Dutch Oven Philly Steak Sandwiches

Last spring, while I was at a family party, one of my sisters -in- law made some steak sandwiches. She bought the buns, and made the meat in her crock pot. Well, my mind instantly went to the dutch oven. I started thinking of how I could make the same thing. But just doing the meat and the veggies would be too easy, of course. I needed to challenge myself. So, I decided that I would make the buns, too.

Well, that's all well and good, but I just filed it away in my list of ideas. Until last week, as I was contemplating what to make this week. I hadn't really tried anything new lately. I did a bigger batch of tamales for my wife's scrapbooking party, and there was the jambalaya a bit before that. Not much to write about, not much to read about, eh?

So, I found a recipe for hoagie rolls, and I'd gotten some meat and veggies. I was ready to give it a try!

Dutch Oven Philly Steak Sandwiches.

The Rolls

2x 12" shallow dutch ovens

10 coals below
20 coals above

• 5 tsp yeast (2 packets)
• 3 C water (1/2 C to start, 2 1/2 C later)
• 2 Tbsp sugar (1 to start, 1 later)
• 1/4 C vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp salt
• ~8 C flour (4 at first, add rest as you knead)

I started by mixing a half cup of warm water with the yeast and a Tbsp of sugar. I left it to foam up, and it did, pretty readily (about 5 minutes).

Then, in a mixing bowl, I put the rest of the water, the rest of the sugar, the oil, and the salt. To that, I added the yeast mixture.

I dumped in the first four cups of flour and started mixing. It was quite sticky, of course, as I stirred. I started adding the rest of the flour a cup at a time, stirring and mixing as I went. I used pretty much the full 8 cups. After it had stirred, I started kneading it until it all stuck together in a ball. Then I pulled it out of the bowl and set it onto the floured table, and started kneading in earnest. I kneaded for about 5-6 minutes, sprinkling on a little bit of flour as it needed it to keep from sticking. I scraped out the bowl and sprayed it with oil and put in the dough ball. I finished that off by spraying the top of the dough and covering it all with a plastic bag.

After about 45 minutes I was surprised to see how much it had risen. I mean, most of the bread recipes I've made don't rise that much at all, and I let them sit sometimes for as much as 2-3 hours. So, I started the coals on fire. I was a bit nervous about that, because it was sprinkling rain when I started them. But I could see it was moving over quickly, and the showers would be scattered. As it turned out, that was the last of the rain today.

Back to the dough. I punched it down and cut it into 8 equal pieces. In retrospect, I'd probably do 10 or 12, just to keep them from being so big. I rolled them in my hands, and cut diagonal slices across the top. I'd read that it allows the steam to escape the bread. I put them into the 12" dutch ovens as best I could. I tried to make at least an empty inch between each long dough ball. I too the ovens outside, and let them sit, "proofing" the bread for another 15-20 minutes or so, while the coals got hot.

Finally, I put them on the coals. It took a good 30 coals for each oven. I also had a few left over, and I added more to that so that I'd have enough hot coals for...

...The Meat

10" dutch oven

15-18 coals below

• 1 to 1 1/2 lbs finely sliced steak beef. I used "stir fry" beef, but I'm told you can get any cut of beef sliced Philly-style.
• 1-2 Tbsp oil
• 2 med onions
• 1 Green bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 jalapeno
• 2-3 Tbsp freshly chopped chives
• 1 Cup fresh sliced mushrooms
• liberal shakes of salt
• liberal shakes of steak seasoning mix
• a little water
• 1-2 Tbsp flour

I put the 10" dutch oven on a bed of coals, and packed them in underneath as best I could. Then I dumped in the meat pieces with the oil. I just cooked that, browning it, with a bit of stirring until it was pretty much cooked through. I also added the liberal shakes of the steak seasoning here.

While that was cooking, in between stirrings, I jumped inside and sliced up the veggie ingredients. The jalapenos I sliced pretty thin, and halved them. I don't like to get a big bite of chile surprise, but I do like the edge it gives the rest of the food. I put all the veggies in, and stirred it all up. I cooked it, covered, and stirred it occasionally.

