Easy Dutch Oven Cooking Classic and Contemporary Recipes in 5 Steps or Less

Easy Dutch Oven Cooking Classic and Contemporary Recipes in 5 Steps or Less is a tutorial and recipe guide by Sara Furcini. Due out 18th Aug 2020 from Callisto on their Rockridge Press imprint, it's 259 pages (for the ebook version)  in paperback and ebook formats (ebook available now). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.


The recipes are arranged by category: Breakfast & Brunch, Pasta Rice & Grains, Soups Stews & Chilis, Braises & Roasts, Fried Foods, Sides & Sauces, Breads, and Desserts. I really appreciated the inclusion of plant based dishes. Many of these are -hearty- one-dish mains that even my meat loving family really devoured (without complaining).

Ingredient measurements are supplied in American measurements only. There's a conversion chart for metric measures in the appendices. Special recipe notes such as gluten free, vegetarian, nut free, etc are listed in the header for each recipe. There's no included nutritional information.  Extra tips or recipe alternatives are listed in sidebars with the recipes. The recipes themselves are fairly straightforward and are made with easily sourced ingredients. Many are very simple, none of them are overly complex.

The photography is not abundant; most of the recipes are not illustrated, but the photographs which are included are clear and well done.  I wish there had been more photographs and serving suggestions, but I do understand that extra photography increases the price of book projects very quickly.

This is a huge collection of recipes and even allowing for the fact that some of them are very similar to others in the same category, this will keep one-pot/everyday cooking afficianados going for ages. These are simple "everyday" recipes which are anything but boring. We tried several dishes and all of them were tasty and well written. (We didn't try any of the bread or dessert recipes, but I found no glaring errors with a quick read-through).

We're definitely going to try more of these recipes.  Well written book, tasty recipes. I've dinged half a star for the near-total lack of photographs. For cooks who -need- photographs for serving ideas, this will be a disappointment. Since it's a one-pot-cooking book, the lack of photos shouldn't be crippling for most readers.

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.