My grandma Bunny was devoted to her cast iron skillets. They sat in a graduated stack on her stovetop, always ready to be pressed into service. She kept them seasoned through regular use and claimed that nothing was better for restoring their glossy black finish than cooking up a batch of bacon.
Bunny’s collection of cast iron remains in her hillside California home, where my aunt, uncle, and cousins now live. I’ve had to amass my own heap of skillets, and have done so through thrifting, eBay (my beloved square skillet, used almost exclusively for eggs), Kickstarter, and inheritance.
Despite having a hearty collection, I confess that I rarely do anything truly exciting with my skillets. However, thanks to Dan Shumski’s new book, Will It Skillet, that all changes now. He’s got me seeing my cast iron skillet as the ideal vessel for so much more than just eggs, bacon, burgers, flat broiled chicken, and the world’s most perfectly burnished roasted potato cubes.
There is so much in this book that speaks to me, but here are a few that are on my immediate wish list. Giant Cinnamon Bun (page 37). Spinach and Feta Dip (page 64). Mac and Cheese – you make the whole thing in the skillet! (page 106). Giant Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie (page 153). Are you hungry yet?
I have one copy of this tasty book to give away this week and we’re doing it the old fashioned way (I know that there are those among you who hate Rafflecopter, so this is for you!).
The winner of the giveaway is #196/Barb. Many thanks to all who took the time to enter!
- Leave a comment on this post and tell me about your favorite thing to make in a cast iron skillet.
- Comments will close at 12 noon eastern time on Sunday, May 21, 2017. A winner will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog later that day.
- Giveaway open to all. Void where prohibited.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.
Disclosure: Workman Press sent me two copies of this book at no cost to me. One was for review and photography purposes and the other was to give away.
I don’t have a cast iron skillet, but if I won, I’d definitely get one!
I absolutely love cornbread in a cast iron skillet. I melt the butter in the skillet in the oven while it’s heating then pour the batter into the hot, slightly browned butter. It almost fries the outside and it’s so so good!
Berry cobbler.
Simple, but: skillet fried eggs are my favorite!
Fried leftover spaghetti with meat sauce and Parmesan. Teflon pans may be easier to clean, but nothing beats the crispy achievable in a cast iron skillet ?
Well, that’s simple: bacon
We usually use ours for eggs and bacon but I remember my grandmother using it for fried chicken which was to do pie floor. I’ve tried to recreate the recipe but it never tastes the same. I think her cast iron pan was well seasoned compared to mine.
I’ve recently gotten into making pizza in my cast iron skillet. Works great!
Cornbread, regular or with blueberries.
I love making omelets in mine, a little butter, and they never stick.
Deep dish pizza. So good!
Fried potatoes. They fry up so-oooo crisp.
Cornbread – a recipe I got years ago in Williamsburg, VA. Delish
I love my cast iron! I have to restrain myself from buying any and every new piece of case iron I find when shopping thrift stores. So.Hard. My favorite everyday thing to make in my case iron skillet is frittata. However, there’s something magical about taking the top off my cast iron dutch oven to see the oven spring in my weekly sourdough bake. It’s wrapped up in so much anticipatory hope and fear, and ultimately wonder.
Skillet cookies! Chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin, even better if all the ingredients can be mixed up right in the pan.
Favorite skillet dish. Hard to say. Don’t think there is enough room for me to list them all here but I do make a lot of deep dish pizzas in my skillets as well as cobblers and roasted chicken.
Giant chocolate chip cookie for sure!
It’s probably a tie between pear upside down cake (the cake has lots of spice, esp cardamom) and chicken pot pie, which is especially good when we are short on time and use puff pastry as the crust! Thanks for the chance; looks like a great book.
I have several heritage skillets, from both sides of the family
My favorite thing to cook is cornbread, but I use my 10″ for just about everything!
Fried potatoes with sauteed onions! the best and the crispest!
But I also agree with Kristen- chocolate chip cookie bars are a close second!
My dad gave me a large iron skillet in 1959 when I first married and we didn’t have one to successfully pan fry a good steak. I use it for many things but beef hash is a crispy winner! A grandson recently commented how beautifully seasoned it was and his needs serious help!
