Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Most recipes are easily converted to a Dutch Oven, once you know certain elements. A 12" Dutch oven is comparable to a 9"x13" pan. Knowing that makes it easy to switch casseroles to a Dutch oven. This is one recipe that can be cooked in a 9"x13" casserole in the oven at 350 degrees. It can also be cooked in a cast iron skillet on the stove top since the cheese on tops just needs to be melted.  This is a mild dish full of flavor, but you can add more spices and heat if desired.







Easy Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 package of favorite taco seasoning

salt to taste
1 (4oz) can chopped green chilies
 2 cups cooked shredded chicken breasts
1 C sour cream
12 corn tortillas, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups grated cheese,

1. In a 12" Dutch Oven, melt butter. Stir in flour, cook for 1 minute and whisk in chicken broth.  Stir until smooth and thickened.
2. Stir taco seasoning, salt, green chilies and chicken into the sauce. Bring to a simmer, and cook a until chicken is is warmed.
3. Stir sour cream into the sauce and add the tortillas pieces, and 1 cup of cheese. Stir until combined and top with remaining cheese. Cover pan and cook for 5-8 minutes until bubbly and the cheese is melted.

This recipes cooks best with more heat on the bottom, I use 12-14 briquets on the bottom and 10 on top. 

Dutch Oven Sourdough Chicken Pizza Barbecue Pizza

This is an easy way to impress people with your Dutch Oven skills. 

We like Black olives, but some people don't so if you are not a fan, leave them off!

Dutch Oven 

Sourdough 

Chicken 

Barbecue 

Pizza

Prepare dough, then while waiting for dough to rise prepare the chicken.

Pizza Toppings for 2 - 12" Dutch Ovens

2 Chicken Breast

1/2 tsp of following seasonings

salt

pepper

garlic powder

smoked paprika

4 cups mozzarella cheese OR 1 package sliced provolone

2 cups your favorite barbecue sauce, divided

1/2 cup sliced red onion

1 can sliced black olives (optional)

Mix seasoning together.  Sliced chicken breast  length wise to make thinner. Coat well with seasoning mix.  Baked at 350° until done, about 30 minutes. Cool. Dice chicken,

After removing Dutch oven lid, pour 2/3 of barbecue sauce on semi-cooked dough. top with 1/2 of the cooked chicken, sliced onions and cheese. Drizzle with 1/3 cup of barbecue

sauce.

Return Lid with heat. Cooke until cheese is melted.

Crust for 2 - 12" Dutch Ovens

1 1/2 cup sourdough starter, unfed

3/4 cup hot tap water

3 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp instant yeast

1/2 tsp. onion powder

Thoroughly stir your starter. add 1 1/2 cups to large bowl.  Add remaining ingredients, adjust flour as necessary depending on thickness of starter.  Mix well and kneed for about 10 minutes. Form into a ball, place in greased bowl and let rise to double.

Generously grease 2 Dutch ovens. Fold 2-3, 6" long pieces of foil  in thirds. place down sides and on bottom of Dutch oven as pictured.

Divide dough in have and roll, pat, toss,  press dough to 13-14 inches. (if doing one at a time, place second half of dough in a cool place).

bake at approximately 450° for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

After pizza is cooked, use the foil strips to lift out the pizza. 

Cool, 

slice, 

enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake with Caramel

 It has been a long while since I have posted, so I have lots of new recipes and a couple of patterns I will be adding in the next few days. I served this one and it was gone before I could take a pretty picture of a single serving with ice cream on top. Watch it closely or it will be dried out if you bake to long. This recipe also works well in a 12" Dutch Oven, for a thinner more bar like cake.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake with Caramel

1 Can Pumpkin

1 White or Yellow Cake Mix

2 Eggs

1 Cup Chocolate Chips

1  12 oz bottle Caramel Ice cream topping

Liberally grease 10" Dutch Oven.

Mix first three ingredients. Pour into Dutch oven. Sprinkle evenly

with Chocolate chips.

Bake at approximately  350°  for 20 minutes, rotating Dutch oven and lid heat at about the half way point.

Carefully remove lids and gently pour all of sauce on top of cake. Replace lid and bake for 10-15 more minutes until done.

If you are not camping out in the middle of nowhere, this is excellent served with whip cream or ice cream!

Easy Rhubarb Cobbler

In my quilting group, the ChristCares Stitchers. we have the very best potlucks. I am not sure which of the ladies brought this, I just remember I liked it. It was so easy to make,  I have made it several time this summer. Since it was so easy and so good, I thought I would share the recipe! I tweeked it a little bit for the Dutch Oven.

Easy Rhubarb Cobbler

4 cups of sliced rhubarb
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 3oz. package strawberry jello
1 yellow or white cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Lightly grease your 12" Dutch Oven. Place rhubarb in oven, sprinkle sugar evenly on top. Next sprinkle the jello powder on sugar. Do not mix the jello or cake mix, you use them as is! Pour the cake mix and spread evenly. Mix melted butter, water and vanilla together. Pour on top of cake mix, (When I make this recipe for camping I mix the liquids  together and place them in a jar, so I don't have to deal with it while camping)

To bake I place 8 coals on bottom and 16 on top. Rotating every 15 minutes, cook for 1 hour or until brown and crunch on top!

