them. In some ways, they were very convenient. The biggest benefit I noticed came the next time some of the Rhodes Rolls were done. Normally, when you’re done cooking bread, you have to grab a couple of gloves or hot pads, heft up this huge, heavy, and hot dutch oven, and flip it over onto a table to shake out the rolls. With the liner, you just lift it up, and turn it over. It was much easier.

Cleanup, of course, is much easier. I don’t have much problem with that, though. My ovens have a pretty good patina on them, so I really don’t have a tough time cleaning them up. A few scrapes, a few rinses, coat them again, and I’m good to go.

When you’re doing breads, and you’re basically heating the air around the bread, the liners work really well. In the afternoon, I did Masaman Curry, and I tried the liner for that as well. It took a little longer to sautee the onions, and to heat up the curry pasted to activate the flavors. I think that’s because there was no direct contact between the pot and the food, but there was a layer of air and another layer of aluminum.

Also, I’d gotten an email a couple of weeks ago from a company making bacon flavored salts, and they offered to send me some if I’d review them here in the Black Pot. They arrived the night before, so I took them with. I can’t say that I gave them a fair trial, though, because I only used them in the Biscuits and Gravy for the morning. The gravy had lots of sausage in it, so that would have affected the flavor, too. Plus, like I said, I never got to try anything I cooked, so I couldn’t tell you how it tasted! But I will try them in something I cook up and let you know. I did use it when I made some eggs for dinner at home, but that wasn’t in a dutch oven. Still, it tasted good!

So, for lunch, I did the Dutch Oven Masaman Curry. That had a lot of people wondering. Many who walked by had never heard of it, nor had ever tried anything like it. Still, they seemed intrigued and said they’d stop by again when it was ready.

Well, when the time came, and I was ready to declare it done, I looked up and saw a line of visitors waiting for their sample. I swear the line was three booths long. I was floored! And the other booths at the time were in between dishes, and all the people in the line were looking ahead at me.

Wow! I suddenly panicked! I started filling up the little cups as fast as I could. First the rice, then the curry. First the rice, then the curry… Finally, just about the time that the crowd started to fizzle, it was all gone. I mean gone. A completely full 12” shallow dutch oven was empty.

At that point, I was exhausted. I started cleaning up my station, because I knew that Ranes had promised that space to someone who was going to come in and cook an afternoon dish. I did help Ranes with a couple more batches of Rhodes breads, and helped him serve the line waiting for his Jambalaya (which was REALLY good). Then I came home and crashed and burned.

I know this post is a long way to scroll down, but thanks for following!

Here are some pictures of the event:

I didn't get the names of these two guys, but they were participating in the youth cookoff. Initially, Brendon was going to attend with me, and maybe even participate, but then we found out that you have to be at least 12 to do the cookoff. And then, he wanted to go to a friend's house for a sleepover the night before.

Anyway, I think these guys did a barbecue sparerib dish in their dutch ovens. It looked really good, but I don't know how the judging turned out. If anyone that went to the event visits the Black Pot here, and knows who won, please post a comment!

There were probably about 15 or more cooks in the taste of dutch. It was a lot of fun gathering and seeing people that I've met at other meetings and events.

This lady was serving up some barbecue sausages, and her friend had made stuffed mushrooms. I've been thinking about doing that as the appetizer for my mother's day dinner, so I watch her with interest. This picture also gives a bit of an idea of the crowds that were attending.

There aren't too many pictures of me here at the Black Pot. There's a couple of reasons for that. One, as a dumpy 45 year old who's losing his hair and his mind, I don't really consider my dashing good looks as a major selling point for the blog, here. On a more practical level, since I'm the one with the camera, and I'm the one cooking, it's not always easy to get a picture of the chef.

The guy in black, behind me, by the way, is Ranes. A really nice guy, even if he is stressed!

Finally, this guy's shirt caught my eye! You can't really see it unless you click to enlarge the picture. Still, that image summed up my Dutch Oven experience!

My Crazy Dutch Oven Weekend

This weekend was Conference Weekend. For those of you who aren’t Mormon, what that means is that we have our semi-annual General Conference. Instead of going to church like normal, we Mo’s plop in front of our TV’s, turn on our radios, or log into streaming media websites to listen to 5 two-hour sessions of spiritual instruction (spread over two days) from the big leaders of the church in downtown Salt Lake City.

It’s funny how that practice impacts family traditions among church members all over the world. Since we don’t go to church, we don’t have to get all dressed up nice, we don’t have to get the kids ready, we just turn on the TV or whatever and listen.

When I was a kid, my mom always baked something yummy while we were listening to the Prophet speak, usually it was cinnamon rolls or something like that. So, this year, I decided to follow that tradition, and I made some on Saturday morning.

For Sunday, initially, I had thought of trying out a recipe for tomato soup that I was going to do for the big Mother’s Day feast, as well as some bread or rolls. But then, we started inviting friends over. Some people’s dietary choices got in the way of some of my ideas, and I had to change my recipes. Pretty soon, I was doing Braided Bread with an Orange Glaze, An interesting fried version of Chicken Cordon Bleu with veggies and rice, and a knockoff recipe for Chili’s Paradise Pie.

