Happiness is Lodge's Round Cast Iron Grill Pan and matching Round Grill Press

If you're square, buy the square one and matching rectangular press. :-\

I chose the round one because the lid from my ancient dutch oven fits the round grill pan perfectly.

It's for the times when you don't want to fire up the charcoal grill for a hamburger, or when you want a panino and you're too cheap to buy an electric grill press. 

Happiness is my daily scrambled egg in butter in a little cast iron skillet

OK, sometimes I use olive oil instead of butter, but butter tastes the best.

1. Heat a small iron skillet (6.5 inch) on medium for about one minute.

2. Meanwhile whisk one large egg in a proper mixing bowl until frothy.

3. Add a splash of milk and beat some more.

4. Add a generous teaspoon of butter to the pan.

5. Once thoroughly melted and coated add the egg mixture.

6. Cook until the egg sets around the edges, back off the heat to low, and push the egg once across the pan with a fork from one side to the other.

7. Allow the egg and butter mixture to pool back and set around the edges again and repeat until done to your liking (I like mine a little underdone and glossy, but not runny). The egg shouldn't stick one bit if you're doing it right.

Moderate coffee consumption associated with reduced risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease and Parkinson's Disease

Harry Callahan doesn't take sugar in his coffee

Reported here:

In regards to food safety, updated and previously unexamined areas of food safety were studied. No previous DGACs [Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committees] have reported on coffee/caffeine consumption and health. Currently, strong evidence shows that consumption of coffee within the moderate range (3 to 5 cups per day or up to 400 mg/d caffeine) is not associated with increased long-term health risks among healthy individuals. In fact, consistent evidence indicates that coffee consumption is associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in healthy adults. Moreover, moderate evidence shows a protective association between coffee/caffeine intake and risk of Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, moderate coffee consumption can be incorporated into a healthy dietary pattern, along with other healthful behaviors. To meet the growing demand of coffee, there is a need to consider sustainability issues of coffee production in economic and environmental terms. However, it should be noted that coffee as it is normally consumed can contain added calories from cream, milk, and added sugars. Care should be taken to minimize the amount of calories from added sugars and high-fat dairy or dairy substitutes added to coffee.

Double Corn Bread in a cast iron skillet

Same as Betty Crocker, just use corn flour instead of the all-purpose flour, and double the milk to two cups.

DOUBLE CORN BREAD

1 c yellow cornmeal

1 c corn flour

2 T sugar

4 t baking powder

.5 t salt

2 c milk

.25 c vegetable shortening

1 egg

Grease the skillet.

Combine all ingredients in a blender bowl and blend until thoroughly mixed.

Pour and scrape into the skillet.

Bake at 425 degrees F about 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve with breakfast sausage and maple syrup, or with lots of butter and honey on top.

Cast Iron Butter Ball Bread

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cast Iron Butter Ball Bread

 

7     cups unbleached flour

3     cups water

4     T melted unsalted butter

1.5  T salt

2     T sugar

1.5  T yeast

Whisk and dissolve salt, sugar and yeast in the water in the bowl of an electric mixer.

Add the flour, mixing constantly.

Add the melted butter along the way.

Grease a 3 quart cast iron dutch oven with Crisco.

Pour in the dough and let rise, covered with a towel.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes.

Slices best after it cools to room temperature.

Lazy Peasant Bread

Usually when I make the European Peasant Bread recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, I make all the loaves right away, one in a greased non-stick loaf pan and two in greased Pyrex loaf pans, and freeze them after slicing. Why? Because I'm a lazy bum and those are the only pans I own, and I need bread to make lunches in a hurry most mornings.

I like their version baked on a stone with water steaming beneath in a broiler pan, but I'm also adapting the recipes to satisfy the sandwich tastes of a ten year old, not the artisanal desires of his dad. But even at that, the high moisture dough method is still hard to handle without the refrigeration step, and dividing the mass into two, let alone three, is not easy.

So I got to thinking. Why not use a different type of pan, a big one, and bake a giant loaf? Since the lady of the house makes the pizza every Saturday in four cast-iron skillets of varying size, I asked myself why not bake the bread in my greased 4 quart cast iron dutch oven by Lodge?

Another stroke of genius, I dare say. The bread popped out of the thing after the requisite 35 minutes at 450 degrees F looking like a cake! And the really cool thing is you have wonderful crust, but less of it, just perfect for sandwiches for a youngster.

The recipe requires 1.5 T yeast and 1.5 T salt, dissolved in 3 cups lukewarm water in the bowl of the KitchenAid Mixer, to which you add .5 cup whole wheat flour, .5 cup dark rye flour, and 5.5 cups unbleached all purpose flour, using the scoop and scrape method to measure. Once it's all in, I let the mixer work at it for five minutes on setting two, after which you can plop the whole thing into a well-greased camp oven or dutch oven and let rise for an hour or so, covered with a thin flour sack dish towel, and bake.

The result is pictured below. Enjoy!