Outdoor Cooking School Homework

These were the results of messing around with hot charcoal and heavy dutch ovens outside on a very hot patio yesterday morning. Yes, I could have staged these a little more appetizingly, but it was getting very late, and I just shot a couple pics, put the food away, and went to bed. But all this was cooked with charcoal only.

Having been inspired by our river guides' rendition of dutch oven lasagna in June, we've decided to serve one to 3 other couples next Thursday our first night camping up north. But first I needed to get the finer points down. I had not observed every step of Steve, Marty, Jeff and Marq assembling and baking the one they made, so I thought a practice run was in order. I searched for a dutch oven recipe on line, and found way too many, and some with questionable techniques (like pouring a cup of water over the lasagna before you bake...Eewwww?? You don't need that liquid. And why would you use water when there is wine??). Also I never cook my noodles beforehand. Just break them to fit and lay 'em down. It worked very nicely. Noodles all cooked and tasted very good. Except you can't fill the oven so full that the cheese contacts the lid. Because it's gonna burn. Most of the burnt stuff came away with the lid. The instructions for the recipe I more or less followed call for only 5 coals under the oven, and 20 on top. Nearly all top heat. So the bottom won't burn, but you still have to leave some space on top. It will be a struggle, but I'll try not to fill the oven to capacity next week.

I have wanted to try bread in a dutch oven for a long time, and Alton Brown's recipe is a winner. It employs the long rise I'm so fond of, and is ridiculously easy. There is a surprising amount of flavor in the bread considering the small amount of salt and the presence of only white flour. And I got that wonderful crackly, blistery exterior that you get in professional bakery loaves. The texture is a little fluffy from the lack of kneading, but there is almost no work involved, and no refrigerator/cooler space taken up with the dough. Perfect for camping, with a little garlic-herb butter served on the side, is what I'm thinking. The coals here are placed entirely on the lid. The only heat from the bottom comes from a long preheating of the oven. No burnage anywhere!

Both bread and lasagna took 45 minutes to cook. I think we can get camp set up and pull this off.