Needing info and help from the readers out there. This is a new name in cast iron for us. Preliminary internet searches aren’t digging up too much usable information.
Click on this links for the full article and more photos.
FALKIRK Dutch Oven
SUN DRIED TOMATO Topping for fish
SUN DRIED TOMATO
Recipe & Photo Submitted by: Rick Beach
Enough for 2 pieces of freshly Grilled Salmon (Salt & Pepper to taste) Great on grilled Swordfish too. Multiply as needed.
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Stalks Celery thinly sliced and then chopped
- 2 cloves FreshGarlic (Peeled crushed and minced)
- 4 Tbsp Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil drained or 2 Ripe Roma Tomatoes, Diced 1/4 inch chunks
- 3 Tbsp Chopped fresh Cilantro leaves
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Ketchup
- 1/2 tsp Salt Or to taste-Slightly on the salty side
- 1 Pinch Ground Black Pepper
Garnish top prior to serving
- 1 Tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 4 Tbsp coarsely chopped Fresh Basil Leaves
Instructions
- Using a Non Stick frying/saute pan heat oil on medium high
- Add and quickly saute the Celery and Garlic (stir constantly to avoid burning-Don't let Garlic turn dark)
- Add all the remaining ingredients except the Grated Parmesan Cheese & Chopped Basil leaves
- Hold the Parmesan Cheese & Chopped Basil leaves until the end.
- Continue cooking the tomato ingredients on medium high heat, constantly stirring and folding over until liquid is gone. Blackened in places is perfect....but don't over do it. Cook all the liquid out of the mixture until it is thick enough to pile and not flatten out or leach liquid.
- Just prior to serving on freshly grilled salmon, add the Grated Parmesan Cheese & Chopped Fresh Basil. Keep over heat and stir into the mixture for about 1 minute to wilt the chopped Basil. Immediately pile a generous portion on each serving of freshly grilled Salmon. Top with a fresh sprig of Basil
SALMON Cedar Plank Grilled
SALMON Cedar Plank Grilled
Recipe and Photo submitted by Rick Beach
Image ©2013 Rick Beach
This is a family favorite. Cedar "Planked" Salmon. Also see our favorite Sun Dried Tomato & Basil topping recipe.
Don't wait for summer to be over before you try this recipe. Though cedar is what we prefer, other species of wood are available. We use Cedar specifically sold for cooking on. We find ours at Home Depot in the BBQ area. While some cooks write you can reuse the boards, we never-ever do. In some places the planks are only available seasonally. Don't try native wood or wood that may have been exposed to chemicals. It's worth the price to pay to get what is specifically made for this.
This recipe takes advanced prep. The planks need soaked in water for a minimum of 1 hour. I often times soak them for 3+ hours or overnight. Use a rectangular glass casserole dish and fill high enough with water to completely submerge the planks. Fill a large glass or glass measuring cup with water. Place the filled glass or glasses on top of the planks to weigh them down enough to stay submerged.
I use a 3 burner BBQ grill with a lid. These can be done on any BBQ grill, charcoal grill, or a campfire bed of coals as long as you can cover them to retain the heat and cook at a temperature around 375°. The whole concept is you need to try it and get used to your own cooking method.
With the 3 burner arrangement I turn on all burners to high to pre-heat. Then I turn the center to low and the 2 ends to medium high. My under the lid temps range from 350° to 400°
The soaked planks with the Salmon are placed over the center (lower heat). It is common for the planks to smoke and even burn around the edge some. I keep a spray bottle of water handy and check at 10 minutes, and 15 minutes. I spray soak the edges that might catch fire. Keep the spray water off the fillets. (My total grilling time on my grill is perfect at 20 minutes)
Ingredients
- 1 Skinless Salmon Fillet 2 1/2 to 3 lbs
- 8 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 Large Garlic Cloves Minced
- 2 tsp Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper ground
- 3/4 Cup Minced Fresh Dill
- 1 tsp lemon zest (Slice and save what isn't used of the Lemon
- 8 slices Lemon
Instructions
- Make cross cut knife cuts about 1/4 the way through the filets, cutting the slice at 45°
- Place the fillet in a flat glass dish. Mix all the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl (Holding the lemon slices in reserve to grill). Pour half the mixture on the fillet and rub it into the cut marks. Get some of the garlic and dill into those cuts. Then pour the remaining mixture over the fillet and gently lift the fillet to allow the bottom to get coated with the Olive oil mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and Marinate in the fridge a minimum of 1 hour.