I remember my mom cooking in her cast iron skillet all the time and I made sure to get one of my own soon after setting up my own kitchen. I love cooking with mine, but still wish I had hers! Lol! Two of my favorite things to make in my skillet are skillet cornbread in which I toss whatever I’m in the mood for or have on hand – canned corn, onion, cheese, sour cream or plain yogurt, and herbs. The second thing I’ve made in my skillet and loved was focaccia bread. And of course there are the skillet cookies, blueberry buckles, and Dutch babies. Yummmm!
I have not made anything in my cast iron skillet – yet! This would be a great reason to start trying things.
We love our cast iron skillets and use one almost daily! It’s really hard to pick a favorite thing that we make. Probably my husband’s bacon cornbread. It’s amazing!
I use my skillet almost everyday to cook something, but Hubby luvs when I make cornbread in mine!
I love to roast chicken on a bed of potatoes in my cast iron skillet.
(Thank you for the occasional “old-fashioned style” of giveaway. ?)
I am about to get my first skillet – hopefully to make rhubarb cake!
Daniel’s book looks like a winner – if I don’t win it, I need to buy it!
We have a collection of 10 cast iron pans. Some were bought new and some collected at thrift stores and tag sales. We use them all the time to cook and bake in and on the weekends we use them outside to grill on the fire pit.
My favorite has to be Saturday morning breakfast which is a refrigerator clean out out omelet. I fill it up with any veggies and leftover meats from the week and usually throw shredded cheese on top. Delicious!
I have one exclusively for cornbread and my next favorite thing to cook in an iron skillet is steak. I get the outside nice and crusty and then pop in in the oven. Just like the steakhouse.
I like to make yorkshire pudding in the skillet—it always turns out beautifully.
Roasted scalloped potatoes is one of my favs. Ready to explore! I am sure there are endless possibilities!
An entire breakfast: charred cherry tomatoes, polenta, turkey bacon and eggs over easy
A dutch baby of course, cornbread, and fried potatoes!
Fried potatoes for breakfast!
I think fried potatoes turn out better in cast iron. But it is a tie for my peach galette!
I have a great chocolate chip cookie recipe. It’s fantastically chewy without drying out. Mmm.
PIzza! I made it last night. Everything about cast iron pizza is delicious, particularly the crispy crust. Nothing compares to it, not even my pizza stone. I’m a cast iron pizza evangelist 😛
I love cooking a pan of biscuits in a cast iron skillet. thank you!
One of my favorite things to cook in cast iron is cornbread. That, with a pot of pinto beans and ham hocks, is eating memories of growing up.
We’ve been living in a wonderful yet tiny house in England where kitchen space was limited (loved how it always looked clean because there as no room for clutter). I used my skillet for everything from toasting an English muffin at breakfast to roasting a chicken for dinner. My favorite meal was slow cooking a pork roast overnight to make pulled pork the next day. This was my “go to” meal when we had people over on a Sunday afternoon.
What a fun concept for a cookbook! It’s hard to decide what’s my favorite thing to cook in a cast iron skillet… probably a Spanish tortilla.
When I pulled out my beautiful 12 incher at a family reunion, my daughters and sister all moaned. They said they had “pan envy”! I use my cast iron pans every day, but my favorite thing to make is probably my grandmother’s cornbread recipe.
Fried chicken of course!!
My favorite thing to make is Alton brown’s corn bread.
Oh Marisa,
Don’t get me started on my cast iron. I’m 62 and started my collection as a teenage boy scout mesmerized by the baking power of a campfire style dutch oven…but if I have to boil it down to skillet use…on the sweet side “clafoutis” the french country dessert…on the savory side “cornbread” or a grilled cheese sandwich. May have to make a grilled cheese sandwich tonight…I know my wife won’t care. She hates to lift my cast iron, but she sure likes the results of using them.
Marshall
I make a killer jalapeno cheddar cornbread in my iron skillet! Cut it into pie shaped wedges and serve it up with lots of softened butter, and it’s a hit every time!
Fried potatoes to go with soup beans. Thanks for the chance.
Crab cakes are the best when cooked in cast iron. Makes a nice crust!
