Oh, what an Honor

By Keith Fisher

In order to achieve notoriety for the event, the directors of the World Championship Dutch Oven Cook Off have been getting Judges who are celebrities, professional chefs, or both. This year they asked me.

I was privileged to rub shoulders with former world champions and a few celebrities as well. What an honor it was for me to be chosen to be one of three main dish judges in the finals on Saturday.

We were charged with evaluating the meat dishes, in order to help choose the new grand champions. They would have the bragging rights for a year.

The cook off ran like a well-oiled machine due in large part, to the organizational skills of Ranes Carter. I watched, and went about my other purpose, the purpose of learning about making bread for the readers of this blog. I asked several of the cooks and a few judges to explain the process. I took many pictures, and got a lot of information. More about that later.

While watching, I began to reminisce. It was ten years ago that I cooked in the World Championship for the first time. We had qualified that year by default. In those days if the winner of a cook off had already qualified for Worlds, then it was given to the second place winners. Since we tied for second with another team who had already qualified, We were sent to compete at the big event.

When we arrived, we drew our pit number from a Dutch oven, and set up under the tent. I fell in love with talking to the spectators. Perhaps nerves got the best of us I started cooking the potato garnish too soon and it turned to mush. The peppermint strawberry angel food cake turned out great. The beef roast was . . . well, beef. The bread rolls were plain.

We took 11th out of twelve teams. The team that took first was the same team we had tied with for second place at the other cook off. Go figure. After seven or eight years of cook offs and six years of world championships, We final took first. We were grand champions. There had been a pile of tweeked recipes, dozens of failures, and a full court of idiotic judges.

At one cook off, while removing our pie, it slipped away and most of it ended up on the floor. We were told to serve what hadn’t hit the floor. That cook off was supposed to be judged on a separate dish basis. Meaning, we should’ve been able to win first place with a main dish. You guessed it we were marked down for not serving the whole pie. Our main dish was great, but it wasn’t given a chance because of the pie. I went home and considered giving up.

At another cook off, it was so hot, and we were so exhausted, I didn’t care anymore. But I kept going because it was our hobby. In 2005, I had just lost a job and we didn’t care anymore. We had qualified during the previous year so we went to worlds. We told each other it was the last time.

How liberating it is to not care. You’re free to cook how you want. I nailed my meat for perhaps the first time. To our great astonishment, we took first, and became Grand champions for 2005. Now I’m a has-been, but I see others on the path, and my heart goes out to them.

So this is for those who would be winners of the big dance. Yes, its painfully true, teams spend a lot of money getting there. It’s frustrating with practice, food costs, travel, and aggravating judges.

It’s also true, that we never really started to win until we let it go. We decided if we couldn’t have fun, we didn’t want to do it. When sportsmanship suffers, the vision becomes clouded. I have seen poor sportsmanship in many forms, including my own and it just isn’t worth it.

As I said, it was my great honor to be a judge this year. To see the kinds of food presented by the best cooks in the world. I am in awe of the talent displayed and everyone deserves to win. In jest, many spectators ask how to become a judge, and I laugh. The truth is, it’s harder than you think. There were twelve different meat dishes, and every one of them was exceptional, and deserved to win. How do you choose?

Personal preference plays a large part. In the end it boils down to how hard the dish is to make, and if it tastes good enough to go back for seconds, thirds, and whether I want to have it inserted in my veins through an IV. That’s what happened with me. I gave everyone similar scores but I gave three better scores. And I sat down wishing everyone could win.

I would judge that cook off again just for the honor. And this year was a great event. Perhaps the best we’ve had since we left the tent. All-in-all, I miss the days of the tent and the good friends I had.

I will share the bread secrets next week, but for this week I have great news. The man I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, became the first person to ever win the World’s Championship twice. First place went to Terry Lewis of Tabiona, Utah and his daughter Tori. More about them and the dishes they cooked later. For now, this is long enough.


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The Big Show and Bread

By Keith Fisher

It started! When I first got into Dutch oven cooking competition, the world championship was held one day a year. All the pre-qualified Dutch oven cooks scheduled to cook, met in a tent on the Jensen Historic Farm in Wellsville, Utah.

Since then, the event moved indoors as part of the International Sports Exposition in Sandy, Utah. The necessity of cropping down the number of cooks was met by having qualifying cook offs throughout the year. Now, there are so many cook offs there is a semifinal system held over three days at the event.


