Hesburn - Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: The Ultimate Under 30 Minutes Cast Iron Skillet Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Dessert! : The New Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook

Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: The Ultimate Cast Iron Skillet Recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner & dessert!

Contents

Copyright 2015 - Add any disclaimers and the like that you wish to put here.

By reading this document, you assume all risks associated with using the advice given below, with a full understanding that you, solely, are responsible for anything that may occur as a result of putting this information into action in any way, and regardless of your interpretation of the advice

As a working wife and a mother of two boys, you can bet your dollar that I have very little and sometimes even no time at all during the weekdays to prepare complex meals for my family. But once in a while, when I have just enough time, I take on an adventure in the kitchen.

That was before my husbands mother had gifted me with two cast iron skillets, one small and one large, last Christmas. She knew how I would love to cook more often for the family. She also knew me, me and my husband are both from a family with a stay-at-home mom who always cooked delicious meals for us, she knew just how guilty I felt at not being able to cook for my own as much as I wanted to. On very hectic days, we often resort to take-outs and fast food, not the kind of meal Id like to feed my children and husband.

I seasoned it very well for you, she said to me. And here are some simple recipes, she said, handing me a bunch of printed meals and added, Youll love those skillets in no time. I also included a how to on caring and cleaning for them.

I didnt know what the fuss was all about, I thought, a kitchen pan was a kitchen pan, right I found out that I was wrong when I tried out the recipes she gave me. It was a wonderful and very delicious experience, I might add, for me and the whole family. I became an instant fan of, as my mother-in-law put it, the trusty iron skillet.

We still have very hectic days where we resort to take-outs and fast food, but believe me, I have been cooking in the kitchen more and more often these days, from breakfast, weekend lunch, dinner, and desserts.

Its so easy and fun to cook with those wonderful skillets, I told my mother-in-law when they came over with my husbands father for a nice family dinner.

Nothing beats the feeling of watching the whole family sit around the dinner table and seeing them enjoy the food you prepared for them, she whispered over to me.

I glanced at my two little boys, munching away at their dinner while happily chatting with their grand dad. My husband caught me glancing and smiled. Indeed, nothing beats the feeling.

Ever since I became a fan, I found out that these trusty cast iron skillets are so versatile in the kitchen that no other cookware comes even close to its league. Its the perfect cookware for cooking great chicken thighs, crisp pork chops, baking frittatas and preparing yummy sweets and desserts.

What I love most about cast iron skillets is the fact that there is no need to transfer the recipe into a different pan; the skillet can be transferred from stovetop directly into oven. Plus cleaning is a breeze afterwards.

But like many household kitchen items, there are the basics on how to care and clean for them. AS my mother in-law put it, When you love your skillet, and take care of it, it will love you back and take care of all your cooking needs.

So here are a few tips that I have learned from her on just how to care for and to love your own cast iron skillet.

When my mother-in-law gave me my skillets, she told me she had seasoned it. I asked her later what she meant by it. She told me that a well-seasoned skillet ensures that the pan will have that non-stick property. It turns out, the more you use the skillet, the more seasoned it becomes. But when you just bought a new pan, you can pre-season it by placing it and heating it up on the stove top, like my mother-in-law did before she gave me the skillets I use now. When the pan was smoking hot, she rubbed a little vegetable oil all around the whole surface and then she let it cool. I repeated it a few times, she said, and its good to go. That is how my own mom did it.

My mothers second advice is to always make it a point to thoroughly clean the pan after each use. Wash the skillet with warm water. You can clean it with soap and scrub out any gunk or debris from the bottom. But wouldnt it take away the seasoned effect on the pan, I asked. She said yes, that Is why, she told me that whenever I have to clean my skillet with soap and something abrasive, then I have to re-season it.

After having thoroughly cleaned the skillet, all you will need to do, she said, is to place the pan in the burner and set the stove to high heat to dry out the water. Then you can add half a teaspoon of vegetable oil in it and rub it around the surface using a paper towel. Keep it heating until it smokes and then rub with oil again.

To season the pan the natural way and keep the good non-stick property of the skillet my mother-in-law said to I just need to cook in it often. Cook a lot. The more you cook in it, the better seasoned it will be.

Water and iron doesnt go very well together. Never keep your pan standing wet because it can lead to your skillet rusting so be sure to dry them. Rub a few drops all over the pan and store, was mother-in-laws advice.

In a perfect world, wed always start with dessert! So why not here? Theres always room for these treats after every meal, especially in a family with a big sweet tooth like ours. A meal would not be complete without a serving of tasty and delicious dessert, and that is why I have a few recipes of tasty sweets that I could make just as fast as we can munch on them.

Apple Crisp (makes 2-3 servings)

Ingredients:

2 large baking apples, peeled and cored

3 tbsp. butter

1/4 cup rolled oats, quick-cooking

1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly-packed

Ground cinnamon

Direction:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cut apples into thick slices.
3. Melt butter in a 10 inches skillet in either your stovetop or oven. Arrange the apples on top of the melted butter. Sprinkle first with rolled oats, then the brown sugar, and lastly, the cinnamon.
4. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until the slices of apple are tender when poked with knife. Serve warm.

Sugar-Free Fried Apples (makes 4-6 servings)

Fried apples in gooey caramel sauce without the sugar. This scrumptious sweet is a healthy treat for everyone.

Ingredients:

7 pieces of apples

Butter

Cinnamon

Pumpkin pie seasoning mix and any spice you want to include

Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Directions:

1. Peel and cut the apples. You can cut them into cubes if you want.
2. Heat your iron skillet on high.
3. Place your apples. Top with butter. Do not mix them yet. Crisp the bottom of the apples for a bit. Then, flip or stir the apples and to crisp and brown the flipped parts.
4. Flip or stir again. Turn the heat down to medium low. Wait for the mix to caramelize.
5. Add the cinnamon, pumpkin spice, or any spice you want to include in the mix. But what I do is I add the cinnamon and the pumpkin spice a few times while the apples cook after I flip or stir them.
6. Keep on flipping or stirring every 5 minutes or so until the sauce thickens to a caramel consistency and the apples are soft.
7. Drizzle a little vanilla extract or put a drop of vanilla bean paste.
8. Allow to cool for a bit and serve.