Before we get started, can we just stop for a moment to notice the heart-shaped Canadian bacon on the grill in the photo? Mothers who cut their pork products into heart shapes know how to say they care…
Okay, now to this great cast iron griddle/grill. My sister gave it to me as a year ago (thanks, sis!), and she thoughtfully bought the pre-seasoned version (you can also buy a “raw” grill and season it yourself). I must admit the first time I used it, I burnt seventy-five percent of the pancake batch I was making because I couldn’t control the heat the way I wanted to. You see, never having used used cast iron, I wasn’t prepared for the crazy hot heat it generates and retains.
After I mastered the art of properly heating cast iron, though, I learned to love it and now wouldn’t trade it for anything. I use it for pancakes, French toast, grilled vegetables, grilled cheese, quesadillas, grilled haloumi (this is a Cypriot cheese that isn’t great raw, but is amazing grilled–seriously, you must find it and try it), and much, much more! It is a breeze to clean (no soap, just sort of scrape it down, rinse it off, heat it back up and coat it with oil), and I have learned to use its amazing heat retention to great benefit. The heat is much more even and more intense than its aluminum counterparts. The one and only drawback is that it weighs more than the Libery Bell, but it is one hundred percent pure cast iron, waddya want?
Entries (RSS)
July 7th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
[...] that was done, I fried up the blueberry-rich pancakes in butter on my great cast iron skillet. I only use real butter to fry pancakes. Nothing else creates that crispy brown rim! Other than [...]
July 31st, 2008 at 4:18 pm
[...] for the sandwiches in advance, so that when he came home, it was just a matter of firing up my trusty grill, and throwing the sandwich on it for a few minutes. It ended up being a quick and tasty meal, one [...]