This one was really, really easy. A half hour of prep time, not including thawing, and an hour or so of cook time, tops. It’s one of those one-pot meals, and it’s also a one-step meal.
12” shallow Dutch oven
10-12 coals below
16-18 coals above
4-6 large pork chops
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Garlic powder
Worcestershire Sauce
3 cups rice
4 cups stock
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
2 onions
1 green pepper
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
The first thing I did was to thaw the pork chops. Once that was done, I set them out on the countertop, patted them dry, and seasoned them with all of the flavorings in the ingredient set. I let those seasonings sit for a few minutes while I went out and lit up the coals.
While the coals were heating, I prepared the Dutch oven. I put the rice in, with the stock, the soup, and the sour cream. I stirred that up to break up the gelatinous soup concentrate.
Then, I sliced the onions and the green peppers. I didn’t dice them, but it really doesn’t make any difference. You could also include any other veggies you like. Celery and/or carrot chips would have been a tasty addition. I scattered these over the top of the rice and liquid. Onto that, I sprinkled the seasonings and herbs. I’m pretty generous with the herbs, too.
Finally, I layered the pork chops on top of the rice mix. I had six chops, and they were pretty thick and large, so I made two layers.
I put the lid on and took it out to my cookspot. I put it on and under the coals listed above, and cooked it for about an hour to an hour and ten minutes. I had to keep adding coals (maybe a half dozen at a time) to the chimney so that I could add fresh coals to the top and bottom every 15-20 minutes. I put more on the top than the bottom. You really can’t go wrong with this dish because of all the liquid, but I didn’t want to risk burning the bottom of the rice.
Then, I brought it in and served it up. A pork chop with rice on the side for each plate!
Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.
I’ve not done a lot of ribs over the years, but I have done some. I’ve done enough to learn three things that are very important keys to yummy, fall-off-the-bone, mess-all-over-your-fingers-and-face Dutch oven ribs.
They are: First, a good spice rub. This lays the foundation of seasoning and flavor for your ribs. Gotta have it.
Second: a good barbecue sauce. This is the second layer. There are as many ways to make a good sauce as there are people cooking, so you really have to try to go wrong. Each sauce brings its own nuances and subtleties. Tangy? Sweet? Sticky? Sloppy? Hot? Fruity? You can adjust it to your hearts content.
Finally: a long cook time. Cooking the ribs until they’re at the government recommended temperature for “doneness” and safety isn’t gonna cut it. Yeah, it’ll taste good, but you’ll have to gnaw it all off the bone instead of just letting it fall off. You’ve got to cook it well past “done” to get to that point. Fortunately, doing that in a Dutch oven won’t dry out the meat, because the moisture will be trapped under the heavy lid.
One other thing I have to say about this: Sometimes, cooking is like playing classical music. I pay really close attention to the recipe and I measure out the spices and ingredients, as if I were reading the music note-for-note. Other times, a good meal should be like a good jazz tune. You have a lead sheet with the melody and the chord structure, but it’s not so much notes as it is guidelines. You really make it up as you go, and you never play the same song the same way twice.
This last time I made these ribs, a couple of weeks ago, it was a great jazz jam!
Dutch Oven Jazzy BBQ Pork Ribs with Potatoes
1x 12” Deep Dutch oven
12 coals below
14-16 coals above
1 rack of pork baby back ribs
Mark’s Meat Rub
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
...and I added some chili powder this time
Mark's Awesome Sauce
1 6 oz can of tomato paste
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
Brown sugar (or regular sugar and molasses)
Mustard
Something acidic, like lemon juice, or balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Some kind of hot spice (Cayenne Pepper or Chili powder)
3-4 medium potatoes, cubed
2-3 medium onions, cut into eighths
As I said, this is more improvised jazz than it is formalized classical. The recipes above are for my traditional spice rub and my own barbecue sauce. I was out of the spice rub, and I was feeling a bit minimal this time, so I just went back to basics: Salt, black pepper, paprika, and garlic powder with just a bit of chili powder. All of the other flavors are great, too. Just do what you want!
I opened the ribs package and cut them into chunks of about 4 ribs each. That’s the only way you’ll get them into the Dutch oven. I rubbed the spices over the surfaces (both sides), covered them with plastic wrap, and put them on a baking pan in the fridge. While that was chilling and soaking in the flavors, I lit up the coals.
I lightly oiled the inside of the Dutch oven. I don’t know that it was really necessary, but I did anyway. A lot of the fat from the ribs will render out anyway. Then I set the rib chunks in however I could get them. You could probably fit them into a regular Dutch oven, but when you add the potatoes and onions later, you’ll want it deeper.
I set the dutch oven, covered, on and under the coals. It was a pretty windy day, so I had to keep the side fire going and add more coals to the oven about every 15-20 minutes. I had planned on about a 3 hour cook time. Occasionally, I would check on the ribs, but not very often.
After about 2 hours, I started preparing the rest of the items. I made the barbecue sauce first. This, also, was improvised. I used molasses instead of sugar and balsamic vinegar as well as mustard and lemon juice for the acid. It really gave it a dark look and great tanginess. If you like yours sweeter, use more sugar. For more heat, add more chili powder or tabasco. Add, stir, taste.
Then, I cubed up the potatoes and the onions. In retrospect, some sliced or diced green/red peppers would have been nice to add as well.
Out at the Dutch oven, I pulled the ribs out and tossed in the potatoes and onions. Those got stirred up to mix, and to break up the onions a little. Then, I restacked the ribs on top of the potatoes. With a silicon basting brush, I coated one side of the meat with a very thick, liberal layer of sauce, then using tongs, flipped them over and coated the other side.
