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axsis - Posted - 11/09/2009: 10:00:38
A few years ago I began buying "True American" cast iron cookware made by "Lodge"
What is your fav. recipe in cast iron ware and I actually am looking specifically for dutch oven recipies.
As always
Thanks
Mods plz move to "Foodie thread"
Cheers!
Don
Sam 2 - Posted - 11/09/2009: 10:02:56
Be sure and ask Ken (KE) on this one...my folks won a 3rd place in a dutch oven cooking contest with one of his recipies....I cant think of the name of it but it started with a P. He will know which one
_______________________________________________________
People will forget what you say and do, but they will never forget how you treated them.
Sam 2 - Posted - 11/09/2009: 10:20:57
They were delighted with the 3rd place....there was about 65 in the contest and it was the first time they entered.
It was not pot roast...it started with a p and was an Italian name I think
_______________________________________________________
People will forget what you say and do, but they will never forget how you treated them.
Sam 2 - Posted - 11/09/2009: 10:27:42
Found it !!!!
axsis.....try this one, its so good in a dutch oven
From KE
I might be tempted to make Posole for a competition.
Posole
2T veg oil
3 garlic cloves, minced (I'd at least double it)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cans diced green chiles
2 lbs pork tenderloins, cut into 1/2" cubes
2 T cumin
1/2 t ground ancho chile powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t fresh ground pepper
6 cups chicken broth
4 cans (15 oz) white hominy, drained
for garnish: sliced radished, green onions, tortilla chips
I'd use a 12" diameter deep dutch oven, very hot with briquets underneath (maybe 20-24). Heat oil and saute garlic and onion about 3 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Stir in chiles and cook 2 minutes more. Add pork and cook about 8 more minutes. Stir in cumin, ground ancho chiles, salt and pepper; cook a couple more minutes to let the meat pick up the flavor. Add broth and hominy. Heat to boiling and then remove about half the coals to simmer 30-45 minutes. Garnish with sliced radishes, green onions and tortilla chips.
A basic cornbread-jalapeno bread would be a nice accompaniment and easy bread recipe for a dutch oven. For a bread like that, I'd line the dutch oven with heavy aluminum foil. 24 charcoal briquets would be about right for a 12" oven, with 2/3 on top and 1/3 underneath.
Charcoal briquets are the easiest to control. Use a chimney to start the briquets. If you get a nice campfire going early, you can use coals from the fire to supplant the briquets as they die down, or to add more heat. An iron table is nice to cook on; it keeps you from stooping so much. If you don't have that, make a platform of bricks. To get an even heat, rotate the dutch oven 90 degrees clockwise every 10 minutes, and then rotate the lid 90 degrees counterclockwise (if you're using coals on top to bake or brown.) You use a combination of coals underneath and on top depending on the type of cooking. For frying, they are all underneath. For baking, more go on top than go underneath. The number of coals is used to regulate the heat.
_______________________________________________________
People will forget what you say and do, but they will never forget how you treated them.
KE - Posted - 11/09/2009: 11:07:05
Mmmm . . . posole. It's really good! Not italian, a mexican stew dating back to pre-Columbian times.
Louisiana Rose - Posted - 11/09/2009: 11:09:48
I love cast iron cookware, but I can't lift it
If you are gonna be out of date, do it right
flake - Posted - 11/09/2009: 12:12:33
Our mandolin player just bought my wife a Lodge skillet that's perfect for making a one-person-sized omelot, and she's just wild over it. I may have to beat him up. 
I remember once when I was about twelve, making a skillet full of chili in one of my mother's prized pieces of cast iron about one o'clock in the morning, then leaving it sitting dirty all night.
She woke me up at about seven a.m. and gave me a lesson in how to clean and season a piece of cast iron.
mike
You can't ride home on a bowl of goat. I've always said that.
