Ah La French Lamb

Blogtastic readers, My love....
In regards to the comment left on my last posting. "Do I need to use one of those fancy French cast iron pot for this ( lamb ) dish? Should I prepare the casserole in a pan first, then transfer to a bakeing dish for cooking in the oven"? Also. " Why are my friends so obsesed about Le Creuset cook ware"?
Excelent question. French cast iron cookware is a very good choice for an oven cooked casserole, as the weight of the pot lends itself to good heat distribution. However in saying that most of this effect comes from the thickness of the base. Heat distribution in an oven is pretty good anyway. I have also tryed this dish in a more coventional pot and have acheved exelent results.
By far the most importent part of this dish is to bake in the same pot that you browned the lamb off in. When you seal meat in a pan/pot you will notice that a small amount of dark brown or black remains on the base. This is flavor gold! This is where this dish gets it's amazing flavor. As you cook the onions try to scrape this off the base and incorpirate it in with the sause. If you can learn to take advantage of this tehnique, the taste of all you cooking useing this meathod will take on a complexity not attainable otherwise.
As for why is Le Creuset so admired by middle subburb slappers. They just found out what the rich people have, so they want it to, then they can tell there friends about how rich they are. Le Creuset is of the highest quality, this much is true. But there are cheaper brands avalible. The quality is not quiet there, but for the average person it is only a tiny difference. In saying all that, even the cheaper brands can be very expensive. If you are on a budget, very good cast iron pots can be bought from most army disposal outlets. These are designed for use on open fires but will work almost aswell on the stove top and oven. What ever pot you decide to use, just do one thing for me. Please make sure your vessle is stove top and oven safe. I don't want comments from anybody who has forgotten the universal ingreadent: Common sence....