Not Your Mother's Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook

My engineer husband jokes my cast iron cookware collection is “approaching the density of dark matter.” But one can never have enough CI. Especially when it’s required for professional purposes. These pans have been put to rigorous use in the development, testing, and photography of recipes for my new cookbook. Finally my editor has given me the green light to reveal publicly that it’s called Not Your Mother’s Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook and it will be out in the fall!

Look, it’s already available for preorder on Amazon!

Carrara and Lardo

Carrara is coveted by cooks. Kitchen tools made of Carrara are as functional as they are beautiful. My custom Carrara pastry board is one of my prized possessions. So, during the planning of our 2014 Italy trip when I realized that the road from Tuscany to Liguria passed through Carrara, I knew we would be making a pit stop. I had to see the source of the white marble. There wouldn’t be time for a guided quarry visit, but we could fit a car tour into our schedule.

The loop we drove was dotted with shops selling all manner of marble souvenirs to busloads of tourists, but it seemed mostly like a working area. All around us enormous tractor-trailer-size blocks of marble were being noisily extracted from the mountain and trucked down to the workshops in town. There were several earth-shaking blasts from the mines in the distance, each explosion punctuated by the clatter of falling rocks. We quickly learned that it was best to stay out of the way of the earth-moving machinery on the narrow mountain road. Perhaps the people on the buses knew something we didn’t—it seemed like we were the only tourists brave (or stupid) enough to dare to drive our rental car in the midst of all of the heavy equipment.

The shops offered everything from chachkies to two-story-tall statues of Jesus. We saw Carrara vases and bowls, platters and pedestals. Shelves of white marble rolling pins and meat pounders, cheese knives and wine corks. There were mortars of every size and shape. Unfortunately the one I wanted for making pesto was too heavy to put into my suitcase. A small serving board made me part with my money. And every shop had these curious marble boxes…

In a tiny little hamlet called Colonnata in the marble mountains above Carrara, they make lardo. The guidebook mentioned that it was the best lardo in the world. We figured that if we had come this far, we might as well drive all the way up to Colonnata to see what all the fuss was about.

We ventured into the first deli we came upon, unsure of how to order.

The shopkeeper seemed to understand despite our hesitation and the language barrier. She pushed a couple of samples across the counter.

The paper-thin slices of silky pork fat were indulgently melt-in-your-mouth delicious, and we agreed to her offer of lardo and tomato sandwiches for lunch.

Moments later we were served this feast.

It turns out that the marble boxes or basins, known as concas in Italian, are used for curing the lardo. Concas can be small like the size of a box of tissues or large like a bed of a pickup. Pork fatback is packed into the concas along with coarse salt and herbs and spices and left to cure for six months.

The lardo is only made during the cooler months of the year. Lardo di Colonnata is an IGP product and the process is strictly regulated.

Upon returning home from Italy, I couldn’t stop thinking about the concas full of lardo and I became determined to recreate the flavor we experienced in Colonnata. I researched the ingredients and process extensively, bribing an Italian friend to translate what seemed to be the most informational video about the process in exchange for homemade gelato and subjecting my charcutier brother to an endless barrage of questions. Eventually I came up with a subtly flavored formula I’m quite proud of.

In Colonnata, fatback is cured with abundant salt in what is known as the “salt box method”. The use of preservatives such as sodium nitrate is not permitted. The salt box method requires fatback of a consistent thickness and skill judging doneness.

But the equilibrium method of curing ensures more consistent results, especially for the home cook. The equilibrium method also allows for the use of cure #2, which results in whiter lardo with a slightly more cured flavor and longer shelf life.

My brother and I suspect that the six-month cure used in Colonnata probably has more to do with the flavoring than the salting. The long curing time probably allows the herbs and spices to marry and mellow. We suspect that they do not cure during the summer months because of the heat and the seasonality of hog production.

For lovely, sweet lardo, use the best fresh pork fatback you can source. It’s not worth making with commodity pork. You’ll need an accurate gram scale for this recipe.