BConk - Posted - 11/09/2009: 15:29:51
I keep my eyes peeled at yard sales and antique shops for old Wagner Ware and Griswold cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens etc.. If you take your time - you can find many of them cheaper than the new stuff and it's 300% better IMO. Those old skillets were machined inside to make a nice smooth surface that became non-stick with seasoning and use. My newer Lodge skillets are not even in the same league when it comes to the quality of the older ones. The inside surface is very rough in the Lodge pieces. I find the food has to be swimming in oil if I don't want it to stick. With the vintage stuff - a little dab'll do ya
The only thing I prefer the newer Lodge skillets for is skillet cornbread - I think the rough inside surface makes for a better crust on the bread than the smoother surface of my Griswolds 
"Defender of the Sacred Cod"
Capio pisces, ergo sum
Edited by - BConk on 11/09/2009 15:32:27
axsis - Posted - 11/10/2009: 04:35:12
Thanks everyone.......and Brian thank-you I will look for those other manufactors.
Cheers!
Don
dingo - Posted - 11/10/2009: 06:06:16
Dutch oven just makes your normal recipes better!! But boy I do have a hard time lifting mine.
Jill
What Happens in the Corn Field, Stays in the Corn Field.
clawfootcurt - Posted - 11/10/2009: 07:43:50
One of my favorite recipes is carmel apple cobbler. Just line a 12 inch dutch oven with foil, (that's right, no cleanup) and put two to three cans of apple pie filling with cinnamon in the oven. Cover it with the dry carmel cake mix. Then use 1/2 to 3/4 of a bottle of squeeze margarine and squeeze it all over the top of the dry cake mix. Cook it with 15 coals on top and 9 on the bottom, turning the oven and lid every 15 minutes, for 45 minutes to an hour. The cake mix will be cooked, and browned, the filling will be bubbling through. Serve with homemade vanilla ice cream if you can. Do this one for guests and you won't be disappointed, and you will hear your name associated with cooking wizardry forever more.
Your talk talks, and your walk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks!
vintagewells - Posted - 11/10/2009: 11:01:44
Nothing beats cast iron. BConk is absolutely correct about the finish on the older ones. smooth as silk. The overall grain size in the modern cast iron is a lot coarser than the old ware. They are also thinner and lighter as well.
One can just wipe them out with a paper towel. Nothing sticks to a well seasoned cast iron pan. As for corn sticks, muffins etc. Heat the pan in the oven, and take it out and butter it and fill it while it is smoking hot. then return to the oven to bake. doesn't stick and has a nice crunchy crust.....yum.
Lorna
Love me, love my banjos
Aluminum Rims rule!
rinemb - Posted - 11/10/2009: 11:51:47
While we are at it. What is your favorite way to clean the age-old abuse out of a good cast iron fry pan, and maintain that smooth surface?
Brad
You may be man enough to take my woman, but you'll never get my banjo.
May not the incidence of success, nor the pretense of retirement-
Lessen the want of enlightenment.
KE - Posted - 11/10/2009: 11:55:18
Brad, in what way is it abused? You don't want to do much, if any, cleaning of a 'good' cast iron fry pan.
Without knowing more, I'd say to scour with salt and aluminum foil. If it's been stripped down, re-season s if it were new.
rinemb - Posted - 11/10/2009: 14:18:59
Yea, I am talking about a complete strip-down. I have used easy-off with limited success and much fear. I have taken a wire wheel on a drill to them, I have used a commercial grill stone on them-but its hard to get the curves. Once I had a commercial stripper load up with soft beads and bead-blast it. For some folks info-if there is any ANY black film on the surface you are going to have sticking issues. IMHO.
Brad
You may be man enough to take my woman, but you'll never get my banjo.
May not the incidence of success, nor the pretense of retirement-
Lessen the want of enlightenment.
KE - Posted - 11/10/2009: 14:25:28
<recoiling in horror at the thought of easy-off and wire brushes>
Brad, I don't understand about the black film causing sticking. That black coating is the ultimate non-stick coating and it must never be removed unless you want to start from scratch.