Meanwhile, the bread was cooking. The coals count should have brought it up to 400 degrees. I baked it for about a half hour. After about 20 minutes, I pulled the dutch ovens off the coals, and let it continue baking with just the top heat. Next time, however, I think I'll keep it on the heat the full half hour, as the bottoms were a bit soft. Not really doughy, but not as crisp as I'd have liked. Still, the entire buns were done all the way through. I let them sit in the hot ovens, after I took the top heat off, for about another five minutes or so, just to let it finish. Then I took them out of the pots to let them cool and air out a little bit.

By this time, the veggies were cooked down pretty nicely. There was some water in it from the veggies and the meat, so I sprinkled on a little flour to thicken it up. My wife suggested a bit more "sauce" as we were eating, so I included the suggestion of a little water in the dutch oven as it's cooking. But I'm not convinced it needed it.

Finally, it was all ready to serve! We sliced open the buns, with a little mayo and mustard (not too much, to compete with the meat's own flavor), and topped with some swiss cheese. I was amazed. I think it was one of the best hot sandwiches I have ever tasted. And it was filling, too. I had a full one, and I finished half of my son's, and I was stuffed. I couldn't eat another bite to save my life. Hours later, I'm still full, just starting to feel like I could have a little som'pm som'pm for dessert.

Salmon and Jambalaya in the Dutch Oven

Last weekend, we had some good friends over for games and dinner. They're a young couple, and my wife and I had become fast friends with his parents, and watched him grow up. Now he's married and telling this story makes me feel really old...

Anyway, I made some dutch oven for them. I did a variation of the old Jambalaya recipe, combined with the Lemon Salmon recipe I did for my folks and at the cookoff. It turned out REALLY well.

I started off just making the jambalaya according to the recipe. The only thing I added was a hefty portion of medium-sized shrimp. I did cook it a bit differently, though. I put the dutch oven (a 12", open) on a lot of coals to cook the sausage, onions, and peppers, and then when I added the broth (I used a cup and a half) and the tomatoes and spices, I covered the oven, and did coals on top as well as under. Using more liquid and keeping the lid on cooked the rice much better, and I found it wasn't runnier, like I'd feared it would be.

When I put the broth and tomatoes, etc, into the dutch oven, I also set the salmon portions on top. I dusted them liberally with this really great cajun spice mix we've got, and then topped that with a slice of butter and a slice of lemon, just like the other salmon recipe.

I also tried to do some garlic butter cheese biscuits, but that didn't turn out so spectacularly. I did it from a mix, and added butter, grated cheese and minced garlic. They tasted OK, but I'm wanting really bad to match what they do at Red Lobster, and I'm not even getting close.

Still, I got lots of kudos on the jambalaya, and my friend said he doesn't even really like seafood. So, that worked out well!

I get to do Dutch Oven Tamales again this weekend, for my wife's scrapbooking party!

Ham in the 14” Dutch Oven

Here’s a tradition in many Mormon wards (congregations): The Dinner Group. Maybe John, over at Mormon Foodie will take it up and talk about it some day. The basic idea is that everyone that wants to signs up, and then each family is assigned to a group, usually of 3-5 total families. They get together for dinner once a month, rotating the household that hosts each time, until everyone has had a turn, and they’ve all gotten to know each other.

Then it’s all shuffled up and it starts all over again. Fellowship over food.

So, tonight was our turn to host. I immediately thought about cooking up a meal in my dutch oven, so that I could show off my mad dutchin’ skillz—I mean: humbly serve my fellow man… of course...

But what to cook that would do both?

Last Easter, I’d done a big ham in a Dr Pepper sauce, and I wanted to try that again. I looked through my records and I couldn’t find the recipe. So, I dug into the ‘net and looked all over but I couldn’t find the one I’d done. I did, however, find one at Byron’s site, for Dutch Oven Dr Pepper Pork Ribs. I thought I could mod it for the ham, so I did.

