In the days before modern ovens, cast iron dutch ovens were used for baking, I believe, and used in wood fires, either outdoors or in a fireplace. Cast iron dutch ovens of that design are still being sold for use in campfires. They have three small legs which allow them to stand stably in a bed of coals and a rim around the top of the lid to retain a layer of coals heaped on top. Dutch ovens are being used in some bread baking methods, however this is done inside the regular oven, not on the stove top. The dutch oven serves as a cloche to hold in steam. That's a long way of saying, "Yes, dutch ovens can be used for baking, but probably not for stove top baking because a stove top burner will apply heat only to the bottom". Jim

White whole-wheat (also called whole wheat pastry flour) will yield a softer bread and still have the fiber. The vital wheat gluten is a must. Here is David's (Lakeguy) recipe which I have saved but have yet to make (still no oven, but soon!). It looks great. Struan Bread Makes 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves Soaker 3 tablespoons polenta 3 tablespoons rolled oats 2 tablespoons wheat bran 1/4 cup water Dough 3 cups unbleached bread flour 3 tablespoons brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon instant yeast 3 tablespoons cooked brown rice 1 1/2 tablespoons honey 1/2 cup buttermilk 3/4 cup water topping 1 tablespoon poppy seeds Mix together the ingredients for the soaker. Cover and allow to soak for at least half an hour or as long as overnight. In a larger bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then stir in wet ingredients and soaker. Add more flour or water until the dough can be formed into a ball that is tacky but not sticky. Place the ball of dough on a clean work surface and knead it for 10 to 12 minutes, then return it to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to ferment until doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, degas it gently, and split it for two loaves or shape it as is for one. Place the loaves in greased bread pans, spritz or sprinkle water on top, and sprinkle a handful of poppy seeds on top. Cover the pans loosely with plastic and allow the loaves to rise until doubled in size again, approximately 90 minutes. Bake these loaves at 350 for 40 to 60 minutes, until the internal temperature is around 190 degrees. When ready the loaves will be quite brown on top and will make a hollow thud when tapped on the bottom. Nothing like homemade bread...I love it! David

Now that Ive got some time to type them up, Ktee, here are a few more. Each of these should adapt well to your new LC Dutch oven; they've all worked well in my old one: POT AU FEU 3 lb lean brisket 1 piece salt pork 1 onion stuck with 2 cloves 9 carrots, peeled 1 turnip, peeled 4-5 leeks, washed water 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tbls salt 1 stewing hen 6 potatoes 1 head cabbage, quartered 1 lb pearl onions 3 tbls butter Sprig parsleyÂ1 tsp sugar Put the brisket, salt pork, onion, leeks, celery, 3 carrots, turnip, parsley and thyme in a large kettle. Cover with water and bring to boil. Add 1 tbls salt, lower the heat, and simmer 1 ½ hours. Then add the chicken. Continue cooking until meat and fowl are tender, about an hour. Half hour before serving add potatoes with their skins left on, the cabbage, and remaining carrots. Continue cooking until vegetables are soft. Meanwhile, brown pearl onions in butter and cook until soft. Add a little sugar to give them a nice brown glaze. Serves in large soup bowls with some of the onions. LAMB & CABBAGE CASSEROLE Trim 3 pounds boned lamb shoulder and cut it into 1 ½ inch cubes. Trim, quarter, and remove the core from a 2 ½ pound head of white cabbage. Blanch the cabbage in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain it, and cut it into ½-inch thick slices. In a large kettle with tight-fitting lid arrange the lamb and cabbage in layers, seasoning each layer with salt, using 1 tbls in all, and pepper to taste. Add 3 cups boiling water and simmer the mixture, covered, for 2 hours. Slice a 1-ound head of curly cabbage (Savoy), well trimmed, into ½ inch slices and arrange them on top of the lamb and cabbage. Simmer the mixture, covered, for 40 minutes more. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. Reheat the mixture and simmer it for 10 minutes more. Let the mixture cool again, and reheat it in a moderate oven (350F) for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with 2 tbls chopped parsley. Serves 6-8. From: Gourmet Magazine CRANBERRY POT ROAST 2-3 pound venison roast (or substitute beef) 1 small onion, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped 1 ½ cups cranberries 1 tbls mixed sweet herbs 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tbls maple sugar 2 cloves 1-1 ½ cups cider or apple juice Salt & Pepper to taste Flour Oil Sprinkle meat with slat & pepper. Dust with flour. Sear in a little hot oil on all sides. Set aside. Sauté onions & celery until tender. Add balance of ingredients. Return meat to pot. Simmer until meat is soft, about 2 hours. TRANSYLVANIAN CHICKEN STEW Cut two 3-pound chickens into serving pieces and pat them dry with paper towels. In a saucepan sauté 6 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces, until they are lightly browned, add 1 large onion, sliced, and cook the mixture over moderately high heat until the onion is softened. Stir in 1 tbls sweet Hungarian paprika, add the chicken, and spoon the bacon mixture over it. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and cook the mixture, covered, stirring occasionally and adding ½ cup water or stock, a little at a time, to keep the chicken moist, for 45 minutes. Add ½ pound smoked sausage or kielbasa, thinly sliced, and cook the mixture for 15 minutes. Add 3 large green peppers, thinly sliced, 1 pound green beans, broken into 1-inch pieces, and ½ cup each of tomato sauce with basil and chicken stock, and cook the mixture, covered, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serves 6-8. From Gourmet Magazine. SHRIMP & SAUSAGE 1 ½ lb peeled shrimp 2 links smoked hot sausage 1 tsp sweet basil 1 tbls paprika Salt 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 cup beer ½ cup onion, sliced Pinch cayenne Oil Slice sausage. Fry in oil with the garlic and remove from pan. Sauté shrimp in same pan until pink. Return sausage to the pan, with the onion, slat, basil, and beer. Simmer 5 minutes. Serve hot over rice.

Hi Rhome! I think that is the one that I tried just recently. I recall the 5 minutes a day part of the title. Boy, was I disappointed to discover that they really didn't mean 5 minutes! 5 minutes doesn't include the lengthy rise time and the equally lengthy baking time (it has a longer rise time and baking time than my usual bread recipe), so I still had to plan bread baking well before dinner. And then, I discovered that one loaf of this bread was just too small for my clan. So I needed to make 2 loaves to go with dinner and so I'd only get 2 baking times out of one batch of dough. So, it didn't seem to be the right recipe for my family. That said, it is tasty bread. No question about that. I did use 1/2 whole wheat and it didn't rise as much as I would have liked. I may go back to this recipe when a few kids have moved out and I'm not cooking for quite so many any more.