Dutch Oven Delight
For years, I have heard friends and food bloggers raving about their Dutch ovens – how great they are for browning meat, how perfectly they caramelize onions, and how they can – gasp! – go straight from the stovetop into the oven. I decided a couple years ago that I simply must have one of these fantastical inventions. My long wait has finally come to an end.
I happened to be near our local Sur la Table a few weeks ago for a work-related errand. Of course, I stuck my head in on my way out. You know, “just to look.” Lo and behold, they were having their huge annual sale: Everything, including all of the Le Creuset Dutch ovens, was on sale. But, because I’m a girl with champagne taste and a beer budget, I set my sights on a lovely 3-quart Sur la Table house brand enameled cast iron Dutch oven:
At $49 – marked down from $79! – it’s much more my speed. The picture doesn’t do it justice, but the outside is a lovely deep red color. It also comes with an oven-safe knob on the lid, which surprisingly is not included with a (much pricier) Le Creuset. (As an aside, is it just me, or is it supremely stupid to put a non-oven-safe knob on a product that is meant to go in the oven?).
The inside is enameled, which is a must-have feature for me. I am neither brave enough nor patient enough to season and care for plain, un-enameled cast iron: I actually drive to my dad’s house to borrow his skillet anytime I make cornbread. I realize this is grounds for having my Southern card revoked, but so be it. The lid also has a bunch of little bumps on the underside. The saleslady said that it’s a “self-basting lid”: Condensation supposedly collects on the bumps, then drips back down into the food to keep it from drying out. I’m dubious, but whatever.
I was so excited to finally be the proud owner of my very own Dutch oven! I then realized I had a problem: I have no clue what to make with this thing, other than the usual chili, pot roast and various other sauces and soups. Happily, I wasn’t flummoxed for long, because Victoria told me about Elizabeth Yarnell’s Glorious One-Pot Meals:
Yarnell’s basic premise is that by layering whole grains, vegetables and proteins in a specific order, and adding the proper ratio of liquid, you can make an entire meal in a Dutch oven in less than an hour. Genius.
I have yet to test drive the cookbook, but I’ve already dog-eared a bunch of pages and look forward to trying several recipes. Yarnell also provides a blueprint for developing your own creations using her proper-layering-and-correct-liquid-ratio method. Regardless, I’m sure whatever I make will be healthier (though maybe not quite as tasty) than the bolognese I made to christen the kitchen’s newest denizen:
I am looking forward to a long, productive and delicious relationship with my new Dutch oven. So tell me: Do you have a Dutch oven? If so, how often do you use it, and what do you make?
Header image by djwtwo.
I’m so jealous that yours came with the metal knob! Mine is a Lodge and didn’t either. I made another recipe from Elizabeth’s book on Friday and meant to tell you about it and forgot – I’ll have to check and see which one it was again. Involved whole wheat pasta and ricotta cheese – yum!
Yes, the lids somehow self-baste and I don’t understand it, but it works and the food is so perfectly moist!
And yes, you really can put frozen (or half frozen) stuff in there and it still works! Again, I can’t explain it, but it really works!
Oh, but my BIG tip would be to make sure you listen to her admonishments about putting the DO in the CENTER of the oven. I did it right the first time and was delighted that it worked exactly as she said. However, I was half brain dead with a clingy sick child on Friday and thought the knob looked to close to the upper heating element and moved the rack down a notch. BIG mistake. Had to reposition the rack to the middle position (yes, the knob clears after all) after the food wasn’t cooked through at an hour. Took an extra 30 minutes.
Next, I wanna try no-knead bread!
I forgot all about no-knead bread! I have to try that too; I was jealous of all the Dutch oven owners during that craze a few years ago… Dutch oven + yeast + laziness = delicious bread?! Sign me up!
[...] couple weeks ago, I wrote about my new Dutch oven and the ensuing excitement surrounding this lovely, shiny red pot that now lives in my kitchen. [...]