Le French Oven by Hillary Davis

My rating: 5 of 5 spoons

ggggg

My husband, (who knows me so well!) bought me the perfect Christmas gift last year--a gorgeous, 6-qt enameled Dutch oven, or as they're called in this book, a French oven. I love it!! When I first heard about the cookbook called Le French Oven, I thought it was French food made in the oven. I was thrilled when I saw it was all about French/Dutch oven cooking!

This is a gorgeous book, with breathtaking photos of both food and France, that pulls you in and keeps the pages turning. The biggest issue was deciding what to cook first!! Due to various circumstances, I wasn't able to run to the store to pick up specific items, so that limited me somewhat. I had some sirloin steaks in the freezer, so I pulled them out and decided to tweak the "Beer-Braised Brisket" recipe to fit. I don't cook with beer, and I was out of cooking wine, so I ended up using broth instead. Now, I think it would have been a little better with cooking wine, but it was still an excellent dish that my family would be happy for me to make again! Even the 6-year-old had a second helping--and she doesn't normally with beef unless it's hamburgers or meatballs!

Simply Delicious Roasted Vegetables? Definitely a keeper. Lemon Lovers' Panna Cotta with Lemon Curd? Are you kidding?!? I think I just died and went to Heaven!! I'm currently out of fresh basil, but Homemade Basil Garlic Bread is next on my list--I refuse to compromise and used dried for this dish! Fondue Mac 'n' Cheese is a close second. I could go on and on on dishes I want to make from this book there are so many. That, to me, is the mark of a great cookbook. I've had beautiful cookbooks before that there were really only a few recipes I was interested in cooking, but this one I'd say easily 50-75% of the recipes I want to try.

This is a great cookbook that I would highly recommend to anyone. It's well made, beautiful, and filled with delightful recipes. What more can you ask of a cookbook?

I received a copy of this book from Gibbs-Smith, Publisher for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.