Hey, you people that cook more than I do.

[cupcake_goth]

I need suggestions for tasty baked main dishes. Because I have a new Le Creuset baking dish^*, and I wanna use it lots.



^*It's deep red. And heart-shaped. Yes, I am a sucker for wacky kitchen things. The only reason I don't have a pink KitchenAid mixer is because even *I* know I don't do enough cooking involving a mixer to justify it. alexiarnps and spygirle, I can hear you both sighing and shaking your heads. At least you've gotten it through my head that I should invest in good-quality kitchen tools, right?

Comments

[princekermit.livejournal.com]

any dietary restrictions or requirements?

[bork.livejournal.com]

http://www.allrecipes.com has a huge casserole section.

Also, for a more Asian flavour, I'm sure many Chinese hot pot dishes could be made in that. Or, put it on a burner, add broth, boil, and make Shabu Shabu!

[sharkman-75.livejournal.com]

Baked Mac & Cheese
Cobblers
--those are the first two things that come to mind.

[bork.livejournal.com]

Shabu Shabu: http://www.globalgourmet.com/destinations/japan/shabushabu.html

[icprncs.livejournal.com]

I think I am more envious of this than of any clothing item you have ever owned.

[thedivas.livejournal.com]

I have that dish, and I love it. Its a great all around baking, soup, roasting, sauce, sautee pan. Since it goes on top of the stove as well as in it, it can be used for any thing you would use a pot for as well. Let me see if I can find my favorite dish to make in it.

[recalcitrant-lj.livejournal.com]

MMMm, Pot Pie:

2 packages pre-made pie crusts
2-3 large chicken breasts, skinned and boned
1 small-medium head of broccoli
1 bag baby carrots
2-3 large potatoes
1 bag frozen corn kernels
~1lb of fresh button or crimmini mushrooms
3 packages of chicken or mushroom gravy mix
1 small onion

Set the pie crusts out, removed from box but still wrapped and folder. Let them sit out to get to room temperature, since it makes them a lot easier to work with.

Cut the chicken into bite-sized bits. Brown lightly in a skillet, in olive oil or butter, with a bit of salt and pepper. They don't have to be cooked through, just lightly browned. Set aside.

Cut (and optionally peel) the potatoes into chunks about the size of the chicken, set aside.

Halve or third the cleaned mushrooms.

Cut the broccoli into bite sized chuncks. I tend to use mostly the fractal heads, and ignore a lot of the stalks... but to each their own.

Dice the onion.

Combine chicken, onion, broccoli, corn, carrots, taters, and mushrooms in a very large bowl. Sprinkle the gravy packages over them, add about 1 cup of water, then mix well. It should be fairly dry, not soupy at all.

Spray some olive oil into the baking dish, and line the bottom and sides with 2 of the pie crusts, pinching together the joints, and saving the trimmed off bits.

Fill this with the veggie/chicken mixture, to a bit above the level of the baking dish. Cover with the last 2 pie crusts, and again pinch to seal. Use a sharp knife to cut some holes in the top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for about an hour. Keep checking it, you are looking for a golden brown, crispy crust, and the gravy will be bubbly, having absorbed most of the water given off by the mushroom and broccoli.

Plan on eating pot pie for a week. (Freezes well).

envy

[webcowgirl.livejournal.com]

That's so funny, I totally want the pink mixer. You should see my kitchen some time - it's all 50's chrome and pink and black and white. CUUUUTE!

Er, how about smothered chicken (http://citypaper.net/articles/032901/eat.labelle.side.shtml)?

[thedivas.livejournal.com]

http://www.sofeminine.co.uk/w/recipe/r795/lamb-and-prune-tagine.html

This is the closest thing I could find. I would add a few threads of saffron with the other spices. You can also serve it on a bed of rice cooked with saffron in stead of cous-cous.

[m-cobweb.livejournal.com]

By amusing coincidence, someone else on my f-list just posted a link to iChef (http://www.ichef.com/).

[thedivas.livejournal.com]

And a dash of cardamom, clove, basil, paprika and nutmeg. Sheesh, sorry this is getting confusing.

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

Her Nibs wants a Le Creuset, green and oval. Her lust for cooking tools makes it much easier for me to buy prezzies for her. She uses her (cobalt) KitchenAid quite a bit for challah & other baked goods; too bad she can't lift it from its storage space.

Nu, did you see my what-not-to-wear question earlier?

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

The stoneware one? (http://www.cooksworld.com/Merchant3/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CW&Product_Code=pg300125&Category_Code=newproducts)

I don't think it can go on the stovetop. The lable says "Use in oven up to 500F or in microwave, under the broiler and in the freezer."

