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 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!