Raspberry Bubble Bake

     If any of you wonderful people out there in dutch oven cooking land are still following my blog, I apologize for not keeping up with your nice comments and for generally falling behind on posting any new recipes.  Thank you for your patience and I hope you have been enjoying cooking in your black pots while mine have been collecting dust.  Life has been a good kind of busy lately but now that the weather has cooled off I am really feeling the urge to fire up the coals and try some new recipes.
     This Raspberry Bubble Bake from the Rhodes site is just about as easy as it gets.  A great recipe for the beginning dutch oven cook, the hardest part is waiting for the dough to rise.  When you add the pie filling, it may look a lot but after the dough rises, the rolls will poke through.  In my 12 inch dutch oven, they baked for 30 minutes with 12 coals in a ring around the base of the oven, 18 placed around the outside of the lid with 6 briquettes spaced evenly in the center.  If you don't feel like going to the trouble of making the icing, sprinkle the rolls liberally with powdered sugar. Substitute with your favorite pie filling, as a dessert or coffee cake, these ooey, gooey, rolls are totally delicious.

Raspberry Bubble Bake
12 frozen Rhodes White Dinner Rolls
2 21 oz cans raspberry pie filling, or your favorite flavor
2 Tblsp butter
2 Tblsp milk
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

     Lightly oil or spray 12 inch dutch oven, line with parchment paper if desired.
     Place twelve frozen rolls in prepared oven and allow them to thaw until softened.
     Once softened, using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cut each roll in half and then cut each half into three pieces.
     Spread two cans of your favorite pie filling evenly over the pieces of dough.
     Cover and allow dough to rise until doubled in size and the dough starts peeking through the filling.
     Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bread has turned golden brown and holds its shape when lightly touched.
     For icing: heat butter and milk until butter is melted. 
     Gradually add powdered sugar until the icing's consistency is thick but pourable. 
     Drizzle glaze over rolls, serve while still warm.

Allow frozen rolls to thaw until softened

Cut each roll in half then each half into thirds

Spoon pie filling over rolls, cover and allow to rise
until doubled in size

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Drizzle icing over hot rolls

So sweet, gooey and good

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins

     Traditional Irish Soda Bread contains only flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk.  In Ireland, any other breads baked with sugar, baking powder or raisins are considered cakes.  This recipe from a Feb. 2005 edition of Bon Appetit is an Americanized version of soda bread but no less delicious.  Dutch ovens most closely resemble 'bastibles' or the lidded cast iron pots originally used in Ireland for baking soda bread.  The pots were used in the fireplace, hung over or placed right in the embers. I baked this bread (or cake) for 35 minutes in my 10 inch deep dutch oven with 10 coals in a ring around the bottom and 24 on the lid.  It makes a wet batter and spreads as it bakes so I would suggest using your 10 inch oven. Similar to a scone, serve this rustic bread warm from the oven with lots of butter and your favorite preserves.

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins
2 cups all purpose flour
5 Tblsp sugar, divided
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
3 Tblsp butter, chilled, cut in small pieces
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup raisins

     Lightly oil or spray 10 inch dutch oven.
     Whisk flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl to blend.
     Add butter; using fingertips or pastry cutter, rub in until coarse meal forms.
     Make well in center of flour mixture.
     Add buttermilk.
     Gradually stir dry ingredients into milk to blend.
     Mix in raisins.
     Using floured hands, shape dough into ball.
     Transfer to prepared dutch oven and flatten slightly.
     Sprinkle dough with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
     Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until tester inserted into center comes out clean.
     Cool bread for 15 minutes before removing from dutch oven.
     Transfer to rack, serve warm or at room temperature.

