Cooking with cast iron adds awesome flavor.
Non-stick this, teflon that... whatever. Cast iron is the way to go for almost everything I cook. There are very few things that I don't cook with my trusty, perfectly-seasoned, black-as-night cast iron frying pan. Steak, fried chicken, seafood, quiche, bananas foster - you name it, I've cooked it in that bad boy and I'll never need a new pan.
I remember when I put "cast iron frying pan" on our wedding registry. My wife (then fiancee) thought I was nuts, as did everyone else who saw the list. But my sister was there for me. She saw the light (being somewhat of a Foodie herself). She remembered me talking about cast iron some time before that, so she knew I was serious when she saw it on the list, and voila! My new wife and I were on our way to culinary bliss.
While I'm not blessed with a cast iron skillet that was handed down from generation to generation in our family, I am blessed nonetheless. When I bust that old clanker out in front of guests, they ask me what I'm gonna do with it. My typical answer is, "There ain't nothin'' you can't cook in one of these! Now STAND BACK!" For the sake of blogging, I'll specify:
I remember when I put "cast iron frying pan" on our wedding registry. My wife (then fiancee) thought I was nuts, as did everyone else who saw the list. But my sister was there for me. She saw the light (being somewhat of a Foodie herself). She remembered me talking about cast iron some time before that, so she knew I was serious when she saw it on the list, and voila! My new wife and I were on our way to culinary bliss.
While I'm not blessed with a cast iron skillet that was handed down from generation to generation in our family, I am blessed nonetheless. When I bust that old clanker out in front of guests, they ask me what I'm gonna do with it. My typical answer is, "There ain't nothin'' you can't cook in one of these! Now STAND BACK!" For the sake of blogging, I'll specify:
Steak: There are few things better than searing a steak on both sides in a cast iron pan, then throwing it straight into the oven to finish. The browning of the steak is almost always perfect which locks in all the juices. Then it's up to the oven to not screw things up. (See also pork chops)
Fried Chicken: Really, if you use anything other than cast iron for fried chicken, you're going straight to hell. Seriously. I don't make the rules, I just live by 'em.
Bacon: Now, I'll be the first to admit that bacon is good from any cooking vessel, but for some reason, the seasonings on the cast iron pan just make it that much better. Maybe it's the seasonings combined with the perfect heat distribution of cast iron and the little elements of added crust throughout each piece of thick bacon. Whatever it is, if it makes bacon better, it has to be the perfect cooking vessel.
Gravy: A lot of people make gravy in a saucepan - one that's usually not made of cast iron. Now, I'm talking about a cast iron frying pan here, and, yes, I still make gravy in it. Making the roux in a cast iron frying pan first - especially out of that bacon grease you just got from all that super-perfect bacon - makes gravy better than anything else in the kitchen.
If you don't have a cast iron frying pan, go get one. If you can, get one at a yard sale or an estate sale - one that's already black as can be. You can still season your own new pan like I had to, but I'm tellin' ya, you've got 4 or 5 meals at least before you start getting that culinary bliss that you can only get from good, used, seasoned, and ultra-blackened cast iron.
Fried Chicken: Really, if you use anything other than cast iron for fried chicken, you're going straight to hell. Seriously. I don't make the rules, I just live by 'em.
Bacon: Now, I'll be the first to admit that bacon is good from any cooking vessel, but for some reason, the seasonings on the cast iron pan just make it that much better. Maybe it's the seasonings combined with the perfect heat distribution of cast iron and the little elements of added crust throughout each piece of thick bacon. Whatever it is, if it makes bacon better, it has to be the perfect cooking vessel.
Gravy: A lot of people make gravy in a saucepan - one that's usually not made of cast iron. Now, I'm talking about a cast iron frying pan here, and, yes, I still make gravy in it. Making the roux in a cast iron frying pan first - especially out of that bacon grease you just got from all that super-perfect bacon - makes gravy better than anything else in the kitchen.
If you don't have a cast iron frying pan, go get one. If you can, get one at a yard sale or an estate sale - one that's already black as can be. You can still season your own new pan like I had to, but I'm tellin' ya, you've got 4 or 5 meals at least before you start getting that culinary bliss that you can only get from good, used, seasoned, and ultra-blackened cast iron.