Cooking up business

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POCATELLO - Union Pacific Railroad worker Mark Mitchell's appreciation for Dutch oven food and the art of cooking it started when he was only 5 years old.

In the years since then, and working from memory, he's honed his skill and turned them into a part-time business.

''I remember watching my grandfather. We used to go camping at Fish Creek and he'd wash the Dutch ovens out in the creek with sand,'' said Mitchell, who operates Cowboy Cookout.

He bought his first Dutch oven shortly after he got married and started practicing.

''I built a fire pit and started doing what I remembered,'' said Mitchell, a native of Chubbuck.

Today, he cooks for private parties and events. Some of his customers include local recording artist Muzie Braun and the Idaho State University football team.

''Those boys can really eat,'' Mitchell said.

The secret to Dutch oven cooking, he said, is a well seasoned oven and even heat.

To heat the ovens, he prefers a real campfire to briquettes.

Before Mitchell uses one of the cast-iron cooking vessels, he places it in a campfire overnight. Then, when the oven is still warm, he rubs lard and seasoned salt inside.

''I like to do fried chicken the first time I use an oven,'' Mitchell said. ''It seems to do a good job of seasoning the oven.''

Fried chicken and Mitchell's own Dutch oven potato recipe are specialties of Cowboy Cookout.

He owns Dutch ovens ranging in size from two cups to more than three gallons, and Mitchell added that cast-iron pans are the only cookware he uses because they're easy to clean and heat evenly.

Mitchell never uses detergent to clean the pans. After rinsing them with water or scrubbing them with sand, he dries the Dutch ovens over heat.

When he's not on a train or behind his Dutch oven range, Mitchell said he enjoys doing anything outdoors. A massive six-point bull elk hangs on his living room wall as a testament to his hunting skills. He killed the animal when he was just 17.

He also spends time riding his Harley Davidson and collecting antiques for his second business, Antique Attic.

Mitchell, a divorced father of four, said life right now is good, but if he could change direction, he'd like to teach young people to respect the great outdoors, and he's worked hard to instill those values in his own children.

''I taught them that if they take care of nature, nature will take care of them,'' he said.

For more information about Cowboy Cookout, call Mitchell at (208) 220-1210.

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