My Cast Iron Skillet

 
Cast iron skillet

This is my skillet. Sure, I have lots of others pots - small saute pans, sauciers, stock pots, paella pans, a beloved Dutch oven, griddles, you name it. But this big cast iron skillet is the absolute workhorse in my kitchen. I've had it for at least 20 years, and I'd say it has been the central figure in thousands of meals.

This 12-inch skillet has pride of place in my kitchen. All of the other pots gets hung up, but this one lives on my stove, ready to leap into action when I am. I'm a big believer in mise-en-place, but there are also plenty of meals where the first thing I do is heat up the skillet, the second thing I do is break down some vegetables, and the third thing is figure out what the heck I'm making.

My cast iron skillet is versatile. It bakes pancakes or cornbread, sears tofu, makes incomparable home-fries, simmers refried beans, fries eggs or fritters, marries pasta to condiment, caramelizes onions, and a hundred other tasks.

Sure, my skillet has its flaws. Cast iron is heavy, for one thing. You can't toss vegetables in it, they have to be flipped with a spatula. And it has to be mostly scraped, then lightly washed with little or no soap and re-heated to dry. It loves to have a little hot-oil massage after a long day. (Me too.)

It doesn't really heat that evenly - kind of a rumor with cast iron, the truth is there are definite hot spots. I don't use it for tomato sauces or anything really acidic because supposedly they will darken - and it doesn't really feel like the right pan for that anyhow.

To some folks, it might not look purty enough. Uninitiated city slickers might think I'm going to fry them up some opossum. (And I will, as soon as someone invents soypossum.)

But in spite of the idiosyncracies, I love my skillet. It is every bit as non-stick as a coated pan, but without any unpleasant chemicals. You can use normal metal utensils in it, which makes me happy. I like silicone tools for some things, but not for turning food - the edges aren't thin enough to get underneath without mauling the product.

It gets really freaking hot, and holds heat for a long time. It doesn't cool down when I put food in it. It has a nice big surface that lets me get a seriously browned surface on a lot of food at once. (In case you missed the news: browned = flavor.)

Cast iron is seriously indestructible. There are no rivets or welds or coatings to fail. In the absolute worst case, every few years if something gets severely burned on, I might have to scrape it hard, use a little Kosher salt as an abrasive, and re-season it in the oven. Then it is good as new. I'll be able to pass this skillet on to one of my children, and hope they get as much pleasure in cooking with it as I do.

Most importantly, my skillet and I understand each other. I know without even thinking about it when my skillet is preheated, when it is crowded, whether a desired crust is developing or unwanted burning is incipient. That level of comfort and confidence is priceless to me. Whatever I make in that pan, I feel it has a leg up on being delicious.

So what about you? Do you have a favorite pot, knife or other utensil that feels like an extension of your body? That you really miss when you cook in another kitchen? That is your go-to guy when the going gets rough? Talk to me.

Good Stuff from Bourbon Barrel Foods

I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. In the 1970s. Not gonna lie to you. At that time it was pretty much a gastronomic wasteland, except for the not inconsiderable charms of Waffle House. Scattered, smothered and covered.. but I digress.

Bourbon has always been one of Kentucky's greatest exports. Even in the dark days, there was Maker's Mark and a handful of others making quality whiskey. Now the big houses like Jim Beam have many single-barrel upmarket products, and smaller producers such as Bulleit are making superb bourbons.

So it is only fitting that Bourbon Barrel Foods is using ... wait for it ... bourbon barrels ... to age some absolutely beautiful, artisanal foods. They graciously sent me three samples recently, and I've enjoyed them all.

Fine soy sauce is a non-trivial undertaking, and frankly I was a little skeptical. I needn't have been. This one has a rich, complex flavor without any chemical or caramel-flavor notes.

The bourbon-smoked paprika tastes as good to me as any from Spain. It isn't too spicy, and the smokiness level is just right to enhance an adult mac & cheese or this panko-crusted egg.

And possibly my favorite, if forced to choose: the bourbon-vanilla sorghum. Sorghum is a grass that is used mainly as animal fodder in America, though in other parts of the world it is an important cereal for people. When processed into a syrup, it has an intense flavor somewhat comparable to molasses. It might be an acquired taste for some, but I served it with pancakes for a group of 4 adults and 3 kids, and everyone enjoyed it. I think it would also be amazing with cornbread.

So there you have it. Some great products from my homeboys... makes me proud!

Make Sparkling Water or Soda at Home with Soda-Club - Save Money and Help The Environment

I'm completely addicted to sparkling water, and so is my whole family. We go through quarts of the bubbly stuff every day, and believe me it was getting expensive! Even when we stepped down from imported to store brands, we were easily spending $30 per month, not to mention lugging it home from the grocery store.

So last summer I learned about Soda-Club, and we had to give it a try. Bottom line: I've never been happier with a product I've bought for the house. Check out the video above - the machine is incredibly easy to use. You just fill up one of the included, reusable quart bottles with water, screw it into the machine, and depress a button a few times to release the CO2. In a few seconds you have a quart of delicious, refreshing sparkling water. By pumping more or less you can adjust the carbonation level to your own preference.

Ok, I can't help it, I'm just in love with this thing. It would make a terrific Mother's Day gift, by the way!

Here are 10 things I like about it:

1. Saving money: You'll spend less than $100 upfront, but then each canister of CO2 makes 110 quarts of water. If you were paying $2 each, you'll be ahead of the game in just a couple of months and never look back. I figure we save at least $25 each month.
2. Bottled water is an environmental disaster. Even if you use glass bottles, you have a huge amount of energy used to transport it from around the world to your grocery store and then home to your house.
3. Carting home lots of quarts of water from the grocery store is a pain in the neck! They are heavy and take up lots of room.
4. The heavy-duty plastic bottles are BPA free and you can reuse them for up to 3 years.
5. You'll never run out. You can make more sparkling water in just a few moments.
6. The customer service is terrific. When you need supplies, you just place an order on the website and put the old canister outside. A few days later, new ones magically appear. Tip: there is free shipping if you get two at a time.
7. Soda-Club also offers flavorings (like lemon essence), and soda packets if you want to make cola or lemon-lime etc. beverages at home. I'm not a big soft-drink drinker, but I do like to add a little bit of fruit juice sometimes. Pomegranate is especially delicious.
8. The machine is easy to use. Installing a new canister just takes a minute, and you only have to do it every few months (depending on your usage level of course), and making bottles of waters takes literally seconds.
9. The unit is compact and looks nice on your counter.
10. And it doesn't use any electricity at all! It is completely driven by the compressed gas.

Just get one. You can thank me later :)! The banner below will take you right to their site.