fireplace cooking

I decided since we got down to a cool 45 degrees the other night I would cook dinner in the fireplace.We had a potato leek soup with some toasted bread and sauted onions.The soup was delicious just potato,onions ,leek,chicken broth and a bay leaf.Then so as not to waste the hot coals an apple pie cooked in the Dutch Oven, and a bean pot of baked beans tucked into the back of the fireplace to cook over night.All came out great except we had to smush down the pie to fit in the dutch oven.I did learn to line the Dutch Oven with tin foil next time because you ruin the seasoning of the pot scrubbing off the over flow of the pie juices.I was really happy with the baked beans they came out perfect.I wasnt sure how that would work.It was a pretty low stress meal for th fireplace.No meat to turn and Pie is supposed to be easier than a cake in the dutch oven.

Hearth cooking and cheese making

A few weeks ago we attended a Hearth cooking class at Woody Hill B&B in Westerly RI.What a great time we had.There were 8 students and we all took responsibility for specific dishes.Mine was Martha Washingtons spice cake in the dutch oven.I tend to burn whatever I am baking in the dutch oven.It came out great and I was able to replicate it at home in the fireplace as you can see in my photo.There were no burned spots.We also cooked a pork roast,butternut squash soup,cornbread,corn oysters,pear chutney,cranberry relish,Bread pudding.All this was cooked on the hearth,reflector oven(in front of hearth,beehive oven and dutch oven.It was a great night,none of us knew each other so it was nice to meet new people also.Ellen our host was great.I also have made my second attempt at cheddar cheese this week.We will keep our fingers crossed.When you make cheddar cheese you have whey left over.I made ricotta out of the whey and then made a dish I found in Edible Rhody.Gnudi in a lemon thyme sauce.Very similar to gnocci but mostly ricotta only a little flour and you roll into balls instead of off a fork to make ridges.It was a great recipe we really enjoyed it.