We loved this article in the Times Colonist News. The author writes about her BFF, her cast iron skillet!
She says: “One of the main reasons I love my cast iron skillet is its culinary flexibility. As you can see from the dishes above and the fish recipe below, you can use it on the stove, in the oven, over a campfire and set and cook with it right on a gas barbecue.
The other reason I love my cast iron skillet is its durability. It can last for decades if you treat it right.”
We agree!!
Read the whole article here and if you read to the end, you’ll even get her recipe for skillet barbequed fish.
Ah the beauty of cast iron, it only gets better with age. Why can’t everything be like that! Khoi Vinh has some interesting thoughts on the subject on his website. He says:
“Similarly, I have a US$20 cast iron skillet that I bought several years ago from a restaurant supply shop in downtown Manhattan. I’ve cooked hundreds of meals with it, and over time it has developed a coating from oil and food — the manufacturers call it ‘seasoning.’ It’s a little unbecoming when you think about it; in fact, though I clean it, it’s a dirty piece of cookware, and it resembles its original, store-bought state not at all.
But it’s also a beautiful piece of design. After cooking in it and cleaning it up, I’ve spent a lot of time just looking it over, marveling at how its very deterioration has been incorporated into the design of the object, at how it’s gotten more attractive — less ignorant — the more I use it. I’m not particularly sentimental about much in my kitchen, but I would be heartbroken if you took away this iron skillet.”
We found this recipe in the Boston Globe. Apparently this is the real recipe for the dish the animated Rat cooks up in the new Pixar flick!! Fun!
Ratatouille Tian
Serves 8
A tian is a mixture of vegetables, all very thinly sliced, tucked into tight overlapping concentric circles in a shallow dish and baked together. This is a simplified version of the dish that Remy, the little chef in the movie “Ratatouille,” made for the critic Anton Ego. For a sophisticated version, use a mandoline or another hand-held slicing device.
More on Real Ratatouille
During the month of August, the Women in the Outdoors outreach program in the Williamsport region has tons of fun planed for their workshop. They have classes available for fishing, hunting, shooting, and best of all, even Dutch Oven Cooking and Camping courses. So if you live in the region, and want to get in on the fun, check out the details here:
Area groups planning adventures exclusively for women participants
According to Derrick Riches over at About.com, the number one secret to the perfect restaurant quality steak is… a cast iron skillet of course! Check out Derrick’s step by step recipe for the perfect steak here:
The Perfect Restaurant Steak