Lardo in the Style of Colonnata
Printable Recipe

5% kosher salt
0.25% cure #2, optional
1% black pepper
0.4% minced garlic
0.2% rosemary needles
0.03% cinnamon
0.03% cloves
0.03% ground star anise
100% skinned fatback

Blend together the salt, cure #2, if desired, and flavorings. Rub the salt mixture all over the fatback. Only a portion of the salt mixture will adhere. Transfer to a vacuum sealer bag, spreading the loose salt mixture as evenly as possible over the fatback, and vacuum seal. Refrigerate, top with a weight if a uniform shape is desired, and let cure for 3 weeks (or longer if it’s convenient—lardo can be left in the bag with the cure for weeks or months without compromise or change). Rinse the lardo, pat dry with paper towels, and dry on a rack in the refrigerator overnight.

For use, slice the lardo as needed and keep vacuum sealed in a clean vacuum sealer bag in the refrigerator. Lardo stored in this manner will keep for many months. Light can cause lardo to turn yellow and rancid, but that shouldn’t be an issue since it’s dark in the refrigerator when the door’s shut. Cut the lardo into paper-thin slices and serve on slabs of rustic bread or as a part of a salumi platter. Wrap slices around asparagus spears, shrimp, or sea scallops for the grill. Drape slices over pizza fresh out of the oven. Dice small and use instead of pancetta or bacon in tomato-based pasta sauces and ragus. Render and use for fried potatoes. If you have homemade lardo in your refrigerator, doubtless you’ll think of a myriad of ways to use it.

Stargazer Cast Iron

Have you noticed my growing interest in cast iron pans? Used to be, I'd only recommend clad cookware to my readers and students because it is possible to deglaze with acidic ingredients, because of ease of care and cleaning, and because mass-marketed cast iron is so heavy and hard on the wrists. But a whole new crop of makers, including Borough Furnace, Field, Finex (remember the factory tour?), Lucky Decade, Smithey, Solidteknics, and Stargazer, is convincing me to embrace their modern versions of the traditional cookware.

Lately I’ve been trying out the Stargazer skillet.

This is what it looks like after a number of uses.

My Stargazer arrived earlier than expected. I didn’t have anything special in the house to cook, but it is one sexy skillet and I couldn’t wait to use it. Just frying up this humble meal in it was a pleasure.

The cooking surface is silky smooth and the grilled ham and cheese sandwiches made a satisfying zipping sound sliding around on it. It seems like this pan retains heat nicely and yet is more responsive to temperature changes than any of the other modern CI I own. Also, I was tickled to find that the handle makes a great spoon rest. I inquired if that was by design, and Peter Huntley, Stargazer’s creator, replied, “I'd love to take credit for the built-in spoon rest, but it's just a coincidence that a comfortable curve for the hand is also a nice spot for a spoon. Who knew?” What a happy coincidence!

Then came the sear and sauté action in the Stargazer.

It is so slick. Even my hubby, who cares not about cookware, commented on what a nice pan it is. BTW, this was accompanied by Truffled Mashed Potatoes (check out Seared to Perfection for the recipe).

The more I use this pan, the more I love it. I wish new CI pans such as this were available when I was writing Seared to Perfection. I might’ve developed recipes a little differently.

Thank you to Peter and Stargazer for providing this pan in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Dutch Babies for Lodge's 120th!

This month Lodge is celebrating its 120th anniversary, and since I’m a big fan, I’m joining the party. And I’m bringing Dutch babies!

When you think about it, 120 years of “Made in USA” is a big deal.

Lodge hasn’t merely survived where all of the other major cast iron cookware foundries have failed, it has managed to innovate and prosper, and perhaps what’s most exciting to CI aficionados like myself is that Lodge is currently undergoing a massive expansion. I, for one, cannot wait to see what they’ll come out with next and whether they’ll bring back some favorite pieces from their past. (Like the breakfast skillet and maybe the chile-shaped muffin pan. Hint, hint, Lodge.)

