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.
Dutch babies.
And Deborah Madison’s noodle cake from her ‘Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone’.
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.
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!
Simply a good steak.
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.
Cheeseburger pie!
Fried potatoes are the best in a cast iron skillet!!
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.
Probably a frittata. Of course, dutch babies too, Oh, I can’t forget cornbread and biscuits. I guess I should stop now.
My favorite is a bacon, cheese, and onion frittata. It’s so good, and so easy!
Grilled cheese! I would love to try that giant chocolate chip cookie! 🙂
Steaks and roasted chicken are my favorite things to do in cast iron – but they get the most traffic with eggs
I use mine to make a sausage, pepper and apple dish.
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 love my cast iron, I make roux, eggs, steak, bacon, upside down cakes…the list could go on.
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 to make sweet potatoes and sausage in my cast iron skillet
Therre is not much I won’t cook in my stack of cast iron skillets and my on-the-stove dutch oven!!
I have a 6″ cast iron skillet that makes great Norwegian Pancakes. My wife also used it to make great crepe manicotti.
Bacon, best ever in cast iron….
I cook a lot in cast iron, but I think classic cornbread is still my favorite.
Oh yum! I love to cook up corn brad or pizza in my skillet.
Hi Marisa, roast chicken or a crisp, they both are perfect in cast iron
Frittata! My go to breakfast for a crowd!
I love cornbread in CI but lately I have been cooking everything lately from eggs and bacon to brownies and cakes.
Pineapple upside down cake in a cast iron skillet is so good! Great caramelization.
I have a recipe for an awesome strawberry cobbler thing that’s done in a skillet.
I bake Dutch babies in my skillet.
Chinese stirfry
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!
Pepperoni Knots. Made some last night, actually. YUM!
I love my Cheesy Ratatouille in the cast iron skillet. I also love a thick New York Strip in the cast iron.
Upside down rhubarb cake!
I love, love, love cooking steaks in the oven in my cast iron skillet. Figuring out how to do that was a game-changer!
Mac and Cheese!
Pineapple Upsidedown Cake! So good in a cast iron skillet. ☺️
A chicken, bacon and mushroom skillet dish….everything sears so nicely and the sauce is delicious!
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!!!!
Eggs are done beautifully in a cast iron skillet. So are quesadillas.
Love making mushrooms for steak, or hasbrowns.
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.
My favorite thing to make is cornbread.
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.
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!
My favorite thing to cook in my cast iron skillet that I inherited from my Grandma is fried chicken, just like she taught me.
Cornbread, hands down. I won’t eat it any other way.
Grandmas buttermilk cornbread is my favorite in a cast iron skillet.
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!
I like making a dutch baby for breakfast with my cast iron pan.
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.
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.
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.
Crab cakes are the best when cooked in cast iron. Makes a nice crust!
Fried potatoes to go with soup beans. Thanks for the chance.
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!
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
My favorite thing to make is Alton brown’s corn bread.
Fried chicken of course!!
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.
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.
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.
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.
I love cooking a pan of biscuits in a cast iron skillet. thank you!
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 have a great chocolate chip cookie recipe. It’s fantastically chewy without drying out. Mmm.
I think fried potatoes turn out better in cast iron. But it is a tie for my peach galette!
Fried potatoes for breakfast!
A dutch baby of course, cornbread, and fried potatoes!
An entire breakfast: charred cherry tomatoes, polenta, turkey bacon and eggs over easy
Roasted scalloped potatoes is one of my favs. Ready to explore! I am sure there are endless possibilities!
I like to make yorkshire pudding in the skillet—it always turns out beautifully.
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.
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 am about to get my first skillet – hopefully to make rhubarb cake!
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 use my skillet almost everyday to cook something, but Hubby luvs when I make cornbread in mine!
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 have not made anything in my cast iron skillet – yet! This would be a great reason to start trying things.
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!
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!
Fried potatoes with sauteed onions! the best and the crispest!
But I also agree with Kristen- chocolate chip cookie bars are a close second!
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!
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.
Giant chocolate chip cookie for sure!
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.
Skillet cookies! Chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin, even better if all the ingredients can be mixed up right in the pan.
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.
Cornbread – a recipe I got years ago in Williamsburg, VA. Delish
Fried potatoes. They fry up so-oooo crisp.
Deep dish pizza. So good!
I love making omelets in mine, a little butter, and they never stick.
Cornbread, regular or with blueberries.
I’ve recently gotten into making pizza in my cast iron skillet. Works great!
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.
Well, that’s simple: bacon
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 ?
Simple, but: skillet fried eggs are my favorite!
Berry cobbler.
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!
I don’t have a cast iron skillet, but if I won, I’d definitely get one!