Hey everyone,

I has been over a year since DeShawn passed. I've wanted to get back into cooking with my ovens. A couple of weeks ago, I took my team to Olympic Park in Lehi, where DeShawn used to like to do team activities. It was a wonderful time. I had wondered if it was going to be hard to do it - that I'd just be missing him too much. Turns out it was a wonderful tribute, a time for me to do what the two of us used to do, to remember the good times, and to celebrate what we had.

So I did something that I have wanted to do since working with some friends from India - Butter Chicken. I started looking for recipes, and the ones I found took a lot of prep and not a lot of cooking. That is to say you marinated the chicken for 3+ hours, and then cooking was 20-30 minutes. This gets the complexity of flavor and meat tenderness from the long soak in the marinade, and then the hot and fast cook.

However this didn't seem that it was going to work for the dutch oven cooking style. So I actually looked up a recipe for crock-pot butter chicken, and then did an adaptation. The results were quite amazing! I have an employee from Nepal, and she really seemed to think it was good, and frankly I'd trust her over me.

I'm going to post the recipe here. I didn't think ahead to take any pictures, so basically you'll just have to take my word for it. But here we go...

Ingredients
Chicken

• 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 8 tbsp butter, cut in slices

Sauce

• 2 tbsp oil (coconut in the recipe, I used what I had on hand - Vegetable oil)
• 1 can Coconut milk
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp sugar (I used swerve brown sugar, it worked)
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger, minced (I used the squeeze version)

Spices

• 2 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp paprika (not smoked...)
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like it spicy)

To Finish

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation

For ease of cooking out of doors, the night before I chopped everything including the chicken, and mixed all of the spices together into a ziploc bag. Then the next day, I set everything out and got down to cooking.

With a full spread of coals under a 12 inch dutch oven, heat the oil until hot. Add the chopped chicken and brown. Don't worry if it is cooked through - this is going to simmer for a few hours, so it will be cooked through.

As the chicken is browning, combine the coconut milk, tomato paste, lime juice, garlic, sugar, and ginger. Whisk until combined. Dump the spice mixture into the sauce, and mix thoroughly. (Don't forget to be checking your chicken. We want it browned evenly on all sides.)

When the sauce is done and the chicken is browned, reduce the coals to 10 on the bottom. Place the butter strategically all over the chicken, spacing it evenly. Pour the sauce over the chicken and put the lid on, putting on 14 coals.

After about 20 minutes, stir everything together. Simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring every so often. Don't let it boil hard - this should be at a slow simmer.

Just before serving, pour the heavy cream into the pot and mix thoroughly.

Serve over rice.

*****

I'm telling you - this was incredible. There were only 7 of us at the park for the meal, and there was a 14" dutch oven lasagna as well that day, and this was nearly gone. I did eat the leftovers, and they were (if it is even possible) better the next day.

P.S. the recipe I based this on was here: https://www.simplyhappyfoodie.com/slow-cooker-indian-butter-chicken/

This was the perfect meal to cook in a dutch oven on a cool, rainy fall day.

I got together with my friend Nathan and we tried this new recipe along with some cornbread and Butter Pecan Apple Crisp. Comfort food all around.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 (1 oz) packages Old El Paso taco seasoning
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 cups beef broth
• 1/4 cup milk
• 12 oz frozen corn
• 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 cups tortilla chips
• 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• Toppings for serving: sour cream, chopped tomatoes, sliced green onions, sliced olives, etc.

Preparation:
In a 12-inch dutch oven, brown hamburger and onion over a full spread of briquettes. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute. Drain any excess fat. Add one package of taco seasoning and 1/3 cup water and cook and stir until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the dutch oven and set aside.

Melt the butter in the same dutch oven. Add the remaining package of taco seasoning and stir until combined. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper, and cook and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the beef broth and milk and stir/whisk until the mixture is thick and bubbly. Stir in the reserved meat mixture, corn, and beans.

Top with tortilla chips and sprinkle cheese on top. Remove all but 5 briquettes from underneath the oven and top the oven with a full spread of briquettes. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted to your satisfaction.

Serve hot with toppings as desired.

