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Cast Iron Pots and Pans


Rhett

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If you have worked at a restaurant or just have a lot of experience, you already know that this is the secret to great food. I can't cook or stand to eat anything that calls for browning, searing or reducing without using one. I'm always impressed by the knowledge on this website, so forgive me if I am preaching to the choir. Any recipes or experience using cast iron would be much appreciated. I will happily do the same if anyone is interested.
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Guess I should get it started with one of my favorites that I've had lots of luck with this dish. Cajun chicken pasta. It is fairly involved and a pretty high level of difficulty for me. It requires a good deal of prep work and a white wine reduction sauce. I pretty much go by this recipe, word for word. Attached photo is of my outdoor set-up. I don't have a nice enough range to use cast iron on the inside, but it is all worth it!

 

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/09/cajun-chicken-pasta/

photossa.thumb.jpg.94a752e933dcfd9365d04a3974c01839.jpg

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+1 Lodge brand is where it's at.

 

My mother-in-law (from Alabama) makes cornbread in hers. Now cornbread isn't really my thing, but if you like it, this is the way to make it. I use ours at home for anything that should be blackened or charred. For example, chorizo/chourico is awesome fried up in a cast iron skillet. You know, I never cook bacon in one, instead using a non-stick, but bacon might work out real well in the cast iron. In my experience, a cast iron skillet is traditionally an implement of Southern cooking. My wife's extended family members all have at least one per household. Being from New England, I'd never even really heard of one in modern use until I met her. Growing up, I just assumed that was something that pilgrims and settlers used until teflon was invented. :)

 

If you do end up getting one, pay attention to the seasoning requirements (in the oils/fats iron seasoning sense; not the parsely, sage, rosemary, and thyme seasoning sense). It is cast iron after all and it needs protection from oxidation. This "protection" is also what makes everything taste so good. The oil/grease from everything you've ever cooked in it soaks in a bit. We always rub ours down with crisco before we put them away since we haven't used them long enough to give them a good deep seasoning yet.

 

A really good recipe isn't coming to me right now. I'll ask the wife for a reminder of something yummy we cook in it.

 

One further tip ... normally, if you have a regular pan that has some baked on crustiness or stubborn food stuck to it, you might leave it in the sink filled with soapy water to soak for a while, which will make scrubbing it easier. This is not such a good idea with a cast iron skillet as leaving cast iron sitting soaking in water will promote said oxidation. Just get a scrub brush (or even a stiff wire brush?) and scrub that sucker clean with a little elbow grease and put it on the drying rack. Done and done.

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I don't have a nice enough range to use cast iron on the inside, but it is all worth it!

 

Not sure what makes you think you need a nice indoor range to use cast iron inside. I wouldn't say we have a nice range either, but we cook with it inside all the time.

 

On the other hand, we do have a gas range. I've never used one on an electric stove top. Would electric detract from the preparation quality? I don't see how, but I admit I don't know that much about it.

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Definitely irreplaceable for country style cooking, but it doesn't stop there. If you want a killer, Outback or Ruth's Chris style steak, blast the cast iron with high heat until it is smoking hot, season your favorite cut of beef and sear it to perfection on the pan in just a minute or two for medium rare. Pop it in the oven for 5-10 minutes if you like it medium. I am a big fan of charcoal, but depending on the cut, this method is hard to beat and you would swear you were at a restaurant.
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Not sure what makes you think you need a nice indoor range to use cast iron inside. I wouldn't say we have a nice range either, but we cook with it inside all the time.

 

On the other hand, we do have a gas range. I've never used one on an electric stove top. Would electric detract from the preparation quality? I don't see how, but I admit I don't know that much about it.

We have one of the stop tops that you are not supposed to use cast iron on and if you want to cook a steak using the method I described above, it generates a massive amount of smoke.

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Yeah, I have had to learn that the hard way. I guess I am lucky that I can't use cast iron in the kitchen, because I have had a few accidents that may have resulted in some major damage inside.
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Good point, makes sense. Now, when I was talking about "smoking hot" for the steak method, I was referring to the pan itself. It mimicks those 2,000-5,000 degree cooking surfaces the high-end restaraunts claim to have in their kitchens.

Thinking about cooking this on Saturday evening. Lots of good, cheap, fresh seafood is readily available in my neck of the woods right now.

 

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/03/seafood-pasta/

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Scratched the seafood pasta and did an awesome shrimp and grits. Can't take all the credit because the old lady hooked up the grits with jalapeños and cream sauce while I did the shrimp, mushrooms and red peppers outside on the cast iron. I can post a link when tomorrow when not drinking Vodka if anyone cares. Oh my bad, it is the weekend, won't stop drinking till Monday.
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Hey Dujo, that's sausage, right? Looks so good. I really wish I could cook stuff like that. Cooking with cast iron on the outdoor propane makes it really difficult to regulate heat, so I haven't even considered sausage.
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^ Gaspar's chourico: http://www.gasparssausage.com/ourproducts.html

 

Here's a funny tidbid for ya too. We actually have to import our grits from the South in order to get good grits. Any time we travel to the in-laws place in AL or they come up to visit us, there's always a 5lb bag of grits in somebody's suitcase.

 

This is the only grits I have ever found in a New England grocery store: http://www.quakeroats.com/products/other-products/grits/instant-grits-plain.aspx. Trust me, this does *not* get it done.

 

One of my favorite grits recipes uses a jimmy dean spicy bulk sausage, grits, velveeta, milk, butter, and an egg. Paprika to serve. No cast iron involved, but good Southern cooking. My mother-in-law is slightly offended that this is my favorite recipe that she makes. Considers it too easy and basic to be worthy of being a favorite. But I grew up in CT and went to college in SC. First time I ever had *good* grits was of the Sausage and Cheesy Grits variety.

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That's awesome! It is hard to believe that it is that hard to find them up there. I can understand why some folks don't care for plain old grits, but that shrimp recipe was great. Completely different experience with all the add ins. I cooked a thick NY Strip cast iron style on Friday night and it was nearly perfect.
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