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

Minimal dairy, but that's about it.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

I did see your question, and I am just about to answer it. ::grin::

[thedivas.livejournal.com]

Hmm...It looks the same, and I remeber being pretty excited about using it on the stove top. I'll ask my Le Creuset expert this weekend.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

I am NOT making Shabu Shabu at home. It is quite tasty, and I've finally gotten over my knee-jerk "iiieeee!" reaction to it that came about from having it as my first meal in Tokyo, when I was incoherent from jet-lag.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

Oooh, if you could, that would be spiffy. Because if I can use the stoneware one on the stovetop, then it would be an even BETTER dish!

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

OOoh, that does sound tasty.

[princekermit.livejournal.com]

Well, this is the recipe with the least dairy. I usually make this in a 9x13 glass pan. I have no idea how big your fancy thingie is, so you may have to halve the recipe to fit the dish.

Webster Family Comfort Food 2.0
16 oz pasta, shaped, not straight.
1 regular jar pasta sauce (I find that Prego three cheese works best)
8 oz grated mozarella.

- Pour sauce into dish, fill jar with water and pour that into the dish, too.
- Add uncooked pasta. Yes, uncooked and crunchy, precious.
- Cover and bake in a 400' oven.
- At 30 minutes, remove from oven, stir, and cover with the grated cheese. Recover and replace.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Voila!

[mahariel.livejournal.com]

That's a sweet little piece of cookware. I sold lots in my kitchen store servitude.

I'll second the baked mac'n'cheese. I do "cheater" pot pies, which involve my homemade chicken or turkey soups and ready-to-bake biscuits. You can also do a really yummy breakfast casserole, sort of like a savory french toast. Pardon the lack of measurements, but this is always a by-gosh and by-golly dish for me.

Beat a bunch of eggs with a bit of salt and pepper. You said minimal dairy, but cutting them with some kind of milk product works best, and you can use less eggs.

Cut a loaf of crusty french bread into 1" thick medallions.

Place as much of the bread as will comfortably fit without too much squishing, and pour the egg mixture over the bread. Let soak in fridge overnight so the bread absorbs as much of the mixture as possible.

Add whatever tasty bits you want - meats and/or veggies - and sprinkle the top with shredded cheese.

Bake covered at 350 for about 20 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 10-15, until cheese and bread is slightly browned.

-Victoria

[butterflake.livejournal.com]

Still being an amateur cook, I haven't progressed much beyond a simple roast in the oven... though it's one of my favorite things:

1 bag small mixed potatoes (for pretty colors) from Trader Joe's, cut into sixths
1 sweet onion, coursely chopped
1 lb crimini mushrooms, halved
1 package (5) chicken sausages (I get mine from TJ's as well and like the asiago mushroom)

Put them all in the pan and sprinkle generously with Rosemary and Sage (The last time I made it, I used Melange Classique from World Spice and it was great.
Bake for 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees

Serve with dipping sauces to taste and a little pat of butter if you like. And probably a salad...

[thedivas.livejournal.com]

And if I'm in danger of exploding my favorite cooking dish, I would like to know that as well. I keep picturing greusome death by Le Creuset.

[recalcitrant-lj.livejournal.com]

Along with spagetti and lasagne, it's one of my favorite "I'm poor and don't want to starve" foods. Most of the stuff is cheap, and it makes so much that I can nibble on it for days. And like lots of things, it's better the next day :)

[onlyjanica.livejournal.com]

I pretty much live off of Epicurious.com so I did a quick search for bake + main course + one dish meal and came up with 139 recipes for you to browse through to see if there are any you'd like to try. Usually the ones marked "quick" are easier and I've found that the suggestions from other cooks at the bottom for variations to make them better come in VERY handy.

Here's the link for you: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/find/results?type=advanced&search=&operator=All&att=163&att=122&att=&att=&att=&att=126&src=&exclude_other=

Let me know how they turn out!

[thedivas.livejournal.com]

Alright, my expert has refered me to the Le Creuset customer service. I'll let you know what I find out.

[ogremarco.livejournal.com]

Loosely butter the bottom fill with bratwurst, mushrooms, quartered baby red potatoes, and very well drained sauerkraut and bake at 350 degrees until the potatoes are done all the way through. Hmmm, about two hours.

You want about two handfulls of sauerkraut over the top. I let mine dran in a collander for about an hour. Too much juice and it just becomes a big soupy mess.

I also lay out the spuds and season before I toss them in. A little salt and pepper and maybe some garlic powder.

I'd add onions if it weren'r for our roommate.

Oh, and pierce the brats. it's helps them drain, so that they end up less greasy and the grease flavors the rest.

If it's too dry when you take it out, splash it down with a little beer or wine and let it sit in the oven a minute longer.