I put the lid back on and replenished the coals. After about another 15-20 minutes, I opened it up again, and I could see the sauce baking onto the ribs. It really looked GREAT! I slathered on another layer of sauce, turned them over, and did the same to the other side. I made sure to drizzle more sauce over the onions and potatoes, too. I closed it up and replenished the heat again. Finally, by the third time, I could see that they were about ready. I pulled it all in, and we set the table.Just before serving, I put another coat of sauce on.
The rendered fat from the ribs had done a nice job browning and crisping the potatoes, and the bold flavors of the rub and the sauce on the ribs was amazing. It just doesn’t get better than this!
Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.
I've been so busy lately doing signings, appearances, and demos for my books, especially the new one, that I've forgotten how much fun it is to just cook for the family. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy looking forward to trying something new, that I've never done before. It's truly been a long time.
So, this last weekend, I kinda went over board.
My sister-in-law had given us a frozen pork loin, and I'd been going over in my head what I could do with it. I finally came up with this idea, and when we had to cancel on a birthday party because of car troubles, I jumped at the chance.
But, my dear wife asked if I could make some au gratin potatoes. And some dinner rolls. And I thought it would be cool to round out the meal with a dessert, like brownies!
I ended up doing all four dishes in my Dutch ovens. It was kinda hectic, but the results were sure worth it! Yummy to the core! The potatoes and the brownies already have their recipes enshrined here in the musty pages of the Black Pot Blog, but the rolls and the pork loin do not! Here is the latter, first:
Dutch Oven Pork Loin Medallions
1x 12" shallow Dutch oven
20-24 coals underneath
Liberal shakes of:
Salt
Pepper
paprika
thyme
basil
1 Pork Loin
1 lb Bacon
Juice of 1 lemon
~1/4 cup water
1 heaping Tbsp flour
There really isn't much to this recipe. It's very simple, and the cool thing is that it looks very impressive. Start early in the day by getting the loin thawed under cool water.
I actually made this dish pretty late in the day. I cooked and baked all of the other dishes first, because this one takes the least amount of time and it's the most critical to be served freshest. The first thing to do is to make sure that you have some fresh coals lit.
Then, I mixed up generous amounts of each of the spices. I just kept tasting it with my fingertip until it seemed like the right blend. You can actually use whatever seasonings and herbs you want. This combination turned out really good. I just mixed it in a small bowl.
The loin came out of the package in two halves. I cut each one into quarters, which were about 2-2 1/2 inches long, then butterflied each piece. To butterfly, slice the piece in half, against the grain, but don't cut all the way through. Almost, but not completely. Then, open the slice up like a book and you have a disc of meat. I lightly dredged the top and the bottom in the seasoning mix. Then I took a single strip of bacon and wrapped it around the side, securing it with a couple of toothpicks. I continued until all the meat was butterflied, seasoned, and wrapped. While it was absorbing the seasonings, I got the oven ready.
I spread out some coals and set my 12" oven on them. I sprinkled just a little bit of olive oil in the bottom and let it get all shimmery hot. Then, I gently laid each wrapped medallion on the hot oven bottom. After 5-10 minutes, I turned them over and let them cook/sear on the other side. About this time, I put the lid on, so that the internal heat would also cook the meat through. I'm not sure that I needed to do that, though.
When they were done through, I pulled them off and put them on a plate, tented in aluminum foil. I squeezed the lemon juice into the bottom of the pan, and began scraping loose the fond pieces. There was some liquid from the pork in the bottom as well, so that helped. I added the flour to the water and stirred it thoroughly, and then began adding that into the pot to thicken and smooth the juices into a pan sauce.
In the end, I served the medallions up with the potatoes and the rolls, drizzled with just a little hint of sauce. It was truly elegant and delicious!
I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to cook today, until yesterday. I was running some errands for Jodi, and was at a grocery store. I saw some pre-made, bake-them-yourself calzones, and they looked really appetizing, even in their uncooked state.
For a long time, I’ve wanted to try a pizza with a crust on the bottom and on the top, and so, for today, I thought I’d do it with the calzones. It ended up being a pretty involved two-day affair, because I decided I wanted to try an overnight rise on the crust.
I also did the preheating of the dutch oven on the sauce. I found it did wonders for the patina (which was getting a bit thin on that oven), even just in one use. I’m becoming more and more convinced. Of course, when I baked the calzones, I had to assemble them in the 12”, so I couldn’t pre-heat it. But with breads, you’re baking drier ingredients, so it’s going to strengthen your patina, anyway.
Like I said, it all started last night. I have read a lot about how the longer overnight rises are better for pizza, and I thought I’d try it that way. Spoiler alert: I’m definitely sold on that, now.
I proofed the yeast in water that was hot, but not scalding, to the touch. I say it’s “shower” hot. That’s right around 110-115 degrees, and it’s great for waking up yeast. While that’s getting foamy and frothy, I added the other ingredients to a bowl. The last bit was to add the yeast/water mix.
I stirred it all up, and found that it was just the right hydration, this time. I started kneading it on the countertop, and I found I didn’t need to add any more flour in the process. I say, “this time”, because different flours and different humidities can mean that the flour will absorb more or less water. You just never know.
I set it in a greased bowl, covered with cellophane, in the fridge. I knew I wasn’t going to use it until today, and I wanted it to have a long, slow, flavor-developing rise overnight in the fridge.
Then I went and played cards with some friends.
Today, after church, I pulled the bread dough out of the fridge and set it aside in the kitchen, to come up to room temperature. I also lit up some coals, and put the lightly oiled 10” dutch oven on some coals to season and heat up. Once it was smoking a little bit, I put in the sausage, the bacon, and the pepperoni pieces. I used link pepperoni and cut it into small chunks, but you could use sliced pepperoni. I’d still probably cut the slices in half or into wedges. The sausage cooked, the bacon crisped, and the pepperoni browned.
