Archive for the ‘Cast Iron’ Category
Spring is starting be make itself known where I live. The spring equinox does not actually arrive for about 3 more weeks, but I have started seeing my bulbs popping up around the yard. No flowers yet, but I can see some foliage popping. We have had a winter here, to rival those of days gone by. I, all of my 44 years upon this earth, here on Long Island, have never seen this much snow. I remember having a good blast every February and it was usually cold enough to last for about 2 weeks. But, anyhow, it has been a long winter, which is kind of unusual for these parts. We are usually directly affected by the Gulf Stream. The snowy weather is not usually part of our region. Colder temps. but usually quite mild.
I am usually an all winter griller. My grill and outdoor propane deep fryer were under so much snow this year that it was too big of a deal to dig a path to the grill. We were shoveling out the driveway and the sidewalks like every other day. I didn’t have the gumption to did a path anywhere else. So I settled for all indoor cooking this winter. Slow cooker, cast iron Dutch oven, my Crock Pot BBQ Pit, my counter top deep fryer, and I used the broiler a few times. This really has to be the first winter that I did not grill outdoors at all.
Well, spring has finally sprung as far as I am concerned. All the snow has finally melted in my yard. I can get to my grill & my Cajun Fryer. I think that it is time for a good old fashioned barbecue and fish fry. Seeing that Fat Tuesday is upon us, I may just have to make this happen. I need to get a big old pot of jambalaya going, deep fry some fresh fish and grill up some brisket and ribs.
Of course, my outdoor cooking equipment has been outside, under wraps, but outside. It never gets put away because normally I could be seen in the middle of January grilling steak or doing Beer Can chicken. So seeing as my cooking gear has spent the winter under a pile of snow, I guess I will have to give it all a thorough once over. Check my hoses and regulators and my propane tanks. (Yes, I said tanks. I keep 3 at all times. One for my grill, one for my deep fryer, and one spare.) This should be done normally anyway, but as I said, this past winter has been an anomaly. My grill has never gone this long without food on it. I cooked a prime rib in my grill for Christmas dinner, and it hasn’t gotten any love since. My Cajun Fryer hasn’t been used since Thanksgiving. I had planned to deep fry half of my freezer stores on Superbowl Sunday and for The Daytona 500, but there has just been too much snow.
This week is the week I intend to give my cooking equipment a whole lotta love. I am going to deep fry a turkey breast, and some fish. I am going to fire up my grill. The gloves are off, or I guess I should be putting them on. It’s time to get back outside and start cooking again!
If you are new to cast iron cooking or using a Dutch oven, or even if you have been using cast iron cookware for a long time, a great place to find information about the subject is at The International Dutch Oven Society or IDOS. You do not have to become a member in order to glean some very helpful information, but more info is available to you as a member.
The site offers recipes, information on the care of cast iron cookware, there is a forum page, and a list of upcoming events. The site also contains a list of chapters that may be in your area should you be interested in joining a local group. And there are chapters all over the United States. There are classes on the art of outdoor cast iron cooking that can be joined. They supply a link page for different companies that carry all different kinds of cast iron from skillets to Dutch ovens and many different kinds of cookware in between. There is also an events page that you may find upcoming cook offs and competitions.
I found the site to be very helpful. It is nice to have a place to chat with folks that have this similar interest in common. I have had many questions answered by other members quickly and the information is usually helpful and to the point. 
Again if you are new to the wonderful world of cast iron cooking this is a great place to dive right in. If you are an accomplished Dutch oven cooker, maybe you can add some information that may help someone else out in the future. You can find the International Dutch Oven Society at www.idos.com.
The versatility of cast iron cookware is nothing to shake a stick at. It is durable and can last for generations when properly cared for. You can use them indoors, for baking in the oven or for deep frying on your stove top. You can use them outdoors on the grill or they can be used over an open fire and right in the coals. Get into the art of cast iron cooking. People have been cooking in cast iron for centuries. If you have not had the opportunity, get out there and give it a whirl. And if you need advice, check out IDOS. They can help point you in the right direction.