I have my grandmothers chicken fryer. It has a glorious black coating on all surfaces earned through cooking chicken at least once a week for generations along with countless other meals. Woe unto anyone who attempts to clean my chicken fryer with anything but water and a soft cloth, and indeed there is no need for anything else.
rinemb - Posted - 11/10/2009: 14:38:22
I worked so hard then, under a long time misconception. I would take an old pan and usually felt compelled to start over with it-back to bare metal. Then reseason it the standard ways. Seems like my food is always sticking on the black stuff almost layered crud especially on the curved edge. Especially, when making a pineapple upside down cake. that carmelized brown sugar can play heck with sticking. Oh well, perhaps I need to sit back and follow this thread more carefully and learn.
Brad
You may be man enough to take my woman, but you'll never get my banjo.
May not the incidence of success, nor the pretense of retirement-
Lessen the want of enlightenment.
BConk - Posted - 11/10/2009: 14:54:26
KE I think what happens is the older cast iron pans fall into disuse and the black coating begins to flake off in places. Once that happens it's no longer a uniform non-stick surface. At that point the best bet is to strip it down with oven cleaner and start from scratch seasoning it.
Brad - I've heard that if you spray the skillet with EZ Off and then wrap it up tight in a plastic bag and leave it for a week then the black crud will melt away
One thing I can say NOT to do is to try burning the crud off in a fire. Like as not you'll warp or even crack the skillet.
"Defender of the Sacred Cod"
Capio pisces, ergo sum
KE - Posted - 11/10/2009: 15:04:41
Ah, I see. I've seen that happening on pieces at lea markets. And in that case, yes, start over from scratch. In that case, it's like seasoning a new piece.
The following is from the link I posted up toward the top:
'Inevitably there will come a time when you will need to strip and re-season a rusting or rancid Dutch oven. Relax! It's not that difficult. I've found the easiest way to strip an oven is to place it upside down on the bottom rack of a self cleaning oven with the lid placed on top of the legs. Set the oven to self clean for 2 hours and let it be. Allow the oven to cool completely before removing the Dutch oven.
If you don't have a self cleaning oven or would prefer not to heat up your house then you can use an outdoor propane stove to accomplish the same thing. I like to use my Cache Cooker for this because it has a large burner that generates a lot of heat. The secret to successfully stripping an oven over a propane burner is to keep moving the oven around so every surface of the oven has a chance to be diretly over the burner, this also helps prevent warping should the metal become to hot. Light the burner and adjust it to generate a medium blue flame. Place the Dutch oven upside down over the flame and let it slowly heat for 10 minutes or so. Once the oven is hot turn up the burner to it's hottest setting and let the oven heat until it smokes heavily for about 5 minutes then rotate the oven to burn a new surface. Make sure to burn both the inside and the outside of the oven. As the metal burns it will take on a shiny oily look and may look white in some areas which is fine, keep heating the oven until all surfaces inside and out have this look then remove the oven from heat and allow it to cool slowly.
Once the Dutch oven has been burned and allowed to cool the remaining detritus must be removed from the oven surfaces. This is done by scrubbing the oven with a piece of steel wool or a metal scouring pad under hot running water until all surfaces are clean. Once clean, towel dry the oven then allow it to air dry. The Dutch oven is now ready to re-season.
Recently I came across this interesting web page authored by Bill Dickerson entitled Rust Removal By Electrolysis where Bill has documented how to clean rusty metal and cast iron using electricity, water, and a little washing soda. He has included pictures of his setup so you can see how the process works. The setup takes a little time and a few items but the results look fantastic (he's cleaning car parts but rusty Dutch oven's or cast iron pans will clean just as well)."
brokenstrings - Posted - 11/11/2009: 22:55:44
I'm another cast-iron fan and I agree that the oldies you find in flea markets are better--but not that they're thicker. My antique is smoother but thinner.
When I was growing up, we used cast iron for everything, including spaghetti sauces, which theoretically should be a no-no. Here's a simple one for a cast-iron skillet.
