Dutch Oven, Chicken 'n' Dumplings, sorta

Went on some backcountry  tripping over the weekend. Did a dutch oven dinner.

The plan was a vegie enhanced chicken 'n' dumpling stew. The wind was blowing about 15mph with frequent gusts up in the 20s which complicates cooking on charcoal.  I'm cooking in a 12" deep Kelty Ridgeway oven. It's one of my first pans and has some rough spots but it's seasoned like a champ. I prefer the 12" deep over the standard 12" for most anything I'll bake as it keeps the top coals farther away from the food evening out the heat.

I lit a full chimney of charcoal. Paper wouldn't do it in the wind. All the fire blew out the vent holes rather than burning up. So I ended up starting it over a standard Coleman 2 burner stove. This is more coals than you normally need for a 12" dutch oven but I wanted extra heat for a heavily loaded pan and to generate enough heat to replace what the wind was stealing.

Seasoned up some bone-in skin-on chicken thighs. Laid a solid layer of coals out on my DO table and put on the DO. Put in the chicken after a  few minutes to brown and render fat. Browned up both sides mostly. Pan was good and hot even packed like that. I wish my home stove had that kind of heat output.

Time for the aromatic vegies. Leeks, celery, carrots. Saute a while. Add some garlic, poultry seasoning, salt and flour. Stir through to toast the flour a bit and even out any lumps. Then add about a quart of water.

Let that all simmer for 15-20 minutes.with the lid on to keep the dirt out. A dutch oven table is nice as you cook at a comfortable level without all the stooping over. Big enough for  a couple of ovens, but I've got my lid rest over the on the left and my coal tongs peeking into the picture.

Add some milk and potatoes, thyme, a bit more S&P. And you always forget something when you go camping. I left my zip lock baggie of dumpling mix at home so I cheated with some tube biscuits from a grocery store along the way. Cover and cook for another 15 minutes.

Normally I get more even cooking than that. You can see where the wind was stealing heat all along the perimeter.

We ate most of that pot full. Wife and daughter opted for it cold for breakfast as well.

Saw some neat indian ruins not often visited. Found a pottery shard, corn cob and lots of lithic scatter all of which we left in place for the next visitors. The shard had been found before and placed out in the open on a tumbled wall rock so it was easy to see. I might post up some of those pix later. They're on the camera and I shot the food pix with my cell phone.

No, this was on a 4WD road in BLM land south of Canyonlands National Park

I was behind a rock the size of a minivan. Still pretty windy even there.

That happened to be a tube of Pilsbury's Grands as I forgot my ziplock baggie of biscuit mix.  The biscuit mix was 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, some salt and 3 tablespoons of EVOO cut in to the mix. At prep time, i'd add another cup of milk and mix a bit. Pull out golf ball sized chunks and roll them in floured hands to work them a bit more, flatten and lay on top of the stew. Cook for about 15-20 minutes.

There wasn't a recipe. There were no measurements.  I did it by eye for what I thought was the amount my family would be hungry for when camping.  Leftovers are a hassle. There was a little left over that my daughter ate for breakfast cold the next morning. She's been telling me she wants it again for her birthday dinner.

So it was something like this but you should tweak amounts to your taste.

8 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on.

2 leeks chopped

2 ribs celery chopped

3 carrots, chopped

2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced.

poultry seasoning about half a teaspoon.

Goya Adobo seasoning (no pepper, cumin, or citrus)

black pepper

4 tablespoons flour

1 quart water

2-3 potatoes peeled and chopped, depending on size and appetite

dried thyme, probably half a teaspoon

2 cups milk

Season the thighs with the Adobo and black pepper. Lay them skin side down in the hot Dutch Oven. Let them render fat and brown, then turn and brown again. Remove the skin if you like as it will go rubbery during the stewing. This also reduces the fat in the final dish. 

Add the leeks, celery and onions. Stir around to cook the vegetables some. Season with poultry seasoning salt and more pepper if desired. Stir around for a few minutes until the vegetables soften some.

Add the minced garlic and stir. Now stir in flour and let it cook out for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the water and stir until the flour is dissolved. Cover and let cook about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the milk, potatoes, thyme and additional salt and pepper to season the added ingredients. While that's coming back to a simmer, mix the biscuits.

The biscuit mix was 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, some salt and 3 tablespoons of EVOO cut in to the mix. At prep time, i'd add another cup of milk and mix a bit. Pull out golf ball sized chunks and roll them in floured hands to work them a bit more, flatten and lay on top of the stew. Cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes. until the potaotes are done as well as the biscuit dumplings. They'll be soggy on the bottom.

She requested this for her birthday dinner again.... I sense a trend away from potstickers.