Once the meat is all done, pull it out, but leave the drippings. Sprinkle in the flour and stir while it cooks into a roux. Pull it out as best you can, and then toss in the first set of veggies to sweat and sautee. Keep the oven hot all along the way with fresh coals, if you need to.
Finally, add the tomatoes and the water, then bring the meat and the roux back in as well. Let it boil, at first, then simmer, covered. Give the tomatoes time to dissolve as much as possible. Maybe as much as an hour. It should be nice and “sauce” thick. If it’s still to runny at that point, let it cook a bit longer with the lid off.
Taste it all along the way. I’ll bet that with all of the sausages and bacon, it won’t need much salt, if any, and probably not many other seasonings. Some lemon juice might have been great, in retrospect.
Once the sauce was done simmering, I poured it out of the Dutch oven, into a bowl right away, so that the tomatoes wouldn’t eat away at the patina.
I dumped the bread out onto my floured countertop, and cut it into halves. In retrospect, I’d suggest quartering it. Each piece should be stretched out wide and thin. I put a generous amount of sauce over one half of the dough circle. I piled it on, but left at least a half inch or so to the edge of the dough. I put a generous amount of shredded mozarella on top of the mound of filling. I brushed some freshly beaten egg onto that edge of the dough, as a sealer. I folded the dough over, and began pinching and curling the dough halves together. Finally, I gently lifted the finished calzone into the oiled 12” Dutch oven.
I did that for the other calzone (or the other three, if you take my earlier advice). Hopefully, there should be a good amount of sauce left over. Then, I brushed all the calzones with the beaten egg, giving a good coating. I let that dutch oven sit, to let the dough continue rising a bit.
In the meantime, I’d been starting up some additional coals, and I put those on the 12” lid to heat it up. After the lid was really good and hot, and the dough had proofed just a little bit, I set a ring of coals below the Dutch oven, and set the lid with the coals on top.
I watched, and maintained the heat with fresh coals, as needed. I took the bread temperature by sticking the thermometer down in between the calzones, where the crusts grew together. Taking the temperature of the filling was kinda pointless, as it was all completely cooked already. I let it get overly done, because I wasn’t sure how it would react to the filling. That turned out to be a good thing. It was done perfectly.
Serving was easy. I cut the two calzones apart, and cut each one in half (that’s why I thought it would be better to make four of them instead of two larger ones). I served one half, with more sauce drizzled over the top, and with a garnish of chopped parsley, and the grated cheeses.
It was big, filling, and an incredible taste!
Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.
I’m kind on this kick lately. I’m thinking a lot about how I love the combination of fruits and meats. The mix of sweet and savory really fires me up. it’s what got me thinking and helped me to come up with the latest challenge (in the last post).
I did this dish a while ago, and I enjoyed not only cooking it, but coming up with the ingredients and the process. In the end, it was kind of a rethink of my berried chicken idea (inspired by Toni of dutchovenmadness).
I got a lot of raves from my family on this one.
Dutch Oven Sweet and Savory Pork Chops
12” dutch oven
12 coals underneath
12 coals on top
8” or 10” Dutch oven
10-12 coals underneath
6-8 Pork Chops (I used boneless)
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
chili powder (not as much)
garlic powder (a little extra)
1-2 lbs bacon
4 medium to large potatoes
The Sauce
2 Peaches, sliced thin
2 handfuls Grapes, chopped (I used white grapes)
1 cup water
¼ cup sugar
nutmeg
Cinnamon
Juice of ½ Lemon
Lemon Zest
The first thing I did was to thaw the meat. I actually had it in the fridge for several days, so that wasn’t a problem. I took them out and patted them dry. Then I mix up the spices. You can use any spice rub that you like. I just started with equal amounts of the salt, pepper, and the paprika, then added the chili powder and the garlic powder.
A note: I don’t really like garlic salt. I find that I can’t really count on the balance between the garlic and the salt, so if I want more of one, I end up with too much of the other. Usually, that means that I want more garlic and have too much salt. I’m jus’ sayin’...
I mixed up the spices in a zip-top baggie, shook it up, and added the meat. I shook those up and then pulled them out and shook off the excess. These, I let sit for a while in the fridge.
While my coals were heating up, I chopped up the potatoes. I quartered them, and the sliced them kinda thin. These went into the bottom of the Dutch oven.
I pulled out the seasoned pork chops, and wrapped each one tightly in two strips of bacon. Then, I laid that on top of the potatoes. With all of the pork chops wrapped and in place, I took the Dutch oven out and got it on the coals.
Then, I turned my attention to the sauce. I sliced up the peaches and chopped up the grapes and put those in the smaller dutch oven. I added some water, and then the sugar and the seasonings. That went out on the coals, too. At first, I covered it with the lid, so it would heat up to a boil faster. Then I removed the lid so it would start to simmer and reduce.
About half-way through, I realized that I had mismanaged my coals, and I was going to burn out. I hurriedly lit up some more, but the coals were almost completely burned out before the new ones were ready. Still, I managed to get some fresh coals on and keep it cooking in time. It’s frustrating when I catch myself not paying attention!
As it was ending, I took some of the extra coals, and heated up another small dutch oven. I threw in a can of corn and a can of green beans, to make it a complete meal.
The end result was absolutely delicious. The potatoes were both soft and crisp, and seasoned slightly from the drippings of the bacon and pork chops. The chops themselves were amazing. I served them, still wrapped, with the fruit sauce on top.
Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.
This last weekend I made tamales in my dutch oven again. The last time I did this, they turned out great. This time, in the end, they also turned out well, but it was a kind of rocky road to get there.
This time I did it in two days. The night before, I made the pork, then on Sunday morning I made the filling and rolled the tamales. Sunday night I set them in my dutch oven and steamed them up! These were different from the last time I did them, both in process and in the recipe. The last one was a bit more "green" and these were more "red". I don't know if that makes any sense at all, but there it is, anyway...