- Preheat your grill as previously mentioned.
- Place the marinated Fillet on the water soaked Cedar planks. Place the planks in the center of the grill and cover. At 10 minutes, check and spray soak any part of the plank that may have flared up. Check again at 15. At the total of 15 minutes your fillet may be done. Mine takes 20 minutes. Don't forget to start grilling your lemon slices about 5 minutes before done time. Flip the lemon slices once to get grill marks on both sides.
- Those with a cooler grill may take longer. Don't overcook! There should be juice that starts bubbling out the top of the fillet. When that juice turns white (meaning the top heat cooked the juice bubbling out) the fillet is normally cooked to perfection. But again...you may have to try this once for yourself before attempting to impress your friends. Know your grill. They will remember the taste and ask you when you will be doing this one again!
- The last 5 minutes of cook time brush the lemon slices with olive oil. Place on hot grill to get good grill marks. Serve as a garnish with the final grilled salmon
- Optionally Top with our favorite Sun Dried Tomato and Basil topping.
- Send us some pictures of yours, or let us know how you like this recipe! Thanks and happy grilling!
OCTO-PIE or Octopus Blueberry Pie
OCTO-PIE or Octopus Blueberry Pie
I wish I could take credit for this idea, or even the name someone pegged this with. Both were found floating around on Facebook.
I can only take credit for baking one of these in a Dutch Oven using charcoal. For all I know that has already been done.
The pie I happened to see before attempting this only had a photo and no recipe. So I set off to try and produce the pie. I also wanted my own photo of the trophy…dish… in this case. Blueberries were used to create the desired contrast for the photo. Any fruit pie would work.
The one I saw, I assume had used blueberries for the eyes. I happened to have a partial left over jar of Maraschino Cherries. The remainder of a jar left over from baking a Pineapple upside down cake in a Dutch Oven. The recipe I provide here was done in a Dutch Oven as well.
This pie was baked in a glass 9 inch pie dish, raised up off the bottom of a 12 inch, deep style, Cast Iron Dutch oven, via an inverted second pie tin. Several layers of aluminum foil were put in on top of the pie tin prior to placing the glass pie plate containing the raw pie. The foil left long enough to go up the sides. The foil can be folded over in case the top starts browning too fast, but is mostly to assist in lifting out the pie once baking is complete. Enough coals to create 400° heat. In our case, 9 coals on the bottom, and 19 on the top lid. All coals arranged at the far perimeter of the bottom, and the lid.
Ingredients
Pie (Crust & Filling)
- 2 Pie Crusts 9 inch size
- 2 cans Blueberry Pie Filling Or 4 cups of homemade prepared filling
- 1 Small jar Maraschino Cherries (Could also use fresh uncooked Blueberries
- 6 oz of Fresh Blueberries washed and stems removed
Egg Wash
- 1/4 Cup Milk
- 1 Egg White Mix egg white and milk together set aside
Instructions
- Pre-heat Dutch Oven or Kitchen Oven to 400°
- Brush both sides of one uncooked pie crust with the egg wash mixture. Lightly grease Pie plate. Place the one Pie crust in the pie plate, up the sides, and trim off excess. (Save all trimmed pieces)
- Spread the Pie filling evenly over the bottom crust. Next spread the fresh blueberries over the filling (remember to save back 2 for the eyes, and about 10 for the brains 🙁 . If you are using Cherries for the eyes and brains, spread all the fresh blueberries on the filling.