I was inspired by his book Will it Waffle. Best title ever. I like potatoes, onions and peppers with black beans and melted cheddar cheese on top.
Since we got ducks and they started laying every day, I invested in (another) small cast iron skillet. They are the only pans than aren’t a complete PITA to clean after a scramble.
My cast iron skillet is my most used pan so it is hard to pick a favorite. One thing that I make that my whole family loves is a giant skillet chocolate chip cookie that you serve warm with ice cream.
I like making a dutch baby for breakfast with my cast iron pan.
Much like you, I treasure my cast iron skillets. One was passed down to me from my grandmother…Unforturnately my own mother kept it and it got used and washed in cold water… It cracked along one side and the bottom..I was so sad…but I’ve started my own Serious collection that I love using. Cornbread and baked carrots are two of my favorites to bake in my cast iron!
Grandmas buttermilk cornbread is my favorite in a cast iron skillet.
Cornbread, hands down. I won’t eat it any other way.
My favorite thing to cook in my cast iron skillet that I inherited from my Grandma is fried chicken, just like she taught me.
Bacon is my favorite thing to eat from a cast iron skillet, but I like bacon no matter how I cook it! Cornbread is what I prefer cooked in a cast iron skillet over any other method!
I inherited mine, it was my either my great or my great great grandmothers cast iron pan! I don’t use it as often as I should, but it is the perfect size to make fried chicken.
My favorite thing to make is cornbread.
Oh my….this cookbook looks like so much fun. I too have a collection of cast iron. My fave is the chicken fryer/shallow dutch oven w lid & bale. I make pork chops in it too! My moms #10 continues the tradition of ‘Christmas Sweet Bread’ roll. Love, love, love cast iron.
Love making mushrooms for steak, or hasbrowns.
Eggs are done beautifully in a cast iron skillet. So are quesadillas.
PIZZA. I make four personal (cast iron) pan pizzas for my family in little 6-8inch pans I inherited from my late fathers’ collection. Each family member has their own pan. The very, very best ones I ever made were on a campfire in the backyard. So fun!!!!
A chicken, bacon and mushroom skillet dish….everything sears so nicely and the sauce is delicious!
Pineapple Upsidedown Cake! So good in a cast iron skillet. ☺️
Mac and Cheese!
I love, love, love cooking steaks in the oven in my cast iron skillet. Figuring out how to do that was a game-changer!
Upside down rhubarb cake!
I love my Cheesy Ratatouille in the cast iron skillet. I also love a thick New York Strip in the cast iron.
Pepperoni Knots. Made some last night, actually. YUM!
Pizza! I make a double batch of no-knead dough and plop it into my 12″, 15″ and 17″ cast iron skillets. Crusts cook up golden brown and delicious and the dough does not have to be rolled out; just press it into the bottoms of the oiled skillets. They slide out beautifully after baking and clean up like a dream! Love my cast iron!
Chinese stirfry
I bake Dutch babies in my skillet.
I have a recipe for an awesome strawberry cobbler thing that’s done in a skillet.
Pineapple upside down cake in a cast iron skillet is so good! Great caramelization.
I love cornbread in CI but lately I have been cooking everything lately from eggs and bacon to brownies and cakes.
Frittata! My go to breakfast for a crowd!
Hi Marisa, roast chicken or a crisp, they both are perfect in cast iron
Oh yum! I love to cook up corn brad or pizza in my skillet.
I cook a lot in cast iron, but I think classic cornbread is still my favorite.
Bacon, best ever in cast iron….
I have a 6″ cast iron skillet that makes great Norwegian Pancakes. My wife also used it to make great crepe manicotti.
Therre is not much I won’t cook in my stack of cast iron skillets and my on-the-stove dutch oven!!
I love to make sweet potatoes and sausage in my cast iron skillet
Breakfast frittata with sausage, fennel bulb, and goat cheese. The cast iron pan is great for this stove to oven dish. We cook the sausage and fennel in the pan on the stove, pour in the eggs, top with cheese and pop it into the oven to finish cooking.
I love my cast iron, I make roux, eggs, steak, bacon, upside down cakes…the list could go on.
