I recently purchased a dutch oven (also called a "camp oven" because it has legs) and have been anxious to try it out.  I like to cook outdoors, even though I don't seem to be terribly good at it yet.  Dutch ovens are typically made of heavy cast iron and have been used in one form or another for hundreds of years.  In America, they have a strong association with the settlement of the American West and "cowboy cuisine", and have a long tradition of use in Boy Scouting.

I set up a small cooking platform in my back yard using some concrete patio paving tiles and bricks I got at Home Depot.  As you can see in the first photo it's also close to our fire pit, in a tucked-away little area that's slowly becoming a nice outdoor kitchen of sorts (the gas grill is also nearby).  Since it was a little breezy I put the dutch oven in a metal feed pan I got at Tractor Supply to help block some of the wind on the bottom, and it also serves as a great place to put ashes and lingering coals when the cooking is done.

For my first time cooking, I needed something relatively simple to start with.  I found a video on YouTube from a guy in South Carolina that has created a series called "Dave Can Cook".  If you have some time you can view the video below.  I think Dave is a hoot, and I appreciate him taking the time to create and post videos like this.

The recipe is very quick and easy:  olive oil, chopped onions, some garlic, italian seasoning, and salt & pepper.  Just what I needed... as is typical for me, I didn't leave work early enough, didn't get out of the grocery store quickly enough, and was running out of time to get everything done before it was time for the family to go to bed (after all, the process takes a couple of hours).

Getting more coals ready to continue cooking

The finished product wasn't too bad.  It wasn't quite as tender as I had hoped, but I'm guessing I probably cooked it for too long with too much heat... my roast was smaller than most recipes call for, but it's hard to know just how much to adjust for that.  Dutch oven cooking (and most outdoor cooking) seems to be more of an art than a science, and it will just take time to gain enough experience to really get it right.

The finished pot roast

Overall, I had fun with this, the roast was pretty good, and I look forward to trying more dutch oven recipes in the future!