How I went from a relatively simple soup with some bread to three more complicated recipes is something that I’m still trying to sort out in my mind. The argument in my head sounds a lot like, “What were you thinkin’?”

So, after doing some housecleaning until about noon, I started cooking. Soon, I had learned why the big-league cookoffs are done in teams of two. I was running back and forth like a madman. Note to Self: When preparing multiple dishes of a big meal, plan in advance! I can’t count how many times I stood in the middle of the kitchen wondering what I should do next! Once it was all done, the food was served, and it all tasted great. But, I hadn’t done the sauce for the chicken, nor for the paradise pie, either.

Anyway, I’m typing this up at work, so I don’t have time to put up any of the recipes. I think I’ll get to those over the course of the week, before I cook again this weekend. It will be simple then. And sunny, too, if the weather forecasts hold up…

IDOS World Championship Dutch Oven Competition

I spent almost the whole day today in Dutch Oven heaven! I had the opportunity to go and watch the Semi-final round of the IDOS World Championship Dutch Oven Competition at the International Sportsman’s Expo in Sandy, Utah. It was a lot of fun, and very humbling. Here I was, watching some of the best iron chefs I’d ever seen, work some serious magic. I also got to see a few demos and classes, and I just plain learned a whopping lot!

1. Get off the bricks

If you look at my pictures, over the months, you can see that I’m cooking on bricks on my back porch. I need to get up off the ground and onto some kind of metal tray or table. Too much of my heat is being absorbed by the brick

2. Apple Cider Vinegar works wonders

Colleen, from Log Cabin Grub, sprayed almost everything with a ¼ dilution of apple cider vinegar. She said that it tenderizes the food, it’s an antibacterial, and it cleans the ovens. She kept it in a spritzer bottle near where she cooked. Sounds cool, and I think I’ll give that a try.

3. Simple is delicious, too

In the demos, since there really wasn’t a lot of time to cook, the recipes were very simple, and very delicious! Bill and Toni Thayn made this incredible brownie that was like s’mores. It started with a graham cracker crust on the bottom, and then a layer of brownie batter. After that had baked, they added a layer of marshmallows. Heat on the lid browned those to a faux meringue. Man, it was good.

4. Presentation makes a big, big difference

Good food, dressed up, looks even better. I'm constantly amazed at how much making the food look nice makes a difference in how it tastes and is perceived. Granted, bad food made to look good still isn't going to be good. But with a bit of effort, it's amazing to me how the whole experience "kicks up a notch!"

5. Lift the oven for bottom heat

Remember when I made the empanadas? I mean: Remember when I tried to make the empanadas? Remember how I couldn’t get it hot enough or keep it hot? Turns out that all those coals I was packing underneath were competing for the oxygen, and so the ones in the middle kept going out. If I want that many coals underneath, I need to lift the oven up higher, to allow more ventilation. Either that, or fewer coals with more space in between.

6. When baking, heat up the sides

I always put the bottom coals just underneath the base of the oven. If you were to draw an imaginary circle using the bottom of the dutch oven as a template, the coals would be just inside that circle.

One guy suggested that when baking, pull them out to be half in and half out of that circle, so the heat creeps up the side of the dutch oven more. Pretty cool idea.

7. Oil the oven when you cook, store it dry

When I’m done cooking, I always dry out my ovens, then coat it with a thin layer of oil. The problem is that that can cause the oven to get rancid if you store it too long. Lots of people said to clean it with hot water, dry it (Colleen even suggested drying it on the stove, heated), then oil it when you pick it up to use it again.

8. Low and Slow cooks better

High heat can burn, leaving the inside of food uncooked. Low heat with longer times cooks better and more thoroughly. Meats are more juicy, breads are better done.

9. Some people actually read the Black Pot!

I got to meet a lot of people, and some of them even mentioned that they read my writings here! That was pretty exciting. Shout outs to you, Omar!

So, it was a lot of fun. Who knows? Maybe I'll try and compete more this next year!

Why I Dutch Oven

I’ve been enjoying this for just a hair under a year, now, and I’ve noticed some things about myself. There have been times, as I’ve been sitting on my back porch, watching the coals burn down on top of an oven, that I’ve wondered why I do it, and why I enjoy it so much.

1. I do it to unplug

My life is tech-driven. I make my living on the phone and on the ‘net. I come home and I spend more time on the ‘net. I carry my cell with me at all times. My cell is also my tunes and my day planner. When I play card games with my kids, I use my cell to keep score. I relax in front of a good Law and Order on my satellite TV. I’m a blogger. What more do I need to say?

But when I dutch, I’m unplugged. There are no wires, no connections. It’s just me, the food, the pots, the coals. I don’t even have to be “in the wild”. I can be sitting on my back porch, and I’m still suddenly off the grid.

2. I do it to unwind

Most of the time, when I’m cooking, there’s no pressure. I don’t have to get anything cooked by a specific time, and there’s no worries if it’s the greatest dish of all time. Sure, when I’ve invited company over, or it’s a holiday dinner, that’s different. Or at the cookoff…

But most of the time, I get the chance to think, to wait.

