Dutch oven are used for cooking without utensils for your perfect evening outside. Here are seven recipes to put your Dutch oven to work.
1. Cherry Clafouti Recipe
Complexity level: It is an easy and quick recipe for the evening.
Time taken: Takes 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
Ingredients
12 ounce fresh or frozen cherries, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 cup flour, butter for applying on oven
Process
Heat coals until hot and ashy. Meanwhile whisk eggs and sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and frothy. Milk, vanilla and flour are added and whisked together and kept aside.
Apply coats of butter on the sides and bottom of oven. Frozen cherries are allowed to thaw in a colander before using and fresh cherries are rinsed, stem and cherries are pitted. Prepared cherries are spread evenly on the Dutch oven.
The prepared batter is poured over the cherries in the Dutch oven. The Dutch oven is heated with coals from top and bottom. Cook with lids for 25 minutes and then without lids for 5 minutes until top is brown or insert a knife and see if it comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes before removing. Cut into slices and serve.
2. Apple fluff
Complexity level: Easy and quick to prepare.
Time required: 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
Ingredients
2 apples, 6 eggs, 1.5 cups flour, 1.5 cup milk, 1 tablespoon salt, 3/4 stick butter, 3 tablespoons cinnamon, 1/2 cup sugar
Process
While heating dutch oven, whip eggs in a mixing bowl along with milk, flour and salt. Cinnamon and sugar is added to the baggie.
Melt butter to coat oven. Each apple slice is shake in the baggie to coat with sugar and cinnamon. All slices of apples are lined at the bottom of the dutch oven and covered with the prepared batter. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating regularly.
Check for batter to cooked through by picking with a toothpick or running a knife. If it does not stick then the apple fluff is ready.
3. Baked beans
Complexity level: Easy
Time required: 10 minutes to prepare and 1 hour to cook.
Ingredients
2 lb pork and beans, 1/4 cup mustard, 4 slices of bacon, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 chopped onion, 4/8 cups vinegar, 1/2 cup brown sugar.
Process
All ingredients except bacon is mixed thoroughly and poured in the dutch oven and bacon are lined on the top. Oven is covered and baked at 350 degree for an hour.
4. Chicken and dumplings
Complexity level: Medium
Time required: Takes 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
Ingredients
2 large envelop chicken noodles, ready made soup mix, 112 oz can chicken meat, buttermilk biscuit mix.
Process
Heat oven first to 250 degrees. To half normal water add the soup mix along with chicken and bring to boil. The prepared biscuit mix is drop in spoonfuls on the chicken soup. This mixture is baked at about 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until chicken dumplings is cooked properly. You can add mixed vegetables if desire.
5. Cajun yellow rice
Complexity level: Easy
Time required: 40 minutes
Ingredients
4 slices of bacon, 6 large eggs, 1/4 chopped bell pepper, 1/4 onion finely chopped, 1/2 tomatoes finely chopped, 2 ribs of celery, 1/4 stick of butter, 3 cups cooked rice, salt and pepper to taste.
Process
The bacon is fried in the dutch oven and removed leaving the grease behind and add butter, onion, celery and bell pepper. When all is cooked add rice and small pieces of meat and stirred in pan. Move rice aside and add eggs in the center and mixed until rice turns yellow. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Campfire chicken
Complexity level: Medium
Time required: 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking time and 15 minutes of preparation
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, a cup of flour, a teaspoon each of rosemary, thyme, 1/4 cup oil, a can of condensed soup, celery or mushroom.
Process
Chicken is cut into parts. All spices are mixed with flour, salt and pepper. Heat dutch oven and fry the chicken coated with the flour mixture until done and color becomes brown. Drain excess oil and line chicken in the oven and cover with chicken soup. Cover and shimmer in low heat for an hour. Check chicken if well cooked and serve with remaining juice as gravy.
7. Banana coffee cake
Complexity level: Easy
Time required: 10 minutes for preparation and 25 minutes for cooking
Ingredients
2 ripe bananas, a box of butter yellow cake mix, 3/4 cup brown sugar, a teaspoon of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a tablespoon of melted butter.
Process
The prepared cake mix is poured in the dutch oven. Pour the two mashed bananas on the cake mix. Sprinkle mixture of cinnamon, flour, brown sugar and butter on the mashed bananas. Bake for 25 minutes in the dutch oven at 350 degrees. Check cake by inserting a knife or a toothpick, if it comes out clean then cake is ready. Cool for a few minutes and serve.
