The Thayn family brings their world champion Dutch oven cooking skills to our kitchen to whip up some of their favorite dishes.
Peppermint Bark Cheesecake
Bill and Toni Thayn
Crust:
22 Oreos
3 TBL butter, melted
Filling:
4 oz white chocolate
24 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c sugar
1 1/2 TBL flour
1 1/2 TBL heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp peppermint extract
3 eggs
1 1/2 c peppermint bark candy, chopped
Prepare 10 inch Dutch oven by lining with parchment paper and spraying with non stick cooking spray. Crush cookies until they are fine crumbs. Place in a bowl and add melted butter and blend. Transfer to dutch oven and press cookies into bottom and up sides of the dutch oven. Set aside.
Melt 4 oz white chocolate. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar. Mix well. Scrape bowl well. Add melted chocolate, flour, heavy cream, salt and peppermint extract. Mix well. Add one egg at a time. Mix until smooth. Blend well. Add peppermint bark pieces, gently stir in by hand.
Pour filling into crust. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until the cheesecake slightly jiggles in the center. Remove and allow to sit for at least 1 hour before chilling. Chill 4 hours or longer.
Mousse:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz white chocolate, melted
1 1/2 TBL sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c cream, whipped
In a medium bowl, beat softened cream cheese, melted white chocolate, sugar and vanilla until smooth and slightly thickened. Stir in whipped cream. Spread mousse mixture over cheesecake. Garnish as desired with additional peppermint bark, chocolate shavings and/or peppermint candies.
Salt Encrusted Prime Rib
Bill and Toni Thayn
One 3-5 lb Prime rib roast
Pepper
Garlic powder
Dried rosemary
3-4 boxes Rock salt
Let the roast come to room temperature before baking. Have your butcher cut the ribs off the meat but reattach them with kitchen twine.
Season the roast with freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder and dried rosemary. Set aside.
Place 1" of rock salt into the bottom of your dutch oven. Put the meat rib side down on bottom of Dutch oven. Pour in more rock salt to cover the prime rib completely.
Cook at 350 degrees about 20 minutes per pound or until thermometer reads 135-140 degrees. Remove the roast and place it on a cutting board. Discard the salt sticking to it. Let the roast rest for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then remove the ribs and slice the roast.
Rosemary Rolls
Bill and Toni Thayn
1 ½ c warm water 2 TBL olive oil 1 TBL sugar 2 ¼ tsp yeast 3 c flour 1 ½ tsp salt
Topping:
Melted butter Fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped Coarse sea salt
Whisk together water, oil, sugar and yeast until the yeast dissolves. Add flour and salt and mix until well combined. Knead until smooth and dough comes away from sides of the bowl. Knead into a smooth ball. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled (about 1 hour). Punch down and divide into equal size pieces. Form each piece into a smooth ball and place into a parchment lined 12 inch Dutch oven. Cover and let rise until doubled.
Brush or spray rolls with butter. Sprinkle with chopped rosemary. Brush or spray again with butter. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake at 400 degrees (19 top, 10 bottom coals) for 15-20 minutes or until rolls are golden.
