Kitchen Essential # 1 Le Creuset Dutch Oven

Welcome to the First Installment in My Kitchen Essential Column. This is the first of ten pieces highlighting a variety of cooking utensils that have made me a better cook.

There are many wonderful kitchen items out there, but few are essential.

The Le Creuset Dutch Oven is the first piece of equipment I ever bought that made me realize the right equipment can actually make you a better cook.

And no. . .I have not been hired by the company. . . I simply speak the truth!

Of course I had heard about Le Creuset for years. As a young cook, it seemed like too much money to spend on one pot, I was, after all, racking up thousands of dollars in school loans. Now I realize the cheep and inferior stockpots I had to replace every couple of years added up to a far larger sum of money then would the investment in this one high quality piece.

After school ended, I was overwhelmed with work and as a busy professional, who only entertained maybe once a year, it didn't seem worth buying one.

Then, one day, only a couple of years ago, I was at a discount store and this beautiful piece was sitting there all by its self. It was still quite expensive, but I was in the mood to splurge that day so I bit the bullet and lugged it to my car - and when I say lugged I'm not kidding. It weighs a considerable amount. As it turns out, my parents ending up making that my Christmas present that year so thanks Mom and Dad!!

My first dish in this beauty was traditional pot roast which my friends kids now refer to as "my special meat" and cooked in this pot it was indeed special.

This pot heats incredibly fast and maintains an even, strong heat for long periods of time. My favorite use for this beauty is braising and my favorite thing to braise is lamb shanks.

Here is my ever reliable Le Creuset braising 6 lamb shanks.

And here is the finished dish - the recent star to a holiday party.

But the great thing about this pot is you can use it for so many different things:

Pasta

Soups/Stocks

Chile

Sauces

Deep Frying Anything

They say "a watched pot never boils" but this one heats so fast you can watch and have your pasta ready in no time.

My Spicy Bison Chile tastes great in this, the pan can be set to low heat and it will maintain that heat so the chile doesn't dry out or scorch.

My friend Jeff's Sunday Gravy Sauce - yes i.e. the Godfather - is great in here. It will hold all the sausage and pork and meatballs and allow all those flavors to meld together. Of course, that is when I wish I had two Le Creuset Dutch Ovens, so I could cook the pasta in the second one. Maybe some day. :)

The biggest surprise is when I discovered this is the best deep fryer!! No need for special equipment. Most specialty deep fryers don't hold their heat very well, so when you drop in the food the temperature drops very quickly and the result is soggy food and a long wait time in between batches. Not in this Le Creuset. It holds the temperature great and food fries crisp and never soggy and it is back up to the 350-375 degrees you want in no time.

So my advice as you start to build your kitchen arsenal - don't wait forty years to get this beautiful piece of cookware like I did. It should be one of the first pieces you get.

Visit the Le Creuset website for more information:

http://www.lecreuset.com/en-us/

I highly recommend checking out their outlet stores if you have one near you. The have great deals and fantastic sales a couple of times a year.

Happy cooking and remember take time to

enjoy a little gourmet everyday.