If you haven’t already noticed, Wade is the chef behind all of my tasty recipes. We make the perfect couple, he loves to cook and I love to eat! He recently got a Dutch oven for camping (Thanks Jack!) and couldn’t wait to use it! On our recent trip to Big Sur he christened it, seasoned it, and made a delicious, slow cooked version of Boeuf Bourguignon!

If you are using your Dutch oven for the first time you will probably have to season it unless it indicates that it is pre-seasoned. Don’t worry its not a difficult thing to do but it will take about an hour and a half.

Outdoor seasoning of Dutch oven
Seasoning cast iron is super easy and best done outdoors because it produces a lot of smoke. Follow these steps and you will have a nicely seasoned Dutch oven  for life!

1. Get a fire going in your fire pit with the grate attached.

2. Scrub your Dutch oven with hot soapy water on all sides. Note this is the last time you will use soap on this item!

3. Dry Dutch oven thoroughly by placing on hot grates for several minutes. Remove Dutch oven and cool.

4. Rub vegetable shortening over every surface of the Dutch oven including the lid.

5. Place Dutch oven over the fire upside down with the lid on for an hour. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

6. Your Dutch oven is now seasoned and can be used immediately! Just remember to only use hot water to clean your oven. NEVER use soap or scour with abrasives as this will remove the seasoning!

Dutch oven beof bourguignon
1.5 – 2 lbs beef stew meat
2 onions roughly chopped
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons herbs de provence (crush with the palms of your hands when adding to food)
3 large carrots chopped rough and large
2 cups of sliced crimini mushrooms quartered
8 cloves of garlic smashed
2 lbs of small potatoes quartered
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups or more of fresh grape tomatoes or other tasty small tomatoes halved
salt
pepper
2 bottles of french red wine (i used a $10 Cotes du Rhone) If price is not an issue feel free to use burgundy! *Note one bottle is for consumption!
1 carton of beef broth

Preheat the pan by placing over the hot grates. Remember to set aside any embers since these are what you will use for the slow cooking process. Generously season the beef with salt and pepper. Toss beef in flour until evenly coated on all sides. Sauté on all sides until browned on all sides. Add onion, mushrooms, herbs de provence and garlic and continue to sauté for a minute. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and cook for another minute. In the meantime, place the base for the dutch oven off to one side of the BBQ pit and place embers in and around it. If you don’t have a base you can use two equal sized pieces of wood to create one. Add rest of ingredients using equal parts red wine and stock until stew is covered in liquid. Cover and place dutch oven on the stand or base with the hot embers. Also place embers on the lid of dutch oven. Enjoy your campfire for another hour, then, add more embers beneath and on the lid of the oven. Leave the stew for another hour. Remove the lid at this point to check the thickness and tenderness of the stew. At this point you can either add more embers to continue cooking or season the stew with salt and pepper and devour it. Usually, 2 to 2 1/2 hours is plenty of time.

Keep embers aside. This is what you will slow cook the stew with.

While the stew cooks remember to create more embers.

Place embers beneath and on top of the Dutch oven for long and consistent slow cooking.

You have now elevated your glamping experience and most likely made all of your neighbors jealous due to the incredible smells that wafted through the campground over the past 2 hours. Enjoy and don’t forget to let me know how it goes for you!