Our first Dutch Oven Cookout

Roast Chicken & Potatoes

For Mothers Day I requested a cast iron Dutch Oven.  I am a simple girl, & I love to cook.  Mr. Restoration Rambler and the kids ordered one online for me from L.L.Bean.  Amazingly enough, it was free shipping - even here, to Canada!   About 10 days later it had arrived, and we could hardly contain ourselves.  We decided on a whole chicken to start because the kids are kinda picky, but chicken is Rambling family friendly.

The Rub:
1/4 cup parsley
2 tsp. dry salsa spices (I used Epicure Selections)
1 tsp. hot pepper chunks in oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
fresh ground pepper

Light 28 coals for a deep 12", 8 quart Dutch oven.
Meanwhile:  Mix together & rub over the chicken with your bare hands, making sure to get it into the crevaces of the chicken.

• Cut up 1 medium onion in chunks.

• Slice 6-8 potatoes, in thick slices.

• Slice 8 carrots in thick slices.

• Make 4 cups of creamy chicken soup broth:  ~Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add 2-3 Tbsp. of powdered soup base, dissolve & add 2 cups of milk.  Simmer over medium/high heat.

Warm up the Dutch Oven with about 2 Tbsp. of good oil in the bottom.  Use about 16 coals, in the bottom only for now, and when the oil is hot add the onions.  Keep stirring.  When the onions are opaque, add the chicken and brown on all sides to seal in the juices.

Then add the vegetables and pour the thick broth over the vegetables.

Put about 9 coals on the bottom, and 19 on the lid.  Normally for a regular (not deep dish) 12" dutch oven you would use 24 coals  to reach 350 degrees, but we want to be above 350 degrees, and we want some browning on top, so we will put a few extra coals on top.  Hoping to reach about 425 degrees.

We cooked this for about 1 hour & 45 minutes.  At about at the 30 minute mark, we made about 20 more coals, because they generally only last about 45 minutes total.


The result of our first ever Dutch Oven recipe was...FaNtAsTiC!!  It was, hands down, the most moist chicken I have ever had!  We had company for dinner,
& there was not a morsal left! - Success!

Mothers Day Present! - 12" 8 Quart, Deep "Lodge" Dutch Oven

IT CAME!!!!

My Mothers Day present was an 8 quart, 12" deep Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven.  

We have never cooked outside with a Dutch Oven, so this should be pretty cool!

It comes pre-seasoned & ready to use.

We are excited to give this method of cooking a shot!  

The question is, what should we make first??

Canada Forge Cast Iron Pot Restoration

This is one of my first cast iron restorations.

I think it turned out pretty good!

The name on this pot is "Canada Forge" 

& it has the number "260" on the lid.

Does anybody know anything about this pot?

I'm Back!

I know - I have not posted in eons...

Lets review about my blog...I started this blog to record our adventures restoring a vintage travel trailer, one we didn't even own yet.  I wanted to document our adventure finding one, as well as restoring it.  I really, really wanted one.  We tossed ideas around...Teardrop?  Airstream?  Shasta?  Scotty?  Anything towable?....
Although we loved the ease of towing with virtually any vehicle, we ruled out the teardrop due to the fact we are a family of 4...not enough sleeping room. We also liked the outdoor kitchen as we are outdoorsey people - & isn't that the point of camping?

     

Then we almost had an old Airstream, but the price suddenly doubled & we had to back out.

Would have been cool!!

Then we were searching, and came across a steal of a deal on an overhead camper...more my Hubby's idea, although I was not opposed.  It was large, & we had a big deisel truck to carry it.  So we bought it:

Well, this got us camping...for about 1 summer, & it was fantastic!  The camper on the truck was handy when we went to the public beach, at a family reunion at a remote lake, and several other very enjoyable weekends...untill the old truck died. :(

This is when the problem arose:  Most people now do not have an 8 foot box on their trucks anymore, including us!  We tried to sell it for only $500, but no luck!

So now, we have gone full circle...now we want to build a teardrop!

This is my favourite one:

We want to salvage what we can from the overhead...the door, windows, stove, heater, water pump, water holding tank, etc...Its really not so bad inside either...

Another problem...our budget sucks!  So, we are now on the search for a flatbed trailer to build it on.  Hopefully we will have some posts soon.