It’s the time of year when many people have a store of game meat in their freezers. Sometimes it may end up being an over abundance. Finding new and interesting things to do with all your hunting stores can be a challenge. That goes the same for any type of cooking in general. Sometimes we can find ourselves in a rut, cooking the same things over and over again. I like to shake up the menu once in a while, and try new and different things, Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don’t. Some recipes are good enough to tweak and try again.
Someone was kind enough to give me some extra of their venison. (Their freezer had more than it could handle). I had a roast, cubes, steak, and ground meat. I grilled the steak as it was. The cubes became chili. The roast became a beautiful sauerbraten. (I am now positive that venison was what sauerbraten was intentionally designed for. Not beef. It was the best sauerbraten I ever made!)
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with the ground meat. I hunted around for some recipes.
Here is an interesting venison recipe that I came across in a Celtic Folklore cookbook. I have tried this recipe myself and found it quite good.
Venison Balls In Sour Cream:
2 lbs ground venison
4 large potatoes, boiled and mashed
2 medium onions, grated
1 egg beaten
seasoned bread crumbs
1\2 stick of butter
1 tbsp oil
1 3\4 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
Mix together venison, potatoes, onions, egg, enough bread crumbs to help hold everything together, salt and pepper to taste.
Shape mixture into balls.
Heat the butter and oil in a deep cast iron skillet.
Fry the meatballs. When sufficiently cooked, add 1\2 the sour cream and simmer for 20 mins. Add the rest of the sour cream, bring to a boil and serve immediately over cooked egg noodles.
Also tastes great with Heinz Savory Beef & Zesty Onion Gravy.
This is the time of year that I really start cooking with my Irish heritage in mind. I tend to start getting out my Irish, Scottish, and Celtic cookbooks and start perusing looking for new and different recipes that I have not tried yet. My husband was the first in his family born in America. Both his parents were from Ireland. I myself am an American melting pot. My father’s family was from Holland, though both his parents were born here, first generation Americans. My mother’s family on the other hand, has been in the states since before they were even states. I have ancestors from my mom’s side that hail from Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Holland, and I believe there was someone from Switzerland as well. So with my own ancestry involved, my kids are needless to say, very Irish. I have always felt it important to relay to my boys, where they came from. I feel that history is important. For us, cooking is also part of our history and our heritage.
I do usually go the route that many other American’s take when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day. We have corned beef and cabbage with boiled potatoes and carrots. I make my own soda bread. Which, by the way, is excellent toasted the next day or so, and liberally spread with Kerrygold butter and preserves or lemon curd. But as I said, about a month before St. Patty’s Day, I just start cooking Irish. Shepherd’s pie, Irish stew, Porter cake, soda bread, potato leek soup, traditional Irish spiced beef to name a few.
This year, given that the Great Guinness Toast will be this weekend, Feb. 18, 2011, I decided that this was the year I was going to try my own Guinness Beef Stew. I viewed a few recipes and then made it my own. Here is what I came up with:
Guinness Beef Stew:
2 cups Guinness
1 garlic clove smashed
2 bay leaves
24 hours before starting the stew, marinate the beef cubes in the refrigerator with the above ingredients in a bag or non-reactive container. (For those that are shy, don’t marinate the meat, and just proceed with the rest of the recipe.)
When you are ready to begin, drain off the marinade and discard the garlic and bay leaves.
1 onion chopped
2 celery ribs chopped
1 large leek, white part only, chopped or sliced
Butter
Sweat the vegetables in a deep cast iron skillet or Dutch oven for about 5-7 mins.
Remove and set aside.
Coat the beef cubes in 1\2 cup flour and 2 tsp. black pepper. Add some more butter to the pan and brown the meat. Remove meat.
Deglaze the pan with 2 cups of fresh Guinness.
Now either put the all above ingredients into a crock pot or continue on your stove top in your cast iron Dutch oven.
Add 2-3 cups homemade beef stock, 2 cans of beef broth, OR 2 cups boiling water with 2 beef bullion cubes. (I prefer homemade stock)
Add:
A handful or more baby carrots
2 parsnips, peeled and cut up
1 medium turnip, peeled and cubed
A Bouquet garni (tied cheese cloth ball) of 3 sprigs fresh parsley, 2 sprigs fresh thyme, 1 bay leaf, and 8-10 black pepper corns)
Mushrooms(optional)
Bring to a boil on the stove top, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 1 1\2 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender.