Love using my cast iron skillets. Besides the usual I make a chocolate chip cookie and last week I made an asparagus egg dish in the skillet that was good.
I use mine to make a sausage, pepper and apple dish.
Steaks and roasted chicken are my favorite things to do in cast iron – but they get the most traffic with eggs
Grilled cheese! I would love to try that giant chocolate chip cookie! 🙂
My favorite is a bacon, cheese, and onion frittata. It’s so good, and so easy!
Probably a frittata. Of course, dutch babies too, Oh, I can’t forget cornbread and biscuits. I guess I should stop now.
Hello, I love making browned butter cornbread in my skillet when the lovely aroma fills the house. Browning the butter in the pan in a hot oven then spreading the batter in to bake. The bottom is wonderfully crunchy with a buttery nutty taste YUM! If we are talking stove top cooking it would be an Indian dish of naan and spiced cauliflower with fresh peas
Thank you for your blog and all the information you share.
Fried potatoes are the best in a cast iron skillet!!
Cheeseburger pie!
I have a round slightly concave skillet/griddle that was my grandmothers. Quesadillas (our go to) are best in that but I also use my regular cast iron skillet for shakshuka and rice with eggs.
Simply a good steak.
I have to laugh become my husband would say the best thing I make in a cast iron skillet is a giant chocolate chip cookie! They are totally yummy, make sure to under bake because the skillet holds the heat and continue to bake a bit. We LOVE our skillets around here, they live on top of the stove and get used for everything!
We make beautiful rosemary roasted (baby red) potatoes, The skillet gets super hot in the oven and produces a crispiness, with soft creamy centres, beyond compare! Mmmmm, mmm.
Dutch babies.
And Deborah Madison’s noodle cake from her ‘Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone’.
Love my collection-especially the one my Mom gave me when I moved away for college, along with a 2 quart Revere Ware pot and lid, and a copy of Joy of Cooking. And dutch babies are a great thing to make in them.
My cast iron skillet was my Grandma’s, then my Mom’s, now mine. I love making a batch of cornbread in it, just like I watched my Grandma do as a child.
I make really well cooked “goopy” onions to put on things. I think that’s my favorite.
Pizza – I don’t use my cast iron for much but quick tortilla pizza (food lab recipe) are a fun choice. I’d love to use my cast iron skillet for more, hope I win
Our weekly burger supper is probably my favorite….season & sear the burgers in the grill pan & finish in the oven. At the same time, stuff portabella mushrooms with chopped spinach, onion, bacon & shredded cheese & roast in my cast iron skillet. When finished, top the mushroom with a burger & serve with a side salad & home made quac. It’s what’s for supper tonight at my house!
My husband’s favorite is cabbage…..brown ground sausage until done, then add a 1/2 head of chopped cabbage, a can of tomatoes (any style/flavor) a can of sliced mushrooms, 1/2 onion diced, a cup of sliced olives, 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese. Toss well & roast at 400′ for 30 minutes. It’s on the menu for Sunday!
Is there anything better than cornbread from a cast iron skillet?! I think not!
One of my favorite ways to use a Dutch Oven is on a dessert cooked over the campfire.
What don’t I make in my cast iron?? Love making roasted salsa, upside down cakes, and cornbread in them. This cookbook sounds like fun! I’d love to try out the giant cookie. 🙂
I like to make breakfast creations, but a giant cookie would be pretty funny.
Cornbread.
I love to use my cast iron skillet to make steak, when the weather is too bad to grill. But I think my favorite has to be pizza. The crust always turns out so nicely. Yum!
I need this book! I have four skillets (used daily) and three bakeware pieces. Iron cooks into your food, so great.
Pizza – the crust comes out perfectly all the way around./
I love making cornbread!
Phyllo Spinach Pie or Pizza
I love making smashed burgers with onions in mine and of course cornbread is the best in a cast iron – pizza is pretty close too – Thanks for the giveaway.
i love making corn bread in a cast iron skillet. that’s really about the only thing i use it for – my husband, on the other hand, will cook any and everything in his beloved cast iron pans. we keep an eye out for them at estate sales and flea markets.
Grilled sandwiches are the best in cast iron.