I am writing this on Friday, March 13 and the first semifinal was held yesterday. It produced six qualifying teams to move on to the finals. There is another semifinal going on right now with the main event tomorrow. I have the great honor of helping to judge the main dishes tomorrow so I’ll let you know.


Last week in this blog, I talked about texture and quality of the substance we call the staff of life. I promised to write about it and tell you how to achieve great results. Since I’ll be associating with many of my old friends at the cook off, I thought I’d ask them to share with us their secrets. You can ask them too. Send me your questions and I’ll ask the experts.


Send me an email at bloghole57 at yahoo dot com.



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More than a Trend

By Keith Fisher

When we started competing in cook offs, Practically everyone made rolls for their bread entry. Many types of flour were used to create some of the most beautiful circle of rolls ever seen.
In those days, we strove to make a bread that was light and airy, full of the little holes yeast make, the kind of bread you can buy in the bakery.

Then the cooks, (me included), began to experiment with other types of bread. I made a cheese-garlic Italian round loaf that I enjoyed. One judge asked, "Did you know the crust was hard?"
"Yes," I said. "It’s supposed to be."

The trend moved toward different herbs, flat breads as well as, baguettes. After a while cooks began to bake cheese, and meats into the bread. A whole new trend had started.

Now a bread judge gets to taste a wide variety of lunches disguised as simple bread rolls or loafs and baguettes. I have tasted bread dishes that when cut into pieces were much better sandwiches than can be purchased at Subway or Hoagie Yoagie.

If you are thinking of cooking in a future cook off, don’t despair. There are many judges who,
(like me), still analyze the quality of the bread itself. Some cooks don’t bother making a good bread. They rely on the stuffing to wow the judges, so you have a chance. Learn to make bread. The skill will serve you well.

I will take a future blog and show you what I mean by bread quality and I’ll teach you how to make it. But for now, here’s the winning bread recipe from Klondike. It’s a meal in a roll, and I think you’ll love it.

Parmesan Chicken Rolls
By Terry and Stuart Lewis
Made in a 10, and a 12-inch Dutch oven.

Bread
1 tablespoon SAF yeast
1 ½ cups warm water
1 cup melted butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup powdered milk
2 teaspoons vital wheat gluton
5-6 cups flour
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Filling
2 large chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
1 8oz package of cream cheese
3 tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup canned green chilies
salt and pepper to taste

Place Chicken breasts in a 10-inch Dutch oven with one cup of water. Cook using 14 coals top and 7 on the bottom for 50-60 minutes.

Mix water, yeast and sugar in a small non-metallic bowl. Cover and set aside for ten minutes.
In a large bowl, mix two cups flour, powdered milk, and Gluton. Add eggs, ½ cup melted butter, salt, and yeast mixture. Mix well. Add enough flour to make soft dough. Place in a clean, greased, warm, 12-inch Dutch oven to raise.

When chicken is cooled, shred it and mix with cream cheese, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Gently mix in the chilies.

When risen, punch down dough and roll flat. Brush with remaining melted butter, and sprinkle with half of the Parmesan cheese. Cut 12, three-inch circles using a glass biscuit cutter.
Place one rounded tablespoon of filling on each circle. Fold circle in half and seal. Place rolls in a well greased, warm 12-inch Dutch oven. Cover and let rise.

Bake using 16-18 coals on top and 8-9 on bottom for about 35-45 minutes. About ten minutes before rolls are expected to be done, sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese on top and finish baking. Rolls will be golden brown.

Remove rolls from oven and brush with butter while hot.

Don't forget the World Championship Cook off is next weekend see IDOS website for more info

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Smokin’ Maple ribs from Klondike and the Main Event

By Keith Fisher

Last week I posted the winning team’s desert from Klondike Cook off. We all know, desert should always come first, so I posted the Terry and Stuart Lewis’s pie.

This week, I’m going to post my absolute favorite dish from the cook off. I’ve always been a meat person. I’ve taken pride in my main dish recipes. When I looked at Terry Lewis’s sauce, I accused him of stealing it from me. When, while judging, I tasted the sauce, I knew it was much better. The rib dish Terry served was stand-alone. When they applied the sauce, they created heaven on a bone.

It’s likely they would have won best main dish with the meat alone, but Terry went on to make a rice bed that was mouthwatering. When I added the sauce, the rice almost (not quite though, are you kidding) made me forget the ribs.

So here, with that build up, is the recipe for . . .

Smokin’ Maple Bacon Ribs with Buttered Rice
By Terry and Stuart Lewis, winners of 2009 Klondike Dutch oven Cook off.

