Dutch Oven Roasted Cauliflower and other veggies

My wife showed me this one in a picture online several months ago. It sure looked impressive, and tasty. She and I have been trying to lose weight with Weight Watchers in the last few months, so we’ve been doing a lot with veggies in general and cauliflower in particular.

Roasting it this way looked so delicious and fancy, I knew I was going to try it. It turns out that it’s also very, very easy.

In this case, I took the opportunity to do this bake/roast as a side to some grilled chicken and pineapple. The whole meal was amazing.

12” Shallow Dutch oven
12 coals below
18 coals above

2 medium cauliflower heads
Oil, preferably a spray oil, but drizzling olive oil is good, too.
Your choice of seasonings. I used:
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Parsley
Oregano
A touch of cayenne powder

3 medium onions
Optional veggies:
2-3 carrots
2-3 stalks of celery
Fresh green beans


I started, as usual, by lighting up the coals. While they were getting hot, I prepared the veggies. I started by cutting the stalks and leaves off of the cauliflower heads. Then I set them into the Dutch oven and sprayed them with the oil spray. This will help both with the color when it roasts, and it will help the seasonings stick.

Then, I sprinkled on the seasonings as I thought of them. You can really do as you like with them. I kinda kept to a savory/herbal kinda thing. The paprika helped it to come out with a really dark red coating. Cumin, cinnamon, and turmeric, or even ground cloves would have helped it to have a more “curry-ish” flavor. I may try that someday.

I cut the onions in half, then quartered each half and tossed those into the bottom of the Dutch oven around the cauliflowers. The other veggies got sliced and added in as well, with a light dusting of salt

Then I set it out on the coals, as I listed above and let it bake. It was pretty breezy, so I had to replenish the coals about every 15 minutes. While it cooked, I turned my attention to grilling the chicken and the pineapple.

The recipe research I had done said to cook the cauliflower for an hour and 15 minutes. I did that, but in the end, it turned out to be a bit overdone. I would probably go about 45 minutes next time. I might do it with fewer coals, and make it a slower roast.

When it was time to serve, I cut each cauliflower head into quarter wedges and served it with some of the veggies scooped up and placed next to the chicken and pineapple slices.It made for a delicious and colorful plate!

Here's a shot of the chicken, just for fun.

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

Dutch oven Restoration and Reseasoning.

Last week, my neighbor let me take his Dutch oven and “rehab” it. As you can see from the pictures, it was pretty badly rusted. I did one of my own that had gotten all oxidized as well. Here, you can see a pic of them both. Mine is the long, oval one.

I started out by cleaning them off, using a wire brush attachment to my power drill. It wasn’t easy. My hands and wrists got really tired, and I had to do it in stages. Here’s a few pics of that process.

Then, I heated up my gas grill. I much prefer the grill because the process smokes a lot, and I’d rather not do that inside.

I adjusted the burners so that, with the lid down, it measured at about 500 degrees. I coated the Dutch ovens in vegetable oil. I normally like to use shortening, like Crisco, but I didn’t have any there. I put the oil in a spritz bottle to get better coverage. Then, I set one of them into the grill, upside down, with the lid separate (also coated). My grill wasn’t big enough to do them both at the same time. I let it bake for about a half hour or so, then (using heavy leather gloves) took it out and spritzed it again. It went back in for another half hour.

The first one, I pulled out to cool. The second one, I just left in the grill and turned off the gas.

Here’s what they look like when the came out:

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

Dutch Oven Balsamic Garlic Chicken with Asparagus

After doing a really fun Dutch oven demo for a good friend and his friends, I got excited again. It’s actually been a while since I’ve done Dutch oven in my own backyard. Between that fun demo, and my newest book, I’m getting stoked to start doing it with regularity again!

This recipe was really easy. We had some extra frozen chicken breasts, and I thought I’d use them up. I did a quick google search for recipe ideas, and one came up for a Balsamic Vinegar marinade. Well, that sounded yummy, so I tweaked it up based on what I had on hand, dressed it up with some veggies and asparagus, and here it is!

Dutch Oven Balsamic Garlic Chicken with Asparagus

12” shallow Dutch oven

10-12 coals below
18-22 coals above

The Marinade

6-8 chicken breasts (no skin), thawed (1-2 per diner)
1 cup balsamic Vinegar
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup water
1 medium onion, grated
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
Herbs and spices to your tastes (Here’s about what I used)
~1 Tbsp dried Oregano
~1 Tbsp dried Parsley
~1 tsp salt
~1 tsp pepper
~1 tsp paprika
A shake or two of chili powder or crushed red pepper flakes

The veggie base

1-2 medium onions, in chunks (see below)
3-4 medium potatoes, cubed
2 sweet peppers, sliced

~1 lb fresh asparagus

So, the night before I made the marinade. I put the liquids into a zip-top baggie and mixed them up. I wanted to onioniness to permeate the flavors, so I thought first of dicing it. But then, I peeled it, halved it and used a cheese grater on it. It turned into a very liquidy mush and it helped get the flavors into the chicken.

Then, I added the spices and flavorings and the chicken and mixed it all up. I shook and massaged the bag to make sure that all of the chicken was well covered.

When it was time to cook the next day, I started by lighting up the coals. While those were getting white-edged, I cut up the peppers, potatoes, and onions. When I do onions in chunks, I cut them in half, and then quarter each half. That makes nice wedges that are big enough to help lift the chicken above the bottom of the Dutch oven, but small enough to bite. I tried to make the potato pieces a similar size.

Assembling this dish for cooking is very simple. I tossed the veggies into the bottom of the pot and stirred them up just a bit. Then, I opened the bag of the marinaded chicken and layered those pieces on top of the veggies. Finally, I topped the lid and put it on the coals.

It cooks pretty quickly. I think that within about 40 minutes it was ready. At about 30 minutes or so, I snapped off the stringy ends of the asparagus and tossed them in on top of the chicken. The idea is to just let them steam and get that nice, rich, green color, and enhance the flavor. They should still be crunchy when they’re done. If you grab one by the end and hold it level, it shouldn’t droop. If it does, it’s been cooked too long.

Serve 1-2 of the breasts with the cooked veggies on one side and 3-4 asparagus sprigs on the other. It’s a beautiful, impressive, and delicious dish!

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