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For those who are new to Cast Iron and would like to try their hand at it
give this story a look. Even if you don't have a lot of Ironware a big ol' iron skillet will serve you well.
With the nip of fall in the air, these should be comforting meals on these cool rainy days.
10 Knockout Cast-Iron Skillet Recipes
We tend to store our heirlooms behind glass in a china cabinet or in the shadows of a jewelry box, using them only on special occasions. Not so with cast iron, which belongs next to the tea kettle on the back of the stove. Smart cooks know the more they use cast iron—and the more love they feed it in the form of bacon fat—the better it functions. Cook with your skillet often enough and you’ll come to understand that cast iron has an old soul.
If the adage is true that every recipe tells a story, then every old cast-iron skillet is a well-seasoned memoir. Every time we light the stove and swirl fat into a hot iron pan to make cornbread, we turn another page. Listen to its dialogue: the business-like clank against the stove, the hard sizzle-sear of steak, the soothing dull scrape of a wooden spoon dragged through gravy. Pick up a 12-inch skillet; its encyclopedic heft demands two hands and your attention.
Cast-Iron Cowboy Steak
This is the best way to cook a thick, juicy bone-in steak restaurant-style without smoking up the house. The skillet surface area promotes a more assertive flavor and better sear than grill grates, yielding a steak with the proper steak house crust.
Ingredients
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (1 1/2- to 2-lb.) bone-in rib-eye or porterhouse steak (about 2 inches thick)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter
8 fresh herb sprigs (such as thyme, rosemary, and oregano)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
Preparation
1. Preheat grill to 400° to 450° (high) heat. Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet on grill, covered with grill lid, 15 minutes. Sprinkle salt and pepper generously over steak.
2. Add oil to skillet. (Oil should smoke.) Using tongs, place steak in skillet, and cook on grill, without grill lid, 10 minutes or until dark brown and crusty. Turn steak on fatty edge in skillet, holding upright with tongs, and cook 2 minutes. Place steak, uncooked side down, in skillet. Cook on grill, covered with grill lid, 8 to 10 minutes or to desired degree of doneness. (We recommend an internal temperature of 120° to 125° for medium-rare; temperature will rise as steak rests.)
3. Add butter, herbs, and garlic to side of skillet, and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until butter foams. Tilt skillet slightly, and spoon butter mixture over steak 20 times (being careful not to splatter). Transfer steak, herbs, and garlic to a platter; let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Slice against the grain.
See More: Cast Iron Skillet Recipes
Chicken-and-Wild Rice Skillet Casserole
This rustic one-pot meal, a company’s-coming riff on the old-school chicken-and-rice number, is held together by a tangy gravy flavored with country ham and mushrooms. Nutty wild rice helps sop up all the good chicken gravy.
Ingredients
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 (6-oz.) container uncooked wild rice
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped country ham or bacon
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 large carrot, finely chopped
8 ounces assorted fresh mushrooms, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons dry sherry or white wine
4 skinned and boned chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 lb.)
Garnishes: fresh flat-leaf parsley, sliced almonds
Preparation
1. Bring 1/2 tsp. kosher salt and 1 qt. water to a boil in a 3-qt. saucepan over high heat. Stir in rice, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk and next 2 ingredients. Increase heat to medium, and cook, whisking constantly, 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir in 1/4 tsp. each kosher salt and black pepper.
3. Cook ham in 1 Tbsp. hot oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, 6 minutes or until beginning to brown. Stir in onion and next 2 ingredients. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes or until onions are tender. Stir in garlic, and cook 1 minute. Add sherry, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute or until sherry is evaporated. Remove mixture from skillet.
4. Preheat oven to 375°. Sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper. Add remaining 1 Tbsp. oil to skillet. Cook chicken in hot oil over medium-high heat 4 minutes on each side or until brown. Remove skillet from heat; transfer chicken to a plate.
5. Drain rice. Stir together rice, ham mixture, and sauce in skillet. Place chicken on top of rice mixture.
6. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until mixture is bubbly and chicken is done. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
See More: Best Comfort Food Classics
Top-Shelf Chicken Under a Brick
The “top-shelf” in this recipe speaks to the crispy skin, superior flavor, and juiciness of the bird. It also refers to a novel new technique: cooking potatoes in the heavy cast-iron skillet that’s used as a weight on the chicken. The weight presses the chicken flat against the grill grates, cutting the cooking time in half. Plus you’ll be cooking your side dish at the same time.
Ingredients
1 pound small red or Yukon gold potatoes, halved
3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 (3- to 4-lb.) whole chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 fresh herb sprigs (such as thyme, rosemary, sage, or tarragon)
2 lemons, halved
Preparation
1. Bring potatoes, 1 tsp. salt, and water to cover to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 5 to 7 minutes or until potatoes are just tender. Drain.