Ribs
2 racks baby back ribs (1 ½ lbs each rack)
favorite pork rub
2 oranges (sliced)
2 bottles beer

Sauce
8 slices bacon
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 bottle beer
½ cup maple syrup
1 cup orange or peach marmalade
1 ½ cups catsup
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon mustard powder
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 tablespoons worchestershire sauce
½ teaspoon Liquid smoke
salt to taste

Rice
2 tablespoons butter
1 ½ cups white rice
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups chicken stock
handful flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

• Remove membrane from the backside of each rack. Cut between each rib.
  
• Rub al sides with your favorite rub. Place ribs in a zip loc bag to marinate (at least one hour)
  
• Start sauce. Cut bacon into ½ inch chunks. fry until cooked. Add onion, garlic, and jalapeno. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender.
  
• Add one bottle of beer. Stirring to loosen all the bits that are stuck to the bottom. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium/low and continue to cook until reduced by half.
  
• Add remaining ingredients and return to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-minutes longer, stirring occasionally.
  
• Place ribs in a 12-inch Dutch oven. Add sliced orange, ½ bottle beer (to cover the ribs).
  Simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
  
• When ready, remove ribs and discard boiling mixture. Dip each rib in the sauce and place back in the Dutch oven. Pour enough of the remaining sauce to cover the ribs. Cook for an additional 30 minutes.
  
• Start rice 45 minutes before you need to serve it. Melt butter in a 10-inch Dutch oven. Add rice and toast for about 2 minutes.Add stock and ½ Teaspoon salt. Bring rice to boil. Cover and cook for 20 minutes (until all liquids are absorbed).
  
• Remove from heat and fluff rice with a fork. Stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
  
• Serve with rice in a ring around the outside of a Dutch oven lid. Pour extra sauce into a hollowed out bell pepper in the center, and arrange the ribs on the rice around the pepper bowl.
  

There you have it. Next week, I’ll post the bread recipe. In the mean time, mark your calendars for the Main Event. The 2009 IDOS World Championship Dutch Oven Cookoff will be held at the Sandy, Utah Convention Center, March 12-14. Starting with qualifying rounds Thursday and Friday and the championship on Saturday.

You can root for the Lewis’s as well as many others, and the returning champions from last year. I will be judging on Saturday come and say hi.

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Cold Hands HotFood Part 2

by Keith Fisher

Last week I promised some of the recipes of Klondike. Here is the pie everyone raved about.

Bursting with Berries Pie
Terry and Stuart Lewis
10-inch Dutch oven
16-18 coals on top
8-9 on the bottom.

Crust
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Shortening or Lard
2 tablespoon butter
5 tablespoon water

Egg wash
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
beat together

Cut dry ingredients with shortening and butter until the consistency of peas. Add 5tablespoons of water to bind dough together. Work Dough as little as possible. Chill until ready to use.

Filling
2 cups black berries
2 cups Strawberries (halved)
2 cups raspberries
2 cups blue berries
6 tablespoons Clear Jel
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon Almond extract
2 tablespoons butter cubed

Mix sugar and Clear Jel together. Add and mix well, all ingredients except butter. Set aside.
Roll out 1 batch of pie dough, place in a 12-inch Dutch oven to cover bottom and 2/3 the way up the sides. Spoon in Pie Filling. Sprinkle cubed butter on filling. Roll out remaining Pie dough to to make top crust. Put top crust in place. Trim and seal edges. Brush top with egg wash.

Bake using 18-20 coals on top and 8 on the bottom for about 50-55 minutes. Remove from Dutch oven and cool.

Berry Glaze
1 8ounce pkg. Cream cheese
1 14 ounce jar marshmallow cream
5 tablespoons raspberry concentrate
12 raspberries, mashed

Whip all glaze ingredients together until smooth. Drizzle over cooled pie.

Here is a list of the winners

Advanced class

1st place: Terry and Stuart Lewis (Qualified for Worlds 2010)

2nd place: Bill and Toni Thayn

3rd place: Debbie and Michael Hair

4th place: Ben and Debbie Auxier

5th place: Erick Hansen and Lynn Patterson

6th place: Ted Cromer and Dallen Cromer

Novice class

1st place: Colton Patten and Chad Ward

2nd place: James and Melissa Knowles

Best Dessert: Bill and Toni Thayn

Best Bread: Terry and Stuart Lewis

Best Main dish: Terry and Stuart Lewis

People's Choice: Eric Hansen and Lynn Patterson

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Cold Hands Hot Food

By Keith Fisher

Yes, it was later in the year, but the weather bore record of Klondike cook off competitions of the past. The sun threatened to come out and warm the place up, but that notion quickly disappeared with the return of the clouds. The competitors lined up for a light-hearted cook’s meeting to receive last minute instructions. There was a title at stake, not to mention the great prizes provided by Sportsman’s Warehouse and others.