Tamale pie is the best in a cast iron skillet. You get all the benefits of cast iron in the cornbread topping.
Bacon and eggs!
My favorite things to make in my cast iron skillet is cornbread, hands down! Thanks for the giveaway!
My Mom used to make something she called chili con carne. It was chili with cornbread batter swirled into it and baked in her cast iron dutch oven. YUM!
We also used the dutch oven for making french fries, deep fried in oil. Only started a fire once!
Pancakes!
I love to make cornbread in my cast iron pan. My other favorite is to make greens in my pan.
My favorite thing to cook in a cast iron skillet is hamburgers. I also like making cookie cakes!
There’s not much I don’t make in my cast irons. But pork chops come to mind, with shallots, basaltic vinegar, garlic and more….
I don’t use mine enough – this will give me many more ideas.
i love finding great cast iron pans at yard sales and reseasoning them. I only use cast iron for a few things so I would love even more ideas. In my home, they are used for any recipe that needs even heat. Burgers, skillet hash browns, frying up steak fries. Yum!
I have had my cast iron pan for a few years and I have never used it but wish I had some knowledge or recipes that I can make in it as I have been told that it is a great pan to cook in if you are anemic. It puts iron in your food and I suffer greatly (gluten allergies) from anemia. Everyone talks about making cornbread in the pan but is it a special recipe just for cast iron cooking I wonder. Not sure where to start so the cook book would help me a lot. Thanks for all the information that you give us and the giveaways.
I absolutely could not make cornbread without my cast iron skillet!
I just got my first cast iron pan and haven’t used it yet…would love a cookbook to help me use it to its full potential.
Cornbread, hands down.
Dutch baby, frittatas, hamburgers, cornbread – such a great pan for so many different things.Thanks for the give away – the book looks really fun!
We use at least one cast iron skillet daily and I think my favorite use is pizza! Crank the oven surreal high and the crust gets nice and crisp in the oven. We’ve (mostly) stopped eating pizza out because it’s so good!
Honestly? I hardly ever use my cast-iron skillet. I just don’t know what to do with it, even though I cook every day. (I do use my larger ceramic/iron pots daily.) I would like to change that though!
Blueberry pancakes cooked in bacon fat over a campfire! That’s my favourite thing to cool in a cast iron skillet 🙂
An oldie but simple and good-ie: pancakes and bacon. I have an extra-large skillet that gets to do bacon duty, while two of my other cast-iron pans are used for buttermilk pancakes so I can get stacks of pancakes done up in a reasonable amount of time.
Pancakes.
I love my cast iron skillets for lots of things, but I guess my favorite is corn bread. (And I’m glad I’m not the only one who hates Rafflecopter!)
I love my cast iron skillets for lots of things, but I guess my favorite is corn bread. (And I’m glad I’m not the only one who hates Rafflecopter!)
I love reading all the answers people have already given! Cornbread is a great thing to make in cast iron. But maybe Brussels Sprouts on the grill would be my favorite!
Pork chops!
Dutch baby pancakes!
Best pan for making home fries!
Fried potatoes and onions with pan seared steak!!
I love to bake a pineapple ? upside down cake! ?!
My favorite dish to make in a cast iron skillet is cornbread using 2/3 fine cornmeal.and.1/3 polenta (coarse cornmeal). Add crumbled blue cheese, freshly.ground black pepper, and chopped green onions. And if im feeling decadent, add a few slices of crisp chopped bacon.
I love my cast iron. I have many faves, but #1 would be roasted pinenuts in the shell. Thanks for offering this giveaway. Looks like an awesome book.
Cast iron is the only thing I use for steak cooked indoors. Sear on the stovetop, finish in the oven. I’d love to have a cookbook that widened my repertoire.
I’ve got a skillet/lid and dutch oven that need to be cleaned and re-seasoned. I have some flax seed oil I’ll be using as it is a drying oil. I bought a brand new crepe pan I also need to season. I have to remove a layer of protective wax first and that is holding me up.
I originally wanted to make cornbread in the skillet as I’m not much of a bacon and eggs person. It would be interesting to see what other recipes are in the book.
