What's for dinner?

 Have any of you ever done much cooking using an Dutch oven..with briquets on the bottom and the top...we do it all the time in the "Scouts" there's an fella from Montana that wrote an whole book about cooking with lamb in one of those Dutch ovens...made out of heavy cast iron with an cast iron lid. Last time I was on an outting we took boneless chicken breasts and pounded them down good and flat and laid on the slice of ham luncheon meat and followed it up with swiss cheese, with the holes in it, and rolled them up and put in beated eggs and then cracker crumbs and cooked them in the Dutch oven for "Cordon Blue".....turned out pretty good I thought. Cooking for 50 to 100 people is an bit different then for an meal at home. We had beach sand at the time so we just scooped out holes in the sand and added our briquets in it and then the top and kind of buried them a bit, but not so much that we couldn't lift up the lid....had the beach full of dutch ovens..also had an "pit"  with potatoes baking in foil on top of hot coals. Just added an green tossed salad and we were done. Served ice cream afterwards. The briquets of course burned down and we just covered up the holes with the sand and you'd never known we used the beach for what.

The Dutch oven is used a lot here in Australia Shirl, very popular in the outback.

Al's feral outback camp oven cooking.

There is nothing I like better than going outback and going feral for a couple of weeks.

When you have had your camp fire established for a few days its time to break out the cast iron camp oven.

The fire needs to be a coupla days old the get the heat into the ashes and ground so the food cooks properly.

On the first day of using the camp oven I usually cook a roast, chicken or lamb as a rule with veggies.

Chuck all ingredients into the camp oven with a little oil, place lid on the camp oven and bury the whole lot on the hot ashes, you need hot ashes, not flames.

I have done this as early as 6.00am.

Go away for the day, fossic, frolic, do what ever but dont peak at the roast.

At about 5 or 6 pm, uncover the camp oven from the hot ashes....hmmmmm.

Its a roast to die for.

Dont clean the pot, just put the lid back on.

Day 2, same at 6.00am, chuck in some snags and veggies, stock etc, go away, come back eat.

Day 3, same as day 2, only this time aim for a soup like meal, I can guarantee that you wont have to wash the camp oven for you entire trip as all the goodness is carried over for the next meal.
 

Al's nasty bread.

Take some self raising flour, knock the top off a stubby, drink some, but not all of it, tip the rest into the flour and make a dough, if the dough is too dry repeat until the dough is doughy.

Stick in the camp oven, bury in the ashes, go away for the day, return to some beeaaauuutiful bread, eat with butter and some beer.

Okay, I have to tell you all about a new recipe I've discovered/invented; I call it "Mock Shepherds Pie".

As you may recall, some time ago I posted that I am on a low-carb diet. It gets tricky sometimes because there are so many things one can't eat. Staples, like potatoes, peas, carrots are a big no-no because of their high rating on the glycemic index.

One of the dishes I really miss is Shepherds Pie, so I decided to create my own "Mock" version and it's GREAT!

I tried it out on my friends who are not on a low-carb diet and they loved it. In fact I've been asked to make it several times since, including last night.

Any way, I thought I'd share, just in case anyone is interested in trying it (I was thinking of you specifically, Anna). Enjoy:

Diana's Mock Shepherds Pie

1 and1/2 lb of ground turkey or ground beef
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1 jar of roasted red peppers (with the skins peeled off) chopped
1 bunch of celery chopped (the leaves too)
1 pkg of sliced mushrooms
2 heads of Cauliflower
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
1 packet of powdered brown gravy mix
2 tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup of heavy cream
1 pkg of cheddar cheese shredded (or other)

Cut the Cauliflower into manageable bits and put on to steam (or boil) until tender.

Meanwhile, brown the meat in a large pan and then drain when done. Add the packet of brown gravy mix to the cooked ground beef (do not add water), also add the Worcestershire Sauce.

In a separate pan, heat the olive oil and then toss in the garlic and all the chopped veggies (not the cauliflower) allowing them to simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the onions and celery feel tender but not mushy.

Combine the meat mixture and the sauteed veggies into a large baking dish (or divide between several ramekins) and set aside.

Take the steamed cauliflower and puree it in a food processor (you can also mash by hand if you don't have a processor) add butter, heavy cream, and salt and pepper to taste.

Spread the pureed cauliflower mix on top of the meat mixture in your baking dish. Sprinkle as much cheese as you like on top of the cauliflower.

Bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Let cool for 5 minutes after cooking and then serve. Enjoy!

I am not sure what the carb count is per serving but I can tell you it is considerably less than traditional shepherds pie.

Shirley, I believe that's called a volcano grill (or stove or cooker).  Someone was describing it to me recently in fact (or did I see it on telly?).  Oh well, any road, you had to use cast iron pots, obviously, since you're using charcoal in between.  I thought it was fascinating how you could cook several different dishes or courses all at once.

That sounds good Diana.

I had a jacket potato with salad. Ahem....one needs to lose a few lbs before embarking on a trip to NY! I have till August to tone up a bit!