(If using a Crock Pot, about 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.)
Before serving add a Tbsp. of corn starch mixed with some cold water…to thicken.
Serve with mashed or boiled potatoes and fresh Irish soda bread. Regular butter is great but Kerrygold is even better!
Classic Irish Soda Bread:
4 cups flour
1 1\2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking SODA
2 cups buttermilk (milk with tablespoon or 2 lemon juice…let it sit & curdle a minute before you add it to flour mixture)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Grease an 8″ cast iron skillet. In large bowl toss together dry ingredients. Add buttermilk…stir briskly with fork til dough forms together in a rough mass. Knead on a liberally floured surface for about 30 secs. Pat into a 8″ round about 1 1\2 thick (mine is always thicker than that) Slash a large 1\4″ deep cross across the top. Place in cast iron skillet & bake 45-50 mins.until nicely browned and the cross has spread open. Transfer to a rack to cool, then wrap in a slightly damp tea towel and let it rest for 8 hours.
I love to cook. I love sharing good food with friends and family. I love getting together and cooking with other people. I love trying new things. I have never tried to totally specialize. I am not a specialized saucier, I am not just a baker, I don’t just do entrees.But then again, I guess no one tries to specialize, some people just excel better at some things than others. And some people just can’t cook at all. But it never hurts to try new things, right? It doesn’t mean that everything is going to come out right the first time every time but, hey it may be worth trying again.
I never learned to cook from my mom, which is where most people learn, from mom or grandma. My mom was a mediocre cook and not very daring. She could pickle perfectly, she could bake so-so, but she could cook a roast with a pressure cooker with gravy that was in it’s own food group. Her mom was a baker! Big time. My pop’s mom, was a good cook. Simple, but comfy and tasty. My pop, was a wiz with the grill. He could take a 7 bone chuck steak and make it melt like butter, cooked to perfection. He was also a mass production cook. He used to be part of the local volunteer fire department’s cooking committee, feeding all the men at every meeting. But it was after I left home that I really learned to cook. Bachelor friends were the one’s that perfected my craft.
As I said, my pop was a griller, so I once was under the impression that the grill was a man’s domain. Fire, meat, smoke, stabby, prongy, pokey things. Boy was I wrong. I got started outdoor cooking, and now you can’t stop me. Not only do I 
have a grill, I have a BBQ smoker & an outdoor propane deep fryer. The old man knows not to come near me once I get going. We cook indoors together all the time, but the outdoor world now belongs to me. Outdoor cooking really all started with tailgating at NASCAR races. I started practicing stuff at home so that I could wow the tailgate. It all snow balled from there and now I cook outdoors as much as indoors. I do need to master the art of open fire cooking with cast iron cookware. But, I have pretty much excelled at all other cooking venues so far. I’m no Julia Child or Mario Batali but I can hold my own. I know Mario uses a grill, and tailgates as well…not so sure that Julia ever went there though.
I have dubbed myself “The Queen Of Comfort Food”. So I guess in retrospect, I have specialized my cooking. I do not make pretty, fancy little morsels that leave you feeling hungry 20 minutes later. I love to fill all bellies! But I still want everything to taste GREAT! And that includes everything from breakfast to dessert. I now bake, grill, deep fry, pickle, stew, braise, roast, smoke, I am up for just about anything. Life isn’t interesting if you don’t get out there and try the water! You have to try new things to find out if you are good at it. Get out there. Try something new. Try a new recipe. Try a new type of cooking. Watch a cooking show. Get inspired! But, have fun!
As life goes on I still seem to learn new things all the time. I had no idea that there was such a thing as a Maryland pork shoulder dinner. I’ve heard of Maryland crab cakes before, but never specifically a Maryland pork shoulder dinner. I mean, being of Irish decent I have heard of New England boiled dinners, (corned beef and cabbage usually). I’ve had 2 different regional forms of clam chowder. I’ve been to New England clam bakes. I’ve had Pennsylvania Dutch shoo fly pie. Through traveling I have now had Low Country Boil and Great Lakes Boils. I’ve had salmon smoked on cedar planks. I’ve had jambalaya, gumbo, gator, and Cajun style deep fried turkey. But I have never partaken in any Maryland fare besides crab cakes.
