There's nothing better than having a hot meal on a chilly day. Thinking about the next meal to cook for the entire family? If you have a Staub cocotte on hand, this is the time to put it to great use! Otherwise, any type of cast-iron casserole is perfect to try out the following recipes. From a tender boeuf bourguignon to a Moroccan-style chicken dish, here are a few delicious recipes you can whip up in the kitchen with your Staub cocotte.

Recipes to Make with your Staub Cocotte

1. Osso Bucco

Prep time: 10mins | Cook time: 60mins | Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

• 1 small knuckle of veal (approx. 600 g)
• 1 big onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 carrot
• 1 leek (only the white part)
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 1 stick celery
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 small tin anchovies
• 1 glass dry white wine
• Parsley, rosemary
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• Salt, pepper

Preparation:

1. Clean the vegetables and rinse in water. Peel the onions and cut into rings, finely slice the leek, celery and carrots. Peel and crush the garlic. Wash and chop the parsley. Drain the anchovies and crush them. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, remove the skins and the core. Cut roughly into pieces.
2. Heat the oil in the Cocotte and sear the knuckle on all sides until golden brown. Then add and braise the onions. Add the vegetables: Leek, celery, carrots, tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and simmer on a low heat for 60 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, mix the anchovy paste with the parsley, garlic, tomato paste and white wine. After the cooking time remove the meat and keep it warm. Add the anchovy, parsley, white wine, garlic and tomato paste mixture to the roasting juice. Bring to boil. Place the meat back in the sauce and sprinkle with rosemary. Serve.

Recipe source: Staub

2. Vegetable Pilaf with Saffron and Chicken Breasts

Prep time: 25mins | Cook time: 30mins | Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 red onion
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• About 12 cherry tomatoes
• 1 squash
• 1 red and 1 yellow pepper
• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 chicken breasts without the skin, 150g
• 75g butter in total
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
• Salt, pepper
• 600ml chicken broth
• 300g long grain rice
• 1/2 tsp. saffron strands

Preparation:

1. Peel onion and garlic. Thinly slice the onion, finely chop the garlic, cut the tomatoes in halves. Wash the remaining vegetables and cut them and the meat into bite-sized pieces.
2. Heat up half the butter with oil in the STAUB cocotte, then fry the chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper. Remove the chicken from the casserole, add the vegetables and fry while stirring every 5 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the vegetables from the casserole.
3. Add the remaining butter and sauté the onions and garlic for a short time. Add the broth and bring to the boil. Add the rice and saffron to the boiling broth and season with salt. Reduce the heat, cover and cook the rice for about 15 minutes in a slightly simmering broth.
4. After about 15 minutes, stir the cooked vegetables and chicken breasts into the rice and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the casserole from the heat, open the cover slightly and let the water evaporate from the pilaf for 10 minutes.

Recipe source: Staub

3. Moroccan Chicken With Olives and Couscous

Prep time: 30mins | Cook time: 60mins | Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt to taste
• 6 chicken legs (approx. 1.5 kg total weight)
• 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion in strips (1.5 cm)
• 4 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 1 tsp. ground paprika
• 1/2 tsp. ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. curcuma
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 110 g pitted green olives
• 85 g dried apricots, cut into thin strips
• 600 ml chicken broth with a little salt
• 1/2 lemon, peeled and cut into thin slices (2 mm)
• Ingredients for preparation in the steamer:
• 625 g couscous, not pre-cooked
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Preparation: 

1. Generously salt the lemon slices on both sides. Stack the slices on top of each other and set aside. Add the couscous to a large bowl. Pour 240 ml cold water over it and mix well with your hands so that the couscous is evenly covered with liquid. Set aside while you prepare the chicken.
2. Salt all sides of the chicken legs. Heat 1/2 tbsp. oil in a 26 cm diameter Cocotte on medium heat. Divide the meat into 3 portions and sauté on all sides for about 5 minutes until golden brown.
3. Set the chicken aside on a plate. Sauté the onions for 5-7 minutes until they are soft. Add the garlic, bell pepper, ginger, cumin seeds, black pepper, curcuma and cinnamon. Stir thoroughly so the onions can fully absorb the spices and brown for 1 minute.
4. Add the olives, apricots and the poultry broth and simmer. Meanwhile, spray the lemons with cold water and cut into small pieces. Add the lemon pieces and the chicken to the Cocotte. Turn down the heat.
5. Rub the couscous in the hands to separate out any lumps. Add 160 ml water and again mix the hands until it is all equally distributed.
6. Use a spoon to transfer the couscous to the steamer and then place it in the Cocotte.
7. Cover and cook for 30 minutes on low heat. The water must boil. Remove the steamer and transfer the couscous into a large bowl.
8. Stir carefully with a large spoon to ensure there are no lumps. Pour on a further 240 ml water and stir thoroughly. Transfer the couscous back into the steamer and place it back in the Cocotte. Cover and cook slowly for another 15 minutes.
9. Then return the couscous to the big bowl. Stir in 2 tbsp. olive oil and mix through until the oil has steeped equally through the couscous.
10. Hone with salt. Place the chicken and the sauce in the middle of a large, deep serving dish and arrange the couscous around it with a spoon. Sprinkle with chopped coriander.

