Wednesday, July 29, 2015

The New Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: 150 Fresh Ideas for America's Favorite Pan by Ellen Brown | Cookbook Review

The New Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: 150 Fresh Ideas for America's Favorite Pan

First impressions:
The author has serious cred:  founding food editor of USA Today in 1982, author of 40 cookbooks, current writer of a food column for Providence Journal.

Learned in prologue that cooking in a cast iron skillet is actually healthy for you!  Little bits of iron can leach into your food, and everyone needs a little iron in their diet.  Many people are anemic.  And it's good for pregnant ladies.

Food will stay warmer (and safer) longer when served in a cast iron skillet.

Learned in the introduction details on how to season a skillet for the first time, how to maintain the seasoning, and how to strip worn-down seasoning to start fresh.

About 4 pages on how to cook the perfect steak in a cast iron skillet.

Not every recipe pictured.  Bummer.

Clear instructions, not a lot of out-of-the-ordinary ingredients, margin notes on helpful tips and tricks for the various recipes, including how to store leftovers.

Chicken With Garlic and Lemon: 2 thumbs up! Yum!

Southern Cornbread:  Delicious, of course, but too unhealthy to make regularly.  (Contains all-purpose flour, sugar, AND can creamed corn.)

Oven-Roasted Ratatouille:  Delicious and colorful, but it calls for a slightly larger cast-iron skillet than I own, and it doesn't half neatly.

Pear and Gingerbread Upside-Down Cake:  Delicious!  And pretty.  Took to parents-in-law's house for Sunday dinner, and they gave it two thumbs up.

Peach and Blueberry Crumble:  Another delicious dessert!  And not difficult.  And it contains fruit, so I feel practically healthy eating it (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream).  Unfortunately, it contains too many ingredients that we don't keep on hand, like brown sugar, so I might not make it again.

*I checked out my copy of The New Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook from my local library.

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