Brendon Covers the DOG!

Here's the video that Brendon and I made of the Dutch Oven Gathering (DOG) this weekend! He did most of the videography and the narration, and I edited it.



His Baked Ziti was one of the biggest hits of the event! There was a lot of other great food there, too, including the BBQ ribs, and the Jambalalya! I'll have our recipes posted up over the next few days. In the meantime, enjoy the video!


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

"Friendship" Fish Soup in a Dutch Oven

I have some good friends across the street.  They're a young couple, and he's a techie and a graphic designer.  He's been working on a website that looks really great called absoluteblastcaps.com, and he's been asking me for some SEO help and advice.

Now, sometime last summer (or it might have been last spring), he went fishing and gave me some of the fish he'd caught.  He also made me some fish soup.  Man, it was delicious!  It was a mess to eat, though, because the fish was just cut up into chunks.  It was gutted and scaled, but not filleted.  So, you're eating the broth and the veggies with a spoon, an you're pulling the fish meat off the bones with your fingers, and it's a mess.  Really, if you eat this stuff, you'll want to be with good friends, because it's a mess.  Did I mention that?

So, because of that, and since it's his recipe and method, and since he gave me the fish, and since I invited him and his wife over to sample it tonight, I'm calling it "Friendship Fish Soup".

"Friendship" Fish Soup in a Dutch Oven

12" Dutch Oven
20-24 coals below

• 4-6 cups water
• 2-3 medium fish
• 4-5 medium onions, sliced
• 4-5 stalks celery, sliced
• 5-6 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 small-medium zuchinni, quartered and sliced
• 4-5 medium carrots, sliced
• 1-2 green peppers, sliced
• 1 jalapeno, cored, seeded, and sliced
  
• Bay leaves
• Basil
• ~1/4 cup lemon juice, to taste
  
• ~1 Tbsp Salt, to taste
  
• Pepper to taste
  

This is really an easy dutch oven recipe to make.  You slice up the veggies, you cut up the fish, you put it on the coals and you cook it.

Like I said, earlier, he gave me the fish last spring, so I gutted, scaled, cleaned them and then froze them.  I just got them out in the early afternoon and let them thaw.  I cut off the tails, and then cut the fish into 4 2-inch chunks.  I put that in the dutch oven, bones, skin and all.  I put in all the other ingredients, and put it on the coals, covered with the lid. 

Really, you can do this with whatever veggies you've got on hand.  I went really heavy on the onions, because I like a soup that's got some good veggie substance to it.  Potatoes would have been another good one to add.  Noodles or rice would have also worked.  I like keeping the broth pretty clear, though, because you're gonna be sticking your fingers in it...

Every fifteen minutes or so, I'd check it and taste the broth.  Add salt, pepper, and the seasonings you like as you would.  I think I'd have added a bit more jalapeno, or only cored half the jalapeno I added, so there would've been a bit more heat.

I thought about going with some poultry stock to start with, instead of water, but I finally figured that we'd be making a great fish and veggie stock, so I just used water.

I really liked it.  My wife wasn't as enthused by it, and didn't like the idea of picking fish bones out of her soup, so she only had the veggies.  Still, we had a great time visiting with our friends, and I really like the recipe.  Every once in a while, I make something that I like, even though hardly anyone else will. 



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: LDS Music Connecting, Mormons and Digg.com,5 Years of SOHOMan

Dutch Oven Apple French Toast Dessert

So, last time, when I posted that I wanted to try out your dutch oven recipes, I got one from Reid Rust.  I've been a bit slow trying it out, but I did it tonight, and it was great!  Here's what Reid sent me:


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I really enjoy your blog.  Thanks much!

Here’s a recipe for you. 

I kind of invented this one by combining cobbler and French toast recipes.  I call this one Apple French Toast Casserole.  It makes a great sweet breakfast or dessert.

Ingredients

2 large cans (or 3 regular) apple pie filling.

1 stick butter  (Squeeze Parkay makes this real easy while camping.)

1 cup brown sugar

2 granny smith apples diced.

1 loaf thickly sliced French bread.  Sourdough works well, too.

1 pint whipping cream

8 eggs

2 tbl spoons vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

The night before….

Lay out French bread to dry.  This helps with absorbing the custard the next day.

Combine beaten eggs, whipping cream, vanilla, and cinnamon and let rest in refrigerator overnight so the custard mixture can age and set up. 

Assembly….

Lay out slices French bread in a baking pan and pour egg custard mixture over the bread.  Turn the bread slices to insure they are completely coated.  If you give it time, the bread will absorb all of the egg custard.  This is what you want.

In the dutch oven place ½ stick butter  diced across the bottom.  No need to melt, just spread it out.

Empty the cans of apply pie filling into the bottom of the dutch oven. 

Sprinkle ½ cup of the brown sugar over the apple pie filling.

Now begin layering the well soaked bread.  Between each layer spread a little of the diced apples, a sprinkling of brown sugar and a little diced butter.  Finish up the last layer with the remaining diced apple, butter, and brown sugar.  If there is any custard mixture left, you can pour it over the top for extra goodness.

Baked with 12 coals on the bottom and 12 coals on the top for 45 minutes.  After 45 minutes check to insure the egg custard (French toast) has set.   If additional cooking time is needed, reduce the number of coal on the lid to keep the top from burning.

Serve as is or with maple syrup or ice cream.

   

Reid Rust

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Now, I did it pretty much just as Reid explained it, here.  I often like to tweak up recipes, and make them "my own".  This dutch oven recipe didn't need much tweaking.  I didn't let the bread or the egg mixture sit overnight, though.  I set it all up in the morning and cooked it at about 5:00 PM.  It still turned out great. 

By the way, even though it was a tasty dessert, I'm definintely NOT filing this one in the "Healthy Recipes" category!  Lots of sugar, here...  Lots of calories.  Still, it was yummmmy...

Thanks, Reid!


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: 7 Years of LDS Pop Culture, A Home Business Twitter Primer, Some Old LDS Music Songs