How to Cook in a Dutch Oven, Its History and Recipes
Day 2: Keeping the Dutch-Oven Tradition Alive and Serving Wounded Warriors
Editor’s Note: This week we’ll learn about Dutch-oven cooking from the man who wrote the book, “The Complete Book of Dutch Oven Cooking,” my longtime friend, J. Wayne Fears Hampton Cove, Alabama. Fears grew up on Tater Knob Mountain in north Alabama. His dad harvested and sold ginseng, besides trapping, hunting and fishing – like the original mountainmen and survivalists. During his early years, J. Wayne Fears followed along behind his dad and learned how to survive in the wilderness. At college, Fears got a degree in forest recreation and has been an outdoor writer for more than 40 years. Dutch-oven cooking was a natural way of life for the Fears’ family.
J. Wayne Fears and his friend Robert Graves use Lodge Logic cast iron Dutch ovens and a chuck wagon to prepare meals at many different events around the country. When I caught-up with Fears and Graves, they were preparing a meal at the Camp OutAmongEm (email Statler1020@comcast.net) benefit for Wounded Warriors. They wanted to show their appreciation to the men and women who had left their homes and families to go fight for the freedoms that we all could enjoy. Some of the favorite dishes served at the event where the Wounded Warriors fished and hunted were Fears’ Cowboy Cathead Biscuits and Chuck Wagon Venison Stew. One of the advantages of making biscuits when you prepare deer stew, is folks can use the biscuits to sop-up the gravy, if the stew’s really flavorful. And, Fears’ venison-stew recipe definitely required biscuits, because you just couldn’t get enough of the delicious stew or gravy. If you’re a member of a hunting club that has a fire pit, or if you build a campfire inside or outside of your clubhouse, consider getting a Dutch oven and making you a pot of venison stew like Fears’ recipe. Your hunting friends will be coming back for second, third and fourth helpings.
Fears’ Chuck Wagon Venison Stew:
Ingredients:
2 pounds cubed venison
6 medium potatoes, cubed
4 large carrots, cubed
1 large sweet onion, cubed
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon black pepper
32 ounces beef broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 one-ounce pack dry onion soup mix
Salt to taste
Corn starch to thicken
Preparation:
Place meat and flour in a large plastic bag. Shake to coat meat. Place olive oil in a cast iron skillet and heat meat on medium heat, stirring often, until medium rare. Place meat and all other ingredients in a 12-inch cast iron pot, and stir to mix. Cook over a campfire for 3-4 hours, keeping the fire low enough to not boil stew, until the potatoes and carrots are soft. If you like a thick stew, use corn starch to thicken about 30 minutes before removing stew from fire.
To learn more about cooking in a Dutch oven, you can buy Fears’ book from www.skyhorsepublishing.com. Fears’ “Backcountry Cooking,” “Cooking the Wild Harvest” and “Field & Stream Wilderness Cookbook” are available from www.protoolindustries.net and come autographed.
** Watch the video on preparing J. Wayne Fears’ Chuck Wagon Venison Stew.
