I just couldn’t resist. I finally broke down and bought an enameled cast iron Dutch oven. I didn’t need it. I have a perfectly good Lodge Dutch oven that I use for gumbo and jambalaya, but I’ve wanted one for a long time so I bought it online once the price got close to reasonable and broke it in with a basic beef stew, no wine, just stew meat and veggies and beef stock.
I also plan to use it to roast a quartered duck over diced new potatoes so the potatoes basically cook in the duck fat. Then I’ll make the mashed potatoes and maybe whip up a fig or blueberry gravy with lots of onions and sliced portabello mushrooms.
I think I will also at some point throw down a cioppino. The best thing about it is it has nice handles that make transitioning to the oven from the stove top much easier. As you can see, I dusted the meat with a little flour and seasonings before browning it and then adding the veggies, all the while scraping the bottom and splashing a little beef stock in when things got too sticky. I didn’t bother with roux or corn starch slurry but mixed the rremainder of a quart of beef stock with some Knorr brown gravy mix and let that serve as the thickening agent. Great out of the pot, but even better the next day reheated after settling overnight in the fridge.