Dutch Oven Tamales
Makes about 20-25 tamales, approx 200 Cal each.
12" deep Dutch Oven, with a veggie steamer
Lots of coals underneath
The Pork
2-2.5 lbs pork roast
1 head garlic, cut into just a few bigger chunks
1 tbsp black peppercorns
8 cups water
4-6 large bay leaves
1 tsp salt
The Filling
6 oz dried red chilis (pick your picante)
2 tbsp cilantro
4-5 cloves garlic
2 cups pork stock, also from the previous step.
2 tbsp oil
2-4 tbsp flour
2 lbs pork, from the previous step
1 tsp salt
The Masa
4 cups Masa powder
4 cups pork stock, from the first step
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups shortening
So, starting off with the pork. It's really pretty simple, I just added all of the ingredients in the middle of my dutch oven and roasted it. In this case, I put on about 26 coals, 13 on the bottom and 13 on the top, and roasted it to the right temperature, 160 F. Cooking it longer makes it come off the bone and come apart easier.
Once it's all done, I pulled the meat out of the dutch oven. Then, using forks, I pulled it off the bone and pulled it apart into shreds.
What's left in the dutch oven is very important stuff. Don't throw it away. Instead, I strained out all of the meat and spice particles and set aside the pork stock for the next day. I found there wasn't much fat to skim off, but if there had been I would have skimmed it.
All of that stuff went into the fridge.
The next day, I got started pretty early. I crushed up the chilis (anchos, I think) and soaked them for about 20 minutes to a half hour in some hot water. Once they were soft, I strained them off, and added them, with the cilantro and the garlic, to the stock. I put all of that into a blender and whirred it all up.
Once that was all pureed, I strained it through a paper towel filter, so I just had the mash, and most of the runny liquid was drained.
At this point, I cheated for those that may be purist dutch oven chefs. I did a little work on my stovetop inside. In my defense, however, I did use a cast iron skillet! I made a roux out of the oil and flour, and when that started to get a little bit past just tan, I added in the strained mush chile mix. I cooked that for just a little bit, until it really started smelling rich, and then mixed it up with the pulled pork from the previous day. I also poured some of the chile water that I had drained off back over the pork, and stirred it all up. That made the filling, and it went back into the fridge.
Then, I turned my attention to the masa, the corn meal. This was pretty easy to make. I simply added all of the ingredients to a bowl and stirred it up using a pastry cutter. Done. You can adjust how moist it is by adding more corn meal or stock.
Now came the rolling phase. I did this pretty much the same way as I did last time I made tamales. Here, you'll find the details of tamale rolling. A disclaimer, by the way: I'm not a mexican grandmother, and I've never seen one roll tamales, so I don't know if my method is "traditional" or "authentic". It worked, though.
I put the veggie steamer into the 12" deep dutch oven, and unfolded it. I added water up to the level of the steamer, and stacked the rolled tamales on the steamer. Then, it was out on the coals. I kept it to bottom heat, maybe 20 or so coals on the bottom. You're boiling it, so you'll want it to come to boil fairly quickly, then you can reduce the coals just to keep it simmering.
You may need to add water from time to time, since the total cook time for me was almost two hours. I didn't really pay attention to that, and they ended up drying out. Not good. They still tasted good, though.
Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.
This weekend, I was doing a lot of yard work, even on sunday. I know, I know, it's supposed to be a day of rest. Oh, well.
So, even though I'm working in the garden, I still wanted to cook. I wanted something simple and easy, a two-step, one-pot meal. I'd found, buried in the freezer, an old ham bone from one of my past dutch oven roasting days. Time for split-pea soup!
I had done split-peas many times before. This recipe for Dutch Oven Split-Pea soup is the first time, and this one has been the basis for all of them. It's good, but this time I kicked it up a notch. It must've worked, because even though I cooked up a whole 12" dutch oven worth of the stuff, there were no leftovers. That's good, too, because split-pea doesn't usually make great leftovers. It ends up as less of a soup and more of a paste.
I've found, by the way, that when you do these recipes, your final result will vary a little based on the way you cooked your ham. Some of the residual flavors and spices from the ham will carry over into the soup. I, personally, like that. It gives a little variety. The same is true if you make your own chicken stock.
Anyway, since I really dressed up this recipe, I'm going to rewrite it here, rather than just linking back.
Dutch Oven Split-pea Soup with Ham
12" Dutch Oven
15-20 coals below
1 sliced onion
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 stalks chopped celery
6 cups water, at least half of which could be chicken stock
1 lb bag of dried split peas
1 ham bone with lots of meat left on it.
1 diced potato
Generous shakes of oregano, parsley, and chili powder
salt and coarse ground pepper to taste
I started by lighting up some coals and letting them start to get white. I put about a tbsp of olive oil in the bottom of my dutch oven, and let that heat up. I chopped up the veggies while it was all getting going.
Once the oil was hot, I dropped in the onion, the garlic, and the celery to sautee. Remember, if it's hot enough, they'll sizzle as soon as you drop them in. I stirred them up and salted them a little. The dutch oven was plenty hot, and pretty soon they were browning.
Once the garlic was brown and the onions were translucent, I poured in the liquid. I used a bullion powder to make it all chicken stock. I didn't have any of my homemade stock left. Bummer...
Then I added all of the other set two ingredients, and let it come back up to a boil.
Once it was simmering, I started adding in the herbs and the chili powder. I added the chili powder a bit at a time. I'd shake in some, let it simmer for 15 minutes or so, then taste. Add some more, wait, and taste. I wanted it to have an edge, but I didn't want to have a recognizable chili taste. In the end, I probably added a little under a teaspoonful. Season with salt and pepper to taste, but be a little cautious, because the ham will add lots of salty flavor already.