Recipe source: Staub

4. Boeuf Bourguignon

Prep time: 20mins | Cook time: 3hours | Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 kg chuck beef, chopped into cubes
• 125 g bacon
• 12 small onions
• 60 g butter
• 500 g carrots

For the bouquet garni:

• 1 sprig of thyme
• 1/4 bay leaf
• 2 celery sticks
• 4 sprigs of parsley
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1L good red wine
• 2 garlic cloves
• Salt, pepper

Preparation:

1. Ask your butcher to cut the meat into larger pieces (about the size of an egg). Remove the meat from the refrigerator at least 1.5 hours before searing.
2. Dice the bacon discarding the rind. Peel the onions and leave them whole.
3. Melt the butter in a Cocotte, add the onions and bacon, brown slightly stirring with a wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the meat seasoned with salt and pepper from the pepper mill to the pan and sear all over. While the meat is browning in the pot, peel the carrots, rinse them in cold water and cut them into pieces about 5 cm long. Then add this to the meat.
5. Carefully wash the parsley and celery. Remove any woody parts of the celery, tie the thyme, bay leaf and parsley and celery together to form a bouquet garni and add it to the meat. Steam for 30 minutes, remove the meat and keep it warm.
6. Now add the flour to the pan and stir well with a wooden spoon. When the flour is slightly browned, stir in the tomato paste. Gradually add the red wine. Season with salt and pepper from the pepper mill.
7. Peel and crush both garlic cloves and add them. Stir continuously with the wooden spoon.
8. As soon as the sauce is smooth, add the meat back into the roasting pan. Simmer in a covered pan for about 2.5 hours on low heat.
9. 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time, pre-heat the plates and also perhaps the serving dish. Beef Bourguignon can however also be served from the pan.

Tip: Tastes delicious with salted potatoes or potato pancakes.

Recipe source: Staub

5. Hungarian Goulash

Prep time: 40mins | Cook time: 90mins | Serves: 4 

Ingredients:

• 800 g beef
• 200 g smoked lean bacon
• 200 g onions
• 2 medium, ripe tomatoes
• 50 g butter
• 2 tbsp. Hungarian ground paprika
• 1 glass white wine
• 100 ml thick cream
• Salt, pepper

Accompaniment:

• 1 glass dry white wine
• 1 small bunch parsley
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 1/4 bay leaf

Side dish:

• 1kg potatoes
• Fresh butter
• German-style farmhouse bread

Preparation:

1. Ask your butcher to cut the beef into equal-sized pieces. Remove the meat from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting.
2. Remove the bacon rind, chop the bacon into 1 cm cubes. Peel and finely chop the onions.
3. Wash the parsley, remove any thick stalks and tie the parsley, thyme and bay leaf with a kitchen tie to form a bouquet garni. Scald the tomatoes and peel. Set aside.
4. Melt the butter in a roasting pan, add the bacon and stir with a wooden spoon. When the butter is slightly brown, first add the meat and then the onions. Season with salt and pepper, stir with a wooden spoon, sprinkle with paprika powder and stir again.
5. Simmer uncovered on a low heat for 10-15 minutes. Cut the tomatoes into pieces and add to the meat.
6. Salt the tomatoes. Add the bouquet garni and the wine, cover and cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
7. Stir occasionally. If necessary add a little warm water: The meat must always be covered with liquid. The dish must simmer the whole time on low heat.
8. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time boil them in salted water.
9. Warm the serving dishes and plates.
10. At the end of the cooking time, remove the pot from the oven and add the cream.
11. Reheat and add seasoning if necessary.
12. Arrange on serving dishes with potatoes, fresh butter and German-style farmhouse bread.

Recipe source: Staub