This past weekend we held our annual Dutch Oven Gathering (otherwise known as DOG). The heat was oppressive and standing over hot coals may have been a sign of insanity. But as always, we enjoyed lots of good food washed down with a healthy dose of laughter!
These dutch ovens are cast iron pots with a lipped lid and legs such as this one.
The cowboys and pioneers carried their dutch ovens with them on the trail. Basically anything that that you cook on a stove top or oven can be replicated in a dutch oven.
Ed got into dutch oven cooking several years ago and since then the iron fever has spread to my brothers and several friends. Every summer we invite everyone we know who owns a dutch oven to join us for a cook-off. You can read about 2010 and 2009.
This year nine men participated and 13 pots were in use. It is always fun to see everyone's creativity.
This year, apparently chicken was on the brain as nearly everyone brought chicken! Not that I'm complaining, everything was absolutely wonderful!
Ed's brother brought his Big Green Egg just for demonstration. His sausage-stuffed bacon-wrapped jalapenos made you sweat on the inside as bad as we were on the outside! But they were awesome.
And so were the cornish hens.
And the stromboli.
And the barbeque chicken.
And the catfish stew, and upside down peach cake, and....
After a meal like that, choosing a favorite to vote for is nearly impossible. This year there was a tie between Kent's chicken cordon bleu with stuffed mushrooms and Vaun's pizza pull apart bread.
Can't wait till next year!
But it would be nice if it wasn't 100 degrees!
What fun!
ReplyDeleteDeanna
This sounds like a lot of fun - best of all being that the men do the cooking. :) Just have it in Oct. and you probably won't have to worry about the heat. (Now I'm hungry after looking at all those pictures!)
ReplyDeleteWow! What a mouthwatering post Gina! I love the concept & creativity of the dishes (despite all the chicken- but I'm partial to craving chicken these days :) ) I'm sure that your children will have such fond memories of these times too!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like so much fun! I'd love to have a Dutch oven party. Everyone's happy face is wonderful to see. Thank you for showing us how much fun you had. If I were able to have a Dutch oven party, I think I'd wait till September or early October, though.
ReplyDeleteAha ~ the Special Event you were anticipating with the finishing touches on your addition. Looks great! What a fun theme for a reunion : )
ReplyDeleteWow what a great idea. They all look so awesome! Good thing the extension was finished just in time lol!!
ReplyDeleteStromboli in a dutch oven! Wild!
ReplyDeleteDoes that look like fun and yummy! Now you got me wanting to take out my dutch oven and start practicing.....maybe we could have a 1st annual DOG over here :-)
ReplyDeleteWe just recently inherited a dutch oven...now you're tempting Randy to experiment! :-) Looks like fun!
ReplyDelete~Eunice
I always want to know more when you do these posts. I would love the winning recipes. I would like to start doing something like this with our friends.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like fun; we're in Maryland and I second the notion of having this in the fall since last weekend was BRUTAL - a feels-like temp of 115-120 is not when I want to be doing any cooking of any kind!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! What yummy looking food you all cooked up! I've heard of Dutch Oven cook-offs. Sounds like a load of fun!
ReplyDeleteWow! I remember last years post!! Can't believe I've been reading along for that long! I so enjoyed this and it does make me want to research this type of cooking! I think it's best to cook outside in the warm months. Our house seems impossible to cool back down after an oven meal! We do a lot of grilling in the summer. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteAnnie
fantastic! dutch oven cookng is so much fun!
ReplyDeleteO my! That looks so good and like a lot of fun (minus the sweating, of course). I will have to forward this to my brother, who loves dutch oven cooking.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I'd love to learn how to use a dutch oven- have you ever posted tips or recipes?
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! we love cooking in a dutch oven. I would love to experiment more and actually make biscuits one day. Those dishes look yoummy. Do you suppose you might be able to share some of the recipes? :)
ReplyDeleteI think the consensus is that we need to host this in the fall (but then it gets dark so early, maybe spring?) and I need to share recipes!
ReplyDeleteI have found about any regular recipe works in a dutch oven. The heat is regulated by how many coals are put on the pot. It is a little trial and error. Sometimes something is overdone, but mostly it works well.
As you can see!
Gina
I want the pizza bread recipe!!!!
ReplyDeleteI think I gained weight juat reading this post!
Oh, this just looks like too much fun. I love it!
ReplyDeleteGina,
ReplyDeleteMaybe not late fall with early sunsets maybe Labor Day? ... but just not the DOG DAYS of summer. ha ha :D
That just looks like so much fun! A friend and I are planning to participate in our first cook off on August 6 at our county fair. I got interested in Dutch Oven Cooking in part from reading your blog.=)
ReplyDeleteHow delicious! I love dutch oven cooking, but I love dutch oven eating even more!!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like so much fun. Each year our church has a chili cook off that is popular but this sounds like more fun. Probably because I am not a chili fan.
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Diane
So, I just discovered your blog, looking up ideas on having a dutch oven party(we LOVE dutch oven). I know others suggested this, but we like to do dutch oven A LOT during october and novemeber(because we live in the desert- think 116 degree weather for 3-4 months). Or in march and April(easter weekend, spring break, etc). Love your blog. Looking forward to reading more. Thanks.
ReplyDelete