It turned out great! We all gathered around our new patio table, and had a wonderful outdoor meal. If you try this one, let me know how it goes!
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Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.
"It's a delectable blend of classic and contemporary, of sweet and savory. A pork roast, smothered in rich sauce of sweet pineapple and tart apricot and kissed with ginger and mustard, served on a bed of creamy pototoes..."
"Oooh! I'll have that!"
"An excellent choice, madam..."
Really, this dish did turn out excellent, even extravagant, but it was truly simple.
Pineapple and Apricot Pork Roast
12" dutch oven
12 coals below
14 coals above
1 2-3lb pork roast, thawed
1 15oz can Pineapple chunks, with juice
1 18oz bottle apricot preserves, or pineapple/apricot preserves
1 handful dried apricots, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tbsp vinegar (preferably cider)
1 tsp powdered mustard or mustard seed
2 tsp minced ginger
Salt
Pepper
I started the coals and got the dutch oven ready, next to my cutting board. The roast went in the middle. Everything else just got added in on top and around. It's really that easy.
No, really...
I put it out on the coals, and about every half hour or so, I'd scoop up some sauce and pour it over the meat. I roasted it until it was about 160 inside, and brought it in and let it rest a bit. While that was happening, I made up some mashed potatoes. I even made some celery fan garnish, just for show.
Fancy meal, no fuss.
Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.
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.
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.
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.
OK, so I'm trying to figure out how to use chiles in my outdoor cooking. It seems to me that you can never fully tell just how hot something's going to be just by how many jalapeňos you add, right? I mean, the actual hotness varies, it seems. I put in one chile one day, and wow! It's way too hot, another day I put in three and it barely tickles. What's up with that?
OK, I'm exaggerating. A little. Still, I'm struggling, here. He'p me out!
I do know that cutting out the seeds and the veins that are inside of a chile pepper will make it much less hot. John over at Mormon Foodie, wrote a cool post about dried chilis. Good stuff.
The reason I bring all this up, is because I revisited an old favorite recipe the other day, one that I pulled from my outdoor cooking archive. Dutch Oven Chile Verde. I had eaten a smothered burrito at a small mom-n-pop Mexican place a few weeks back that was hotter than that one hot place that good Mormon boys aren't supposed to say. I swear this burrito bit me back. Man, it was good!
I kinda wanted to duplicate that sensation. But I failed miserably. I think it had a lot to do with the knowledge that my kids don't handle hot very well, and I knew that if it was a "3-alarmer", they wouldn't even touch it. So, I did back off a bit. But it also turned out that I backed off too much. It was pretty weak. Still, the family liked it, so I guess that's OK, right?
I also did some black beans in my 10", and some rice in my 8" dutch ovens.
Dutch Oven Chile Verde
12” dutch oven Lots of coals below
Ingredients
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 green onions, sliced (into the greens)
3 lbs lean pork, cubed
8 large tomatillo, husk peeled and coarsely chopped
1 cup chicken stock
2-3 mild anaheim chilis, sliced
1-3 jalapenos, sliced
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons ground sage
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1-2 lemons
1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
sprinkles of flour for thickening
The whole process started the night before, when I took out a half pound of black beans and set them in a bowl to soak.
The next day, when cookin' time came, I started up some coals and got the onions and garlic chopped while they were getting ready. I put the oil in the dutch oven, and got it good and hot. I've learned that's the secret to sauteeing. It's gotta be hot first.
While the onions were carmelizing, I cubed up the pork, from a roast we had in the freezer (thawed, of course), and added that to brown. Since the dutch oven was quite hot, it was easy to get a good brown singe on the pork. Yummmm....
I don't remember exactly how or when, but somewhere in all that, I changed the water on the beans, put them in my 10" dutch oven and put that on a lot of coals as well. I put the lid on and let that simmer and cook, adding coals all the while to keep it hot.
While that was going on, I got the tomatillos chopped and added them as well, with the chicken stock (which was stock that I made myself in my own dutch oven!). Once the tomatillos and the chicken stock was in, I put on the lid, and the rest of the time it cooked lid on, with only bottom heat.
Here's where what I actually did diverges from what I'm telling you I would do next time. Next time, I'd start by slicing up the anaheims and just adding them in, without de-seeding them. Then, I'd probably add one jalapeňo, also sliced, also without seeding, and I'd let that cook for about a half hour. While that was going on, I'd add all the herbs and spices in the next ingredient group. Much of the spices and herbs are being added, not so much by measure, but more by taste, by the way.
Then, after about a half hour, I'd taste it and see if it were hot enough. If so, great, just let it keep cookin'. If not, I'd add another jalapeňo, and let it cook for another half hour. I'd keep going like that until it was just as hot as I'd like it.
Then, once it's hot enough, I'd let it simmer for about another half hour or so. At that point, I'm back to where I was on Sunday. I set up my little 8" with a cup of rice and 2 cups of water, and put that on some coals to boil. This was also done with the lid on, and only bottom heat. I kept checking on the beans, and they were done right (with a bit of salt) and ready to go.
Dinner was served!
Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Outdoor Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.
Last weekend, Jodi gave me this recipe for a really simple pulled pork roast that turned out really good. I tried to do some cool sides along with it, but they didn't turn out as well. Actually, the potatoes did, but the rice and beans, not so much. I had a lot of things I was trying to do in addition to cooking, and it just didn't do too well.
The recipe was originally for a crock pot, so I modded it a bit for dutch oven, but not really too much.
Pineapple Apricot Pulled Pork
12" Deep Dutch Oven
12-14 coals above
10-12 coals below
4-6 lbs of pork roast (I had two loin roasts that I think were 2.5 - 3 lbs each)
Liberal shakes of salt, pepper, thyme, parsley
1 can pineapple chunks, with juice
1 jar apricot preserves
3 apricots, sliced thin
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Mustard
More salt and pepper
Liberal shakes of cinnamon*
Juice of 1 lemon*
I started by putting the spices in the first set on the roasts and rubbing them in a bit. Then I put them in the 12" deep dutch oven and roasted them. I pretty much went with a "low and slow" approach to the heat. I kept the coals replenished, but always on the low side of the counts. I wanted it to take a longer time to cook, and just to take it easy. I actually roasted for about 3 hours.
