CAST IRON COOKWARE BEST FOR CORNBREAD

Nothing   tastes better with a meal than good corn bread

Delicious Cornbread!

and nothing bakes cornbread better than cast iron corn bread pans. You can bake your corn bread in a good ole cast iron skillet, cast iron muffin pan, or a cast iron corn stick pan or cornbread wedge pan. The cornbread stick pan or cornbread wedge pan will give you more tasty and crispy crust.

Lodge Cornbread Wedge Pan

CHAMPIONSHIP CORNBREAD (Recipe by Chef Bobby Flay)

Prep Time: 5 Minute(s)
Cook Time: 25 Minute(s)

1 package (8-1/2 oz.) corn muffin mix
1 can (11 oz.) Mexican-style corn, drained
1/2 cup Hellmann’s® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
1 egg, slightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Spray cast iron cornbread pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

2. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl until moistened.

3. Spread evenly into your cornbread pan.

4. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
   

   Lodge Logic Cornstick Cornbread Pan

TASTE THE CORNBREAD NOT THE COOKWARE WITH CAST IRON COOKWARE

Lodge Logic Straight Sided Muffin/Cornbread Pan

Cast Iron Cookware’s New Math: Pi = Round or Square

Pi = Fun

Pi, or π, is the mathematical constant equal to a circle’s circumference divided by its diameter.Thanks to Rome Industries and their excellent pie irons some new formulas are possible.

“PI R SQUARE” AND “PI ARE ROUND”. Before you blame Rome for bad math and bad grammar, let me get to the point. The point is that you can make equally delicious toasted sandwiches or fruit pies in round or square cast iron pie irons. Therefore Pies are Round or Square according to your preference.

WHEN PIES ARE SQUARE or WHEN PIES ARE ROUND

Rome Double Pie Maker

Round Pie Iron by Rome

Eat Pecans for Your Eyes. Use Cast Iron for the Your Palate

For Heart Health

In a study conducted by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), it was found that pecans are particularly rich in antioxidants. The National Eye Institute Age Related Eye Diseases Study reported that patients with macular degeneration who had adequate intakes of antioxidants were 29% less likely to experience disease progression than those with lower intake levels. The most serious of eye diseases, including cataracts and macular degeneration, are caused, in part, by free radicals. The antioxidants you get in nuts and other plant foods fight free radicals to help keep the eyes free of disease.

Heart Healthy Bonus from Pecans: Vitamin E found in pecans reduces the tendency of LDL cholesterol to oxidize and stick to the walls of your arteries. Pecan are also high in phytosterols, plant compounds that are similar to the active ingredients in cholesterol-lowering margarines, such as Benecol.  (Bottom Line’s Health Breakthroughs 2009)

Here’s a recipe from About.com Home Cooking using pecans.

Maple Pecan Scones Recipe

Scones/Biscuits

Scones are called biscuits in America, and these are flavored with pecans maple syrup and . Be sure to start with cold butter and do not overmix the dough. Get them into the oven as quickly as possible. You should be able to have these delicious scones on the table in under 30 minutes.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1-1/2 Tablespoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 2/3 cup maple syrup, plus additional for brushing
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with a cast iron drop biscuit pan or a cast iron muffin pan.  (Alternatively, grease and flour the pan.)

Lodge Logic Drop Biscuit Pan

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender, two butter knives, or use your fingers, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in pecans.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup and heavy cream until smooth.

Make a well in the flour mixture. Pour the cream mixture in the center. Stir briskly with a wooden spoon until mixture begins to come together into a dough. Do not overmix.

Drop dough into lightly greased muffin or biscuit molds.  Brush tops with maple syrup.

Bake scones 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned. Serve warm with butter.

Lodge Logic Straight Sided Muffin/Cornbread Pan

Yield: about 12 scones

Cast Iron Cookware on the Old Fashioned New

How about some quality family time cooking in your fireplace? Tap into your pioneer spirit  and have loads of fun with your family. Cooking over your fireplace will be a novelty and a treat for the kids.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Make your home a “waffle house“. “Batter up” and put a real treat on your family’s plates.

Rome 1405 Waffle Iron

Rome Cast Iron Waffle Maker

2. Go for a “dog ‘n brat” night“. They will put some sizzle into your family’s fun meal around the hearth.

3. Pop some corn over the coals and enjoy your favorite movie. Think of all the money you will save by not going to a concession stand at the cinema.

Rome Popcorn Popper

4. Do not forget dessert. “S’mores” are the best! Make three at a time with Rome’s S’more maker.

Rome S'more Maker

Cast iron cookware is the old fashioned new and it is really hot! You will enjoy the featured products made of cast iron and the accessories that compliment them. Rome Industries has made quality camping and outdoor products for many years. You will be pleased with your investment in quality and fun products.

Cast Iron Cookware and Roasting Potatoes

Cast Iron Cookware Shop offers a real Holiday Helping Hand for delicious sides that will delight your family and guests. Roasted New Potatoes with Blue Cheese Ranch Dressing and Green Onions (from Chef Bobby Flay) complement any holiday meal.