To cook in your home oven, place ingredients in 9x13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees.

Dutch Oven Pigs in a Cornfield

 I needed a recipe for a hot day, I didn't want a heavy dish. I saw several recipes for Pigs in a Cornfield on the internet. They were all delicious looking, had lots of ingredients and canned soups. I liked the idea, but needed a lighter dish so I changed up recipe some and it turned out great. The kids who sampled it all loved it. So here is my version of
Pigs in a Cornfield
1/2 pound bacon, cut in 1' pieces
4-5 potatoes, cut in 1' pieces
1 onion, diced
6 ears of corn, cut in half
6-8 kielbasa or smoked sausage, cut in half
2-4 cups of chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

In a 12" Dutch Oven, fry bacon until crisp. Remove bacon. Line corn around Dutch Oven, next place sausage around oven. Mix spices together. Into the center layer potatoes, bacon and onions and seasonings. Pour chicken stock around outside of pan. you will want about 2" of liquid, this is to steam the corn and potatoes.
I placed 12 charcoals on the bottom and 22 on top. Once the stock begins to boil, it only takes about 30 minutes to cook, Check potatoes and when they are tender your meal is done!

Sloppy Jakes (a Dutch Oven Variation of Sloppy Joes)

I am Back! After almost two weeks without a computer I am so happy to be back on line and I have a few new recipes to share in the next few days!
A few years ago we canceled our cable TV. We don't miss it. My husband and I are both avid readers and if we want to watch something we will just pop in a movie. We are also big movie fans, so we enjoy watching movies without the commercials. Being without the computer is another story. I was unable to look up recipes and patterns and Hubby was unable to do genealogy, which is his hobby.  When we finally gave up on having the old one fixed and bought a new computer it took several days to get everything set back up the way we like it. It sure is nice to have it back...
The recipe I am going to share with you today is for my version of Sloppy Joes. Now, I love Sloppy Joes, but I hate commercial buns, they get soggy and then fall apart. So this is how I like to make them. I make them with biscuits...almost like dumplings or an easy pot pie. I call them Sloppy Jakes after my son Jacob, not because he is sloppy, but, because he LOVES biscuits.
Any kind of biscuits can do, you can even use canned biscuits if you are in a pinch. Biscuits are so easy to make, why would anyone want to use canned?

Cheese & Onion Baking Powder Biscuits

2 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. shortening

1 cup grated Cheddar Cheese

2 Tbls. finely chopped onion

1 Tbls chopped parsley

3/4 c. milk
 

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into bowl. Add shortening and cut into flour with fork or pastry cutter. Stir in cheese, onion and parsley. Pour in milk and stir lightly until dough holds together. Turn dough out on lightly floured board. Pat dough out until 1/2 inch thick and cut with biscuit cutter or cup rim. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes. This recipe makes about 10  2 1/2 inch biscuits.

 

Sloppy Jakes

3 lbs. ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
2  15 oz. cans of Sloppy Joe sauce
1 cup water
Cheese and Onion Biscuit dough

               In a 12" Dutch Oven, brown the ground beef with the onions and peppers. Drain off the fat. Mix the ground beef mixture, Sloppy Joe sauce and water together. Heat till bubbly. While meat mixture is heating, roll dough to about 1/2 inch thick and cut with any size biscuit cutter. when mixture is bubbly drop cut biscuits on top.  Cook in the Dutch oven for 20-30 minutes with 8 coals on bottom and 14-16 on top. Rotate lid about every10 minutes to brown evenly.

This is a super easy meal for camping. Any biscuit recipe will do, but I like Baking Powder Biscuits best.

Sourdough & Dutch Ovens

I don't know why, but when I make sourdough bread, it just call out to my Dutch ovens!  We had a Pioneer Day Activity here in Decatur for the kids 8-11 years old. I talked to the kids about how the pioneers cooked. It was so much fun! I made "Utah" scones and sourdough bread. The kids made butter to put on top of the breads, and it was delicious!



Most often for sourdough bread I will use the recipe on King Arthur Flour for Rustic Sourdough bread. It is very basic, fast and delicious.

 

The recipe uses yeast to help it rise faster, but this is just as great without yeast. The night before you want the bread, make the recipes as directed omitting the yeast. I form 1/2 the bread dough and place it in my greased 10" Dutch oven. I then place it in my refrigerator over night. I remove it from the fridge about 2-3 hours before I bake it. If I was cooking it in colder weather I might take it out in the morning.  I then cook the bread with 8 briquettes on the bottom and 14 on top, rotating every 15 minutes. The sourdough starter here in Illinois is more sweet than commercial sourdough or San Francisco sourdough.  This bread is wonderful served with soup or salads. I also like it with flavored butters! To see the full recipe go to my sourdough page at this blog!

"Utah Scones" not to be confused with British Scones.



Deep fried bread dough, best served with butter, honey or molasses!