after dinner sneeze

t says: An honorable mention for my list of awesome kitchen equipment goes to our Dutch oven.  As mentioned in our recipe for short rib ragu, I have a very bizarre attachment to our Dutch oven; his name is Francois.

Francois says, "get in my belly!"

A lot of research went into buying Francois, not because it was warranted, but because I obsess about things. I’ve been using him a lot over the last 6+ months and now feel justified in highly recommending Dutch ovens to anyone who wants super-tender meats.  The downside (and the reason why he only achieved an “honorable mention”) is that most recipes that I come across take a few hours to pull off, as I’m usually braising large quantities of meat (for strictly veggies or seafood, smaller vessels are more efficient to use).  Thus, our Dutch oven is our go-to cooking vessel on the weekends, so we can make a whole mess of food and eat it throughout the week.

If you fancy purchasing one of these guys soon, then here’s a little primer.