Too bad 120 candles won’t fit in a Dutch baby! Because these puffy pancakes are my absolute favorite thing to make in my Lodge cast iron pans. I especially like to use their cute little 6 ½” skillets to make individual babies. I mean, who doesn’t love having a baby of their very own?

There was only a second to snap this photo before the heat from the oven started melting my phone, but this is how properly puffed Dutch babies should look.

They’re enormous! For that unbelievable puff, use high heat, preheat the cast iron skillets with the butter until the butter is nutty and brown, add the batter directly into the hot pans, and bake until the crust is set and very dark and caramelized. Go darker than you might think—they’ll taste amazing and they won’t fall when they come out of the oven.

I’ve made Dutch babies in other vessels before, and they’re not the same. A Dutch baby made in a stainless pan or a ceramic baking dish lacks the deeply caramelized crust and deflates as soon as you take it out of the oven. You’ve just got to have Lodge cast iron for Dutch baby perfection!

Happy 120th anniversary, Lodge!

Individual Dutch Babies
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
¾ cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Divide the butter among 2 6 ½” cast iron skillets and bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until browned. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture in thirds, whisking after each addition until smooth. If you add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once, you will inevitably wind up with a lumpy batter. As soon as the butter is brown, divide the batter among the hot skillets and bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Serve immediately.

Serves 2. For breakfast, lunch, or brinner, these babies are delicious served with nothing but a spoonful of preserves or a drizzle of maple syrup or honey. Take them from simple to spectacular with a topping of seasonal fruit and lightly sweetened vanilla whipped cream. Strawberries and cream is always a hit at my house.

Sometimes I serve the babies right in the pans, sometimes I slide them out onto plates.

The cast iron keeps them warm longer, but of course it melts toppings like whipped cream faster too. For a more substantial crust that is even more resistant to falling, substitute 2 tablespoons of cornstarch for 2 tablespoons of the flour. If you treated yourself to a Lodge 120th Edition 8” skillet, you can use it to make a single large Dutch baby. It will take 7 to 9 minutes to brown the butter and 24 to 27 minutes to bake the 8” baby.

Victoria Versus Lodge Cast Iron

Have you ever heard of Victoria cast iron cookware?

I got my hands on a few pieces, and at first glance I was impressed by the quality.

I’ve been putting the Victoria 6 ½” egg skillet through its paces. Here’s how it stacks up against the Lodge 6 ½” skillet.

As many of us know, the Lodge is pre-seasoned with soy-based vegetable oil. Victoria’s factory seasoning is kosher-certified single-source Colombian palm oil. The Lodge has a slightly smoother surface, but the Victoria skillet is significantly smoother than any Chinese CI I’ve seen. Both brands seem to have casting voids here and there. The Victoria is nearly a quarter of a pound heavier than the Lodge. The source of much of the extra weight? The gently curved handle of the Victoria is about an inch longer. I felt both handles were equally easy to grasp and both pans were equally easy to maneuver, even when hot, but the difference in the weight, shape, and size and overall ergonomics might be more noticeable with heavier large pans. The Victoria has enormous pour spouts comparing to the Lodge. In fact, they are so large that they don’t give a Dutch baby all the support it needs as it bakes and rises, causing it to split at the rim and resulting in a less than attractive but nevertheless delicious specimen. But, and this is a big but, the spouts work beautifully well for pouring. Not a drop of oil dribbles down the side of the pan! The same cannot be said about the Lodge. Both the Lodge and Victoria seem to brown food and release food equally well. Dutch babies bake and color evenly in both skillets. Sunny-side-up eggs slide out of both skillets with ease. Overall, I’m extremely pleased with how the Victoria skillet performs and I’d recommend it. You might like it especially if you find Lodge handles to be uncomfortable. One other point of interest about Victoria CI: according to a company representative, the factory recently installed the same machinery that Le Creuset uses, and they’re in the process of migrating all molds to the new machine. I cannot wait to see what they come up with next!

Thanks to Creative Home & Kitchen for providing the Victoria cookware samples.

