Why have any old Thanksgiving when you can have a cowboy Thanksgiving? Check out this feature article from New Mexico Magazine back in 2009 on outdoor cooking (scroll to the bottom for recipes!):
Last spring I was hunched over my Coleman camp stove, surrounded by towering century plants and slender ocotillo at Pancho Villa State Park, near the U.S.-Mexico border. I imagined the cowboys of yesteryear, who brought with them their cast-iron kettles, also known as Dutch ovens. These essential pots were designed to cook meals slowly over open flames—a feat I can’t quite re-create with my Coleman.
Chuckwagon cooks used the thick-walled portable kettles to create myriad meals with the ingredients at hand—from biscuits and frijoles to fish, roasts, steaks, stews, and bubbling cobblers. Often, chuckwagon cooks were older men who volunteered for the work when they were no longer fit to drive cattle. The crew had nicknames for them: bean-master, biscuit-shooter, cookie, grease-pot, pot rustler.
Modern cowboys, too, savor simple comfort foods prepared in cast-iron Dutch ovens, and New Mexico camp cooks know how to do it right. Today, Dutch-oven cookin’ is still a-sizzlin’ across our state.
For example, the Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium, held annually the second weekend of October, includes one of the most famous chuckwagon cookoffs. The event, which has been featured on the Food Network’s All-American Festivals, is held in Ruidoso, a mountain town on N.M. 48 in southeastern New Mexico, where competitors are judged on flavorful fare, authenticity of wagons, and period dress. Glenwood, a town 60 miles northwest of Silver City along U.S. 180, also hosts a Dutch Oven Cookoff.
Recently, I shot the breeze with some Dutch-oven chefs and found that even blustery fall weather doesn’t stop these outdoor cooks from whipping up delicious dishes.
“Cool weather and cookin’ outside over a fire are a natural mix,” says camp cookie Dean Foster, a third-generation cowpoke cook whose family owns a chuck wagon dating back to the 1900s. Foster competes at regional cookoffs and has even set up his gear on the steps of the Capitol in Santa Fe, where one day he and his father prepared more than 3,000 biscuits. The father-son team uses an old-fashioned baking technique handed down by Dean’s grandfather, Fred Foster, to his father, Larry.
It’s no surprise that Foster feels at ease slow-cooking chuckwagon chow in a cast-iron pot, considering his family’s roots. “I’ve been cooking outside all of my life,” he recalls. “My family homesteaded our ranch [Mangas Creek Ranch] in the late 1800s, so I bet my great-great-grandfather, James ‘Uncle Jimmy’ Metcalfe, cooked in Dutch ovens in the same spots I do.” And Foster still cooks in his grandpa’s cowboy ovens.
He can be found around Grant County, in southwestern New Mexico, cooking up rustic cowboy chow from the family’s kitchen on wheels: a typical trail/ranch wagon equipped with a chuck box, boot, water barrel, and fly. “I enjoy feeding folks off the wagon and showing guests how we cook with oak, different sizes of ovens, and the various ways of managing heat,” Foster says. “Watching folks take their first sip of cooked-over-the-fire cowboy coffee is always fun.”
A cowboy’s Dutch oven differs from the conventional kind as it is usually made of cast iron (instead of glass, enamel ware, or stainless steel) and has feet (instead of a flat bottom), plus a flanged lid that allows the cook to pile hot coals on top. Just as a cowboy knows his cattle brand, Foster knows one thing for certain: You can cook just about anything in a Dutch oven. “If you can cook it inside, we can cook it outside using oak coals,” he insists.
How about Thanksgiving dinner? Two years ago, Las Cruces–based Dave and Zana Wood, award-winning cooks and members of the International Dutch Oven Society (IDOS), decided to cook their entire holiday feast in Dutch ovens. These team cooks also answer to the nickname Burnt-Wood, given them by a family friend when they began competing two-and-a-half years ago and burned their first cobbler. At this year’s Glenwood Cookoff, the Burnt-Woods’ stuffed salmon won first place in the one-pot category for Most Unique Dish. And their traditional Thanksgiving meal, with foods ranging from traditional turkey with dressing and yams to such New Mexico favorites as red chile and frijoles, won rave reviews from their nearly 50 dinner guests. Lots of pots were going, some containing scrumptious holiday desserts like cranberry-topped cheesecake.
In the cowboy spirit, I now envision eating a tasty Thanksgiving feast, slow-cooked outdoors in a black pot over a bed of glowing coals.
The following recipes are designed to be cooked outside in a cast-iron Dutch oven over hot coals. They can be made indoors in conventional Dutch ovens, too.
Southwestern Stuffed Turkey
This camp-comforting meat roll was made outdoors in a 14-inch Dutch oven.
1 whole, boneless turkey breast (4–6 lbs.), butterflied
14–20 slices peppered bacon
Chipotle Cornbread Stuffing (see right)
butcher’s twine
salt to taste
Rinse turkey thoroughly and pat dry. (This will help bacon cling to turkey when rolled up.) On cutting board, lay out bacon strips in two columns of 7–10 strips each, slightly overlapping ends of bacon strips at seam between columns. Gently press down on overlapped ends so that they stick together. You should have a set of double-length bacon strips the approximate width of the open, butterflied turkey breast.
