I’m a total cast-iron skillet convert. Yes, me, the one who thought he’d use it once then leave it to pasture as one would a rinky-dink kitchen gadget. Me, the one who about a year ago wrote:
...cooks are always going on about the miracle of their cast iron, as if it was a particularly dim and stocky yet hard-working child of theirs.
and
For a utensil this rugged, seemingly smithed from a block of iron the size and sturdiness of Chuck Norris, then forged in the fires of hell or South Pittsburg, Tennessee, I expected chuckwagon simplistic care and handling. But its instructions read like a babysitter’s list of dos and don’ts. Don’t use soap. Dry it thoroughly always. Apply a light coat of oil before and after. Store in a cool, arid place. And for the love of all that is holy, do not violate all of the preceding rules at once by sticking it in your dishwasher. In other words, you never want to actually clean it, just gussy it up from time to time, like superficial Stradlater in Catcher in the Rye, spic and span outside, crumby inside.
But I’m now a cult member who anoints his skillet lovingly and on a regular basis with canola oil. I’m using it for everything: pancakes, cornbread, bacon and eggs. I feel I need to do an infomercial and establish an appropriate celebrity endorsement, except that Walter Matthau is dead.
I was extremely close to trying to make apple crisp in my skillet the other night, but it was the same dinner for which I had mac-and-cheese on the menu, and thinking of how they serve it at S’Mac, I tried it in the cast-iron and it worked beautifully. Bubbly, nicely browned edges.
Tonight, I picked up an extra thick shell steak on the way home and some fresh, whole mushrooms. I sautéed the mushrooms in butter in the skillet then threw in the meat, cooked it up a few minutes on each side, added some cheap merlot here and there while it was cooking. Holy cats that was a tasty dinner. You may have noticed I don’t eat meat a lot, which is true. But when I do, I want it done right, and absent a grill, a cast-iron skillet is a handy way to get steak done perfectly.