The Pot
When my friends sent me a Dutch Oven as a thank you gift I am sure they had no idea how it would affect my cooking style, life, and neighborhood. I had no idea how to cook in it. I called my friend Cliff who is the king when it comes to Dutch Ovens.
Finally, I was ready to make my first attempt at Dutch Oven cooking. Not wanting to fail small I bought the biggest chuck roast I could find. It was a little over five pounds. Along with the roast, I tossed in some stock, onions, a few carrots, and about five pounds of red potatoes. The wire rack strained as I placed it in the oven. Did I forget to mention I strained carrying it over? There was a lot of food, hopes, and expectations in that Dutch Oven.
Not knowing how it would come out, and not wanting to die alone, I invited the neighbors over for dinner. All four of them showed up for my experiment.
I have to admit it looked pretty good. Better yet, it tasted good. The dinner conversation took a few turns but for the most part centered on the Dutch Oven. When did you get it? How do you wash it? How heavy is it? All, I answered as if I really knew what I was talking about. I was just happy dinner came out good and we were all still alive. Somewhere along the way the Dutch Oven was nicknamed, ‘The Pot’. The name stuck.
Over the next few weeks, numerous recipes were tried. The Pot was getting a real workout and for the most part our neighbors were there trying my new creations.
One weekend I did a roast, mashed potatoes, and gravy. The neighbors came over and Gino, who is six, took one taste of the gravy and triumphantly raised his fork in the air and in a loud voice proclaimed, “All hail the pot! All hail the pot!” I was ready to raise my fork and chant along but didn’t want to interrupt his mother who was telling him that wasn’t polite. It might not be polite but it was a great review of dinner.
Finally, I was ready to make my first attempt at Dutch Oven cooking. Not wanting to fail small I bought the biggest chuck roast I could find. It was a little over five pounds. Along with the roast, I tossed in some stock, onions, a few carrots, and about five pounds of red potatoes. The wire rack strained as I placed it in the oven. Did I forget to mention I strained carrying it over? There was a lot of food, hopes, and expectations in that Dutch Oven.
Not knowing how it would come out, and not wanting to die alone, I invited the neighbors over for dinner. All four of them showed up for my experiment.
I have to admit it looked pretty good. Better yet, it tasted good. The dinner conversation took a few turns but for the most part centered on the Dutch Oven. When did you get it? How do you wash it? How heavy is it? All, I answered as if I really knew what I was talking about. I was just happy dinner came out good and we were all still alive. Somewhere along the way the Dutch Oven was nicknamed, ‘The Pot’. The name stuck.
Over the next few weeks, numerous recipes were tried. The Pot was getting a real workout and for the most part our neighbors were there trying my new creations.
One weekend I did a roast, mashed potatoes, and gravy. The neighbors came over and Gino, who is six, took one taste of the gravy and triumphantly raised his fork in the air and in a loud voice proclaimed, “All hail the pot! All hail the pot!” I was ready to raise my fork and chant along but didn’t want to interrupt his mother who was telling him that wasn’t polite. It might not be polite but it was a great review of dinner.
posted by Ralph at 4:34 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Ralph, I loved your story about the dutch oven. When my children were little, I had 4 girls, I cooked all our dinners in my heavy duty cast iron dutch oven, iron ya know, good for the girls. Must have weighed 20 pounds. Anyway after a divorce and leaving it behind I often wished I had it for cooking meals. Anyway 14 years later I asked my ex-husband if he still had it, his wife found it outside and one of my daughters presented it to me for Christmas. It was orange with rust, but it's back to use now. It was a great present. They do cook the best meals, "all hail the pot".
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