When the thermometer said they were done, they looked really, really good just as they were. I thought about just slicing and serving them as is. But I pulled them out and shredded them with the fork. I put them back into the pot. In retrospect, I probably would've removed about half of the liquid that was at the bottom of the dutch oven first. Not all of it, but some. It did end up a bit gloppy and I had to add some flour to thicken it up at the end.
I put the dutch oven back out on the coals, but this time in more of a baking configuration, with more heat on top. I added all of the ingredients in the second set. Actually, those marked with the * were not included. I thought about those later, as I was eating it. "Wow, this is really good! It would've been even better with...*" So, if you make this recipe, I recommend you try those ideas.
The potatoes were really cool.
There are some dishes you do fancy things to that make it taste better, and then there are some dishes you do fancy things to because it simply looks better. This one, really, is both.
I got the idea from Medium Rare, Please. He's a fun blogger to read, 'cause he takes a lot of pictures along the way as he's cooking.
So, these are basically just seasoned baked potatoes, but with a twist. You slice them, thin, most of the way through. Then, you slide some garlic slices in between some of the potato slices. Finally, you coat the potatoes in olive oil, and sprinkle on spices. He suggested black and white sesame seeds. I couldn't find any of those, but I thought I'd choose my spices as much for color as taste. So, I did salt and pepper, of course, as well as white sesame seeds, then for a bit more black, I did poppy seeds. Finally, for a touch of red, some paprika.
The rice and beans... Well, we won't talk about those until I can pull them off... But really, with the meat and the potatoes, some veggies would have gone better anyway, and maybe some tortillas. Just a thought... I need to learn more about menu planning.
In an effort to start establishing some "pillar content" here at the black pot, I'm embarking on a series of series. Each one will be three to four entries long, and I might even mix them up a bit.
There are three basic types of typical meat dishes, and I'll be cooking and publishing some good ones of each kind: Chicken recipes, beef recipes, and pork and ham recipes. When all that's done, I might just add in some seafood recipes.
Sorry, vegans. I'm a carnivore.
The first one is a very delicious and very, very simple one, too, so it also falls in the "basic dutching" category.
Jodi and I were attending a local expo, and there were some cooking demonstrations going on. I, of course, was enthralled. Jodi, not so much. But she sat there and endured it, and when the chef was all done and she tried what he'd been cooking, she was enthralled, too. We exchanged glances, and it was clear to both of us what I'd be cooking for sunday dinner!
Dutch Oven Fried Chicken, Wrapped in Bacon
12" Dutch Oven 18-22 coals underneath, no coals on top, lid off.
1-1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts (about one piece per serving) 1 lb thick-sliced, peppered bacon (you can use thin, unpeppered, if you must) Salt Juice of 2-3 lemons
You'll also need some wooden skewers
This one was so simple it was almost embarrassing. But it is soo, sooo good.
I used boneless, frozen chicken Breasts. The chef at the expo used chicken Tenderloins. If I'd had any, I probably would have, too, because they're already the size and shape you need. As it was, I had to use breasts.
I thawed them, and once they were thawed, I lit up the coals. I came in and sliced the chicken into thirds in such a way as to have them be shaped in long, thick strips.
Then, I picked up a skewer, and a strip of bacon, and poked through one end of the bacon strip. Then I skewered through the chicken piece, so the skewer ran through the length of the chicken and came out the other end. I wrapped the bacon tightly around the chicken to about half way, when the strip ran out. Then, I stuck another piece of bacon on the skewer on the other end, and wound it tightly back to the middle. I shaped it a bit with my hand, and it sayed pretty well.
Finally, I broke off the skewer so that there wasn't much wood on either end of the chicken. Just enough to hold the bacon in place. I put that into my dutch oven. I repeated that process until I ran out of either chicken strips or bacon strips. In this case, I had one strip of chicken left over, and no room left in the dutch oven.
By then, my coals were hot, so I poured a bunch of them out of my chimney and onto my little dutch oven table. I put the dutch oven on top, and soon they started frying.
This is really so simple, because really, I was using the dutch oven as if it were a skillet.
Before long, it was crackling and sizzling. Bit by bit, I turned them with a short set of tongs (don't use, please, the same tongs you use for the coals!). If I were to do this again, I'd let them cook pretty well on each side before turning them, because that would help the bacon to stay in place. As it was, I was impatient, and some of the pieces unraveled a bit.
After they'd been cooking on a couple of sides, I got out the lemons. Actually, this time, I had a bottle of lemon juice, but if I'd had them, I'd have used fresh lemons. Nonetheless, I splattered some juice over the chicken pieces. That, of course, set up new waves of sizzling, and a lucious new wave of smells, to mix with the bacon, the chicken, and the pepper. Finally, after 20 to 30 minutes, it was done, and I brought it in.
It was way, way delicous, and it was so simple. You can't go wrong with this one. I also made a potato salad out of bacon and blue cheese. The chef at the demo had also done this. It was great, and also simple, but I'll save that recipe for another day!
Today, I made Seafood Chowder. It would have been clam chowder, but we were out of those little cans of clams, and instead we had the little cans of crab and shrimp (about the size of tuna cans, you know. Same stuff).
What made it very interesting was that I made it without a recipe. With only my brainz as my guide. It was very exciting to fly without a net, so to speak, and to have it turn out so well.
I used the Roux base that Steven had shown me a few weeks ago, and just treated it a little bit differently, since I wasn't making a cheese sauce. I know, I know... Once I get a hold of something hot, I don't let up, do I?