Place turkey breast atop bacon, split side up. Layer generous amount of stuffing evenly over exposed turkey. Using both hands, roll turkey onto itself, stuffing filling back in if it escapes. (Place remaining stuffing, if any, in Dutch oven and bake at 350 degrees F until golden-brown.) As you roll up turkey, bacon should cling to outside of breast and become part of roll. When turkey, bacon, and stuffing are rolled together, wrap in butcher’s twine to secure. Sprinkle with salt.
Place in large Dutch oven and bake at 350 degrees F until turkey’s internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F (use meat thermometer). Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes before carving.
Outdoor Tip: If bacon is cooking too fast, the Woods lower heat by removing a few briquettes. If, toward end of cooking time, bacon is not completely cooked, they blast it with more heat by adding several additional coals, being careful not to overcook.
Serves 8–10
Chipotle Cornbread Stuffing
This moist cornbread was made outdoors in a 10-inch Dutch oven.
½ pound bacon
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
15-ounce can whole-kernel corn
two 8.5-ounce boxes corn-bread mix
cooking spray
⅔ of a 7-ounce can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (available in most markets), diced
chicken broth to taste
salt and pepper to taste
In Dutch oven, render and cook bacon until crispy, using bottom heat only. Remove bacon and let cool, then crumble. Add onions, celery, and corn to remaining bacon grease. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté until soft. Cool.
Mix cornbread according to directions on package. Coat inside of 10-inch Dutch oven with cooking spray. Pour cornbread mixture into oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 20–25 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven. Cool on baking rack.
Crumble cornbread into small pieces and combine with onion mixture. Fold in crumbled bacon and chipotles. Add enough chicken broth to mixture to ensure moist consistency. Reheat mixture throughout to absorb excess moisture and meld flavors.
Cowboy Baked Yams
A twist on twice-baked potatoes, these yummy yams are made outdoors in a 12-inch Dutch oven.
4 medium-sized yams, cleaned
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup melted butter
Bake yams in Dutch oven at 350 degrees F until tender. Cool. Scrape out center of each yam, being careful not to disturb outer skin. Place yam meat in bowl, combine with remaining ingredients, and refill skins with this mixture. Place yams back in Dutch oven and reheat at 350 degrees F until filling begins to bubble.
Serves 4.
Festive Bread Pudding
The Woods made this great recipe outdoors in a 12-inch Dutch oven.
Cooking spray
1-pound loaf of premade cranberry pecan bread, crust removed, cubed
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter, melted
6 eggs, beaten
4 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Spray 12-inch Dutch oven with cooking spray. In bowl, combine bread cubes, cranberries, and pecans. Place in oven and drizzle with melted butter. Combine remaining ingredients in large mixing bowl and pour over bread mixture. Let stand 20 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50–60 minutes, or until inserted knife comes out clean. Outdoor Tip: Use 17 charcoal briquettes on top of Dutch oven and 8 charcoal briquettes on bottom.
Serves 12.
Cranberry-Topped Cheesecake
Crust
2 cups graham-cracker or shortbread-cookie crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
Cranberry Topping
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 teaspoon orange juice
1/2 cup toasted almonds
Filling
four 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
2 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon almond extract
Crust: Combine graham-cracker or cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter; press into bottom of 8-inch, parchment-lined Dutch oven. Bake 5–8 minutes at 300 degrees F. Cool.
Topping: Combine all ingredients except almonds in small Dutch oven. Bring to boil over medium heat. Boil 1 minute, then cover and reduce heat. Cook until most berries have popped (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool. Add almonds.
Filling: In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until light. Gradually beat in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add orange juice, zest, and almond extract. Pour into cooled crust. Spoon 4 tablespoons topping over filling, then marble with knife. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until set. Remove from oven and let cool. Pour remaining topping over top, then refrigerate until cold and set.
Serves 12.
Recipes developed by Glenwood Dutch Oven Cookoff winners and Dutch-oven devotees Dave and Zana Wood, of Las Cruces. Printed with permission.
Foster’s Cowboy Coffee
Coffee is a staple of cowboy cuisine, so start the cook fire and cozy up to a taste of the Old West. Try aromatic New Mexico Piñon Coffee (www.nmpinoncoffee.com), or holiday cowboy blends like Arbuckles’ Pumpkin Pie Spice (www.arbucklecoffee.com).
Fill a large, Dutch-oven–style coffee pot (14 inches high by 11 inches wide, with a bail handle) with water to bottom of spout. Place over fire while making coals. When water starts to boil, remove pot from fire.
Add 1 cup ground coffee of choice. Place pot back over the fire, giving it just enough heat to keep coffee at rolling boil. Cook until coffee smells done.
Remove pot from fire and add 1 cup cold water. Let pot stand to settle grounds. Serve carefully with fire irons or gloves—pot will be hot. Warn your guests not to take the last sip!
Recipe printed courtesy Dean Foster of Mangas Creek Ranch, a New Mexico Heritage Ranch in Gila. For info:www.mangascreekranch.com.
Read more http://www.nmmagazine.com/swflavor_dutchoven_nov09.php
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