It's been a while since I did a cook-off

[cowgirl]

Well, Here are my two entries that I did for the Church Dutch Oven Cook-off:

Dutch Oven Chicken with Balsamic Glaze-Won "Best Presentation"

Dutch Oven Black Forest Cake-Won "Too Delicious for Words"

My youngest son helped out with these dishes-he's been wanting to learn how to cook Dutch.  His comment afterwards was "Man-I can't believe how much work is involved"!

Just wait 'til we do our first actual event when there is a time limit involved and we have three items to prepare.

Looks fantastic... way to go!!

 

[Dutch]

Figured I'd better post up the recipes for you all to enjoy- Nothing fancy but they sure taste that way.

CHICKEN WITH BALSAMIC GLAZE

12 inch Dutch Oven  

1 1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat

Vegetable oil

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Balsamic Glaze

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon Butter (I use unsalted butter)

Cut chicken in half lengthwise so you end up with two thin sections (this speeds up your cooking time)

Place D.O. over 24 lit briquettes. Pour 1 tablespoon of oil in bottom of D.O. Allow oil to get hot.

Season chicken with salt and pepper; place 3-4 pieces of chicken in the pot and brown on both sides for 3-4 minutes. Remove from pot as they brown (I place mine on the inverted lid) and add more chicken. Return chicken to pot and cover with lid. Remove 15 briquettes from the bottom and place on the top of the oven-11 around the edge and 4 in the center. Rearrange the 9 briquettes on the bottom in a circle about the size of the D.O bottom.

Cook for 15-20 minutes or until chicken reaches 165° F. internal temp. Remove chicken to inverted lid and cover with aluminum foil.

Pour balsamic vinegar into D.O. and deglaze bottom of oven-use a wooden spatula to scrape off any chicken bits. Add brown sugar and stir to dissolve.

Cook for 5 minutes to reduce slightly. Stir in butter until melted.

Arrange chicken on platter or lid and pour half of glaze over chicken. Use remaining glaze as a dipping sauce.

Note: You can use whole portions of chicken breast, but cook for 35-40 minutes or until chicken reaches 165° F. internal temp.    

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BLACK FOREST CAKE

10 inch Dutch Oven

1 package of your favorite Chocolate Cake mix

1 12 ounce can of Cherry Cola or Dr. Pepper-DO NOT use a diet soda

1/2 can of Cherry Pie filling

Cooking Spray

Using you D.O. lid,

Place the Dutch Oven lid on a piece of Parchment paper and trace out the lid and then cut out the traced circle. Spray Cooking spray inside the oven covering the  bottom and sides; place parchment paper circle centered in bottom of Dutch Oven. Some of the paper will go up the side of the oven and then spray the paper with cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl combine the cake mix and the Cherry Cola and mix well. Cake mix will foam up but will settle down as you stir it.

Pour half of the Cherry Pie filling into the center of the circle, with a spoon spread out the cherries  to with in 1 1/2 inches of the sides.  Spoon cake mixture in between the cherries and the sides of the oven and then pour the remaining cake mix over the top.

Place lid on Dutch Oven and cook with 20 briquettes (13 on top and 7 on the bottom). Cook for 45 minutes. Insert tooth pick into center of cake and remove- if it comes out clean-cake is done. If wet cake is on the tooth pick cook for another 5-10 minutes. When done, run a spatula betwen the cake and the sides of the oven.  Here's the tricky part-with your helper (both of you should be wearing heavy leather welding gloves)-Place a 7 inch cake round on top of the cake-while holding the cake round in place, turn the oven upside down- have your helper hold the oven while you bring your hand holding the cake round down. If you don't feel the weight of the cake on the round, give the oven a slight shake to release it. Place the cake round with the cake on top of a Place a cool  D.O. lid on a trivet and place the cake with the cake round on the lid; peel off the parchment paper to expose the cherries.   while ww t

To use a 12 inch Dutch Oven double the cake mix and the cherry cola. Use the whole can of cherry pie filling. Cook using 15 briquettes on top and 9 briquettes on the bottom.

Enjoy!!