Anyway, since I didn't have a recipe, I'm just going to talk you through it.
The first thing I did, after lighting up some coals, was get out one of my smaller dutch ovens and get it on top of about 15 coals or so, so it was getting good and hot. Into it, I put a half of a one-pound package of bacon, cut and separated into little squares. That started cooking.
Once that was going, I got out my 12" dutch oven, which was the one that I was going to do the actual chowder in, and got it on some coals, probably closer to 20. I had diced up some onions, and minced up some garlic (a couple of cloves) and I got that browning in that 12 dutch oven. At this point, there were no lids on, and, obviously, no coals on top.
While that was cooking, I was in the kitchen, quartering and slicing the potatoes, and slicing some celery. I did about four potatoes, and three or four stalks of celery.
Pretty soon, the bacon was nice and crisp, and the onions were starting to brown. It was a pretty cheap grade of bacon, so there was lots of grease left in the smaller dutch oven. I pulled the bacon out and put it in with the onions, and left the drippings. To that, I added some flour. You don't want to add it too quickly, because you could easily add too much. I added until it was a little runnier than cookie dough. I just let it cook.
I wanted to see what happened as you cook a roux longer and longer, so I let it go for a while. It gradually got more and more brown. Finally, I saw that it was getting nice and tanned, so I pulled that dutch oven off the coals.
In the meantime, the onions, garlic, and bacon were still browning nicely in the other dutch oven. I added a pint carton of cream, and about half that much of milk, maybe less. To help it to boil, I put the lid on.
Once it was boiling, I added the potatoes, the celery, and three little cans of seafood, with the liquid. I figured the seafood stock in the cans would enhance the flavor. Once it was boiling again, I added some of the roux, about a tablespoon at a time, stirring vigorously to break it up in the soup. I watched carefully after each tablespoonful of roux for a minute to check the thickness before adding more. If it goes too thick, I guess you can always just add more milk, but I don't want to catch myself adding and adding to catch up with myself over and over again.
Pretty soon, it's nice and thick, but still more of a soup than a sauce. You can make it how you like it.
At that point, I added some parsley, some salt and pepper (to taste on all three), and also some lemon juice. Then I pulled some of the coals out from under so that it would go from boil to simmer, and put the lid back on.
I would check it about every 15 minutes, just to check the taste and the done-ness of the potatoes. It didn't take long, maybe 45 minutes to be done.
While that was happening, I made some homemade bisquick and then some Red Lobster-style garlic cheese biscuits in another 12" dutch oven. I'll write about those tomorrow or Tuesday.
There are some local Chinese restaurants here in Salt Lake City that do something called “Mongolian Stir Fry" (sometimes: "Barbecue”). You get a bowl and you go through this line like a buffet. First you pass the meats. There’s all these meats that are sliced really thin, almost like potato chips. Beef, pork, chicken, and others are all there. Then you go past noodles and vegetables. You get to choose what you want, and you put it all in your bowl. Then you get to pour in all kinds of sauces, and add garlic and hot sauce if you like.
Then you hand it off to a chef (who, in Salt Lake City, is usually Mexican, it seems. Go figure…), and they put it on this big round metal disc like a table, heated with gas from below. They flip it and toss it. If you’re lucky, you get a chef who’s a bit showy about it. Finally, in a whoosh, they scrap the cooked food off the cooking table and onto your plate and hand it to you, ready to eat.
I love it. It’s great food, and fun to watch. One thing I love about it is, like wokked stir fry, the veggies are cooked, but still crisp.
So, I got to thinking that I could do that, too, in my dutch oven. And today, I tried it.
Dutch Oven Mongolian Stir Fry
8” Dutch Oven 12” Dutch Oven
8-10 coals each above and below 8” dutch oven 20+ coals below 12” dutch oven
In the 8”
2 cups chicken Broth
1 cup rice
salt
The Mongolian Stir Fry line
Chicken, sliced thin
Beef, sliced thin
Pork, sliced thin
Shrimp
Mushrooms, sliced
Celery, sliced
Onions, sliced
Bean sprouts
Snow peas
And any other veggie you care to add
The Sauces
Minced garlic
Soy sauce
Vineagar
Teriyaki
Hot Sauce
Salt
Pepper
Other herbs and spices
Any other oriental market sauces you care to add
I started out by lighting and heating up the coals for the 8” dutch oven. Light extras, because you’ll be using more for the 12” and you’ll need them to keep the fires going. While those were getting hot and white, I sliced up the meat and the veggies.
I put the rice and the stock into the small dutch oven and put it on the coals. The way I cook rice is to simply watch it for steam venting. That tells me that it’s been boiling for a bit at that point, and I just keep it on for about another 10 minutes. Then I pull the coals off, and just let it sit for a while longer with the lid on. The less you remove the lid, the better. If you can cook it completely without ever lifting the lid, you’ve perfected the art of cooking rice in a dutch oven!
Once the rice is on the coals, I set up the side fire with more coals. By the time the rice is almost done, those coals are ready. I put those coals on the little dutch oven table and put the 12” dutch oven on them, no lid, with a couple of shakes of olive oil on the bottom. Then I called the family dinner!
They picked up bowls in the kitchen, and filled them with the ingredients they wanted in their stir fries, and poured on the sauces they wanted, as well as the spices they wanted. They brought these to me, the chef!
By this time, the dutch oven and the oil was heated, and I just took the first bowl and poured it in. I had a couple of wooden spoons and I used them to stir the food as it was cooking. At first, I just did a quick stir to make sure it all got coated with the oil, then kept it cooking, stirring and tossing it every few minutes.
While it was cooking, I put rice in the bottom of their bowl, and when it was all done (I might have added a little salt, pepper, and garlic occasionally), I scooped it out with the spoons and put it onto the rice. Maybe 3-5 minutes tops, dinner DONE!
