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SanHawaii08
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
le creuset lovers - favorite recipes?
lelekay, inamra, and anyone else who loves their le creuset -
what are your favorite things to make in it? we have 7.5 qt, which i LOVE, but it is *huge*. especially when cooking for 2. I make stews, braise things, etc in it, but feel like i don't use it enough, given how much I enjoy cooking with it. ideas?
i've been wanting a 5.5 qt, but they're just so freakin' expensive, and given how little i use the big one, i'm not sure i can justify the cost. help me use it more! 
Re: le creuset lovers - favorite recipes?
I seriously use mine for everything... soups, stews, braises... ooh! And no-knead bread!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html
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I have a 2.5 qt. so I have the opposite problem of yours! I can't justify buying a bigger one, though...
I make pulled pork, chicken stews, niku jaga, oh man, the list goes on! I don't have any specific recipes, I usually just do the basics and add in some random stuff/seasonings I have on hand later.
Since you have a 7.5, is it quite wide? I made skin-on, bone-in chicken breast which was quite good. Again, I don't have a recipe but wash, pat dry chicken pieces, season, place skin side down in the pot on med heat on the stove top. Flip and cook for another 5 minutes, then place in oven (uh, maybe at 375? Maybe more?) until they are cooked (sorry, I know this is very vague but I didn't keep the recipe I used...
If your pot is wide, you can throw potatoes or other veggies in to soak up all the chickeny goodness, and make a gravy, too. Since mine was so small,I couldn't really do this but I ended up making stock with the bones (yes, after I ate the meat off of them - hey, I was the only one who was going to eat it!) and the burnt on chicken bits in the pot. Super flavourful!
I'm interested to see what the others will say, too!
I'll admit that I use it less in summer than in winter. In winter, I make tons of soups and stews. I almost always make a double-batch of some sort of soup (chili, white bean and ham, split pea, beef and barley, turkey noodle, hot/sour soup are in the usual rotation) pretty much every Sunday, then portion it out for our lunches all week. In summer I stick to chili and red beans/rice, mostly on rainy days when we can't grill.
I also plan to use it a lot once baby comes to reheat meals I have cooked and frozen ahead of time. I like to freeze meals flat in large ziploc bags, and the Le Creuset works great for reheating, since it's so large and wide....everything gets pretty evenly reheated.
ooh, reheating meals is a great idea! Will definitely try that.
I've been wanting to make the no-knead bread, but want to get a smaller pot for that, so the bread isn't quite so flat when it's done. Maybe i'll try it anyway.
thanks for all the other ideas too! ...i'm hungry now.
I mainly use mine for couscous and risotto
For couscous (MH loves this dish--he's a big fan of basil), I use this recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Balsamic-Tomato-Couscous-148513. I use chicken broth, fresh basil (I think I use a bit more than what the recipe calls for), and I also melt in 4 slices of provolone cheese at the end (or mozzarella sometimes, but MH and I are big on provolone so I always use provolone unless I don't have any on hand).
For risotto, I just get the Three Grains Blend from Trader Joe's. It's a rice, barley and spelt mix and there's a risotto recipe on the back.