LABSKAUS/LOBSCOUSE aka corned beef hash
Saute chopped onion in bacon grease. Ditto sliced raw potatoes. Add a little water if you need to to get the taters to cook through. Add canned corned beef. Serve with sliced pickled beets and sliced pickled cucumbers on the side. In Hamburg, where my mother grew up and where the full name of this recipe is Hamburger Labskaus Seemanns Art (seaman's style), they also top the hash with fried eggs or salt fish or something. I've done this over a campfire too.
Jessy
Frailaway, ladies, frailaway!
pandjlocke - Posted - 11/11/2009: 23:19:21
Jessy, when I make corned beef hash I just make some wells in the hash toward the end of cooking time and crack some eggs in the wells. Cover and let the eggs "poach" in the steam created. A little hot sauce and you're ready to go. Oh, and DEFINITELY serve pickled beets on the side. We traditionally make this out of leftover corned beef from St. Patrick's Day.
Beware of the urgent crowding out the important - C.E. Hummel
Paddy
rinemb - Posted - 11/12/2009: 07:30:14
Ok, I'm all in, on the corned beef hash thing. And, Jessy, you must be like my wife...few meals are complete without pickled beets and pickled cucumbers. Our pantry is full of our pickled beets and pickled cuc collection. You, see, my mother in law was born and raised near Hamburg, as well. So Marilyn maintains the desire for German food fare. One whole shelf is dedicated to German cookbooks. Though, my wife was raised in a Russian-German settlement area, so we we also eat a lot of liverwerst. Only a few few meat markets left around here making it, along with zitter. (trouble is, her mother would not teach her kids German) Oh, and I always cook them in my cast iron skillets. Whew, almost a hi-jack, eh!
Brad
You may be man enough to take my woman, but you'll never get my banjo.
May not the incidence of success, nor the pretense of retirement-
Lessen the want of enlightenment.
MrNatch3L - Posted - 11/12/2009: 08:31:52
Uzbek "plov" - a tasty lamb/rice/veg dish works pretty well in s dutch oven. I don't have a good recipe handy, but this one is pretty close:
http://foodquest.wordpress.com/2009.../uzbek-plov/
Only it calls for dried apricot, which at least in plovs I've had in Russia I never encountered. They toss in dried bayberries which, if you can get past the fact that they look like little black beetles infesting the finished product, add an interesting zesty zing of sourness. Also, folks around here throw in an entire unpeeled bulb if garlic which comes out rather like oven-roasted grarlic. You can make it with chicken or beef if there's no sheep meat handy. In fact, I think chicken plov might just be in the cards for tonight!
Edit: this recipe seems even better:
http://kisscook.blogspot.com/2009/0...af-plov.html
Edited by - MrNatch3L on 11/12/2009 08:35:08
howseth - Posted - 11/12/2009: 15:11:25
I like cast iron cookware: but sprained my wrist lifting one recently - interfered with my banjo playing.
Howard
brokenstrings - Posted - 11/12/2009: 22:07:48
Paddy, that's a great idea, making wells in the hash.
Brad, I grew up with North German food, but with a difference. For example, she'd make Koenigsberger Klops with ground beef instead of mixed ground meat (that was made in a black cast-iron skillet too, at least the sauce was) and she sniffed at the average German sauerkraut as "sabschig (soppy), three days old and turning brown." Her own was knirschig (crisp), blond and cooked in ginger ale.
Another frequent meal: Pfannkuchen, pancakes like crepes but larger, eggier and not quite as thin. The first few would have bacon baked right in and a salad on the side. The next few might have apple baked in and Zucker-und-Zimt (cinnamon sugar) strewn over, or they might just be spread with jam and rolled up. She'd have two skillets (yes, cast iron) going at the same time and somebody would have to keep jumping up from the table to check on the pancakes.
Myself, thanks to travels, I'm more international, and am just as apt to cook Basque or Russian, but I keep some of Mama's dishes in my repertoire. When Mama died, I dumped all the new cookware she'd bought and brought the cast-iron stuff back in from the garage. I also like copper and clay and enameled cast iron. Have several carbon steel knives too.
Jessy
Frailaway, ladies, frailaway!
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