You can bake great bread in your dutch oven! Check out Chad Robertson's book Tartine Bread or for a very quick and easy recipe try the NY Times No Knead Bread Recipe.
Enjoy your new toy!

Cassoulet, short ribs (or any other kind of beef braise), and soup are my favorites.

Break in you new pot with a New Year tradition... Black Eyed Peas!
http://www.careyonlovely.com/2013/01/black-eyed-peas.html

Congratulations on your new pot!
I just love my Le Creuset.

We're starting a new series called, "Low, Slow and So Worth It!" - focusing on braising, roasting and slow cooking. Each of these recipes will be appropriate for a dutch oven.

Here is the first in the series - if you want to try it.
Really simple, very flavorful recipe.

Cider Braised Beef
http://www.cookingatcafed.com/2013/01/low-slow-1-cider-braised-beef.html

Cook beans, make stew, and deep-fry stuff (the thermal mass of the cookware helps keep the frying oil from cooling off too much when food is added).

I use it for most of my stovetop cooking that can't be done in a skillet. So soups, stocks, braises, stir-frys, you name it. Sometimes, when I don't know what's for dinner, I'll start caramelizing onions without even thinking about it and things will take shape from there.

The other nice thing is that you can do slow things that require stovetop to oven cooking like panade or dressing or sloooooow braises. Beans. Do cassoulet just to get a feel for it.

Honestly, I can get by with a dutch oven and a cast iron skillet, a good knife and a cutting board. Mine's a $35 one from Aldi, and when my ex and I split the first things I took were a backpack of clothes, my computer, my knife and that pot. You're a lucky duck to have a Le Creuset. What a nice gift.

use it for everything! I love love LOVE mine. Did not have an awesome sister to buy me one and had been coveting one for YEARS. I took a course in a culinary school last year and the dutch ovens were used on stove top for just about everything. After the course, I pulled the trigger on one and have been so happy. I am currently enjoying a very lovely lentil and mushroom soup made in the dutch oven (the base of which is a homemade stock I made in the dutch oven the day before!)

Braises, sautes, chicken pot pie... roasted veg... nom nom nom nom.... sky's the limit!

I love my Dutch oven! I made this mahogany beef stew recently... AMAZING. http://www.eatniks.com/2013/01/freezer-stew-for-the-freezer/

I'm making these short ribs in the dutch oven for my boyfriend's birthday this weekend. I've never tried them, but SK never fails to disappoint!
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/12/braised-beef-short-ribs/

EVERYTHING! Mine is definitely my most treasured kitchen item. It's perfect for everything from soups, breads, casseroles, beans, braises, roasts, roasted chicken, pasta dishes, risotto, you name it. It's particularly perfect for anything that you want to just sit on the stove top and simmer all day (e.g. apple butter, marinara).

Julia Child's beef bourguignon. So good and well sized for that pot.

white chicken chili with ground chicken! i use a recipe similar to this: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cha-chas-white-chicken-chili/

The first thing I made in my Le Crouset was Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon. What a way to launch a new casserole. It's particularly fantastic for braising things that you brown on the stove and then stick in the oven. Love it.

everything, congrats!

Ha, I was going to say breat too! I have one in rtight now and it smells amazing! I am using Cooks Illustrated's recipe.

I think the inaugural use of such a fine piece of cookery is worth considering! I made a Black Bean Eggplant Soup http://kaleeats.blogspot.ca/2012/10/roasted-eggplant-tomato-black-bean-soup.html
But I second the suggest for NY Times bread. Dinner a Love Story has a killer sausage, potato apple bake that is heaven in a Dutch oven. (http://kaleeats.blogspot.ca/2012/11/sausage-apple-potato-bake.html)
and my current favourite use is a chicken and steel cut oats braised dish (http://kaleeats.blogspot.ca/2012/11/braised-chicken-with-steel-cut-oats-and.html)
I can't wait to see what others suggest.

Awesome, me too! Bread is a must. Also, try this slow cooked broccoli, maybe spread on the bread you make.

I have a baked ziti cooking in mine right now (though I have a lodge, we're not big spenders over here)

This roast chicken! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-roast-chicken-recipe/index.html

I always make it in the dutch oven, and the veggies turn out amaaaazing. I always throw in several cloves of unpeeled garlic as well.

Mine is the old school blue 4-1/2 quart one I first spotted at Zabars in NYC back in 1983. I FINALLY splurged and bought mine in Minneapolis in 2006. I absolutely love it and use it so often I usually just keep it on my stovetop. It is my most prized kitchen accessory, and paid for itself long ago since the quality is exceptional. I make EVERYTHING in mine - from soup to (toasted) nuts. I hope you and your LaCreuset enjoy many wonderful meals together!

jamie olivers chicken in milk

http://www.thekitchn.com/the-ultimate-bird-jamies-chick-80388

Braise, Braise, Braise! And casseroles are perfect for dutch ovens!

Congrats on your new piece! I love my dutch oven, although I have a cheapo one which I need to replace asap. I use mine to make everything from chicken cassoulet to ratatouille and I love putting yeast dough in it to rise. It's a super useful tool and you're gonna love it!

http://wp.me/p2FRFd-5g

Eeee!! I got a Le Creuset dutch oven for Christmas too! It's bright orange, 6 quarts (it's freaking massive) and it just sits on my countertop looking super pretty because I've yet to find something to cook in it. These suggestions are great! I can't wait to make something! So excited!

I LOVE my Dutch oven. Here are my thoughts, Sweet and sour pork: http://lovebeerlovefood.com/how-many-synonyms-are-there-for-amazing-pork-edition/ soup, http://lovebeerlovefood.com/hot-n-spicy-chorizo-soup-and-a-confession/ chorizo&orzo soup and BREAD! http://lovebeerlovefood.com/you-can-make-magazine-worthy-bread-seriously/

One of my favorite dishes, and gives my dutch oven a workout, is Paula Deen's chicken and sausage paella. I don't make many of her recipes, but this is my husband's favorite dish.
http://www.pauladeen.com/index.php/recipes/view2/spanish_chicken_and_chorizo_paella/