Roasted New Potatoes with Blue Cheese Ranch Dressing and Green Onions

Ingredients:

2 pounds new red or yellow potatoes, halved

Canola oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup Hellmann’s or Best Foods Real Mayonaise

2 cloves finely chopped fresh garlic

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 pound crumbled blue cheese

4 green onions

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Place potatoes in a casserole or roaster with the oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven until golden brown and tender, about 25 minutes

Transfer potatoes to a platter (you can actually continue preparation and even serve your potatoes from you enamel cast iron casserole or roaster.

Whisk together the buttermilk, mayonaise, mustard and garlic in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Fold in the blue cheese and green onions

Spoon the sauce over the potatoes and serve (serves 4 persons)

You family will love this dish, especially when prepared in cast iron cookware.

Lodge Red Enamel Casserole

Red Enameled Roaster

Visit the Happiest State in the USA

Consider yourself invited to visit the “Happiest State” in the USA. If you already live in Louisiana, may you contine to enjoy happiness. To refine the search even more, you are invited to visit, what I consider the Happiest Town in Louisiana, Natchitoches.

“Happiness” is difficult to define. A study by the University of Warwick in Britain and Hamilton College in the United States, done over several years and with 1.3 million people, has found that Louisiana is the happiest state in the union. Hawaii, Florida, Tennessee and Arizona round out the top five.

So, how did the study reach its conclusions?

• Maybe it’s LSU Tiger football or the New Orleans Saints
• Could it have to do with boiled crawfish and other seafood delicacies?
• Louisiana is a Sportsman’s Paradise of hunting and fishing
• Maybe it’s Friday lunch at Galatoire’s
• Perhaps its the Christmas Festival/Festival of Lights in Natchitoches.
• Maybe it’s bonfires on the levees, Jazz Fest or a beignets in the French Quarter
• Maybe it is related to the “joy of life” generally found among the people of Louisiana
• Could it have to do with cornbread cooked in cast iron corn bread pans? Works for me! This Blog has some cornbread recipes posted.
• Maybe it it has to do with the way Louisiana cooks!  Could it have something to do with the fact that cast iron cookware is big in Louisiana?

• 

  Lodge Cornbread Wedge Pan

It could be some of these factors plus a lot more that makes Louisiana’s “joie de vivre” a reality. It is a fun place to live, dine, visit and enjoy. The people of Louisiana really do know how to live a good life, and as they say in South Louisiana, “pass a good time“.

In case you are interested, here are the top ten states:

1. Louisiana

2. Hawaii

3. Florida

4.Tennessee

5. Arizona

6. Mississippi

7. Montana

8. South Carolina

9. Alabama

10. Maine

1. 

   Cornstick Pan

   

Lodge Cast Iron Cookware, Lodge cookware, Useful Information, cast iron cookware, cast iron cornbread cooker, cast iron cornbread pans, cornbread pans | Comment (0)

Get the Right Pan for the Job

When is comes to cooking, it is important to get the right pan for the job.

Cast iron cookware is a very old-fashioned manner of cooking. It has made a remarkable comeback over the last few years. There are reasons for this:

• even heating
• heat retention
• versatility
• durability
• non-stick, when properly seasoned

Enamel Roaster/GrillPan Lid

Cast iron cookware is made by pouring molten iron into molds to fashion the designed configurations for baking pans, skillets, dutch ovens, jambalaya pots and cornbread pans.  Cast iron cookware is not a thing of the past but the wave of the future to really make your cooking “pan” out as delicious and healthy. Make sure you get the right pan for the job.

Lodge 6 Quart Camping Dutch Oven

What are the advantages of cooking with cast iron pans?

2. It is excellent for stewing, browning, frying and baking.

3. After seasoning, the surface of the cast iron is totally non- stick. You can cook  with little or no oil making it an exceptionally healthy form of cooking.

4. It is versatile, heavy duty, rugged, durable, sturdy and lasts for generations.

fry pans,dutch oven, griddle

5. It is excellent for cooking when hunting, fishing, camping or scouting, back yard fire pits or even in your fireplace.

6. Using cast iron adds trace elements of iron into your diet.

7. Unlike much cookware on the market it is totally free of  additives that can flake off into your food.

8. It  is excellent for recipes that need to be cooked at high temperatures  as in searing or frying.

9. Compared to other cookware, it is one of the most versatile forms of cookware you can buy.

10. Cast iron cookware is unquestionably the best value cookware you’ll ever purchase. It can be used on the stove top, in the oven and on top of a fire. The fact that it lasts for generations means you will not be reinvesting in cookware every few years. Cast iron cookware is not a purchase, it is an investment. It will become a family heirloom to be enjoyed by your grandchildren and great grandchildren.

