Double Dutch Stacked Dinner/Stuffed Acorn Squash with Ham Patties and Potatoes

I called this one "The Double Dutch Stacked Dinner" because I liked the name, but in reality, it is baked acorn squash stuffed with apples and raisins in the bottom pot and ground ham patties with potatoes in the top pot. I'll break it down into two separate recipes.

Start by firing up 36 briquettes.

I used a 12" and 10" dutch oven.

I also used a 10" cast iron frying pan.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients:

2 acorn squash

2 large apples (your choice) peeled, cored, chopped

4 tbs golden raisins

4 tbs melted butter

4 tbs brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Cut the squash in halves and scoop out seeds with a tablespoon.

Pour about 1/2" boiling water in a 12" dutch oven.

Place squash, cut side down in pot. Place lid.

Bake for about 30 minutes with 6 briquettes below oven and 18 on lid.

During this time combine the rest of your ingredients for the stuffing in a glass bowl.

Also prepare the following vegetables for top pot:

Top Pot Veggies

Ingredients:

white potatoes (a few handfuls) cut in half and sliced

1 onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

4 cloves of garlic (I missed this one)

3 tbs olive oil

salt, pepper, dried herbs (your choice)

Place the olive oil in the bottom of a 10" dutch oven.

Put the remainder of ingredients in the dutch oven and place lid.

At this time carefully remove the lid from the 12" dutch oven and turn the squash halves over.

Stuff the center of each squash with the apple/raisin mixture.

Place the lid (coals still on it) back on the pot.

Stand the 10" pot on the 12" pot.

Put 12 hot briquettes on lid.

Let these cook for an hour.

At this point, I started preparing my ham patties:

Ground Ham Patties

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground ham (I bought a reduced sodium ham steak and ground it in the food processor)

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup soft bread crumbs

2 eggs

Combine the ingredients and form 6 patties.

Brown both sides in cast iron fry pan with olive oil.

Remove from pan when brown and set aside.

After the pots have cooked for one hour, remove the lid on top pot.

Gently stir the potatoes and place the ham patties on top of the veggies.

Carefully replace lid (with coals).

Bake for 30 more minutes.

Serve and eat... it's good stuff!

Dutch Oven Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder

Here's another cut of lamb that I cooked in my dutch oven this weekend. 

I browned two small (bone-in) lamb shoulders in a hot pan with 2 tbs olive oil on the stove top.
After browning I removed them from the pan and let them cool for a few minutes.
I scored the top of each shoulder with a knife and rubbed in a mixture of: garlic, fennel seed, basil, and rosemary which I crushed and then added olive oil, salt and pepper. (Sorry I didn't measure)
I placed the lamb in a 12 quart dutch oven.
I poured 3 tbs of lemon juice and 1 can of low sodium chicken broth over the meat and then tossed in 6 peeled cloves of  garlic.

To start, I used a hot fire placing 12 briquettes below the dutch oven and 24 on the lid.
After three hours I brushed off the ash and placed 6 briquettes beneath the dutch oven and 12 on the lid.
I left it to cook an additional 4 hours.

This is what I saw when I removed the lid:

I removed the bones and fat from the meat.
I placed the pan juices in a separate bowl and refrigerated.
(On this particular occasion I elected to cook the day before eating.)

Before eating, I skimmed the congealed fat off the top of the pan juices and heated it on the stove top. I warmed the meat in a low-heat oven. We served the lamb with mashed potatoes (with juices drizzled over) and green peas.

This lamb dish was unbelievably succulent. Although the shoulder cut is full of bone and fat, slow, moist roasting allows the meat to fall off the bone and the fat is easily separated. What you are left with is nothing but absolutely delicious lamb meat. We loved it!