Our getaway was a success as we relaxed with family and friends, had some great times with awesome music, and we cooked some extra hot food to warm us up. These three dutch oven recipes turned out so good, that I thought I’d share them with you.

I decided to go for a Mexican-Jamaican fusion because I wanted both heat with sweet so I cooked Tinga de Pollo with Pineapple Rice. I also experimented with a simple individual cobbler recipe that turned out fantastic. As with any home cooking, these are recipes that have as many varieties as there are cooks, so take these and make them your own.

Tinga de Pollo (chicken stew)

At home: I roasted enough Boneless, Skinless chicken breasts, seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper, paprika, and cumin to make 4 cups diced, then packed that into a container. You can also use a rotisserie chicken. Just shred the meat. Easy and delicious.

You will also need:

2 cups of diced onions

2 tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups diced plum tomatoes

½ cup pureed diced chipotle peppers and adobo sauce

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme 

4 bay leaves

1 tablespoon sugar

Oil for cooking

I had queso fresco, diced avocadoes, fresh cilantro, lime, and sour cream for garnish.

Get your dutch oven hot, add the oil, then toss in all the vegetables with a bit of salt, and cook until wilted down (about 5 to 7 minutes). Add all other ingredients, put the lid on, and just simmer for a good 30 minutes. The vegetables create a lot of juice, but you can add more if it seems a bit dry – I would use water, broth, or lime juice.

Pineapple-Cilantro Rice

2 cups of jasmine rice

3 cups of water

3 cups of light coconut milk

1.5 cups of diced pineapple (fresh or canned)

½ cup of fresh diced cilantro

1 red pepper, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil and lime

Add all ingredients in the dutch oven except the lime and cilantro, stir to combine, put the lid on and simmer until the rice is cooked. Once the rice is tender, add a few squeezes of lime (to taste) 

and the fresh cilantro, and stir to fluff. That’s it!

Fresh Fruit Mini Cobblers 

1 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon of salt

Mix all of these together

1 stick of butter (read on below for this)

Choose your fruit – I used a combination of fresh strawberries, frozen wild blueberries, and some of the pineapple juice from the pineapple I used in the rice, although I’m not sure I needed the extra moisture. 

Put either small canning jars or foil muffin liners to fill the bottom of your dutch oven. Spoon each about half full with your fruit mixture. Top each one with a heaping tablespoon of the flour mixture (you probably will have some left over for next time!) Put a pat of butter on top of that. Put the lid on, put coals on top, and put a few underneath, but several around the edge. You don’t want to burn the bottom.

Cook for about 25 minutes. They should be a bit browned on top. 

I’m sorry I don’t have a finished picture of the campfire cobblers – they were eaten too quickly!

You can learn more about camping at Pocahontas State Park here, hope to see you around the campfire soon!