2. Heat 1 side of grill to 300° to 350° (medium) heat; leave other side unlit. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Place chicken, breast side down, on a cutting board. Cut chicken, using kitchen shears, along both sides of backbone, separating backbone from chicken; discard backbone. Open chicken as you would a book. Turn chicken, breast side up, and press firmly against breastbone with the heel of your hand until bone cracks. Tuck wing tips under. Rub with 1 Tbsp. oil. Sprinkle chicken with black pepper and remaining 2 tsp. salt
3. Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet on lit side of grill 10 minutes. Add remaining 1 Tbsp. oil to hot skillet; place potatoes, cut side down, in skillet. Transfer skillet to unlit side of grill.
4. Place chicken, breast side down, over lit side of grill; top with herbs. Place cast-iron skillet with potatoes on chicken to flatten. Grill, covered with grill lid, 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is browned. Remove skillet. Transfer chicken to unlit side of grill. Place cast-iron skillet on chicken. Grill, covered with grill lid, 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest portion of breast registers 165°. Remove chicken from grill, and let stand 5 minutes. (For crisper skin, place chicken on lit side of grill, and grill, without grill lid, 5 minutes or until crisp.)
5. Meanwhile, place lemons, cut side down, on lit side of grill, and grill, covered with grill lid, about 5 minutes or until charred and softened. Serve chicken with potatoes and charred lemon.
See More: Quick-Fix Comforting Casseroles
Apple-Cinnamon Dutch Baby
Straight from the oven, this puffy, airy pancake will elicit major oohs and aahs from your crowd. Be sure to use low-fat or fat-free milk—the pancake will puff higher. Like a soufflé, it will begin to deflate as soon as it leaves the oven, though that won’t affect the flavor.
Ingredients
1 large Gala apple, peeled and sliced1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons butter, divided
2 large eggs
1/2 cup fat-free or low-fat milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 to 4 Tbsp. apple cider or orange juice
Garnish: powdered sugar
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 450°. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Toss together apple slices and sugar in a small bowl. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in skillet. Add apples, and sauté 3 to 5 minutes or until tender. Remove apples from skillet, and wipe skillet clean.
2. Whisk together eggs and milk in a medium bowl. Whisk in flour and next 3 ingredients. Melt remaining 2 Tbsp. butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Immediately pour egg mixture into hot skillet, and top with cooked apples.
3. Bake at 450° for about 20 minutes or until pancake is golden and puffed.
4. Meanwhile, stir together sour cream and brown sugar in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 45 seconds. Whisk until sugar dissolves. Stir in apple cider, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Serve with hot pancake.
give this story a look. Even if you don't have a lot of Ironware a big ol' iron skillet will serve you well.
With the nip of fall in the air, these should be comforting meals on these cool rainy days.
10 Knockout Cast-Iron Skillet Recipes
We tend to store our heirlooms behind glass in a china cabinet or in the shadows of a jewelry box, using them only on special occasions. Not so with cast iron, which belongs next to the tea kettle on the back of the stove. Smart cooks know the more they use cast iron—and the more love they feed it in the form of bacon fat—the better it functions. Cook with your skillet often enough and you’ll come to understand that cast iron has an old soul.
If the adage is true that every recipe tells a story, then every old cast-iron skillet is a well-seasoned memoir. Every time we light the stove and swirl fat into a hot iron pan to make cornbread, we turn another page. Listen to its dialogue: the business-like clank against the stove, the hard sizzle-sear of steak, the soothing dull scrape of a wooden spoon dragged through gravy. Pick up a 12-inch skillet; its encyclopedic heft demands two hands and your attention.
Cast-Iron Cowboy Steak
This is the best way to cook a thick, juicy bone-in steak restaurant-style without smoking up the house. The skillet surface area promotes a more assertive flavor and better sear than grill grates, yielding a steak with the proper steak house crust.
Ingredients
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (1 1/2- to 2-lb.) bone-in rib-eye or porterhouse steak (about 2 inches thick)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter
8 fresh herb sprigs (such as thyme, rosemary, and oregano)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
Preparation
1. Preheat grill to 400° to 450° (high) heat. Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet on grill, covered with grill lid, 15 minutes. Sprinkle salt and pepper generously over steak.
2. Add oil to skillet. (Oil should smoke.) Using tongs, place steak in skillet, and cook on grill, without grill lid, 10 minutes or until dark brown and crusty. Turn steak on fatty edge in skillet, holding upright with tongs, and cook 2 minutes. Place steak, uncooked side down, in skillet. Cook on grill, covered with grill lid, 8 to 10 minutes or to desired degree of doneness. (We recommend an internal temperature of 120° to 125° for medium-rare; temperature will rise as steak rests.)
3. Add butter, herbs, and garlic to side of skillet, and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until butter foams. Tilt skillet slightly, and spoon butter mixture over steak 20 times (being careful not to splatter). Transfer steak, herbs, and garlic to a platter; let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Slice against the grain.