So hard to choose….the perfect olive oil fried egg….fruit cobbler…no end it sight!
Pancakes made on a hot skillet are wonderful!
Cornbread, no other way to make it
Cornbread or a dutch baby… it’s so pretty in a skillet.
Bacon + eggs = yummy!!
My favorite is the classic eggs and bacon in my grandmother’s cast iron skillet. I’ve even done biscuits in them and they are so yummy.
I have three skillets. I recently purchased a 15 in.,hoping to mimic my grandma’s fried chicken.
I have 1 skillet and love using it to make Dutch Babies. I am hoping to make them this weekend!! I am so excited to take a class with you this July in Lancaster – a birthday gift to myself. 🙂
I can’t decide! Eggs or a fruit crumble, they’re frequent visitors to my kitchen!
My hubby makes a breakfast hash on Sunday mornings that it awesome! Turns out way better than in a nonstick skillet!
And we can’t forget the fried chicken!
My absolute favorite is homemade cornbread whether it’s for eating or for making cornbread dressing. Nothing else gives that delicious, perfect crust.
I don’t need the cookbook – I use my iron skillet for almost everything – I even toss my salad in it.
Dutch babies! Perfect puffy oven pancake for Saturday mornings!
I must admit I haven’t been very adventurous with my cast iron skillets – eggs in the small one, grilled cheese in the middle-sized one, stewy-type stuff in the big one.
Smash-burgers, caramelized onions, and bacon, of course! We use our skillets every single day without fail!
Refried beans!
Oh man. Cobblers. Cornbread! but the most extravagant looking bake in the cast iron is probably the Puffy Pancakes (or a Dutch Baby, depending on where you’re from) heating the cast iron before pouring in the batter makes for a fantastic puff!
I love making Irish Soda Bread in my cast iron skillet. I love the crispy crust it gives the bread.
How great! I love my cast iron, all acquired through thrifting. Would appreciate the chance to get ideas about how to use it more. Best new/non-traditional recipe? Tamale Pie
Dutch baby apple pancakes
Cobbler, apple
I love skillet cookies!
Pancakes, of any variety.
I don’t have a favorite recipe because I never use them. I inherited several from my MIL but they are presently stacked on the floor of the pantry. I hear good things about these pans and I am curious. This cookbook would be a good incentive to bring them back into use.
Hello. My name is Pete and I’m a cast ironware-aholic.
All kidding aside, most frequent use is for cheesy eggs & potatoes for breakfast burritos. One skillet is only used for cornbread and the occasional pineapple upside down cake. Don’t even know how many pieces we have. Skillets of all sizes. Dutch ovens of all sizes and varieties. Griddles, grills, and corn pone molds. Most of it is used occasionally.
This looks like an amazing book – uses for the ironware that does not involve a campfire!
My favorite thing to make is bacon followed by eggs. The flavor is delicious!
Peach cobbler
I use my cast iron skillet for everything both at home and on camping trips. Some of my favorites are shepherds pie and peach cobbler. I just bought a cast iron skillet for a wedding shower gift. Hope they are as excited as I would be.
My favorite thing to cook in my cast iron skillet is Teriyaki Chicken!
Andysavi.Mom@gmail.com
Love them for baking in – fruit crisps and such – but it’s also the everyday go-to for eggs at breakfast (unless i’m poaching, in which case, the cute little vintage Revere poaching set gets pulled out…).
Slomgolia – eggs, bacon, and potatoes all cooked in together in the skillet. We have it at home and camping.
homemade french fries!
Mmm it’s a toss up between fried fish or biscuts!
I love to cook everything in cast-iron,lol! What I cook the most, and love, is simple drop biscuits.
I like various things, the last thing I used mine for was a dutch baby pancake. Yummm!
Tomato Jam!
Dutch Babies have saved the day more times than I can count, and my trusty magic pan (vintage Griswold, found at a rummage sale) is the perfect thing to make them in.
All I have are cast iron skillets they are the best for cooking anything. My favorite is fried potatoes and onions.l
Cinnamon rolls and Dutch babies give our cast irons a regular workout!
Apple Pie
other than cornbread, eggs and fried chicken, i dont really know what to use it for.. i need this book lol
Cornbread of any kind.