With floured hands, transfer dough to well oiled oven
and sprinkle with sugar

Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes

Serve this quick and easy Irish bread warm from your oven

Marion Cunningham's Irish Soda Bread

    Since my father was conceived in Ireland and my grandparents emigrated to the United States from County Mayo, I owe it to my distant relatives to at least try, if not perfect, the art of baking authentic Irish Soda Bread in my dutch oven.  You can watch Marion Cunningham, a wonderful cook book author, making this bread here in a Youtube episode of Baking with Julia.  She makes it look so easy, I followed her recipe to a T and found the batter to be extremely sticky and a little tricky to handle.  I would suggest flouring your hands and work surface well in order to shape the dough.  If you're baking this on a muggy day, hold back a little on the buttermilk, you can easily go down to 1 3/4 cups of buttermilk with the same result.  The loaf is supposed to be craggy and wet so don't be alarmed.  I transferred the dough to my dutch oven using a plate and large spatula but if you form it on a round piece of parchment paper you can transfer it directly into your hot oven. 
     I pre-heated my 10 inch deep dutch oven with 10 coals in a ring around the bottom, 15 around the edge of the lid with 6-7 spaced evenly in the middle.  Once I added the bread, I left it alone and after 45 minutes it was golden brown and hollow sounding when I rapped the loaf.  Let it cool almost completely before slicing and if you have any leftovers, wrap it well and toast it the next day.  A great quick bread for campers, mix the dry ingredients at home and all you have to do is add the buttermilk when you're ready to bake.
     
Marion Cunningham's Irish Soda Bread
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (plus more for shaping dough)
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk

     Lightly oil or spray dutch oven then light coals for baking bread.-
     While coals are heating, in medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt with a whisk or fork.
     When coals are ready, place hot coals above and below empty dutch oven.
     While oven is pre-heating, add the buttermilk and stir vigorously with a fork or wooden spoon just until the dough comes together.
     Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently for a minute (the dough will not be smooth).
     Form the dough into a round loaf shape about 6 inches in diameter.
     Transfer dough to heated dutch oven (use spatula and plate or parchment paper as dough will be sticky).
     With sharp knife cut an 'X' in the top about 1/2 inch deep.
     Bake for 45-50 minutes at 375 degrees or until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when you tap the bottom of the loaf.
     Remove from dutch oven and place on rack to cool completely.
     Best eaten the same day, once cool, wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Pre-heat dutch oven before baking

Transfer loaf to hot oven, dough will not be smooth

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes

Buttermilk and soda help this rustic bread to rise
 

Bacon Ranch Pull Aparts

      There oughtta be a law against these dangerously addictive rolls.  Crispy on the bottom, warm and soft in the middle with clumps of cheesy bacon sticking to their sides, you could eat yourself into a coma after making a batch of these outrageously delicious pull-aparts.  From the Rhodes Company website, they are easy to toss together and made for cast iron cooking. 
     You'll need a 12 inch dutch oven to bake them in one layer and don't wait too long to make them after you take the rolls out of the freezer, they need to be on the cold side, otherwise they may clump together when you coat them with the olive oil.  After I placed them in my dutch oven, I put the lid on and let them sit in the sun for a good 45 minutes to rise.  They baked for 30 minutes with a total of 28 coals on the lid and 12 in a ring under the bottom.  After 15 minutes, or when the tops were sufficiently browned, I loosely placed a piece of aluminum foil over the rolls and they continued to cook for another 10 minutes.  If you're camping and can't use frozen bread dough, I'll bet you could use biscuit dough from a tube instead.  Whatever you do, as Festus from Gunsmoke would say, 'you ole scudders have just gotta give these a try'.

Bacon Ranch Pull Aparts
1 loaf Rhodes Bread Dough OR 12 Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
1 pound bacon, diced
2 Tblsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

     Lightly spray or oil 12 inch dutch oven.
     In a frying pan, cook bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels.
     Cut loaf into 1-inch pieces OR cut rolls in half.
     In a large bowl, combine dough pieces, bacon, olive oil, cheese and dressing mix.
     Toss until dough is well coated.
     Arrange pieces, side by side, in prepared dutch oven.
     Cover and let rise until double.
     Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.
     Cover loosely with a piece of foil, bake an additional 10-15 minutes.
     Serve warm.

Toss all ingredients together then place in a single layer
in well oiled 12 inch dutch oven

Cover and let rise until double in size

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned
then cover with foil

Bake for 15 more minutes

Dangerously delicious

Fleischmann's Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix

     Today I am not going to the trouble of posting a recipe because you can follow the instructions for making this no knead bread on the back of the box.  Instead, I am posting photos of the steps required in making this delicious and ridiculously easy loaf in your dutch oven.  If you don't want to take the time to make this classic version of no knead bread which requires the dough to rest for 12 hours, this boxed mix from Fleischmann's is something you can whip up at your campsite in under an hour. 
     In my 10 inch deep dutch oven it baked for 25 minutes with 10 coals in a ring around the bottom, 15 in a ring around the outside of the lid and 9 spaced evenly in a ring around the middle.  Initially I started with 2 extra coals on the lid to heat the oven up quickly but removed them after 10 minutes.  When the scent of homemade bread wafts from your dutch oven, it's probably done.  It's not necessary to make this in your deep oven as the bread doesn't rise all that high.  Relatively new to the market, I paid $2.00 a box for this handy mix and here's a link to the company's site if you want to print out a coupon.  On the package they suggest adding diced, cooked bacon and grated Cheddar to the dough which would probably send it into bread nirvana. 
     If you're nervous about baking bread from scratch, give this mix a try.  Except for heating the water for the yeast, it's a camper's dream come true, all you need is a bowl, a wooden spoon and a hot dutch oven to enjoy the taste and aroma of home made artisan type bread.