I don’t choose my recipes because they’re quick. There’s no dutch microwaves. Sometimes I choose my recipes deliberately because I know they’re going to take an hour to prepare and two more to cook.

3. I do it to experiment

And while I’m talking about recipes, I don’t choose them because they’re simple, either. One thing I love about dutchin’ is that you can do almost anything in it. So, I want to push that and see what I can do. Finding a new recipe is part of the challenge. I love it when I do something and people are surprised that you can do that in a dutch oven.

4. I do it to connect to the past

There’s a small part of me that remembers from time to time about my Mormon pioneer ancestors, driven from their homes in beautiful Nauvoo, and following their faith across the open and yet hostile plains. I think about them stopping on the way and pulling out their dutch ovens and cooking the evening’s meal.

I know I don’t suffer like they did. But sometimes I think about it.

5. I do it to connect with friends

Cooking for other people is cool. I love it when I can pull off one of my favorite dishes, and have them dive in, then sit back full and happy.

Cooking with other people, as I’ve just learned, is cool, too. Even at the competition, there was friendship, camaraderie, and a desire to help each other out. And after the judging was done, and we were waiting for the announcements, the most fun was when we all shared our feasts with each other.

It’s also fun to plug back in and hang with new my friends on the ‘net, most of whom I’ve never met face to face. But I’ve tried some of their recipes, and read their advice, and I feel like some of them are my dutchin’ mentors.

6. I do it to prepare

With all this emotion and philosophy, there’s also a practical side. I know that if there were a power outage, or some other kind of issue, my family would not only be able to eat, but they would eat well.

…And, at the end of the day, we get to eat. And most of the time, it tastes GREAT! And that feels good.

My First Cookoff!

What a fun time! I can't remember when I've had that much fun. It was a totally different feel that cooking at home alone.

First of all, there's no time pressure when you're doing it yourself. In this cookoff, each entrant (or team) had a judging time. Mine was 1:30. So, you have to time your preparations in such a way that your food is done at just the right time to prep your presentation and take it to the judges. That can be tricky, as you'll see!

Second, there were a lot of other people there. I was the 8th entrant, and so there were 7 other teams. Getting to know them and interacting with them was a lot of fun, and I learned quite a few tricks.

I got there at around 8:00 in the AM. I'd spent the previous hour and a half or so gathering up all the things I'd need (still, I forgot a couple of things, like my chopping board for the veggies...). I arrived, signed in, and claimed my space.

The rules require you to make two dishes: A main dish and either a bread or a dessert. Both of mine required only an hour or so to cook, but the rolls I would bake needed all morning to rise. So, I fired up a few coals, so I could warm the water for the yeast and melt the butter. The dough came together pretty easily, and so I set about meeting the other dutch'ers.

One team, to the south of me, came with a professional setup. Tables, canopy, tablecloths, centerpiece, all kindsa stuff. They were also doing a salmon dish, and a chocolate cake.

On the other side of me was Paul and Susan. They were doing a beef brisket, and had already begun smoking it when I arrived. There were more across the way. Troy did a white chili, another husband and wife did a stew. There were a couple of friends that did a jambalaya, and a young husband and wife that did a pork crown roast. All of us had plenty of down time while we were waiting to start cooking or actually doing the cooking to visit and get to know each other. The best part of the entire day.

Timing is critical. Finally, at about 11:30, I began chopping up the veggies for the salmon (Troy loaned me his cutting board).

At noon, I fired up the coals, and half past, I had them both cooking.

I started to get really nervous by about 1:00. It didn't look like it was cooking as quickly as I needed it to. By 1:15, I think the salmon was pretty much done, but the rolls were still lookin' grim!

Jodi came by and offered to go and get a plate for the presentation. She didn't get back in time, but that was OK. The rolls came through, and the salmon came through, and I put them all on a garnished up DO lid flipped upside down. I actually had it done with about four or five minutes to spare before it was my turn and I was called up to present it to the judges.

This is how it turned out. I was pretty pleased! But would the judges be?

They judged based on a big list of criteria, both on the taste and presentation of the final dishes, but also on the process of cooking it and your interaction with others as they walked around your workspace. I think there were four "field judges" and another four "taste judges". Each dish was tasted and graded, and then they spent another twenty or thirty minutes tabulating up all the results

While that was going on, we were all unwinding and tasting each other's dishes. That was the second most fun part!

In the end, I took fourth place. Not bad. I didn't get any of the cash or big prizes, but I was quite pleased with my results. Wynonna and Tom, the ones with the big rig and the most experience ended up tops. Their cake was the best! Their salmon was good, too.

The second place folks won with a delicious pork crown roast. They should have won, IMHO. I thought theirs was the best, hands down. The third place was kind of a surprise. A team, new to competition, with just a simple beef stew and a pineapple upside down cake. But they were both delicious.

Here's some pics of the winners:
Pretty impressive stuff, if you ask me.

Overall, I was very excited to just go and meet these folks. I had a great time! I'll definitely be doing more public cooking!