I don’t know where to start! But I have to say, bacon and eggs are high on the list and a family favorite!
Home fries and eggs are my favorites!
Had to choose one… Steak is a favorite though I would like to try the skillet size pancake, Giant Cinnamon Bun (page 37), and Spinach and Feta Dip (page 64). Oh what fun lies ahead!
I’ve loved corned beef hash, with eggs cooked on top, from a skillet since my childhood camping days.
buttermilk biscuits!
Clafoutis is my favorite thing to make in a cast iron skillet. It’s also a fun word to say.
I roll homemade pizza dough into balls, coat them in butter, herbs, and parmesan and bake in a cast iron skillet to make delicious and easy pull-apart rolls that make a great addition to Italian dishes!
I love to make stews topped with cornbread or biscuits – cook on the stove then top with the dough and pop it in the oven!
Shepherds pie!!!
Cornbread, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes really any vegetables to roast.
I keep on using mine for deep dish pizzas.
Sheppard’s pie. The lean ground beef is put in like a pie crust, add vegetables add mashed potatoes to top. My moms recipe which I’ve not made in a bit but now I getting hungry for it, has to have tomato paste and green beans in it to taste right.
I love making cornbread in my small one and fried chicken in large one
What a great idea for a book! My favorite thing to cook in my cast iron skillet is chicken. I love that it is relatively easy to keep the cooking temperature steady.
So many things! Pancakes and French toast are pretty awesome
I may be simple, but there is nothing better than bacon and eggs in a cast iron skillet. Yum!
Cornbread – I need more ideas!
Cornbread! To be eaten with homemade jam, of course.
A dutch baby is my favorite thing to make in our cast iron skillets and my husband is the ones that lovingly cares for our cast iron so I think he would love this book.
My favorite thing is cornbread.
Cornbread for sure. Never go camping without one, especially fried potatoes and onions. YUM
dutch baby pancakes
yum yum
Campfire Pizza! The best thing about camping!!
Tonight I made a breakfast skillet with eggs, bacon, potatoes, onion and green peppers. My favorite!!
Scrambled eggs because properly seasoned, they don’t stick & clean up is easy!
Cornbread!
I have beautiful skillets from my great grandmother. They are like black lacquer. I love frying chicken the way she taught me.
My favorites thing i make in my iron skillet is pineapple upside down cake.
Mmmmm
My favorite thing to make is chicken, it always comes out perfectly.
I wish I had an item to add but I’ve never cooked with them! I just brought home my mom’s cast iron. It needs a bit of restoring as she had trouble lifting them after she got sick. I’m waiting for a quiet weekend to recondition them and try them out.
I don’t have a cast iron skillet. I mostly do stirfry and eggs, but that giant chocolate chip cookie has to be worth a try!
Eggs over easy, in the leftover bacon grease from the bacon that goes beside them on the plate!
Peach cobbler, bought some skillets from my brother, a flea market aficionado..
I love to make blueberry crisp in my cast iron 🙂
I have my grandmothers cast iron skillet. It is over 80 years old. My favorite thing to make is fruit cobbler.
I just got Vivian Howard’s cookbook “Deep Roots” and can’t wait to use a cast iron skillet (which I don’t own) to try all her grits recipes!
I love our cast iron for steaks, and for anything over a campfire.
Frittata with peppers, onion, cheese
Dutch babies
Cast iron is the single best thing to make southern style cornbread in.
I’ve made a few skillet carmel chocolate chip cookies and they are amazing!!!
Puff pancakes!
I make my mother-in-law’s Pineapple Upside Down cake in my skillet. My small cast iron skillet is the workhorse in our 2 person household. One of these days, I’d love to tackle fried chicken!
Honestly, I only ever make eggs and pancakes with my grandmother’s skillet and griddle. But no one here is complaining! Food just tastes better in cast iron. Some inspiration would certainly be appreciated, though.
Love making a crispy fried egg in my cast iron pan!
Bacon and eggs, cooked on the patio by my dad after a night “camping out” in the backyard! Nothing ever smelled or tasted SO good.
I love a good steak cooked in my skillet!
