Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Get your Dutch Oven and recipes ready... It all happens Saturday starting about 3p.m.!! If you are cooking, you'll need to plan time for starting charcoal to make presentation of your dish to the judges at 5:20 p.m.... Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Crane

I think I would enjoy being a judge someday.

Eric

OK, who won and what were their dishes??

Dave, I'm sure Larry will post when he figures out how to use his smart phone, but the event was a huge success, lots of tasty food made the old-fashioned way and served up to hungry folks.

Everyone who entered was a winner in my book,however the judges had to earn their keep.

The dessert/overall winning dish was a Pineapple Upsidedown cake... and it was very nice. It narrowly beat out a chocolate-fudge-pudding-cake with white chocolate drops that was my personal favorite:) The winner was Luke, but I didn't get a last name:(

Our ACC Central Chapter president, Tim, won the entre' portion with a four-bean chili laced with pulled pork that was really good, too... narrowly beating out a very nice chili that had a little kick:)

We only had eight cooks this year, but they made up in quality for any lack of numbers. Anthony Michaels, to whom we owe great thanks for serving as our "Star Judge", commented that there was not a single poor dish in the whole cookoff. Since I sat and sampled next to him and our "Youth Judge", Maryssa Barron, I can and will confirm that I would eat any of the entered dishes any day... happily:)

Thanks to all our contestants and to the DO Groupies who supported them all!! It was a good afternoon.

FYI: One of the DO Groupies who came to support the event was Eric McCallister, Founder of the Central Arkansas Dutch Oven Society. (His bride Cheryl and their daughter also came... it's a family thing.). We discussed the possibility of inviting their group to come and enter the DO Cookoff next year... and they frequently have 30 cooks at an event... So, though it's not solid yet, Dave & Roger, you need to be gettin' your "A-Game" on... it's only a year away!!

The Organizer... Crane

Luke Coop (AKA Deuce) here. I actually made two dishes, Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Apple Cobblercake. The former turned out okay, but when I flipped it the pineapples didn't come along for the ride (I got some great advice on how to avoid that problem next time) so I just set it on the other table for everyone to consume, which we did promptly. . The dish I submitted was the Apple Cobblercake, which is made as follows:

Dump a few cubes of butter (spread around the bottom; two tablespoons total give or take) and two cans of apple pie filling in an eight or ten inch dutchie (depending on how far you want to stretch it and how much apple you want per bite). Mix up a Krusteaz (never been able to find another brand) Cinammon Crumb Cake and spread it all over the top, then scatter the cinammon topping mix on top of that. Bake it pretty aggresively so the filling will be nice and bubbly and the crust crusty. I usually place the DO over a bed of coals and completely fill the lid with coals as well. I can't tell you how many briquettes to use since when I'm not using campfire coals I use lump charcoal, but I can tell you not to be skeert. Start the top and bottom at the same time, then allow the bottom an additional ten minutes or so once the top is done (usually 30-45 minutes for the top). I remove the lid entirely for this step. Lining the DO with foil eliminates the hassle of cleanup and doesn't affect the flavor. In the rare event that there are leftovers they make a fine breakfast on a fall morning.

My winnings consisted of a ten inch aluminum DO and a dinner bell triangle. I gave the triangle to the young lady who made the chocolate cobbler because I felt she was much more deserving of the win. I think she was really happy to get it as she cooks for a large crew at deer camp every year. It was a great time for sure.

Ahhh... my short memory now recalls that Luke did, in fact, win with his second-best ... which won!! I most sincerely apologise, Luke!! You did great! Crane

It was really a lot of fun. I only regret I didn't get to meet more ACCers. That was a high priority, but it just didn't work out. Maybe next year and throughout the year on the water.

Jeez, pineapple upside down cake is one of my signature DO desserts.


Luke, keep looking over your shoulder, as I might be there next year with my version to give your version a bit of a challenge
now, if we could get Roger to jump in next year
It just might be a pineapple upside down cake race for the pineapple !!!

Sounds like next year might turn into quite the throwdown. Of course, talk is cheap.........

The real winners on that contest next 'Vous would be the judges!

You won fair and square this year, I just talked about it!!!!

Pineapple upside down DO cake is a real treat and I am looking forward to tasting your award winning version!

Hmmmmmmm... I notice Roger hasn't chimed in. I hope he's not... a woosie who will be afraid to cook next year... but, of course, he'll back up his talk... sure he will...

Well, Bro Roger and I decided we would give the young DO cooks a chance this year so we took a Sabbatical leave.

Now that the young uns' have warmed up their black pots and received well deserved praise for their efforts
time for us to come out out and liven up the competition.

Talk is cheap as you say.

Lets hope things line up and next year's 'Vous works out for all of us to meet, share food and enjoy Couchdale.

All I know for sure is that I won't be letting my DO sit idle till next year. This year's entry (drunken blackberry cobbler with buttermilk topping) was actually the first dish I've ever cooked in a DO, and I've decided that I ain't half bad at it. I know that talk is indeed cheap, so I won't speculate on whether or not I'll be competing next year or not, but I do know for sure that I'll be doing a lot more cooking in my DO. Time to roll up my sleeves and start experimenting.
Also, a big thanks to the judges, fellow entrants, and DO groupies that were in attendance. I noticed that my cobbler was pretty much obliterated at dinner, so I'll take that as a sign to keep doing whatever it is that I am doing.
Jon Ellwood

I have had the greathonor of tasting Dave's Pineapple Upside Down Cake so I do look forward to tasting Luke's as well next year and Dave's again.

And remembering that wonderful taste testing, I also would like to taste Bob Stout's Cherry cobbler again. It was just begging to have some vanilla ice cream to top it off, which we could probably arrange if I bring my ice cream maker.

Eric

Sorry I did not make it this year - my knee seriously was not up for that length of ride or drive.