Description
This is my cookbook! It covers everything you need to know about cleaning and cooking in your enamel or cast iron Dutch oven. Each recipe is 5 steps or less to make cooking classic and contemporary recipes fun and enjoyable.
Check out these reviews:
-Karen D (from Amazon)
With it’s paperback cover and minimal photography, this isn’t one of the lavish fantasy cookbooks filled with stunning pictures and recipes you dream about making, but probably never will. This is a cookbook devoted to being useful on a daily basis, in addition to giving you far more use of the dutch oven you already own than you ever imagined.
Recipes are divided into “Classic” and “Contemporary,” and here are the total steps for a “classic,” scrumptious Chipotle Turkey Chile: 1) Sauté the vegetables. 2) Cook the turkey. 3) Finish the chili. Feeling a little more adventurous? These are the steps for a “contemporary” Kimchi Pot Roast Beef: 1) Preheat the oven. 2) Prepare and roast the beef. 3) Check the roast and serve. Obviously, there is more information under each of those headings, but it’s all simple and straightforward. Likewise for the number and type of ingredients specified: not too many, easy to obtain and minimal prep.
The nine chapters include a short primer on using a dutch oven followed by food categories that cover everything from breakfast to desserts, with the only surprise being how incredibly versatile a dutch oven can be when you design recipes specifically for it.
So if you’re feeling kind of weary of the kitchen these days, the tasty results from these simple recipes, combined with easy, one pot clean-up, may be just what you need to reinvigorate your passion to cook. Highly recommended! This is a cookbook without pretensions that deliciously delivers what it promises. Thanks for taking the time to read my review and I hope you find it helpful in making a buying decision.
-Charles N. (from Amazon)
The recipes are arranged by category: Breakfast & Brunch, Pasta Rice & Grains, Soups Stews & Chilis, Braises & Roasts, Fried Foods, Sides & Sauces, Breads, and Desserts. I really appreciated the inclusion of plant based dishes. Many of these are -hearty- one-dish mains that even my meat loving family really devoured (without complaining).
Ingredient measurements are supplied in American measurements only. There’s a conversion chart for metric measures in the appendices. Special recipe notes such as gluten free, vegetarian, nut free, etc are listed in the header for each recipe. There’s no included nutritional information. Extra tips or recipe alternatives are listed in sidebars with the recipes. The recipes themselves are fairly straightforward and are made with easily sourced ingredients. Many are very simple, none of them are overly complex.
The photography is not abundant; most of the recipes are not illustrated, but the photographs which are included are clear and well done. I wish there had been more photographs and serving suggestions, but I do understand that extra photography increases the price of book projects very quickly.
This is a huge collection of recipes and even allowing for the fact that some of them are very similar to others in the same category, this will keep one-pot/everyday cooking afficianados going for ages. These are simple “everyday” recipes which are anything but boring. We tried several dishes and all of them were tasty and well written. (We didn’t try any of the bread or dessert recipes, but I found no glaring errors with a quick read-through).
We’re definitely going to try more of these recipes. Well written book, tasty recipes. I’ve dinged half a star for the near-total lack of photographs. For cooks who -need- photographs for serving ideas, this will be a disappointment. Since it’s a one-pot-cooking book, the lack of photos shouldn’t be crippling for most readers.
-Annie B. (from Amazon)