I’m partial to bacon in the skillet (and your grandma was 100% right about that being the easiest way to season a skillet), but my husband and kids would vote cornbread.
The things I make the most are eggs and corn bread but I used my big skillet to made a rhubarb upside-down spice cake (from Smitten Kitchen) for mother’s day and it turned out delicious. Now I can’t wait to try cooking more treats in my cast iron.
Sausage gravy
I like cooking steaks in the cast iron when I can’t get to the grill.
Hands down cornbread
Bacon cheddar cornbread!
I make everything in my skillets! I love one pot dishes and a big cast iron is perfect for that 🙂
I love cast iron, use it for everything. Great quick steaks, wonderful camping tool.
Just read pickled greenbeans, looking forward to those, loved your pickled green tomatoes. Always an interesting pot luck addition
I used to do a caramel apple dish in my cast iron skillet many moons ago. Then I donated my cast iron skillet because it took up space & I didn’t use it enough (gasp!). I may have to get a new one. I also love corn bread in a skillet.
Dutch Babies! I have two 6″ skillets, and we customize our own. He like more sugar and fruit baked in, I prefer mine plain, and I add toppings later.
I’ve only ever made corn bread! I just got a used cast iron pan and am really looking for ideas of what else to make in it! (I just need to get around to cleaning and seasoning it…)
Definitely a great ribeye! Nothing gets that sear like a screaming iron pan!
Chicken, brussel sprouts and potatoes. 🙂
Ah! We just inherited a cast iron skillet a few months ago and have been slowly incorporating it into our cooking. Right now, our main uses are eggs and potatoes for breakfast, and heating up tortillas. We also use it for onions and peppers.
I love making frittata in my large cast iron. You start it off on the stove top and then pop it into the oven to finish. My favorite is a hash brown potato crusted frittata.
deep dish pizza
We have a few sizes of old cast iron skillets and my favorite thing to make in them is grilled cheese sandwiches as it brings back memories of childhood.
cornbread
I have a cast iron skillet brownie recipe that’s my absolute favorite and turns out perfectly every time!
So far, I’ve made exactly 3 things in a cast-iron skillet: corn bread, scrambled eggs, and Turnips Anna (Like Pommes Anna except DH is allergic to potatoes [& entire nightshade family] so I went looking for a substitute ingredient). The cornbread came out the best, altho none of them were exactly flops!
I use my cast iron pretty much for everything you cook in a frying pan (eggs, sauteed things, etc) but I have occasionally used it to make a S’mores dip with Peeps. I love that the cast iron skillet can go in the oven and I would love to expand my repertoire!
Pineapple upside down cake
My favorite thing to cook is corn bread.
I love your square pan! Cornbread would be perfect in that! I love my cast iron skillets and use them almost exclusively now. Would love to put them to use in more ways than frying or baking bread!
I made a fantastic ribeye in mine the other day. Nothing else will give such a nice sear!
Pancakes cook so beautifully in cast-iron. My husband is the pancake chef in our house and his specialty is Buttermilk Whole-Wheat Blueberry Pancakes!
We cook everything in cast iron, but we most love our Dutch babies (pannekoeken!).
I use cast iron nearly every day – only cook with them. My fav to make is pancakes on my no-sided round griddle pan.
Gotta be a crusty batch of hashbrowns!
My favorite thing to cook in cast iron is… whatever I last cooked in it! Think I most recently made pan-fried salmon which came out divine.
I love my cast iron, especially my grill pan. My favorite way to paillard a chicken breast!
I love making Cornbread in my cast iron skillet
I love making maple corn bread in my skillet!
Dutch babies
Frittata’s are my all time thing to make in my cast iron skillet 🙂
fried eggs in bacon grease! I know it isn’t too healthy but oh so yummy.
My husband uses cast iron for everything from eggs to bear stew! I love them for making cornbread or frittatas. My oldest son makes a fantastic pineapple upside down cake in them. Yes, we have a pretty decent collection of skillets and dutch ovens.
I don’t use mine enough! Sometimes bacon or anything that starts on the stove an finishes in the oven. This book would really increase my cat iron use.
cast iron makes the best, crispiest potatoes!