A Dutch Oven Adventure

A Dutch Oven Adventure                                     July 24^th  2010                  page 1

This is not a funny story.....well...  I do apologize for the length of it but this is what happened.

I like cooking, nothing fancy and often not that good.

I like cooking in my Dutch oven although I seldom do and when I do it’s mostly in the summer.  Sometimes on the gas grill, sometimes in a campfire or even buried in the ground. 

I like to keep it simple and nothing spoils an idea like having to run to the store (s) for ingredients.

This mourning I found in the refrigerator a beef arm roast, ha! Just picture an old cow leg sticking out of an icebox.  It was a nice chunk, typical of a chuck roast, a lot of fat and gristle but this time not much bone.

Now this kind of meat takes a lot of time to prepare and to do that it needs lots of patience cooking at a low gentle heat. You can cook it done in an hour or so or use a pressure cooker but lordy it may be tuff, and have a tendency to stick in your teeth with no floss to be had. If your idea of cooking is akin to welding or running a blast furnace then you’d best stick to cooking chicken. Or frogs, some people claim they taste like chicken.

But if you want something that is really good, something you’d fight the dog over and eat it behind closed doors well than you do it slow and low and beef is the game.

So I light up the gas grill, dig out one of the small Dutch ovens (I have four now that I recently acquired two from Mr. Craig Shultz, a renowned authority of D.c.s) and began.

First a little olive oil, then a little wine goes in the pot while it’s heating up to where you could cook a hamburger in it.  Mean while I take that old chunk of leg bone, salt and pepper it then insert small slices of garlic in the meat here, there, everywhere.

With the meat on plate you approach that really smoking pot gingerly and carefully lift the lid.

It’s like you’re throwing the virgin in the caldron where you cast the victim (slowly) to the gods. It’s like in the movies where the monster comes alive.  The pot is just smoking nicely.  It’s when the liquid produces a nice good sizzle when you just touch the meat to it.

 If the meat is good and dry there should be no spitting of hot liquid coming back at you.   Put the cover back on and wait 3-4 minutes then take a peak.  If the underside has a good browned look to it turn it over and put the lid back on, wait another 3-4 minutes.

You can look again but why bother, simply put the hood down (actually I’ve been doing this all along, it really makes things heat up.)

Turn the heat way down, mine was almost out, and step aside for 6 hours)

During this time I will listen to the pot to make sure that sometimes cooking in there and I will smell it.  Oh, will you smell it.    If you hear nothing or smell something scorching your heat is either to low or to high so……..turn it up or turn it down, maybe add a little hot water if you don’t see enough liquid but don’t drown that poor old tuff chunk of arm.

A Dutch Oven Adventure                                                                                   page 2

After the 6^th hour (listen to how dramatic that sounds the sixth hour.), I added broccoli (stems and all) and mushrooms, the little white ones.  Careful, people have been known to go weak in the knees at the mere sight and smell of this marvelous beef creation.

Go quickly now for it’s loosing heat and replace the lid and hood.

Wait for another hour during which you can gather up just as much stuff as you will need to dine.  Please no sauces or alcohol, additional salt, pepper or other stuff that will taint the meal.  I did put kosher salt and course black pepper on the broccoli and mushrooms before they went in to you know where.

Wow, I almost forgot.  You’ve got to have sun tea. A search of the cabinet revealed 2 regular green tea bags and 2 mint medleys (whatever).  I shrugged my shoulders, put the bags in a pitcher of warm water and set it on the deck railing there to remain in the hot sun brewing away for three, four or five hours.

After 7 hours I turned the grill off, removed the oven lid and placed everything thing on a platter.  I brought out the ice makers box, filled a glass full of ice and tea and literally dived in, to the meal not the glass.  I ate my dinner where I found it, on the platter.

The meat was so tender that I removed it with a slotted spoon and the veggies were, as they say, to die for.

And I drank glass after glass of that sun tea, with nothing added.  It isn’t allowed.

I think that tea was the biggest surprise of all as I was reasonably sure about the main and only entrée.

Clean up of the Dutch Over was a snap, pour the drippings into a container, rinse with warm, not hot water and wipe clean with a paper towel.  Put the left overs away, wash the platter, fork and knife and I was done.  The tea went in the fridge and the glass was on standby.

I used one chuck pot roast, olive oil, kosher salt, course ground black pepper, broccoli, mushrooms, 2 bags of green tea and two bags of mint medley tea.

While I was eating a blue jay came hopping down the deck rail towards me as if to ask for a taste of my fare.  I told him to shoo brother, stick to your cat food.  He flew off to a big fire tree and sat up there scolding me all the time for not sharing.

I can’t say as how I blame him.

Ben                                 Saturday afternoon the 24^th of July 2010.