I spent time walking down memory lane to years past when the Klondike had its beginnings. That first year, 2002, dawned cold and cloudy. Somebody called the weatherman and reported 9 degrees. I spilled water on the sidewalk and it immediately froze.

It wasn’t quite that cold this year, about 47 degrees, but it was cold enough to need the hot chocolate and soup provided by the IDOS cook off liaison, Ranes Carter. He was a hero in the event this year, because I, the creator of the cook off, had commitments and couldn’t do it this year.

Ranes found a substitute in Damon Faust and his wife. They stepped up to the plate and did a fabulous job.

After the meeting, the cooks were turned loose to start their fires and prepare their food. Wonderful aromas soon wafted in every direction making mouth’s water inside and outside of the store.

In 2001 when I approached Blaine Murray the manager at that time, I tried to explain the challenge involved in a cold weather cook off. He said, “I can donate a Dutch oven for a prize if you will come in an fill out the paperwork.” I said, “You don’t understand, I want to do it in front of your store.”

He saw the value of an event in front of his store, bringing customers into his store. Since then, Sportsman’s warehouses all over, have been great friends of Dutch oven cooking.

Eric, the current manager, is committed to making the Klondike event great and he is a good friend of Dutch oven cooking.

The cooks this year provided wonderful taste treats. It was honestly hard for the judges to decide. In the end, first place was awarded to Terry and Stuart Lewis of Tabiona, and American Fork, Utah for Smokin’ Maple Bacon Ribs with buttered rice, Parmesan Chicken rolls, and Bursting with Berries Pie.

Terry, by the way, is a former world champion. He has come back into competition after a long absence and many of us are looking forward to his winning a second time at the Worlds Championships.

Here are some pictures of the winners and their dishes. Next week, I will continue this article, post some of the recipes and talk more about all the competitors.

We even had 7 year old, Melissa Knowles competing with, James, her father. James had an accident eith a knife but Mellissa had fun. you can bet she will be back.

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Okay, So, My Bad

by Keith Fisher

I know. It’s almost impossible to believe, but I made a mistake last week. You see I post this blog once a week on Friday and it posts on Monday at YourLDSneighborhood.com . So, last week I said I’d post a blog about the Klondike Cook off this week. See the flaw? It’s Friday and the cook off hasn’t happened yet.

So if you came here expecting a report, I’m sorry, my bad. I will be posting my report next week I promise . . . no really. And for those of you who came here today, there is still time. The cook’s meeting is tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM.

Chicken Cordon Blue & Twice Baked Potatoes

Daryl Rodemeyer & Jim Hansen 2007 klondike

6 to 8 chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
1 pkg. stovetop stuffing chicken flavor, crushed to coarse crumbs, include seasoning
1 Swiss cheese stick per breast (about 1"x 1" x 4"long)
1 slice ham for each breast (1/8 " to 1/4" thick)
1 can cream of chicken soup
½ cup light cream (half & half)
2 Tablespoon melted butter

Combine cream and soup. Add to a well-oiled 12-inch Dutch oven. Pound chicken until about ¼-inch thick. Roll ham slice and 1 cheese stick in each chicken breast.
Use a toothpick to hold if necessary. Place meat in the Dutch oven seam down. Drizzle the chicken with butter. Sprinkle chicken with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350°, 10 to 12 coals on top, 18 to 20 coals on bottom, for about 45 min. or until chicken is done. Sauce can be used for gravy

Twice Baked Potatoes

4 to 6 large Russet potatoes
1 stick melted butter
1 cup grated cheese
2 cups sour cream
¼ cup chopped chives

Bake potatoes in a Dutch oven, about 1 hour or until done. Split top and scoop out each potato. Reserve the scooped out skins. Whip the removed potatoes with sour cream and butter. Replace whipped potatoes to the skins. Place in Dutch oven and heat until heated through. Garnish with chives and cheese. Return to heat until cheese is melted.

Note: this recipe is verbatum from the competitors and hasn't been edited.

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