Adventures with anrkst.

Discussion in 'Adventure, Hiking, Backpacking and Travel' started by anrkst6973, Jun 17, 2018.

  1. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Back to pg 1....I decided to get a deep well 5 qt flat top. This called for a whole baked chicken. I picked a Greek flavor combo recipe and started 2 whole broilers marinating on Wednesday.. 100+ heat index...yeah we goin outside. ;)
     
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  2. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    I mixed up a good 2 1/2 tablespoons of these. The only pure ingredient missing is majoram but it's in the black top Italian blend next the black pepper. I added a good percentage of dill to compliment the Italian dressing based marinade of the chicken.

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    There was no chicken molestation in the making of this recipe. Ok maybe a little. ;) These soaked for 3 days in a mixture of the spice blend, Italian dressing, and white vinegar. Almost always the recipes say skin on, but eww. I think not. This also allows me to trim away a lot of the excess body fat you always get in packaged broilers.

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    Using the wing tips and a few trimmed bits and some spice blend I worked up some stock, maybe 3/4's of a qt. (I didn't really pay attention to the measurement this time. Trying to work by feel/sense rather than measuring cup. Ya?) simmer for around an hour, strain it out, them put it back in the pan hot along with the mixed rice and mushrooms.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2019
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  3. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    1 1/2 lb bag of red potatoes. Quarter and soak overnight in salt water.

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    Some other vegetables. Not a lot is needed, they are only there to compliment the bird....
     
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  4. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    2 10"s on the left and a 12" ci skillet should be able to handle this. :)

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    What we want here is just a quick sear. Just a bit o browning for flavor.

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    Same thing. You're not trying to cook them, that happens in the Dutch oven. This is just flavor enhancement.

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    This is literally all of the other vegetables. I was not sure even this dab was going to fit !
     
  5. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    I didn't have any ouzo. No rum either. I used the last of the white wine to break the glaze. Let it boil and scrape the bottom till it turns nice and brown. Then pour it over your birds.

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    Do the same with the stock/rice/mushroom stuff you made. Just hot and boiling, not cooked.

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    While the stock was heating I pulled a trick from the Jas Townsend 18th-19th century cooking channel. Stuff a good chunk of butter inside the chickens. (Told ya you'd get to a lil molestin in on them birds. ;) :D )

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    I mittttgghhtt be in the market for an even bigger pot.....soon.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2019
  6. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    This is another first here fellas, I've never stacked Dutch ovens, seen it, heard of it, now I'm going to try it....this just got left alone at around 400f for an hour.

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    Smells done, looks done. Let's eat it!

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    Didn't have to call my sous more than once for this one, the aroma alone will do it.
     
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  7. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    This is so tender, I'm taking it apart with a serving spoon. Really.

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    I'd say he's liking it? He kept going back for more...well until the first 4 qt pan was gone. :).

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    And there you go. This one should be titled "All that remains". This was a good one. Definitely doing this again.
    although it might be when the days are a mite less than meat falling off the bone hot! Thanks for coming by guys. Do drop a line and tell me what you might want to see next. I do like a nice challenge. :)
     
  8. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Where did you learn to cook like this?
     
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  9. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    My parents were from the Depression/WW2 era so everyone I knew growing up could cook and do it well. The "eating" was alway part of the "outdoor" experience. More recently I got interested in early American life and that has led me to a collection of cookbooks and recipes from the Carribean 1600's to the early 1900's America.
    I see something I like and start thinking how I would actually do it, next thing you know I'm writing a recipe on an index card. :)
     
  10. Hawkeye5

    Hawkeye5 Member

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    Man,That sure looks good. Chicken's always do good in cast iron.
     
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  11. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    I wanted to do the Afrikaan Fish stew again. Really liked that one but let's make it more "smokey"

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    I used the 15" carbon steel and a lot of spice.
     
  12. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    This time I used some Brown sugar, some butter, molee, tomato paste, and some Adobe sauce. I simmered it then broke the glaze with some vegetable stock. Scraping the pan to release all the crispness and follong that with some dark beer.

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  13. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    All the ingredients get transferred to a #3 potjie along with that wonderful pan sauce. Dog hangs out under my feet no matter how many times I tell him to move. :)

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    Simmer about 10 minutes between each step. ( one pic is missing. The qt/L of chicks stock added to the pot before tomato purée. It never downloaded. :(. )
     
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  14. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Finally, add your fish back in. ( I'm putting in some shrimp next time. ;) ). This made a smokey/hot dish that got rave reviews. Even the Sous who doesn't normally like fish clean 2 bowls.

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    It will cool off eventually...I've got more recipes I want to try , but it's too hot to hang out outside by the fire. Not going to back down or quit though....found 2-3 new recipu I want to try. Lord save us I might actually get this operation somewhere other than the patio! Hope y'all enjoyed it. There's more coming soon. ;)
     
  15. Bozho

    Bozho Member

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    Fish is my favourite thing to eat and this looks amazing!
     
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  16. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Never had fish stew but it looks amazing!!
     
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  17. Hawkeye5

    Hawkeye5 Member

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    That all looks good! You are the man cooking out side in this Texas Heat!!
     
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  18. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Thanks brother. It was hot! Even with the shop fan about 2 hours was all I wanted. Like standing in front of a giant hair dryer. :)
     
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  19. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Found a recipe I wanted to try. "Pigs in a cornfield " but I wanted to show how you could take this outside and make it easy. I could have picked a day when it wasn't 102 f as well! :D

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    I started with some pork chops I had in the freezer. These are the cheap thin ugly things you see in "family packs".

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    I also used some breakfast sausage rolled into little meatballs (with a lot of spices added) and a link sausage chopped up.

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    To bulk out the recipe I used about 2 cups of corn and green beans, and 1 each of green peas and asparagus from my freezer stash. You could just use more or bigger cans of veg-all and carry this to the lake or camp really easy.
    Over on the right is 8 oz of pork bone stock I had from something else, you could use a small can or box of chicken broth to add to the portability factor.
     
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  20. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Assembly is easy. A serving spoon of cream of mushroom,another of veg, layer of meat, repeat until all your ingredients are in the pot. In this case it's a 10 inch /5 qt deep well Lodge. I rinsed out the Cream of Mushroom can with plain water, I'd say 1 cup/8oz of extra water at a guess...

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    I'm thinking 365-375? I "swagged" about 12-13 briquettes on top and 15 or so under. I think it went 1 hr + 10 minutes or so. I know the pro's say to rotate the pot and lid every 15 minutes or so but I never do. So far it hasn't proved to be much of a detraction.

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    When the coals were pretty much gone I swept the lid and brought it to the table.

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    This had to be served with a spoon. The pork would fall apart when you tried to pick it up with a fork. Vegetables were soft and it had just enough creamy sauce to be spoon worthy. This would have went good with some thick crusty French bread ( but it was way too hot for another Dutch oven cook session!)

    So there you go, a few cans of vegetables and a gallon zip loc of pork and you could have this in a camp or on a river bank really easy. Man I will be glad when it cools off a bit. This triple digit stuff is messin with my "kitchen enjoyment "!

    Thanks for stopping in freinds, when the temps dip a tiny bit we'll do something really cool. Alright?
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2019

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