So apparently you start with a smoked pork shoulder , about 1 1\2 to 2 lbs.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1\4 tsp. salt
1 1\2 c milk
1 Tbsp. flour
1 smoked pork shoulder butt
Grease a 10″-14″ cast iron Dutch oven (or a 9″ X 13″ glass dish) with 1 tsp. of the butter.
Place your cubed potatoes in the Dutch oven. In a separate bowl whisk the flour, salt and pepper
into the milk. Pour this mixture over your potatoes. Dot the top with the remaining butter.
Cut the pork into 1\4″ slices and place a single layer of meat over the potatoes.
Cover with Dutch oven lid (or foil if using glass),
and bake for 1\2 an hour.
Remove lid, and bake for an additional 45 mins. or until potatoes are tender.
I would love to hear of any other regional specific recipes, if anyone would like to share.
I love to cook new things and love doing regional and heritage specific recipes.
Please feel free to send some along!!!
On behalf of The Deep Fryer Depot, we would like to congratulate both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers for a great season and especially to the Packers for a great Superbowl win. It is quite an honor to make it all the way to the Superbowl. To win is a very great honor.
With football season over, many tailgaters start cleaning up their gear, to be stored away until next tailgating season. For those on the motor sport circuit, the tailgating season is just beginning. Right after Superbowl, every year, the race engines roar into life with renewed vigor. A new racing season is upon us. Time for the NASCAR and NHRA fans to dust off their tailgate gear and freshen up supplies.
Time to check over your tailgate grills, outdoor propane deep fryers, propane tanks, regulators and hoses.
Check your cast iron cookware. If stored properly it should not need a re-seasoning session. If you see some oxidation though, maybe it is time.
Check over the spices in your tailgate bin. If things are expired, you may want to get some fresh.
Open your canopies, chairs, tents, etc. You never know what critters may have gotten at your gear.
For all the football fans out there, cheer up! The season will be around again sooner than you think.
For race fans, it’s time to strap in and tighten those belts for another great season of racing.
Congrats again to the Packers!
It is common to find that only about 20 percent of the United States population deep fries food on a normal basis. This does not include the commercial end, nor the occasional french fries while having dinner out, or fried dough or funnel cakes at the fair. I’m talking about people that own a counter top deep fryer, or cast iron stove top deep fryer that deep fry foods on a normal basis. Even half the people that own turkey fryers only use their turkey fryer at Thanksgiving or other holidays. I would have to say that of that 20 percent, at least 15 percent are located in the more southern regions of our country. I tend to think that the northern folks boil, steam, and stew their foods more often than frying. I don’t know if that is because of colder climates and ancestral histories and traditions, but that is my take on the matter.
The other
80 percent of America, I’m thinking are more health conscious. The fear of high cholesterol has put a damper on the deep frying world. But here again, if you deep fry the foods properly, there should not be a lot of oil absorption. If your temperatures are right, you bring your temperatures back up between batches of food, and don’t over crowd the food, a proper moisture barrier will be made, keeping food moisture in and the oil out. Anything in moderation is ok as well. If you eat deep fried foods every day you probably aren’t worrying about your cholesterol anyway.
Having a deep fryer of your own can be fun and add to your menu options though. You don’t need a large outdoor propane deep fryer, but having one of those to tailgate with or just to add to your outdoor cooking equipment is a nice option. An outdoor turkey fryer will not only deep fry, you can steam, boil, stew and simmer with them too. They are a great addition to any tailgater’s gear or for the back yard entertainer. Make chili outdoors for your big Superbowl party. Have a Low Country Boil at the end of the summer. Have the gang over for steamed lobster, corn, and clams on the 4th of July. If you have a turkey fryer, utilize it!
The point is, for those of us that choose to deep fry, we love it, and do it to add flavor and excitement to our lives. I don’t deep fry every day, but I like having the option of changing up my menu once in a while. I love to cook, and love to feed people. It makes me happy, and the people I feed usually go away happy too.