- Brush both sides of the second uncooked pie crust and lay out on cutting board. Cut an upper main body with short tentacles. Cut a 2nd main body without tentacles. Using these dough 2 parts, sandwich cherries (or some of the fresh blueberries) to in effect become brains, as well as creating fill to form a raised 3D head. Seal the bottom dough to the top dough around the edge using the egg white solution. The tentacle half, is the top. Save back 2 cherries or 2 fresh blueberries to create the eyes. With a circle of dough larger than the cherry/blueberry fold the dough over the berry and lightly pinch to create an eye. Use egg wash to attach these eyes to the head. Keep this whole head/eye unit on the cutting board.
- Using other dough scraps, cut long tentacles, and snip along one long side (Or use pinking shears). Arrange these with a twist to make interesting looking Octopus tentacles that start somewhere in the, to be, head area. Extend them down to the very edge of the pie surface. Once those legs are in place use a spatula to gently lift head unit off the cutting board and into position on the pie. The head should cover the upper ends of the in place tentacles.
- Bake at 400° for 30 minutes and then check the browning. Cover with foil if excessive browning of the upper crust is occurring. Then bake another 10 minutes for a total bake time of 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Oh yeah!!
Our STARGAZER 12 inch SKILLET came today
We are a repeat customer of Stargazer and hope to have some info to post for our readers. Our 12 inch Skillet just came.
We collect vintage as well as modern USA Made Cast Iron cookware. Our previous 10 inch skillet has the smooth finish and performance of some of our cherished vintage pieces. We love the look of our new 12 inch!
Click this link for the full article on STARGAZER
A Biscuit kind of morning
Some cold mornings you just have to reach for the buttermilk, real butter, and just be Bad!
Real old fashioned biscuit making is a lost art in many families. A generation away it was common. “Canned” biscuits are something more recent.
If you have never had real homemade biscuits you are really missing a delightful breakfast addition. Fresh and warm just out of your oven, they can’t be beat.
Its even more fun if you have vintage biscuit cutters and bake these in a cast iron Dutch Oven using charcoal or wood coals.
Click this Link for Recipe and helpful techniques.
RECIPE: POTATO SALAD (PARTY SIZE)
RECIPE: POTATO SALAD (PARTY SIZE)
A excellent tasting Potato Salad. For when time is short, and large quantities are requires. This is my "go-to" recipe for large parties, catering events, and large group potluck meals. Each batch serves about 20 people, in a buffet line, when other side dishes available. This is an Original Rick Beach recipe. A single 5 lb batch will half fill a 1/2 size stainless steel steamer tray. A double batch will fill a 1/2 size stainless steel steamer tray. Once mixed keep refrigerated or chilled with ice at all times.
Ingredients
- 5 lbs Reeses Potato Salad Classic or Red Skin
- 2 1/2 Cups Miracle Whip Do not use real Mayo
- 1/2 Cup Sweet Onions Raw Chopped
- 1/2 Cup Sweet Pickle Relish
- 1 Tbsp Mustard Regular French's Hot Dog Type
- 1 Cup Celerly Raw Chopped
- 1 tsp Celery Seed
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 5+1 Large Eggs Hard Boiled Chilled Dice (5) - Slice (1)
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients except half the Paprika and the Diced, and sliced Hard Boiled Eggs. Mix until uniformly distributed.
- Add the Diced Hard Boiled Eggs, (Don't add the sliced eggs yet) Gently fold until uniform. But not so much the bits of cooked egg yokes disappear.
- Turn the mixed Potato Salad into a clean bowl or stainless steel serving tray. Garnish the top with the sliced egg. Sprinkle with the second half of the Paprika.
- Keep Chilled.
