Cookin with Cast Iron: (care instructions includ.) recipes and tips

[big brown horse]

http://whatscookingamerica.net/CastIronRecipes.htm Here is a fun site with lots of recipes made for cast iron cooking.

Please share yours.

P.S. for cast iron newbies, instructions on caring for cast iron cookware: http://www.kitchenemporium.com/info/castiron.html

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Cool!

One thing I did learn (in addition to the tips on that link) is if you nest them together for storage, put an absorbant cloth or paper towel between them if you're in a humid environment, like me

They rust on the bottom & inside where they touch.

Lets see, cast iron is the BEST for frying eggs, making cornbread, fried chicken, greens of any kind, frying bacon. The only thing I will only cook in the cast iron is cornbread, everything else works okay in the stainless steel. But I do prefer the cast iron, hands down.

 

[hikerchick]

I make millet bread in a cast iron dutch oven.

 

[big brown horse]

Thanks Noobie!

Funny thing, I was raised by vegetarians as I've mentioned before. Mom always used veg. oil to season the cast iron. I always wondered why they seemed gummy....it wasn't until I started this thread, what, 30 minutes ago, that I realized you are supposed to use lard or bacon grease! I'm going to re-season all of my cast iron today!

I have a few corn bread pans, a dutch oven, a 10 inch skillet, a 12 inch "grill pan" and a SWEET, flat, tortilla pan. I would love to get a great big skillet with a lid...one of these days, ahhh.

What do you guys have?

Speakin of lids, you have to season it too right? (The inside)

What is millet bread HC?

 

[hikerchick]

It is a no-knead yeast bread made with polenta and whole millet. It is crispy and crunchy and yummy.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/crunchy_munchy_corn_millet_bread.html

 

[noobiechickenlady]

A griddle, muffin tin, a huuuuuge dutch oven that I hardly ever use and 3 sizes of skillets, a tiny one for cornbread, a medium and a large. Oh and a flat round pan. It may be like your tortilla pan, bbh. It's like a skillet with no sides.

 

[big brown horse]

Yummy HC!! Thanks for sharing.

Noobie, girl you ARE from the south, eh?? In TX we called that a tortilla pan, you probably can call it a Hoe cake pan.

ETA: Wait, did you say a muffin pan? Do you like it?

 

[noobiechickenlady]

You betcha! Born, raised and actually never even left it on a visit! I've never been further north than St. Louis, MO. Kinda sad really... But I do love the south, even with all its flaws.

Hehe, I just call it my flat pan. I love my muffin pan. I shorten the baking time on whatever I'm making by 5 minutes, pull it out of the oven & cover it. The heat from the pan finishes cooking it and the bottoms don't get overly browned.

Mmmm, that bread does look tasty. The bread calls for millet, which is sometimes hard to find (look for it near other grains); sesame seeds can be substituted with good results.

Sesame corn bread

Edited to say, strike that. I've been to Chicago once on a business trip. The wind almost killed me

 

[hikerchick]

I just love the texture of millet. It's basically birdseed but I think the kind you get for birds is not fit for humans.

I find it in the healthy grocery store.

 

[Ldychef2k]

I have five skillets in various sizes, a corn stick pan, a griddle, a chicken fryer, a dutch oven with the round bottom, and one stamped with the logo from the Salt Lake City Olympics that has legs. Have a few enameled cast iron as well. Am VERY interested in learning cast iron cooking, as we have competitions in these parts fairly regularly.

My personal hero in the Self Sufficiency way of life is Jackie Clay. She has an awesome article on cast iron here: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/clay118.html