WHAT??  Vegetables in a Dutch Oven??  Before you declare sacrilege or desecration, you gotta try these.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb bacon cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 lbs brussels sprouts
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp dijon mustard

Preparation:
Wash and trim the brussels sprouts.  Cut larger sprouts in half.  In a 10-inch dutch oven, fry the bacon over a full spread of briquettes until crisp. Pour off excess bacon grease.  Combine the olive oil, syrup, and mustard.  Add the sprouts to the bacon, pour the syrup mixture over the sprouts and stir.  Cover and roast with 12 briquettes bottom heat and 15 briquettes top heat for 20 minutes or until the sprouts are crisp-tender.

Makes 4-6 side dish servings.

Lodge also posted this video about restoring abused cast iron:



Great stuff!  I love the detail about putting foil on the rack BELOW the piece that is being baked.

This just might be my current (as of 4/29/13) favorite dessert from a Dutch Oven.

Ingredients:

Dough - use the dough from the Cinnamon Rolls found here:

http://dutchovenchef.com/smf/desserts/giant-cinnamon-rolls/

Filling:

• 14 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons grated orange zest

Frosting:

• 3 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

Preparation:

Prepare the dough according to the Cinnamon Roll recipe above.

Mix the filling ingredients together in a bowl. Cut the dough into halves. Roll one half of the dough into a rectangle roughly 12 inches by 24 inches. Spread half of the filling over the dough, leaving about half an inch free at the bottom of the dough. Roll the dough from the top. When the dough is a nice log, seal the end by pinching slightly.

Cut the dough into 1 inch rolls and place in a 12" dutch oven.

Repeat with the second half of the dough and filling.

Once the rolls are all made, let rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size. (As with the cinnamon rolls, you can accelerate the rising by placing a couple of coals on the oven lids)

Bake with 6-8 briquettes bottom heat and 16-18 briquettes top heat for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown and firm, rotating every 5-10 minutes to avoid hot spots.

Remove the oven lid and let them cool while you make the:

Frosting:

Beat the cream cheese, butter, orange peel, and orange juice until creamy. Slowly mix in the confectioner's sugar (to avoid mess) and then beat until blended and smooth.

Spread the frosting liberally over the rolls, and die from happiness. Not quite literally.

I made this chili yesterday for a work activity--we were having a chili cookoff.  I didn't win, but this recipe was meaty, flavorful, and I really liked it.  Don't be too afraid of the long list of ingredients.  Most of them are part of what I called a "spice bomb" that I put in a sandwich bag and just dumped in at the right time.  It's also not as hot as it sounds.  This recipe is slightly modified from Guy Fieri's recipe on "Guy's Big Bite."

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 3 Tbsp bacon grease
• 2 red bell peppers, diced (about 2 cups)
• 2 jalapenos, minced (about 2 Tbsp)
• 3 Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
• 3 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
• 2 yellow onions, diced (about 2 cups)
• 1 head garlic, minced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 pound boneless chuck, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 2 pounds ground beef, coarse grind
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 2 tsp granulated onion
• 2 tsp granulated garlic
• 3 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp hot paprika
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 2 (15.5-ounce) cans pinto beans, with juice
• 2 (15.5-ounce) cans kidney beans, with juice
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup shredded cheddar

Preparation
To roast the Anaheim and poblano chiles (some stores in the US mis-label poblano chiles as pasilla peppers), put them on a grill grate over high heat, turning occasionally until the chiles are blackened.  Put the roasted chiles in a gallon-sized ziplock bag until cool enough to handle.  Using latex gloves, peel the blackened skin off of the chiles.  After peeling, remove the stems, ribs, and seeds from the inside of the chiles and chop.  This gives the chiles a nice, smoky flavor.

In a 12-inch deep dutch oven over a full spread of briquettes, add butter and bacon grease.  Add bell pepper, jalapeno, chiles, and onion and cook until caramelized, about 10 minutes.  Add garlic and saute a minute longer.  Add chuck and brown.  Add ground beef and sausage to brown and stir gently, trying not to break up the ground beef too much.  Cook until meat is nicely browned and cooked through, about 7 to 10 minutes.  Add in granulated onions, granulated garlic, chili powder, paprika, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute.  Add in tomato sauce and paste and stir for 2 minutes.  Add beans.  Cook with 6-8 briquettes bottom heat and 8-10 briquettes top heat for 2 hours.  The chili should be bubbling slowly, not boiling.  If you desire a thinner chili, you can add a couple of cups of chicken stock with the beans.

Serve in bowls and garnish with green onions and shredded cheddar.

Serves 12.  (at least)

Incidentally, Darren's Game Day Chili (or a variation thereon) took the prize for "hottest chili" even though it was probably a 3 or 4 on a scale of 1 to 5. 

This is a simple, almost foolproof rice recipe.  I LOVE it!