Dutch Oven Dr Pepper Ham

14” Dutch Oven
15-17 briquettes each above and below

• 10 lb ham shank
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 20 oz can pineapple chunks
• 1 11 oz can mandarin oranges
• 20-24 oz Dr Pepper (2 cans, 1 bottle, etc…)
• 1 cup mild-medium commercial salsa
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp minced garlic
• Salt & Pepper (lots of coarse ground pepper, for my taste)

I started by thawing the ham overnight in the fridge. I took it out of the fridge, and put it in the sink (still in its plastic packaging) when I woke up this morning. I’d start cooking it at around 3:00.

I put the ham into the dutch oven, and cut half-inch scores criss-crossed over the top of the meat, about 2 inches apart. Then I added the pepper, the tomato, and the onion. I drained the syrup of the canned fruits into a bowl, and dumped the pineapples and oranges into the oven, too.

I mixed the fruit syrups, the Dr Pepper, the salsa, the brown sugar and the garlic in the bowl, then poured that into the dutch oven. I suppose you could dump it all into the oven at once, but the Dr Pepper helps dissolve the sugar.

Then I put it on the heat. I actually didn’t use the briquettes I recommend above, but I think that using these numbers, especially on the higher side, will yield better results. I cooked the ham for about 3 hours, and, while it was done, I think it would have been better done had the oven been a bit hotter. Every half hour, I'd open it up, and use a ladle to pour the juice and veggies/fruits on top of the ham. About every hour, I'd refresh the coals, so if you do this, make sure you've got your side fire goin' on.

(Note from Mark, posted 8/5/07: I found a chart published by Lodge that showed that the amount coals I had started with would have produced only about 300 to 315 degrees. The numbers listed above, especially on the high side, will give you 350 to 375, which will cook much better.)

Now, through all this time, I was also making my becoming-famous rolls, that I did at the cookoff. You can find that recipe here. I actually did a double batch, because we were having a lot of people coming over, and I wanted to make sure that there was enough. I did those in two 12” shallow dutch ovens.

When it was all done, I carved the ham from the oven, and served those slices on a plate. In a separate bowl, I used a straining spoon to pull up the veggies and fruits as a sweet/salty side dish.

The verdict was that everyone was thrilled with the meal. One family brought a salad, another brought dessert, and we all had a great time. And what a spread!

It Doesn't Always Work

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose...

And a whole bunch of other cliches that are definitely true.

I tried making bagels today, and failed miserably. I don't know if they didn't raise enough, or if the boiling stage was too hot or not hot enough, or maybe the baking wasn't hot enough or whatever. But it didn't work. I ended up with things that looked like pancakes with the consistency of shoe leather.

Yum!

Well, one thing's for sure. When I fail, I dig in and research and learn until I figure out how to do it right. If anyone out there has any insights into bagel baking, let me know, 'cause I could sure use it now.

However, the night wasn't a total waste. I also made a Dr Pepper dump cake that I've been reading about on a dutch oven yahoogroup. Up until a few weeks ago, dump cakes and cobblers were, like, been there done that. Peaches and yellow cake. Ho hum... But this group started showing me all kinds of different cakes and fillings to use. They're really fun and experimental people.

Here's the one I did, along with my own ideas:

For a 12” DO:
7 coals below
12 coals above

Pour 2 cans of cherry pie filling in the bottom of the oven, and spread it around

Sprinkle on some chopped pecans and brown sugar. I have no idea how much. Pour on a can of Dr Pepper (not diet).

Pour one dry chocoalate cake mix over the fruit mixture. Quarter a cube of butter and scatter those over the top of the cake mix.

Pop on the coals and bake it for 40 to 50 minutes.

The amazing thing about a dump cake is that you don't mix the cake mix. You just pour it on top. The boiling of the liquids will convection mix the powder and create a unique tasting, delicious cake. You dump everything in the pot and bake it, hence the name.

You can try this with virtually any cake, filling, and soda. Mine turned out kinda "Black Foresty" with the cherries and the chocolate. Yummy. If I were to adjust it, tho, I'd probably not do the brown sugar. It's plenty sweet with the cake, the cherries and the DP.

So, I'll keep you posted if I try the bagel thing again. I am a little disappointed, but I'm not in despair or anything. I know there's tricks to making bagels, and I'll just have to keep trying. It took me three tries to make bread, and two to make a half decent pie. My general pattern is to go back to doing things that I know pretty well for a while and then tackle it again.

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!