11. Cast Iron Cookware allows you to taste the food not the cookware.

Lodge Cornbread Wedge Pan

Lodge Red Enamel Casserole

Camp Cookware, Grills/Griddles, Lodge Products, advantages of cast iron, bbq grill/grate, camp dutch oven, casseroles, cast iron camping cookware, cast iron camping dutch ovens, cast iron casserole, cast iron cornbread pans, cast iron fry pans, cast iron roaster with grill pan lid, cast iron skillets, enamel casserole, grill pan lid | Comment (0)

Crispy Salmon with Green Herb-Caper Sauce and Asparagus Cheese Puffs

What a wonderful recipe from Bobby Flay, who for years has shared excellent cooking ideas with us. Make your crispy salmon recipe taste even better when you prepare it in a cast iron casserole and if you have one with a grill pan lid it is like getting two cooking pans for the price of one. If you prepare your  healthy meal in a holiday red enamel casserole, you can serve your family or guests directly from the attractive dish on your table. Cast iron cookware not only has even heat distribution as you cook, it retains the heat to keep you food warm. Another plus is that cast iron cookware is unsurpassed when it comes to clean-up time.

Ingredients:

• 4 (7 ounce salmon fillets, skin on)
• freshly ground pepper and salt
• 1 cup of rice flour
• 1/2 cup water
• olive oil for searing
• Herb Caper Sauce, recipe follows
• 4 lemon wedges for garnish
• Asparagus Cheese Puffs, recipe follows

Directions

Season fillets with salt and pepper, to taste. Combine rice flour with water to make a light loose batter. Heat a large skillet with about 1/4-inch of olive oil. Coat fillets with batter, place meat side down, and sear until golden brown about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn over and sear the skin side for 1 to 2 minutes.

Lodge 10 1/4 Inch Skillet/ Fry Pan

Immediately plate and drizzle each fillet with the Herb Caper Sauce. Serve with a lemon wedge.

Serve the salmon with Asparagus Cheese Puffs.

Herb-Caper Sauce:

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup capers
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients, except for the lemon juice, in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the lemon juice just before serving.

Asparagus Cheese Puffs:

• 1/2 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and blanched

• 3/4 cup milk
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into  small pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
• Pinch of cayenne
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup coarsely grated Manchego
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Bring milk and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan or casserole over medium high heat. Combine salt, flour, curry, and cayenne in a small bowl. Remove the milk from the heat and add the flour mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides. Place pan back on the heat and cook for about 20 to 30 seconds until the mixture becomes a little dry. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and let cool slightly. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, adding another only when the previous has been incorporated. Add the asparagus and both cheeses to the dough and mix until combined. Season with salt and pepper.

Kinetic Enameled Casserole with Grill Pan Lid

Spoon rounded tablespoons of the mixture onto the sheet pan. Bake in the middle of the oven until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the puffs from the parchment and serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings (Recipe Bobby Flay, 2001)

TASTE THE FOOD NOT THE COOKWARE WITH CAST IRON COOKWARE

Kinetic Cast Iron Cookware, Lodge skillets, Recipe, casseroles, cast iron casserole with grill pan lid, enamel casserole, grill pan lid | Comment (0)

Old-Fashioned Waffles with a Rome # 1405 Cast Iron Waffle Maker

You can get a great “breakfast” meal at any time of the day or night with a Rome Cast Iron Waffle Iron.  Make easy to prepare and cook old fashioned waffles over your campfire, fire pit, or even over the coals in your fireplace.

Add to Your Outdoor Cooking Enjoyment

Rome 1405 Waffle Iron

The #1405 Waffle Iron is made with a Cast Iron cooking head that measures 3 5/8 inches x 6 1/2 inches. The overall length is 30 inches which allows you to hold the camp waffle iron at a safe and comfortable distance from the fire.

You will have ‘happy campers” when you treat them to fresh & fluffy waffles
cooked the “old-fashioned” and fun way in Rome’s quality cast iron
waffle iron.

Customers who Purchased the Rome # 1405 Camp Waffle Iron often purchased the following quality products for their camping enjoyment:

Rome # 1705 Pie Iron

Rome # 1005 Bread Baker

How to Properly Store Cast Iron Cookware

First a confession. As a Harley rider, I do not really like the idea of storing a bike nor of transporting it on a trailer. Reality suggests that at times both must be done.

Likewise the idea of cast iron cookware being put aside in storage is not my favorite image.  Cast iron is best when it is used every day. Using it properly and cleaning it correctly keeps it in peak condition and allows it to build up the best seasoning and patina. However if it must be stored, here are some things you might want to consider:

• place a layer of paper towels or a cloth if you prefer on the shelf
• turn the cookware upside down to store
• make sure air can circulate around your cast iron cookware
• do not place the lids on the dutch oven or  frying pan. Cast iron needs to have ample circulation of air and the lids will lock in air and will cause the baked in oil to become rancid.
• never store food in your cast iron cookware.


Lodge Cornbread Wedge Pan



Our Cast Iron Cookware

When you are ready to use your cast iron cookware again, and hopefully that will be soon, you will want to:

• rinse your cookware with warm, non-soapy water (never in a dishwasher!) Soap will remove the seasoning from your cookware.
• dry carefully with a clean cloth or paper towels

Cast iron cookware is a joy to use and can make the most modest cook seem like a professional chef. It retains and distributes heat in a remarkable fashion and is a great nonstick cooking surface.

Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven

This cast iron cookware would love to live at your house:

Lodge 10 1/4 Inch Skillet/ Fry Pan

Cast Iron Fajita Skillet