See More: Cast Iron Skillet Recipes
Chicken-and-Wild Rice Skillet Casserole
This rustic one-pot meal, a company’s-coming riff on the old-school chicken-and-rice number, is held together by a tangy gravy flavored with country ham and mushrooms. Nutty wild rice helps sop up all the good chicken gravy.
Ingredients
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 (6-oz.) container uncooked wild rice
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped country ham or bacon
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 large carrot, finely chopped
8 ounces assorted fresh mushrooms, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons dry sherry or white wine
4 skinned and boned chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 lb.)
Garnishes: fresh flat-leaf parsley, sliced almonds
Preparation
1. Bring 1/2 tsp. kosher salt and 1 qt. water to a boil in a 3-qt. saucepan over high heat. Stir in rice, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk and next 2 ingredients. Increase heat to medium, and cook, whisking constantly, 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir in 1/4 tsp. each kosher salt and black pepper.
3. Cook ham in 1 Tbsp. hot oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, 6 minutes or until beginning to brown. Stir in onion and next 2 ingredients. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes or until onions are tender. Stir in garlic, and cook 1 minute. Add sherry, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute or until sherry is evaporated. Remove mixture from skillet.
4. Preheat oven to 375°. Sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper. Add remaining 1 Tbsp. oil to skillet. Cook chicken in hot oil over medium-high heat 4 minutes on each side or until brown. Remove skillet from heat; transfer chicken to a plate.
5. Drain rice. Stir together rice, ham mixture, and sauce in skillet. Place chicken on top of rice mixture.
6. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until mixture is bubbly and chicken is done. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
See More: Best Comfort Food Classics
Top-Shelf Chicken Under a Brick
The “top-shelf” in this recipe speaks to the crispy skin, superior flavor, and juiciness of the bird. It also refers to a novel new technique: cooking potatoes in the heavy cast-iron skillet that’s used as a weight on the chicken. The weight presses the chicken flat against the grill grates, cutting the cooking time in half. Plus you’ll be cooking your side dish at the same time.
Ingredients
1 pound small red or Yukon gold potatoes, halved
3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 (3- to 4-lb.) whole chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 fresh herb sprigs (such as thyme, rosemary, sage, or tarragon)
2 lemons, halved
Preparation
1. Bring potatoes, 1 tsp. salt, and water to cover to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 5 to 7 minutes or until potatoes are just tender. Drain.
2. Heat 1 side of grill to 300° to 350° (medium) heat; leave other side unlit. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Place chicken, breast side down, on a cutting board. Cut chicken, using kitchen shears, along both sides of backbone, separating backbone from chicken; discard backbone. Open chicken as you would a book. Turn chicken, breast side up, and press firmly against breastbone with the heel of your hand until bone cracks. Tuck wing tips under. Rub with 1 Tbsp. oil. Sprinkle chicken with black pepper and remaining 2 tsp. salt
3. Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet on lit side of grill 10 minutes. Add remaining 1 Tbsp. oil to hot skillet; place potatoes, cut side down, in skillet. Transfer skillet to unlit side of grill.
4. Place chicken, breast side down, over lit side of grill; top with herbs. Place cast-iron skillet with potatoes on chicken to flatten. Grill, covered with grill lid, 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is browned. Remove skillet. Transfer chicken to unlit side of grill. Place cast-iron skillet on chicken. Grill, covered with grill lid, 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest portion of breast registers 165°. Remove chicken from grill, and let stand 5 minutes. (For crisper skin, place chicken on lit side of grill, and grill, without grill lid, 5 minutes or until crisp.)
5. Meanwhile, place lemons, cut side down, on lit side of grill, and grill, covered with grill lid, about 5 minutes or until charred and softened. Serve chicken with potatoes and charred lemon.
See More: Quick-Fix Comforting Casseroles
Apple-Cinnamon Dutch Baby
Straight from the oven, this puffy, airy pancake will elicit major oohs and aahs from your crowd. Be sure to use low-fat or fat-free milk—the pancake will puff higher. Like a soufflé, it will begin to deflate as soon as it leaves the oven, though that won’t affect the flavor.
Ingredients
1 large Gala apple, peeled and sliced1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons butter, divided
2 large eggs
1/2 cup fat-free or low-fat milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 to 4 Tbsp. apple cider or orange juice
Garnish: powdered sugar
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 450°. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Toss together apple slices and sugar in a small bowl. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in skillet. Add apples, and sauté 3 to 5 minutes or until tender. Remove apples from skillet, and wipe skillet clean.
2. Whisk together eggs and milk in a medium bowl. Whisk in flour and next 3 ingredients. Melt remaining 2 Tbsp. butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Immediately pour egg mixture into hot skillet, and top with cooked apples.
3. Bake at 450° for about 20 minutes or until pancake is golden and puffed.
4. Meanwhile, stir together sour cream and brown sugar in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 45 seconds. Whisk until sugar dissolves. Stir in apple cider, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Serve with hot pancake.
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