Previously, I had a recipe on this site called "Hungarian Goulash." Yesterday, I learned about authentic Hungarian goulash. I changed the name of the other recipe to "American Goulash." 

Hungarian goulash is a simple dish of meat and various vegetables with a base of onions and Hungarian sweet paprika. My friend Jeffrey, who lived in Hungary for a couple of years, pointed me to this recipe and provided me with the paprika, believing that this would work very well in a dutch oven. He was SO right.

Although I enjoy the Americanized version, the authentic Hungarian goulash is comfort food at its finest. It has a depth of flavor that hamburger in a tomato-y sauce will never have.

It's important to use imported Hungarian sweet paprika for this recipe. I was able to find it on Amazon. Click Here The "Pride of Szeged" is Jeffrey's preferred brand. While you're buying sweet paprika, you might consider buying a tin of hot paprika as well. People can sprinkle it on their own serving of goulash to give it some "kick."

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp pork lard or butter
• 1 1/2 lbs yellow onions
• 1/4 cup imported sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 1/2 lbs beef
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 carrots
• 2 medium potatoes
• 5 cups beef broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:
Cut the beef into 1/2-inch cubes. The beef is diced smaller than you will find in beef stews. Dice the onions, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes as well.

Melt the lard or butter in a 12-inch dutch oven over a full spread of briquettes. Add the onions and cook until they are just beginning to brown. Remove from the heat and stir in the paprika.  Add the beef and garlic, return to the heat, and cook until the beef is no longer pink.

Add the peppers and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until they are just starting to soften. Add the carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, beef broth, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.

Cover and simmer with 12 briquettes bottom heat and 14-16 briquettes top heat for 40 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add salt to taste.

Serve with hot paprika and/or crushed red pepper for heat and a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Notes:
Don't substitute green bell peppers for the red and yellow peppers in this recipe. They don't have the right flavor for this goulash.

Be careful not to scorch the paprika. The beef will release enough moisture to simmer without burning the paprika.

If you use a tougher cut of beef, the beef, onions, and paprika can be simmered alone for 40-60 minutes before adding the vegetables and continuing as above.

This is SO much easier than actually trying to stuff pasta shells and it tastes just as good! If you want to make it SUPER easy, do most of the preparation at home and show up with two gallon-sized ziplock bags--one with the pre-cooked pasta shells in the cheese mixture and the other with the pre-cooked meat sauce. When it's time to cook, spread the pre-cooked ingredients in the dutch oven in the order given in the instructions and bake! It will take a bit longer to cook because the ingredients will be cold, but the preparation time is almost nothing!

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 24-oz jar spaghetti sauce
• 4 cups medium or large pasta shells, uncooked
• 1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

Preparation
Cook pasta al dente according to package directions.

Heat a 12-inch dutch oven with 22-24 briquettes bottom heat. Brown the ground beef and drain. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes until soft. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds.

Add the pasta sauce and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove half of the meat sauce from the dutch oven and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, add the cream cheese, ricotta, parmesan cheese, basil, egg, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined. Stir in the cooked pasta shells.

Layer the pasta shell mixture on top of the meat sauce that remains in the dutch oven. Spread the reserved meat sauce over the pasta shell mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Cover and bake with 10 briquettes bottom heat and 14 briquettes top heat for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the meat sauce is bubbly. Sprinkle more fresh basil on top for garnish if desired.

Graveyard chicken   

This is the original recipe from Nathan Mower. I realized I've become a little bit TOO snobbish about cream soups when I tried this with my modifications and it just wasn't nearly as good. So here it is, back in its unadulterated form, cream of chicken soup and all.

Ingredients

• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can chicken gumbo soup
• 1 soup can full of water
• 2 cups rice
• 1 package Lipton onion soup mix
• 3-4 lbs. chicken thighs and drumsticks (bone in for the full graveyard effect!)

Preparation
Mix the soups, water, and rice in a 12-inch Dutch oven. Sprinkle half of the dry onion soup mix over the mixture. Press the chicken onto the mixture. Sprinkle the other half of the onion soup over the chicken. Cover and cook with 10 briquettes bottom heat and 14 briquettes top heat for one hour, or until the rice is tender and the chicken is done through.