Add warm water to yeast and sugar, let sit for 3 minutes

Add flour mixture and mix until ball forms

Add to well oiled dutch oven and sprinkle with 1 tsp flour

Cover and let rest for 25 minutes in warm draft-free location,
make slits in loaf before baking

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown

Pass the butter please

Classic Dinner Rolls

     I've been wanting to try my hand at bread baking again and thought these Classic Dinner Rolls from Fleischmann's were a good place to start.  Even though I browned them a little too much, I decided to share the recipe with you because it's a fairly easy one, especially if you let your mixer do all the work.  Since it makes just enough for your 10 inch oven, if you mess it up like I did, you won't be wasting a half a bag of flour.  I used just the two cups of flour and should have added more as the dough was extremely sticky.  Even though it's in the fifties today, I placed my oven on the deck in the warm sun for 30 minutes and they rose beautifully.  I used too many coals but would suggest 10 in a ring around the bottom of the oven and one ring around the top with 4 briquettes in the center.  They were very flaky and good and don't forget to brush them with melted butter when they're done.  I ended up eating all the buttery, crispy bottoms and the crows polished off the rest so I guess it wasn't a total loss.

Classic Dinner Rolls
2 cups all-purpose flour, or more if needed
1 envelope Fleishman's RapidRise Yeast
2 Tblsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 Tblsp butter

     Lightly oil or spray 10 inch dutch oven.
     Combine 3/4 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in large bowl.
     Heat milk, water and butter until very warm (120 to 130 degrees F).
     Add to flour mixture.
     Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally.
     Add 1/4 cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed.
     Stir in remaining flour to make soft dough.
     Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes.
     Cover; let rest 10 minutes.
     Shape dough into 10-12 balls.
     Place in prepared dutch oven.
     Cover; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
     Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until done.
     Brush with additional melted butter, if desired.

Form dough into balls and place in well oiled dutch oven

Let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees

A little brown on top but still flaky and light

Australian Cheese, Garlic and Chive Damper

     Damper is an Australian traditional non-yeast bread often cooked in camp ovens.  This recipe comes from an article written by Margaret E. Walker in Outback Camping via food.com.  It is similar to a biscuit dough but shaped into a single loaf and cut into slices.  Very simple to make and almost foolproof to bake in your dutch oven, it is easy to see why dampers are so popular.  In my 10 inch dutch oven this baked with 10 coals in a ring around the base of the oven and the lid completely covered with 24-26 coals.  In 25 minutes the damper was golden brown and cooked all the way through.  Tangy and moist with a crispy, cheesy crust, this is a basic but wonderful bread for any time of the day.

Australian Cheese, Garlic and Chive Damper
2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tblsp cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
3 Tblsp grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 Tblsp chives, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water

     Lightly oil or spray dutch oven.
     Sift flour and salt together in large bowl.
     Using fingers, rub in the chopped butter until it is the consistency of breadcrumbs.
     Add Cheddar, 2 Tblsp Parmesan, garlic and chives; mix well.
     Combine milk and water.
     Make a well in flour and pour in all of the liquid, reserving 1 Tblsp for the glaze.
     Mix quickly into a soft dough, using a fork or hands.
     Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead lightly.
     Press into a round, place in prepared dutch oven.
     Glaze with remaining milk and water mixture and sprinkle with 1 Tblsp Parmesan.
     Bake at 425 minutes for 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown.
     Serve sliced with butter or olive oil.
     Individual dampers can also be shaped and baked for the same time and temperature.