Notes
Be sure to keep refrigerated or chilled at all times. If mixed in stainless steamer trays, and you use the stainless lids, these can stack in the refrigerator.
For serving we use our steamers unplugged with a layer of ice dumped in the bottom. The trays of potato salad can be placed in on top of the ice. Additional trays of ice can be placed on top of the potato salad. Kept chilled until right before serving.
Potato Salad at a picnic, or even inside the house, left to get warm. Can have unpleasant and even deadly consequences. Practice good food handling safety. If I see someone else's potato salad [or deviled eggs] and it isn't chilled, not sitting on ice to keep it cold while serving....I pass.
RECIPE: EASY BAGELS
RECIPE: EASY BAGELS
This is a no yeast, quick and easy recipe for bagels. We often do these in a Dutch Oven while camping. I can't take credit for the recipe since a friend [Kathleen LeBlanc] shared it, and the technique, with me while camping. She did not know where it originated either.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Self Rising Flour Or 1 C regular flour + 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 Cup Non Fat Greek Yogurt Not Regular Yogurt
- 1/2 tsp Salt (Regular Table) or 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Large Egg White
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 375°F - Or Charcoal for 375° Spray oil a cookie sheet or Dutch Oven bottom. Parchment paper could be used too, but spray oil the paper too.
- In bowl combing the self rising flour and salt. Whisk together
- With a fork, spatula or hands, mix in the yogurt until combined and looks like crumbles.
- On a floured board knead the dough a few times. Dough should be tacky, not sticky. (15 to 20) turns.
- Divide into 4 equal balls. Roll each ball into 3/4-inch thick ropes and join the ends to form your bagel. Or make a ball and poke a hole with your finger then stretch/form your bagel
- Top with egg white wash and sprinkle with the seasoning you prefer.
- Bake on the top rack of your oven. Or in a Dutch Oven with top heat for 375°F based on you Dutch Oven size.
Notes
The "Apple Pie Bagel". Canned Apple Pie Filling - Cinnamon - Salt - Butter
NATIONAL DUTCH OVEN GATHERING 2019
Mark your 2019 Calendars. Gather your cast iron and prepare to travel!
The 2019 Gathering is in October at Hillsdale, Illinois.
RECIPE:SCALLOPED POTATOES & HAM (Tweaked version)
RECIPE:SCALLOPED POTATOES & HAM (Tweaked version)
Recipe: Rick Beach
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Cup Celery Chopped
- 1 Medium Onion Chopped
- 2 Cloves Garlic diced fine
- 3 Tbsp Butter Melted
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper adjust to taste
- 1 pinch Cayenne Pepper Optional- if you want it
- 3 Tbsp Flour
- 1 Cup Whole milk
- 1 Cup Heavy cream
- 1 Cup Sour Cream
- 1 Cup Cheddar Cheese
- Ham Sliced Adjust to your liking
- 5 lbs 4-5 Large Potatoes Peeled and sliced thin 1/4 or less thick
Instructions
- Saute the Celery in the Olive oil, then add the onion and garlic. Saute until translucent.
- In a large bowl whisk together the sauteed items and all the other ingredients except the Potatoes and Ham.
- Pour a small amount (About 3/4cup) of the whisked ingredients in the bottom of a greased/well oiled Dutch Oven.
- Next Layer that with ham. Then Pour another amount (about 3/4 cup) of the whisked ingredients on the Ham.
- Next Layer that with Potato Slices. Then Pour another amount (about 3/4 cup) of the whisked ingredients on the Ham.
- Next Layer that with ham. Then Pour another amount (about 3/4 cup) the of whisked ingredients on the Ham.
- Next Layer that with Potato Slices. Then Pour the remainder of the whisked ingredients on the Ham.
- Cover the Dutch Oven with its lid. Use hot charcoal for 350 Degrees, more top heat than bottom. Bake about 1- 1 1/2 hours until potatoes are tender.
- Note: Follow the same directions and heat for baking in your home oven.