What's For Dinner

By Keith Fisher

The weather is cooling. Not many days of summer left. Some folks are planning their last big camping trip, or they’re thinking of having the in-laws over for dinner on the holiday. Just because it’s Labor Day doesn’t mean you have to labor.

I’ve been cooking in camp since I was little, and I’d used Dutch ovens many times before. Outdoor cooking at home, however, consisted of the propane barbecue, until one Saturday when my wife had to work. I wanted to make dinner for her, but I didn’t want to give up my gardening time.

I pulled a venison roast out the freezer, put it in the microwave to thaw, and retrieved our Dutch oven form the camping stuff. I set it in a wheelbarrow, and started the roast cooking. I dug some onions from the garden and added them. I dug some potatoes and added them. I dug some carrots and added them. I finished it off by picking corn on the cob, breaking them in half, and adding them to the top of the pot.

When it was done, there was way too much food for the two of us. I called my brother and my dad, and we had an impromptu party. We had loved entertaining in our backyard, but I found that when I invited people to a barbecue, some of them would come. When the invitation was for Dutch oven cooking, I rarely had anyone cancel.

It was all down hill after that. We got involved in competition, and ended up winning the World Championship in 2005.

The point here, is entertaining doesn’t have to be a big production. Put food in a Dutch oven and let it cook. Now, before you ask, “what do I cook”, I will tell you a basic secret. Many of my recipes start with two things. Onions and bell peppers. Dice them, and add them first. You may need a dab of olive oil to get started, but only a dab.

These vegetables contain water that cooks out, leaving moisture in the pot so the meat doesn’t burn, and they add flavor.

Here is a simple recipe.

1 white onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
6 chicken breasts cut in half
1 can cream of chicken soup
Dried rosemary to taste

With bottom heat only, (No coals in the center), sauté vegetables until translucent. Add chicken breasts and stir with the vegetables. Cover the pot, and let the meat cook. Stir occasionally. In 45 minutes, change the coals to fresh, hot ones. This is the time you add the soup. (You might want to use a second can.) Add rosemary and let simmer 45-minutes.

You will be amazed that you can eat the meat with a plastic fork. It will be a bit dry, but so tender. Spoon the sauce on the meat and the baked potatoes.

Next week I’ll tell you how to do potatoes.

What an Honor

By Keith Fisher

One of the ladies in my writer’s critique group got married yesterday. It was a joyous event for the bride and groom, and for all of us close enough to know how happy she is. Our good friend Kim Thompson is now Kimberly Job. She will be writing under her new, last, biblical name, and I think that’s great.

As part of the wedding, My wife and I were asked to cook a wedding dinner for the bride and groom and their guests. It was an honor. We cooked Pineapple glazed ham, Cheesy potatoes, Baked beans, Corn on the cob (in a water cooler), and Homemade Rootbeer. We planned to make cobblers, but the couple bought a cake and we didn’t want to compete with that.

Here is a taste treat:

Sauté’ d Mushrooms

Fill a 12-inch Dutch oven with large whole mushrooms. ¼ cup water, salt and pepper to taste. Then slice two cubes of butter into pats and place on top of the mushrooms, in the oven.
Place pot on twelve coals in a ring, (nothing in the center). Cook until tender, about 20 minutes.
Serve with steak, beef, and any meat. Or serve on the plate alone. Try leaving in the pot as appetizers and give your guests a toothpick.

Keeping a Promise

By Keith Fisher

A week ago, I promised to post a picture of the Pioneer day party I cooked for. As you know I was so busy, there wasn’t time for taking pictures. My friend was having an extended family party and took a couple. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a shot of the large group of people. He did get two shots of me.

Before you ask, Yes, I was cooking barefooted. No, I don’t recommend it. You could drop coals on your foot or do like I did, and drop your windscreen on it. (If the steel had been thinner, it might have cut my foot off.) I cooked barefoot, because the grass is heavily watered turning it into a swamp if you stand in one place too long. I had to take my shoes off last year too. But this year I wore shorts so my pant legs wouldn’t get wet.

As I said, I don’t recommend cooking without shoes, however, My feet were so comfortable! The swamp provided cushion. The water kept my feet cool, and by extension, me. I recently cooked a large meal with shoes on and my back hurt, my feet hurt, It was terrible. I know—I’ll get Harry Potter to cast a spell of protection on my feet . . . Hmmm, It could work.

Win a Dinner with the Author

Win dinner with Mark L. Shurtleff at the Market Street Grill and a free copy of "Am I Not a Man? The Dred Scott Story"

Valor Publishing and Mark L. Shurtleff, Utah's Attorney General and the author of "Am I Not a Man? The Dred Scott Story" are excited to launch the following contest:

The first paragraphs in the "Am I Not a Man" The Dred Scott Story" echoes the cry of the oppressed and enslaved:

"To him, the river sang. It intoned but one word, repeated with every ripple, and lap, and tide. One word that began with a gurgle far to the North, crescendoed through the heart of a nation, and climaxed in the Deep South with such force that no power on earth could hold it back. One word that bled from every pore. One word: FREEDOM!"

The "Father of Waters" sang, not with the splash of waves lapping against the levee, for the Mighty Mississippi was wide, and thick, and slow. It slid like a solid mass of glacial mud that had been moving toward the sea since before the Fall of Adam. It was ancient by the time Moses led the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. No, its melody was something more profound and ancient, and it harmonized with something deep inside Dred, and filled his very being so that he was powerless to ignore it. He turned toward the river, closed his eyes, and whispered the song of the slave."

