Lesson 8 - Dinner's Ready - Let's Eat!

I had to miss this week's session with my instructor, David, due to parent teacher conferences. I was ok with that, though. David was going to teach us how to fry foods, such as doughnuts, in a Dutch oven. I do have a liking for almost any fried food except doughnuts. I just don't like them. (I know this seems almost unhuman of me, but it's true.) Anyway, knowing how to make other fried foods in the Dutch oven would have only laid the ground work for some potentially serious unhealthy eating habits; so all in all, missing the session was probably in my best interest!
Personal Learning Experience:
Well, this is it. The grand finale. As I projected in my learning blog proposal, I hoped to host a Dutch oven dinner with family--I did it! I served Zuppa Toscana Soup (supposedly the same recipe as the dish served at Olive Garden), cheesy rolls, and German chocolate cake. 
Overall the whole experience was pretty flawless. The only major hiccup was not having enough Dutch ovens to cook everything all at once. But prior cooking experiences allowed me to fix that problem without a hitch. I began by deciding the menu. Because I knew that I would be cooking for others, I was a little hesitant to go all out and try too many new or possibly difficult things. So, I picked a main dish that wasn't likely to burn -- a soup, I pushed myself a little out of my comfort zone and tried a bread again -- cheesy rolls, and everybody's favorite for dessert -- chocolate cake.
All three recipes required a deep Dutch oven. I only have two deep Dutch ovens. So, I started with the soup first. I cooked this in the Dutch oven using the Camp Chef stove. In the lid of the Dtuch oven, I fried a small onion (minced) along with a pound of sausage. In the Dutch oven itself, I heated 10 cups of water, 7 chicken bouillon cubes, 1 tsp of salt, 2 tsps. of garlic, 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes with 10 medium potatoes sliced and peeled. I let this boil for about 10 minutes. Then I added to the soup mixture 1 bunch of fresh kale torn in pieces along with the fried sausage and onion mixture. I let this simmer on the Camp Chef stove for about 25 minutes. Then I added one cup of heavy cream (or half and half) and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Because I needed the Dutch oven to cook my last two parts of the meal, I transferred the soup to another pot and placed it on a low heat setting on top of my conventional stove, to keep it warm. 
While the soup was simmering, I prepared the cheesy rolls and cake. For each of these, I used a "mix." The rolls were actually a Pillsbury peel and pop can. I used the large flaky rolls and covered them with shredded Colby Jack cheese. This actually worked well. I had to do the second batch in my conventional oven because of a lack of time and Dutch oven availabilty. Oddly enough, it was the conventional oven batch that most people didn't care for. The Dutch oven batch was highly sought after.
I used a Betty Crocker German chocolate cake mix for the cake. By the way, I remembered my previous trouble with not being able to lift the cake out of the Dutch oven; so, I bought some Dutch oven aluminum liners. These things work beautifully. They allow for an easy removal of food, require little to no clean up and are fairly inexpensive. I highly recommend them. Once the rolls and cake were ready to go, I fired up the appropriate amount of coals and placed them accordingly beneath and on top of each Dutch oven. I even recalled the need for Dutch oven rotation about every 10 to 15 minutes. When it was all cooked, the family gathered to eat. We enjoyed the meal along with a good chat. Fun times!
Learning Theory Connections:
So, here it is--transfer. Yep it actually happened. I have cooked quite a bit since I was in fourth grade--but by one means only, a conventional oven. Plus, I have only ever cooked with electric heat in the confined space of a kitchen (minus an occasional cooking of a s'more over a campfire). So all of this cooking with propane gas and coals in an open, outdoor space was new to me. Learning to gauge temperature control and even heating of the food was my biggest struggle. A conventional oven does that for you--coals and propane gas, not so much. I have experienced what I believe to be a horizontal transfer of skills. I have taken knowledge of an indoor, controlled environment of cooking and applied these skills to an outdoor, less controlled environment of cooking. 
In addition to this, since I was a teenager, I have been able to cook full blown meals (main course, rolls, side dishes, desserts, etc.) for special family gatherings like Father's Day meals and Mother's Day meals. I can do such with automaticity and often from memory (just a quick glance at frequently used recipe and I'm ready to cook). But this has always been done inside of a kitchen. I felt that if I could do something similar to this using a Dutch Oven, I would consider my learning experience a success. As I prepared this latest family meal, Dutch oven style, I could feel the horizontal transfer occurring. I knew how to handle not having enough of the appropriate sized dishware (deep Dutch ovens), how to prepare the dishware to ensure an easy and appealing removal of food, which menu items to prepare first, etc. These are all things I do when I cook in my kitchen; so, overall--learning goal reached! 
In the end, I realize that a script for outdoor cooking is finally there for me to pull forth from my schema of cooking knowledge. I get it--set up the Camp Chef stove -- use the Dutch oven on this gas powered item to cook things that won't easily burn, like a soup or chili. Or, use it to fry a a food like a meat. It also helps with preheating the Dutch oven and lighting the coals. Cook things that will easily burn, like breads and desserts with the Dutch oven. Place less coals on the bottom and more on the top to avoid burning the food. Also, a frequent rotation of 10 to 15 minutes helps to ensure even cooking and reduces the chance of burning food.
By the way, of the family dinner, my sister-in-law said, "Now this is comfort food!" Yea for praise (a little extrinsic motivation can go a long way) and its connection to behaviorism--I'll most likely repeat the behavior of Dutch oven cooking again.

Fry the Sausage and Minced Onion

 

Adding the Kale

Soup is Read to Serve

The Dutch Oven Liner Makes it so Much Easier to Remove the Cake

Hey - It's Actually Easier to Cook Multiple Dishes at Once When You Dutch Oven

Cheesy Rolls

I Didn't Even Have to Glue The Cake Back Together with Frosting this Time

If You Cook It - They Will Come