This would be a great way to host a party. You'd just have to make sure that you had enough ingredients and rice for everyone. You could even have 2-3 dutch ovens going, each cooking the stir fry.
Bonus note!
This morning, before church, Brendon was going to make his famous Pizza for his visiting grandpa. He asked me if he could do it in the dutch ovens. Duh! Of course!
So, this turned into a full dutch oven weekend. Three whole meals cooked in the black pots!
A while ago, we bought this rack of ribs, and I always thought we’d just throw it on the grill. But this week, I got to thinking that it would be fun to try and do them up in the dutch oven. I looked around and found a bunch of different recipes, and a few ideas.
I found a bunch of recipes that made it out to be truly the ultimate in basic dutching. One, in fact, was the purest of simple. It said to cut apart the ribs, put them in the dutch oven and pour barbecue sauce over them, then to cook them for about an hour and a half.
It doesn’t get much more basic than that!
So, even though I like it simple, I can’t leave it at that… You know me! So, I just had to tweak it up a bit. First a spice rub, then some homemade barbecue sauce.
It is still very simple, only two steps. My son proclaimed it the best ribs he’s ever eaten. I was even a little bit impressed, myself! I based the recipe off of one I got from the book of recipes from the 2008 IDOS World Championship Cook Off*. So, it’s at least got a great pedigree.
Dutch Oven BBQ Pork Ribs
12” dutch Oven 8-9 coals below, 17-18 above
2-3 lbs rack of pork ribs
One medium onion
The Spice Rub
1 Tbsp garlic powder
½ Tbsp paprika
½ Tbsp salt
½ Tbsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
The BBQ Sauce
1 18oz jar apricot preserves
2 8oz cans tomato sauce
½ cup mustard
½ cup molasses
2 Tbsp red wine vineagar
½ cup brown sugar
1-2 Tbsp crushed red peppers
¼ cup lemon juice
I started by lighting up about 35 coals or so, enough for the pot and a few extra for the side fire. While those were getting warmed up, I got the ribs ready. First, I mixed up the spices in the rub. Next, I put a little oil in the bottom of the pot. Then I sliced up the onion, and layered it over the bottom of the dutch oven. I cut the rack of ribs into three pieces (you could cut it into individually separate rib bones if you wanted), and coated them on both sides with the spice rub, placing them into the dutch oven. I put that on the coals.
While that was cooking, I mixed up the sauce. I just put it all into a bowl, and mixed it up.
After about a half hour, I added some more fresh coals into the side fire. Within 15 minutes, the original coals were pretty died down and I was replacing them with the newer coals. I checked the ribs and they were cooking up nicely.
Pretty soon after replenishing the coals, I brought out the BBQ sauce, and poured it over each rib piece. I turned each one over and smothered the other side as well.
I wanted the sauce to glaze onto the meat, so instead of just putting the lid back on, I wedged one side open a little bit, so the moisture could escape. Since some heat would be escaping, too, I added a few extra coals on the bottom and on the top.
The total cooking time was between an hour and a half to two hours. Probably closer to two.
When I brought it in, it was covered with this delicious glaze, and the smell of the sauce permeated the house. Wow. It was GREAT!
So, today is Cinco de Mayo.There are those that would say that this is more of an American holiday than a Mexican one. It’s not even a national mandatory holiday. Originally, it celebrates a victory over the French at the battle of Puebla in the 1860’s.Now, it’s a chance for Mexicans in America to celebrate their heritage.Like for a day we all get to be Mexican, like on St Patrick’s Day, we all get to be Irish.
At any rate, in my own attempt to be Mexican for a day, I made some Chile Verde.As usual, I gathered this recipe from a number of sources, mostly from the good folks at the Dutch Oven Cooking Yahoo Group.
Whenever I have chile verde, I remember once when we were foster parents, in a mex-american restaurant with one of the kids we were hosting at the time.He was of Mexican descent, probably second or third generation.He was getting all uptight about how inauthentic the food and atmosphere was, and talking all about brown pride and “la raza”.Then when he ordered it, he pronounced it like a gringo: “chilee virdee”.He was a funny kid.
Anyway, here’s the recipe I used.I don’t know how “authentic” it is, but man it was tasty!
1 jalapeno, sliced (or more, to taste. In retrospect, this verde turned out pretty mild. I'd have added another jalapeno or two.)
8 large tomatillo, husk peeled and coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons ground sage
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon dried ancho chile powder
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tsp corn starch
First, I got some coals going, and I sliced up the onions.I put the oil in the bottom of the dutch oven, and added the onions, the garlic and the pork.I put all that on the coals to brown.
Then, in a bowl, I chopped up all the other veggies (I’d never used tomatillos for anything before), and added the spices.The amounts here were from a recipe.They’re good guidelines, but I didn’t stick to close to them.
Once the meat was browning, I added everything else, and let it boil for about 45 minutes, covered.Then, I let it simmer for another 45 minutes to an hour or so uncovered, to boil down, some.By that time the tomatillos had dissolved, like tomatoes do, and I added the cornstarch (mixed with a bit of water to help it dissolve), just for a tich of thickening.
In the process of cooking, some neighbors were having some friends over, and invited us as well, so I took the whole pot over.He’d made some rice, and heated up some black beans.I brought tortillas as well.They also had pork chops and veggies, and it make for a great pot luck party.
When I eat Chile Verde, I like to mix in the rice and the beans, tear up a flour tortilla, and scoop up the mixture in the tortilla. I don't know if it's more or less authentic, I just like the taste of all the foods mixed in. The rice adds texture, the pork and the chile give great flavor, and the the tortilla has a bit of a salty zing to it.
LD: wait...
I: wait...
Rank: wait...
C: wait...