To enter, please submit a 600-word essay on the concept of Freedom. Pay attention to your spelling and punctuation, and email your entry to the contests link at http://www.valorpublishinggroup.com. Our Selection Board will review the entries and select the winner, which will be announced here on our website on October 1, 2009 by 5:00 p.m. MST.

Prize: The winner will receive an autographed and personalized SPECIAL LIMITED FIRST EDITION of Am I Not A Man? The Dred Scott Story along with dinner for two with Mark L. Shurtleff, Utah State Attorney General, at the Market Street Grill in Salt Lake City, UT. (If the winner is located out of Utah, or otherwise not able to attend the dinner in Salt Lake City, a gift card will be awarded for a local restaurant.)

A quick announcement

I have an announcement for you.

Utah State Attorney General Mark Shurtleff’s ground-breaking new novel, “Am I Not A Man: The Dred Scott Story” is now available for preorder at a reduced price.

An illiterate slave, Dred Scott trusted in an all-white, slave-owning jury to declare him free. But after briefly experiencing the glory of freedom and manhood, a new state Supreme Court ordered the cold steel of the shackles to be closed again around his wrists and ankles. Falling to his knees, Dred cried, "Ain't I a man?" Dred answered his own question by rising and taking his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dred ultimately lost his epic battle when the Chief Justice declared that a black man was so inferior that he had "no rights a white man was bound to respect."Dred died not knowing that his undying courage led directly to the election of President Abraham Lincoln and the emancipation proclamation.

Dred Scott's inspiring and compelling true story of adventure, courage, love, hatred, and friendship parallels the history of this nation from the long night of slavery to the narrow crack in the door that would ultimately lead to freedom and equality for all men.

You can order your sale-priced, signed and numbered limited edition copy of “Am I Not a Man” by visiting http://www.valorpublishinggroup.com/ before Labor Day. There are only 5,000 copies of this special edition being printed and once they’re gone, they’re gone … and the sale price ends on Labor Day. You can request that Mark personalize your inscription, and your book will be mailed to you before the stores even get their copies. For more information, visit http://www.valorpublishinggroup.com/

Well Over 250

By Keith Fisher

I’ve been waiting for my friend to send me pictures to show you, but the Ward party went well. Remember, I mentioned, we were told there would be 250 people? There were many more.

We cooked four Pineapple glazed hams, Five batches in four pots of beans, five Turtle cakes, nine cobblers, and a pile of hotdogs. The line lasted for 35 minutes, and the ham ran out before the line did.

I promised to tell you about a new way to fix hot dogs. I’ve been making corn-on-the-cob in a water cooler for years. All you do is change the hot water once add butter and condensed milk. No fuss, and very little effort.

I wondered if it works for corn, why not hotdogs? I got several packages of hot dogs, put them in the cooler and added hot water, twice. They swelled up and were terrific. It not only worked but the ward loved them.

As you might imagine, I was as busy as a, one-armed paperhanger. If you’ve ever hung wallpaper, you know how busy that is. I didn’t get a single picture taken, however I have been promised copies of the ones my friend took. Maybe next time.

Did the Pioneers Make Lasagna?

By Keith Fisher

We were asked by our ward to cook on Pioneer day again this year. When you cook for your church group, It’s a good idea to cook something different each time. You don’t want people to think you’re a one-pot wonder. For that reason, we’ve been brainstorming.

Last year, we made Cheesy Potatoes, Barbecue Spareribs, Polynesian Chicken, Corn on the Cobb, and homemade Root Beer. I’ve been working on a couple of new lasagna recipes for this year, and I tried one for my critique group the other day. We’ve been planning, and counting, getting ready to make lasagna for 250.

So, we got the ingredients today. We’re making Three Pineapple glazed hams; two 15-inch pots of baked beans, nine cobblers and seven turtle cakes. I’ll let you know what happens.

On Sunday, I was asked what we planned to make. I said, "I’m not sure. Probably lasagna." He gave me a funny look and said, "Lasagna? That’s not very Pioneer-ish."

Well I had to admit that it wasn’t, but then again, neither is turtle cake. I was left to wonder about my choice. Then I was reminded that some Italian Mormon Converts immigrated to Utah too. As you might know, Pioneer day, in this state is for commemorating the day in 1847, when the bulk of the Mormon Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley.

I suppose that since meat was in short supply back then, I should make vegetable stew, and corn bread. Fruit cobblers would be out of the question.

If the truth were told, I bet our ancestors watch us celebrate with hamburgers, and hot dogs and wish they’d had food like that. I also think my ancestors will see the hams I’m making, and their spirits will salivate. If disembodied spirits could do that kind of thing.

My saving grace, I guess, is the baked beans. Pioneers had them. Of course I use two different kinds of meat and four different kinds of beans in mine, along with fresh bell peppers and onions.

Oh well, with all my romantic notions, I guess I’m really just a twentieth century guy after all. At least I cook like a nineteenth-century cook with my cast iron pots . . . uh, well, if it weren’t for the charcoal briquettes, my propane starter, and my steel cooking table.

Okay never mind. I hope you can use your Dutch ovens on Friday. Make your ancestors proud. It might help you appreciate what they went through.

Oh, I'm also trying something new with hot dogs. Let you know how that comes out too.