Been thinking of getting one of these.

Do you mind sharing some of your favorite recipes?

Chile, sausage, and beer over a weekend of hunting. Get home and save until Sunday night, cut one in the bed and pretend to spit up in the air.... Wife goes under the covers to dodge the spit and presto dutch oven....

Oh we are talking about food.

we do a peach or blueberry cobbler every year at our archery rondy. Done chicken and dumplings in it too. Great tools.

sure. have 3 or 4 of 'em.

fixed a pot of pinto beans last week and a big batch of home made cornbread to boot. was listening to lyle lovett sing the 'church song' and had to make up a batch.

don't put salt in your beans until they're just about done, or they'll never get done. had a bit of hog jowl in it, couple of serranos, and a head of garlic, and they turned out super.

cast iron is the way to go. if you get a dutch oven, get a frying pan with which the lid will interchange. instantly, you have a superb base from which you can create campfire deliciousness and explore your inner chef/cook/frycook-ness.

i've had my setup for 30+ years, and use it regularly. in fact, it's sitting on the stovetop now, DO nestled inside the pan, lid on the DO. try peach cobbler in the DO sometime over a campfire or coleman stove turned way low... rocks out, man.

-tom

They are superb for desserts.

As to the original question, it's almost hard to have a recipe not turn out well. Just make stuff up. I'll fill one with cut up veggies of your choice, a little water, put some cheese on top, and you have a great side with steaks over the fire, etc.

Experiment, you'll enjoy it!

Might want to get a copy of "Cast Iron Cooking for Dummies". Lots of recipes as well as general information on cast iron cookware.

One of my favorites is called a fry pan (deep sided pan) with a lid. Works just like a dutch oven except it has a handle on it like a skillet. The lid doubles as a griddle.

doing a steak thing in it tonight, in fact. I'll let you know how it turns out.

DO roasts in them all the time at home...cooked DocRocket's pheasant recipe several times at home. Better out in hunting camp though!

Used to quite a bit when we had our LP oven. Now we've got an electric range, so I don't use it so much. Once in awhile I'll make Red Beans and Rice outside on the Weber and just set the Dutch Oven on it. They pretty much rawk.

Here is the best book I've found on cast iron cooking:

Cast Iron Cuisine: from Breakfast to Dessert

Available on Amazon or www.paracay.com

Why is it the best? Because The Wife and I wrote it, that's why. BUY IT NOW.

mmm...pretty good, not quite where I want it just yet, but pretty good.

The theory is, throw steak on grill to sear and add flavor. Do both sides. Move to dutch oven inside, braise in flavor adding liquids. Move back to grill, finish on grill.

I am still juggling the seasonings and times of each step, to attain the, "...BBQ your guests will remember for months" that the cooking article promised. More research is required, darn it.

I use my oven all the time, home or camping I love cooking by an open flame.

Of course. All the time. My two favorites are osso buco and braised lamb shank.

Osso buco is veal shanks cut two or three inches long by the butcher, then braised in a Dutch oven (which itself is placed in the oven set to about 350-375) for an hour and a half till it nearly falls apart. It's braised in white wine, beef broth, along with onions, celery, carrots, salt, black pepper, garlic, lemon zest, parsley, tomatoes. I think that's everything. The braising liquids should come right up to the top of the shanks. Check half way through to see if you need to add some water to the liquid to keep it from drying out. Osso buco is usually served on top of orzo or risotto.

First you roll the veal shanks in flour, salt, pepper, then brown on all sides with oil, then slow cook them on low for an hour and a half with the above ingredients (turn halfway through). The onions, celery and carrots are first sauteed in hot oil, too.

One of the best flavors you'll ever experience. The braising liquid and other ingredients make the gravy to pour over the shanks and orzo on the plate. You just have to strain it to remove the veggies, etc., and leave only the gravy. Reduce or re-liquefy as needed, and salt to taste before serving over the dish.

Here's what they should look like from the butcher:

Osso Buco is some goooooood stuff.

At Orso's in Anchorage they made osso buco to die for. They added in some, IIRC, green and black olives sliced in half, and I'm guessing, towards the end of the dish.

Oh man it was good.

Love the stuff.

Sauce Piquant (sauz pee cawn)

I make this a lot, especially when a number of people are coming over. I use whatever meat and veggies are available, but chicken and sausage is a crowd pleaser. It goes something like this: http://www.realcajunrecipes.com/recipes/cajun/chicken-sauce-piquante/912.rcr

I use the big cast iron job over a butane flame.

Also, Le Creuset pots work the same way inside the house. I use one almost every day. Pricey, but you can snag one cheap in a funny color online often. http://www.lecreuset.com/

A good Dutch Oven is required around my house. Nothing better than than a stovetop roast cooked in it. Way too many other uses both on the stove and in the oven.

When my niece got married she picked out some super expensive clad aluminum cookware for her bridal registry. I instead gave her one of my older and best seasoned Dutch Ovens. She kindof turned her nose up at it at the time. But about 5 years latter, she hugged my neck and told me that was the best and most useful pot she had. Experience counts!

I have collected Griswold for years started with a few pieces frome my grandparents and now have more then anyone needs. I have a dutch that is double stamped (Griswold/Wagner) not so common. I use mine for everything but boiling water.

Cobbler in a dutch oven is ummmmmmm!

Prepare a box of yellow cake mix per instructions on box. Take a stick of butter/margarine and coat the inside of the dutch oven. Pour yellow cake mix in. Open a can of your desired fruit ... my favorite is fruit cocktail ... drain and pour contents of can on top of cake mix (avoid edges of oven). Do not mix fruit with cake mix. Cooking time depends on the heat source. Buried in campfire coals it's 30 minutes. The edges of the cake come out brown and crispy.

I sure do I have 2 for outside(have legs on button and flat lipped top)and 3 for inside (flat bottom dome top). I like to do greens in them. That will take the bitterness out of collards and the gas from any greens. Red beans, white beans, dirty rice, breads, beef, chicken, game. About the only thing I don't use it for is fish unless it is for frying. One of my all time favorites to cook is red beans on top of the wood stove in winter.

I usually go to Denmark when I cook with a Dutch oven.

I cook with Dutch Ovens all the time on my wagon trains. The last thing the settlers would give up is there Oven. I have cooked roasts with all the fixins and cobbler. You can stack them to utilize the coals on top of one for the bottom of the other.
Easy to cook with and great in the wind.

Did you include instructions on maintaining the season?

I've got one of those too. Didn't know they were rare.

Fixed it for you.

Yep! I told her she should never use soap. Just scrape it out good with a SS Choreboy, rinse and cook/dry on the stove. Finish off with a dab of lard on a papertowel. I don't think she believed me though.

fastest and easiest way to ruin a good DO is to wash with soap. I don't know how many times I had to beat that concept into the wife's head. And I've been using olive oil on mine as we don't usually have lard in the house. I do have a jar of rendered bear fat that was given to me to season my boot leather... hummm.

We usually buy a small box of lard around Thanksgiving. Absolutly nothing better for making flaky pie crusts with during the holiday season. January 1st its back to Crisco for cooking and I use the lard on the cast iron or just occasionally (when noone is watching) to grease the skillet for cooking cornbread cause it makes the bottom crust so wonderfully crispy!

ummmm lard!
Only thing better ?
Grandma's can of bacon fat