If you can't find celery root, you can substitute turnips, rutabagas, or potatoes. Just be sure to adjust your cooking times--potatoes cook faster than celery root.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2-3 pounds beef chuck, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 cups chopped onions
• 1 pound button or cremini mushrooms, quartered if small, or 1/4-inch sliced
• 1 quart beef broth
• 2 teaspoons dried marjoram
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 1 cup roughly chopped carrot
• 3 cups celery root, peeled and chopped into 3/4-inch to 1-inch pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Sour cream for garnish
• Dill for garnish

Preparation
Melt the butter in a 12-inch dutch oven over 20 briquettes. Add enough pieces of beef to sear in the dutch oven without crowding. You will need to brown the meat in batches. Set aside brown pieces in a bowl.
When all the beef has been browned, add the onions. As the onions release some of their water, use a wooden spoon to get any brown bits off the bottom of the dutch oven. Cook the onions until they begin to brown, 5-6 minutes.
When the onions have lightly browned, add the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms until they release their water, about 5 minutes.
Add the beef back to the dutch oven and sprinkle with marjoram. Add the beef broth and stir with a wooden spoon to get any remaining browned bits off the bottom. Cover and simmer with 6-8 briquettes bottom heat and 10-12 briquettes top heat for 1 hour. Adjust heat as needed to maintain a very gentle simmer.
Taste the broth and add salt and pepper to taste.
Add the barley, celery root, and carrots. Stir well and cover, simmering gently for another 40 minutes to 1 hour until the barley and celery root are tender.
Ladle servings into bowls, then top with a dollop of sour cream and a few sprigs of dill.

I made this with canned peaches and apricot gelatin for ScoutJam 100, and it was delicious. I'm trying it again tonight with peaches from my peach tree that have been frozen, thawed, and drained.

This bread has long been a family favorite when baked in the oven. I tried it in a 14-inch dutch oven for ScoutJam 100 this weekend and it was even better.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup butter
• 5 1/2-6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 5 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tablespoon water
• Oatmeal for sprinkling

Preparation:
Place water, honey, and margarine in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until mixture is very warm (120-130 degrees fahrenheit)
Place 5 cups flour, oats, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed about 15 seconds. Continuing on low speed, gradually add warm mixture to flour mixture and mix about 1 minute. Add eggs and mix about 1 minute longer.

Continuing on low speed, add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix about 2 minutes, or until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead on speed 2 about 2 minutes longer.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk,

Punch dough down and press evenly into the bottom of a well-oiled 14-inch dutch oven. Let rise again until doubled in bulk.

Beat egg white and water together with a fork. Brush the top of the loaf with the mixture. Sprinkle with oatmeal.

Cover and bake with 8-10 briquettes bottom heat and 14-16 briquettes top heat for 40 minutes or until golden brown, rotating the oven and lid 90 degrees in opposite directions every 10-15 minutes. Run a spatula around the edge of the oven to release the loaf. Remove the bread from the dutch oven, slice, and serve warm with butter and honey.

Yields 32 servings--it's a huge loaf!

We made these this weekend both mornings of ScoutJam100 in Heber Valley. I was heading up a group that was doing dutch oven demos in a Mountain Man village. They REALLY hit the spot first thing in the morning.

Ingredients:

Dough

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree

Cinnamon Sugar:

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

Spiced Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Dash of ground nutmeg
• Dash of ground ginger
• Dash of ground cloves
• 2 Tablespoons milk

Preparation:
To make the dough, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl. Whisk to blend and set aside. Cream together the sugar and butter. Stir in the egg, then the egg yolks one at a time, blending completely after each addition. Add the vanilla.  Combine the buttermilk and the pumpkin in a liquid measuring cup and whisk together.  Add the dry ingredients to the sugar/butter/egg mixture in three additions alternating with the pumpkin mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours or until firm.

On a well-floured work surface, roll or pat the dough into a 1/2-inch thick round. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour. Using a 2 1/2 to 3-inch round biscuit cutter, cut out rounds of dough. Use a smaller cutter (or a wide pastry tip) to cut a hole out of the center. Reroll and cut the dough scraps as necessary.

Add oil to a 10-inch dutch oven to a depth of about 2-3 inches. Attach a thermometer to the side of the dutch oven and heat the oil to 365 to 370 degrees Fahrenheit. Add doughnuts to the hot oil so that they are in a single layer and not touching. Fry, turning once, until both sides are golden brown and the doughnuts are cooked through, about 3-4 minutes total. Remove from the oil and transfer to a paper towel-lined rack. Bring the oil temperature back up to the target range before repeating with the next batch of doughnuts. Use the same process for the doughnut holes.

To make the spiced glaze, combine the powdered sugar and spices in a small bowl. Add the milk and whisk to combine. If necessary, add a bit more milk to thin the glaze.  Dip half of the donuts and holes in the glaze. Allow the glaze to set before serving. Shake the other half in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Makes about 16 doughnuts and holes.

I made these for a team activity at work today. How did they turn out? I'll quote Darren: "Where have these been all my life??"