photo courtesy Dawn and Jim Mills
photo courtesy Ken Jones
Few pieces of cookware are as giving as cast iron.
Cook with it in your kitchen or at your camp site. Treat it right, and your grandkids will thank you for the family heirloom.
And corn bread, fried chicken and seared steaks cooked in cast iron never tasted so good.
I talked to two members of the Heartland of the Prairie Dutch Oven Society about the virtues of the cast iron. Find the story in the Tulsa World’s Scene section on Wednesday. The story includes a few recipes for cast iron cookware.
I added a few more recipes below. . .
The first two are from Dawn and Jim Mills of the Heartland of the Prairie Dutch Oven Society
Southern Pecan Pie
3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
dash of salt
1 cup of syrup
1/3 cup butter
1 cup pecan halves
Beat eggs thoroughly with sugar, salt, syrup, and butter, cut into chunks. Add pecan halves. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake using 7 briquettes on bottom and 13 on top for about an hour or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. (or place in a regular pie pan and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour.)
Flaky Pie Crust
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup Crisco
1 egg
Milk
Sift dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl. Add Crisco and cut in with a pastry cutter until the pieces are about the size of peas. Place egg in a cup, add enough milk to make ½ cup and beat to mix. Slowly add milk and egg mixture to flour. Roll the mixture into two balls for two 9 inch pies. Chill 30 minutes before rolling. Roll one ball out into a 12 inch circle and place in a 10 inch Dutch Oven, lined with parchment paper. (or place rolled out dough in a regular pie pan.) Reserve second ball of dough for another pie.
White Chicken Chile
2 pounds boneless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
1 pound sausage
1 large onion, chopped
2 cans chicken broth
4 cans Northern Beans
2 cans Rotel tomatoes
2 cans corn
2 packages cream cheese
8 ounces sour cream
5 chopped jalapenos
Salt & Pepper to taste
1. Cook cut up chicken, sausage, and onions until done.
2. Add remaining ingredients and heat thoroughly.
This one is from Gaye Ann Grace of the Heartland of the Prairie Dutch Oven Society
Theresa’s Bread Dough
3 tablespoons yeast
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup warm water
6 cups flour, add up to 7 cups
1 tablespoon salt
1/3 cup oil
1cup warm milk
½ cup warm water, add up to 1 cup
1. Mix yeast, sugar and 1 cup warm water together. Let set 5 minutes to make sure yeast is good. Add remaining ingredients and knead for 10 minutes. Let rise till doubled and punch down.
2. Make dough into dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, shaped breads or stuffed breads.
3. Place in a greased 12” Dutch oven. bake using 8-10 coals bottom and 16-18 coals on top until rolls are lightly browned. Every 15 minutes, rotate lid clockwise a quarter turn and bottom counter clockwise. bread will pull away from oven when done.
GRANDMA’S CINNAMON ROLLS
1 recipe Theresa’s Bread Dough
Filling
1/3 cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ cup nuts, chopped (optional)
glaze
6 tablespoons butter
4 cups powdered sugar
8 tablespoons hot coffee
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
1. Place half of prepared dough in between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll into a 12 x 9 rectangle. Brush each part with soft butter. Sprinkle filling over butter. Starting with longer side, roll up tightly, pressing dough into roll with each turn.
2. Pinch edges to seal. cut each roll into 12 pieces. Place cut side down in greased 12” Dutch oven. Bake using 8-10 coals bottom and 16-18 coals top until rolls are lightly browned. Every 15 minutes, rotate lid clockwise a quarter turn and bottom counter clockwise. Bread will pull away from walls of oven when done.
3. Combine glaze ingredients, blend until smooth. Drizzle over hot cinnamon rolls. Cool on racks.
