Oh fuck, we're off to the races. I probably do about 95% of my cooking either in an enameled dutch oven or a cast iron skillet.
Obviously soups, as has been mentioned.
But then also, soups that you might not have made before, like Cajun gumbo, boeuf bourguignon, anything where browning something before hand. Soup pots absolutely suck to cook out of, whereas dutch ovens are a delight. In a similar vein to soups, are other wet things, such as good chili, where you brown the meat in the bottom before adding in liquids, or curries. Anything saucy.
You can also fry things in it if you so desire, since it's just a big fuck off sturdy pot.
But perhaps the best thing I've ever done with a dutch oven, which applies to Italian red and meat sauces, chili, etc. is stick in the oven. Since ovens apply heat consistently and dutch ovens fit nicely into an oven in much the way that soup pots don't, you can cook thick sauces that are liable to burn and traditionally simmered in a low (~300 F) oven and just give things a stir and a scrape once an hour or so. Trivial amount of work for massive payoff at the end.
Oh fuck, we're off to the races. I probably do about 95% of my cooking either in an enameled dutch oven or a cast iron skillet.
Obviously soups, as has been mentioned.
But then also, soups that you might not have made before, like Cajun gumbo, boeuf bourguignon, anything where browning something before hand. Soup pots absolutely suck to cook out of, whereas dutch ovens are a delight. In a similar vein to soups, are other wet things, such as good chili, where you brown the meat in the bottom before adding in liquids, or curries. Anything saucy.
You can also fry things in it if you so desire, since it's just a big fuck off sturdy pot.
But perhaps the best thing I've ever done with a dutch oven, which applies to Italian red and meat sauces, chili, etc. is stick in the oven. Since ovens apply heat consistently and dutch ovens fit nicely into an oven in much the way that soup pots don't, you can cook thick sauces that are liable to burn and traditionally simmered in a low (~300 F) oven and just give things a stir and a scrape once an hour or so. Trivial amount of work for massive payoff at the end.