Finex Factory Tour

Cast iron cookware aficionados, take note. An upstart called Finex has reinvented the cast iron skillet, and it seems they’ve set their sights directly on Lodge.

I’ve been wanting to get my hands on one of their pans for a while now, so I jumped at a recent opportunity to tour their Portland production facility.

I’m not gonna lie, I felt like a kid in a candy store walking into the workshop and seeing all of the skillets-to-be.

After ushering us into an office housing a sizable collection of vintage cast iron cookware, Finex founder Mike Whitehead began the tour with a talk about the origins of his company.

Like so many others, Mike’s parents threw out all of their cast iron pots and pans when Teflon came out. But an interest in what’s in our food and where it comes from fueled Mike’s desire to return to cast iron cookware, as did an appreciation for how people connect to it and value it as heirlooms. Modern cast iron pans didn’t live up to his expectations. Fortunately Mike had the background in manufacturing and design to create his ideal cast iron skillet and mount what would become an overwhelmingly successful Kickstarter campaign. He was determined that his pan be made in America and that it be a premium product. As Mike puts it, the name Finex reflects “a cross section of all things fine”. The 12-inch skillet features a smooth surface, six dripless pouring spouts, a quick cooling handle, and a thoroughly modern look. Though he has clearly updated every detail of the classic cast iron skillet, Mike still proclaims, “Griswold is our North Star.”

The first step of making a Finex skillet is sand casting. I really wanted to see how this is done, but unfortunately for me it happens in a different facility. The pans emerge from the molds with lots of extra material around the edges which must be removed.

They are heat treated to relieve stress in the metal from the casting process. The heat treatment causes them to rust.

Next, the pans are CNC machined. I don’t know what CNC machining is exactly and this is another manufacturing step done off-site, but the result is a mirror-smooth, nonstick cooking surface inside the pan.

In my opinion, this is what really sets the Finex skillet apart and why Lodge had better watch its back. The swirl pattern is removed, but I missed the explanation of how that’s done.

(Apparently, being surrounded by so many toys made me too giddy to retain all of the information.) The pans go for a ride in a rock tumbler to further smooth out any rough edges.

The “rocks” are made of ceramic and start off angular but look more and more like river stones with use.

A thin layer of flax oil is applied by hand and baked on to season the pans. I thought it was interesting that they use a couple of regular Blodgett ovens for seasoning the pans. By my count, they can season a maximum of 12 or 16 pans at a time. Putting together the handle (which looks to me to be inspired by vintage waffle irons) requires a labor-intensive, multi-step process.

The springs start out dull and are polished.

Ooh, shiny!

The brass caps are polished as well.

There’s some drilling.

There’s some assembly.

And finally, it's done.

It truly is an artisan product—so much of the work is done with passion and love by hand.

After seeing and handling the pans, I had no doubt that nothing would stick, not even a fried egg. I did, however, question if the pouring spouts were truly dripless, which got me the following demonstration.

Not one drop of water ran down the side of the pan. I’d like to see if oil and sauce pour as cleanly.

By the way, did you notice that pouring demo was done with a smaller pan? That’s a 3-D printed prototype of the 8-inch skillet that’s to be the second product in the Finex line. The Kickstarter campaign for the baby pan surpassed its goal within days of opening. A lid for the 12-inch pan is currently in development as well.

I was certainly impressed by what I saw at Finex. Even the warranty was impressive.

Like I said, Lodge better watch out! But the proof is in the cooking. Hopefully I’ll be able to give their skillet a test drive soon and judge how it actually performs in the kitchen. I will say I wish I had one of these to play with when I was writing Seared to Perfection.

Thank you to Mike, Shauna, and the rest of the Finex crew for the fantastic tour and the delicious cornbread!

Uzbek Lamb Kebabs and Marinades Updates

This is Uzbek lamb kebab. Those of us from Uzbekistan know it as Shashlik and consider it to be a great delicacy. It’s a must for every special occasion and gathering of family and friends. My parents recently came to visit, and together we made a great big batch to share with you.