I love my old cast iron cookware. I use it all the time.I have a 100 year old Griswold skillet that I use all the time. It is just as good today, as the day that I found it in a thrift store in Seattle, Wa. I have now added more skillets, a Dutch oven, assorted griddles, a cast iron wok. I love the stuff. Cast iron was one of the greatest inventions that man kind ever came up with.
I do love the new school technology that I have around the house. Some of you might not consider some of this stuff new school, but compared to some of the old time cookware and equipment that I have in my kitchen, it is definitely new technology.
Getting an indoor counter top deep fryer was quite a time saver. Having a unit that has a heat gauge and a heat regulator are great. I used to deep fry everything on the stove top. I know that you can’t walk away from a counter top deep fryer either, but you don’t have to stand right on top of it, like a stove top deep fryer. 
My food processor is a God-send to someone like me. I have been working with my hands all of my life. Coming home after working all day and cutting and chopping has wreaked havoc on my carpal tunnel syndrome. I have a hand mixer…I know…old school, but for someone that used to do everything by hand…this stuff is great.
I now have an immersion blender. What fun that little kitchen gadget is! No more pouring stuff into my standard blender. Then pouring it back.
My next big thing will be a counter top mixer. First I need to move so that I have a counter big enough for a counter mixer.
As I have stated before, using a properly cared for and properly seasoned piece of cast iron cookware, it can last for generations. I have a deep, cast iron skillet with a lid that must be around 100 years old. I use it all the time. It has moved with me countless times and I wouldn’t give it up for anything. It is priceless to me. Don’t get me wrong. I have tried and had other non-stick cookware in my house from time to time. I don’t care how well you care for them, they do get scratched and pitted over time. Then they become throw away pans. There is no chance to re-coat them with non-stick. Unlike cast iron that can be re-seasoned anytime.
My mother had a cast iron Dutch oven that she used and abused. Not for cooking mind you, she used it as a humidifier in the winter time. We had a wood burning stove that she kept the Dutch oven on top, filled with water, all winter long. When warmer weather came, the Dutch oven was stored, haphazardly, and over the years, it oxidized, became what looked like a worthless piece of junk. I inherited this Dutch oven when my Mom moved away. (She was going to throw it out.) I have salvaged the cast iron pot and restored it to it’s proper order. I now use it to cook roasts and stews with, and for stove top deep frying.
Her parents had also had a summer place that the mice had the run of the place most of the year. Her parents used to keep things in cabinets and just washed them properly at the beginning of every season. My Mom got to the point though 
where at the end of every season, everything got placed in big plastic garbage bags before they were put into the cabinets. It is all washed again when it comes out of the bags anyway so I don’t really see the point. 
Some things, if not used, were just kept in the bags for many a year. This is how I stumbled across one of my now, cast iron skillets. I was the first to the cabin that year and had the pleasure of sweeping up the mice poop and clearing the cob webs. I started taking things out from under the cabinet and stumbled across a rusted, nasty looking cast iron skillet. I was horrified! I never thought that I would be able to save it. But with careful scrubbing, and a proper re-seasoning, I was able to salvage the pan. I removed it from the cabin and brought it home. It gets love on a weekly basis now.
I must say that I am still actually quite surprised at my mother’s treatment of this black gold. Her family came Pennsylvania. A well know cast iron foundry region. She also came from an upbringing of parents that were in the Great Depression. They used to save and re-use everything. No doubt why they still had a cast iron skillet. Besides the fact that they started out with their summer place that was quite remote, and they lived in tents, in the woods, cooking over campfires. Ergo, the cast iron cookware. Over the years, as the cabin built up around them, they brought old things from home, and bought other peoples old items at yard sales, to furnish and stock the cabin for summer living. I have been known myself to take older items there that still work, but maybe not as good. I had a slow cooker that was getting tired and I bought myself a new one. The old one still worked, just slower. Seeing as we did not have one at the cabin, it now has another home. It only gets used once or twice a year, so the old girl can keep up.
Those are my cast iron horror stories. Not that horrific, but scary just the same. I care for my cast iron cookware, and have taught my boys to care and respect the black gold as well. The Boy Scouts have also taught them the respect of cast iron. One of their leaders was very learned in cast iron care and cooking, and taught my boys well. I don’t have much to pass on to my kids when the time comes, but I hope that they will treasure the black gold that I have been caring for, for them.