Shape dough into a round loaf then sprinkle with Parmesan

Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes

The boys came running to the smell of a warm damper fresh
out of the oven

An Outback classic

Ice Cream Caramel Cinnamon Rolls

     I wish you could have been with me in my backyard when I made these so you could have tasted one of these indescribably delicious cinnamon rolls.  I have had my eye on this recipe from Tasty Kitchen for a while now but was waiting for a special occasion to make them.  Easter morning seemed like the perfect time to throw the diet out the window and splurge in a big way.  Without a doubt these are one of the most scrumptious things I have ever eaten.  I took the frozen cinnamon rolls out of the freezer at 4:00 in the morning and placed them in my well oiled 12 inch dutch oven.  By the time I got home from church they had doubled in size and were ready for their caramel bath and the hot coals.  They baked in 20 minutes with 12 briquettes in a ring around the bottom and about 28 on the lid.  They did start to brown a bit as the dough was rising so keep a close watch on them.  When I saw the steam pouring out of the oven and was bowled over by the scent of cinnamon and freshly baked dough I knew they were ready.  Be sure to frost them, it really puts them over the top.  If you want to make these away from home, don't worry about the ice cream, just spoon a cupful in a container and keep it in your cooler, it won't make a difference if it's melted.  Follow the directions on the package for thawing the rolls and don't be alarmed by how much caramel you are pouring over the dough, most of it will be absorbed while they are baking.  Oh, and they're still soft and gooey if you eat them when they're cold.

Ice Cream Caramel Cinnamon Rolls
1 bag of 12 Rhode's Frozen Cinnamon Rolls
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter

     Lightly oil or spray dutch oven.
     Place 12 rolls in prepared 12 inch or larger dutch oven.
     Spray a piece of plastic wrap with non-stick cooking spray and place over rolls.
     Allow rolls to thaw and rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 3-5 hours.
     In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine ice cream, brown sugar and butter. 
     Heat over medium high heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil.
     Let caramel mixture boil for 2-3 minutes or until light brown in color.
     Pour all of the hot caramel mixture over the rolls in your dutch oven.
     Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees or until they are golden brown on top and cooked through.
     Immediately frost with packets provided with the frozen rolls.
     Serve warm, prepare to die and go to heaven.

Place frozen cinnamon rolls in your well oiled dutch oven

Let thaw and rise for 3-5 hours or until doubled in size

When coals are ready, pour hot caramel over rolls

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes

Pile on the frosting

So good there ought to be a law against these sinfully delicious rolls

Pan de Campo Part II

     My first attempt at making Pan de Campo produced a lighter, thinner more crispy version of the camp bread.  This recipe from Dishes From the Wild Horse Desert by Melissa Guerra is more substantial and a lot like a flaky biscuit bread.  This time around I preheated my 12 inch dutch oven with 12 coals around the bottom of the oven and the lid completely covered with briquettes.  I used a pastry cutter to blend the shortening and oil with the flour.  After kneading the dough I let it rest for 15 minutes while I waited for my coals to light.  I rolled the dough on a piece of parchment paper, laid it in my hot, preheated oven, then pierced it with a fork to allow the steam to escape.  In a blazing hot oven it took between 20 and 25 minutes to bake.  When the steam was pouring out of my oven I knew it was ready.  The more I research this cowboy bread the more I realize there are endless combinations of ways to make it.  If you take a look at this video you will see the bread being baked in dutch ovens over hot mesquite coals.  They do turn the bread to prevent it from burning but if you bake it with a ring of coals around the base of your oven I don't really think it's necessary.  Also, I used a little over a cup and a half of buttermilk for this recipe, the dough should be on the wet side but not too sticky.  A connection to the past, whether fried in a cast iron skillet over an open fire or baked in a dutch with coals, this warm and filling bread will keep you riding in the saddle all day. 

Pan de Campo
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
4 Tblsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tblsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup vegetable oil
About 2 cups of milk.

     Lightly oil or spray 12 inch or larger dutch oven.
     Sift the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
     Stir in the shortening and oil, work the dough with your hands until it resembles coarse meal.
     Add 1 1/2 cups of the milk, and stir; the dough should be sticky but workable.
     If the dough is too stiff, add more milk; if the dough is too thin, add more flour.
     Turn the dough out onto a counter dusted with flour and knead it hard for 1 minute, but don't overwork it.
     Pat it out or gently roll into a 10-inch circle that is 1/2 inch thick on parchment paper.
     Preheat dutch oven to 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
     Transfer dough to heated dutch oven; prick with fork to allow steam to escape.
     Bake for 20-25 minutes or until bread is golden brown.
     Makes 4-6 servings.

Roll out your dough on parchment paper

Preheat your dutch oven for 10 minutes

Transfer the dough using parchment paper then prick surface with fork

Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes

A warm slice of history and the official bread of the state of Texas