Traditionally, Shashlik is made of lamb and includes chunks of kurdyuk, or fat from the fat-tailed sheep, and it’s cooked on a long and narrow grill called a mangal. Skewers are placed right across the rim of the mangal, so there is no grill grate.

The Shashlik shown here is served with the traditional accompaniments of tandyr-baked flatbread called lepyoshki or non and thinly sliced onions seasoned with white vinegar, sugar, and salt. It’s plated on a vintage Uzbek platter depicting the design of the country’s famous ikat textiles. My parents brought the platter and a matching teapot and set of pijalas with us when we moved from Uzbekistan to the U.S. back in 1980. (Sadly, the teapot was broken several years ago.)

My family’s Shashlik recipe is precious to me because we left Uzbekistan when I was just a baby, and it’s one of the few things I have from my native country. It also happens to be the very first marinade I was ever exposed to. So of course I had to include it in my newest book Marinades. I’d like to give you a peek inside the book, so here’s the recipe exactly as it appears on pages 254 and 255.

When making Shashlik, choose a piece of lamb with a generous fat cap. Thread the marinated pieces of lamb onto skewers with the fat side out so that it can render and brown on the grill. And trust me when I say that the fat is the best part!

If you like this marinade, there are 199 more where that came from!

Speaking of my cookbook, don’t forget that Father’s Day is coming up and Marinades would make the perfect gift for Dad. Just in time for Father’s Day, I’ll be doing a tasting and book signing at Vancouver’s Butcher Boys from 11AM to 2PM this Saturday, June 14. Then on Friday, June 27, from 11AM to 1PM I’ll be offering up more samples and signatures at the Mill Plain Chuck’s Produce. If you want the complete Marinades immersion (pun intended!) join me for an amazing hands-on cooking class at Revival Market in Houston on Sunday, July 20 at 4PM. We have an amazing fiesta-style Tex-Mex menu planned, and no doubt you’ll leave class a master of marination!

In other event news, the summer Clark College class schedule is out. I'll be teaching Main Dish Summer Salads and Homemade Dressings. Please join me in the kitchen! Current event listings can always be found in the Cooking Classes, Book Signings & Appearances sidebar on the right.

So have you gotten your copy of Marinades yet? If not, consider that critics are saying it’s the perfect book for when time for cooking is short and calling it “exceptionally useful”, “inventive”, “like a spice rack on steroids”, “the ‘bible’ on the sauce that will bring your BBQ to the next level”, “delicious”, “for those who love to infuse flavor into their products”, “intriguing”, and full “of fresh ideas for creative marinating now”. And if that's not enough to convince you, NPR includes Marinades in this list of summer cookbooks that'll “make the good life even better”. While I’m listing media mentions, here are some of my marinade tips, here are more of my tips along with information on the health benefits of using marinades, and here’s the interview of yours truly from baker and food blogger Kimm Moore.

I truly hope you enjoyed having this Marinades update and glimpse of my most treasured recipe in my book. I'd love nothing more than for you to give this Shashlik a try. If you do, drop me a line, or better yet, come out to one of my book events and tell me how it goes!

How to Cut a Soft-Boiled Egg in Half

Have you ever gone out for a bowl of ramen and wondered how they manage to cut the soft-boiled egg in half without making a mess of the yolk? The question has certainly crossed my mind, so I seized an opportunity to ask a waiter at a local izakaya. He explained that it’s done with either dental floss or fishing line. Brilliant! But the problem is I use mint-flavored floss and I don’t fish. Besides that, the line would have to be held under tension, and I have neither a third hand nor the desire to drive a nail into my counter to secure the end of it. There must be another solution!

Enter the cheese harp, a handy little tool used for cutting soft cheeses.



Turns out it’ll do a bang-up job on bries and blues and soft-boiled eggs too.



Not a drop of yolk is spilled to mar the white, which makes for a smart-looking presentation.



So there you have it, a cheese harp is the secret to making a perfectly bisected soft-boiled egg to top a bowl of ramen.

Get your own cheese harp here. They’re also available from time to time at HomeGoods.