Thursday, November 21, 2013

WBEV Radio Interview: Dutch Oven Breads


Back in October, I had a couple of great opportunities to do some phone interviews for radio stations all over the country.

I really love being interviewed.  It's so much fun to converse with people about topics I love.  It really is a thrill.  This interviewer was very good, too, and had done her homework before the interview.

Unfortunately, the first minute or so of the interview wasn't recorded, so it cuts in as we were talking about the nature of bread.





Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Dutch Oven Venison Meatloaf

With a Tomato-Apple Sauce

When I was up at the campground, with all of our friends who have children with special health care needs, I got to meet a few new friends.  Saturday morning, a few of us Dutch oven guys brought our pots together and we made mountain man breakfast for everyone.  Dave coordinated that one.

Another father there, also named Mark, was very enthusiastic about Dutch ovening, and he and I got to talking about game meats.  He’s an avid hunter, and I have relatively little experience cooking wild game. I got a lot of good ideas and tips from him, and we had a lot of fun talking together.

So, when I came back, I remembered that I had a few pounds of ground game.  It had been given to us by my sister-in-law.  It was wrapped, but unlabeled in our freezer.  I suspect it was elk, but I’m not certain.  I wracked my brain trying to think of something to do with it, and after some research, I settled on a few meatloaf recipes to blend together.

If an animal has been field-dressed well, it will go a long way toward removing the “gaminess” of the flavor.  Acids and herbs can do much for that as well.  There are plenty of both in this recipe, both in the meat and the sauce.

12” Dutch oven
10-12 coals below
18-24 coals above

8” Dutch oven
10-12 coals below


Ingredients

Meatloaf:

2 pounds ground venison
2 large eggs
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2-3 tablespoons mustard
2-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Liberal sprinklings of:
  Parsley
  sage
  thyme
  oregano
Not so liberal sprinklings of:
  Chili powder

2-3 large potatoes, quartered and sliced

Sauce:

~1/4 cup juices from the meat
3 small apples, peeled and grated
6 ounces tomato paste
1 small onion, diced
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

After thawing the meat in the fridge overnight, I started, as I usually do, by lighting up some coals and letting them get a bit white.

The meatloaf was actually very easy to make.  I simply mixed everything up in a bowl (except the potatoes).  Then I spread it around in the Dutch oven.  It was originally my intention to make a loaf mound of meat in the middle of the Dutch oven, and then to scatter the potato bits around it to fill it in.  However, I think I actually had closer to 3 pounds of meat, so I was able to cover the whole dutch oven with some depth.  So, I just tossed the potatoes evenly over the top.

It baked for probably about an hour before the internal temperature read 150.  Really, it’s fine if it goes over that.

About 15 minutes before it was done, I checked it, and there was a lot of liquid.  I used a small ladle to spoon most of it off into the 8” Dutch oven, and I put it on some coals.  I had already peeled and grated the apples while I was cooking the meatloaf, so I added that into the 8” with all of the other sauce ingredients and put the lid on.  I just let it simmer and boil a bit, to blend the flavors and to loosen the apple shreds a bit.

Finally, it was all done.  I let it cool and rest for about 15 minutes, and served it up with the sauce drizzled across the top!  It was delicious!



Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

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