Cast Iron Pans and Brussels Sprouts

I am often asked what my favorite tool in the kitchen is.

Well… it clearly depends on what I am doing.

And so today, I will begin to share my tools with you, one by one, as I find myself in the kitchen, grateful for a tool or wishing I had a better one.

A classic piece of inexpensive cookware that I can’t live without is the cast iron skillet. Lodge is the brand on my skillets and I have them in all sizes.  I even own a few enamel cast iron cookware pieces as well, which I also use daily.

I am making Roasted Brussels Sprouts - AGAIN! I can’t seem to get enough of them this time of year as I’ve been buying them by the case - each case containing 10 lbs. I especially love them reheated for breakfast with a poached egg.  What a great way to start the day…  Today, I’m roasting the Brussels sprouts in my cast iron skillet with shallots, balsamic vinegar and salt (I love salt crystals in this dish!).

I cook everything in my cast iron skillets – case in point, as I am writing, I have a pork shoulder in one such skillet roasting in the oven. First, I seared the shoulder in the skillet on the stovetop.  I then placed onions and apples around it and placed the whole skillet in the oven. Now that’s what I call a one-dish meal – and so FAST!

Some ‘Cast Iron Benefits’ are:

• I have never ruined a cast iron skillet from too much heat!
• I can reheat a dinner over our open fire without worrying about damaging the pan.
• I use these pans in my fireplace without a worry.
• I rarely use soap on my skillets as I mostly just wipe the pan out with a damp cloth and hot water.
• If it needs a scrub, I just use a metal scouring pad.

The down sides?

• They are heavy, but do make a good weapon AND I never had to actually use one.  On its own, raised in the air, a cast iron skillet does provide a good enough threat!

• I once broke the handle off a skillet when I dropped it on my slate floor (relieved that the result was only the broken handle, not a cracked tile as well!)

My Cast Iron

My skillets live on my stovetop ready for a quick meal or a long slow roast. The extras are stored hanging on hooks on the brick chimney next to my stovetop. A cast iron skillet is the standard gift I give to my young college bound friends or ones who are setting up a home for the first time.

Bottom Line:

No kitchen should be without a cast iron skillet in as many sizes as possible.

RECIPE:  Balsamic Brussels Sprouts