Useful Knowledge: How to Season Cast Iron

Work in progress

 

I have posted a few things that I made in my beloved large and deep cast iron pan.  I realized that I've now owned it for a little over a year!  And in that time, it has improved, probably more than any fine wine would.  

The cast iron pan was a rusty and forgotten old piece of metal in a cardboard box from the days when my family friend went camping--we are talking 70's, I'm thinking.  The pan hadn't seen bacon or the sun in probably around 30 years.

I did some research online about how to clean it.  I would recommend against using a bunch of chemicals like oven cleaner and the like.  After all, this is something you're going to eat off at some point, right?

What did I use?  Salt.  Just plain old table salt is fine.  Cheaper the better, as you will need a lot of it, probably.  Just lightly wet the pan and then pour a lot of salt onto it.  Take a damp paper towel to it and scrub scrub scrub away.  When everything starts to dissolve and/or turn brown, rinse it out, and get a new paper towel and a new bit of salt.  Repeat the process until the rust is gone and pan looks relatively smooth.

Once the pan is smooth, rinse and then wipe off any water.  Now, the pan is very prone to rust/oxidization.  So, you want it to be away from water.  Put it on the stove to dry it out quick.  Then...  Put a dollop of vegetable oil (or other neutral, high-heat oil) on it and wipe all over with a paper towel so that there is a small layer (still on the stove).  Some people prefer the pan upside down in the oven, but I didn't notice much difference.  Heat for several minutes and cool down.  Repeat the heat and cool whenever you feel like it.  This is the start of your seasoning.

Then, cook in it!  Cook a lot!  Cook often!  But, it needs to slowly build up that many-layered seasoning if you want this pan to be something you treasure and use all the time.  Obviously the best thing to do in it is fry bacon.  That goes without say.  Saute things.  Don't do acid-based items like tomatoes, at least until it is well-seasoned.  Heck, I even did some scones in it (line the pan with melted butter first), and it turned out great.

After each time you cook, wait for it to cool so you can handle it, and gently rinse and wipe and then reheat with another layer of oil.  After several times of the cook-wipe-season process, you will see that this is probably the best item in your entire kitchen. 

Oh, and if you have a stubborn bit of burnt food on it, just apply a little salt to that portion and re-season just as you did at the beginning.

Before you know it, you'll use this for cooking just about everything.

Stupid Easy: Pancakes in Cast Iron

Bubbles away...

It was about here that I realized I needed to turn up the heat.

Breakfast taco!

What's for breakfast this weekend?  I always think at least one of the days should include a lazy breakfast cooked into lunch time.  That's brunch, I guess.  I felt like pancakes, so I made some.  I then always regret it because an hour later and you're still flipping pancakes--tedious.  But, worth it and fun, once in awhile.

The best thing about this was also seasoning my beloved cast iron pan some more.  Constant heat and fat for an hour was a real boon for it, and helped it a lot.  I looked at some old pictures and realized I've had this guy for a year now, exactly.  See my post on seasoning cast iron to find out how I, um, seasoned cast iron.  I'm posting it in conjunction to this.

The recipe I used for the pancakes was Martha Stewart's.  But, since she hates me, I had to add an extra cup of flour, so I would call that a crappy recipe, although others have told me it's great.  I wanted a buttermilk recipe as buttermilk pancakes are the best.  What?  You don't know what to do with that carton of buttermilk after you make pancakes?  Well, instead, might I suggest getting POWDERED buttermilk you can keep on hand in your fridge for all your baking needs?  :-)  King Arthur might have a better recipe.  I will search further and get back to you.

Some things I like to remember when making pancakes:

• Make sure you heat up your pan HOT HOT HOT.  You can always turn it down if you notice the pancakes are cooking too fast.
• When you turn on the stove and heat the pan, also turn on the oven to your "warm" setting for your done cakes.
• Grease the pan with BUTTER.  Butter is best.  That's my motto.
• The batter shouldn't be too thick, but it shouldn't be soup either.  Even crepes have a nice consistency that is NOT soupy.  Pancake batter should look similar to cake batter (after all, they're cakes!).  You should also have to pour it, not glop it...  If it's GLOPPY then add a bit of water/milk.
• Ladle the batter onto the hot greased pan.  I spread out the butter with a silicone brush, too, so it's a nice layer.
• Wait for it to develop bubbles...  Tiny bubbles.......  Before flipping.
• Flip with confidence, and flip with a large metal spatula.  None of this flimsy crap and I prefer metal to plastic.  That's why I love cast iron...  You can use metal and not scrap Teflon into your food!
• Wait till it stops sizzling too much and then flip that done cake into the oven where I assume you have put a dish or pie plate to collect the done cakes.  :-)

Pancakes are good with PURE maple syrup and REAL butter.  It's good for the soul.  We didn't have maple syrup.  They're thankfully also good with jam and butter, jam and whipped cream, or in my case, fresh berries and plain yogurt.  As you can see in the photo above, I made it into a breakfast taco, and it was tasty.

Daily Outfit: Keeping it Simpler

That's me in the corner...

I thought I'd put some outfit posts on this here blog.  Sometimes, I'm wearing something and I think "hey, that turned out pretty well!" but then I get too busy to take a picture, even in my beloved work locker room that you need badge access to.  I hope to have some more Daily Outfits here and there.

Oh, sorry for the hiatus, by the way!  I just have been busy doing other things, and heck, it's my blog and I can do what I want, right?  :-)

The outfit above is a hodgepodge but it matches.  Which is unusual for me but I'm getting there.  Making outfits has been a bit easier since I made the closet purge.  Lots and lots of bags went to Thrift Town...  Some to Crossroads resale.  Then more to Thrift Town.  And, there is a chance I will need to get rid of more--right now, my clothing stretches across two (well, 1.5 due to giving my husband his fair half) closets...  If I have to get down to .5 closets, something has to give, and some other shelving options will probably also be considered.

Oh!  I digress...

With my slightly pared down closet, it's easier to see what I have to work with, and what I like is easier to access (just get rid of the static and get rid of things you don't love!).  Without further ado, this is in the picture:

• Pendleton Merino wool tan-colored cardigan, bought on sale for $40 (marked down by $100)
• Forever 21 cotton red gingham collarless tunic (sale, have had for at least six years)
• Eddie Bauer twill grey trousers (sale, marked down to around $15)
• Red socks (origin forgotten but they match the gingham)
• Atwell leather tan shoes with scallop edges (sale from Gilt, probably around $50)

I don't know if you can necessarily say that my outfit is expensive.  If you want to add my wedding band (plain gold) and two heirloom pieces, all gotten for free but worth some money, maybe it would be more.  But I hope that my outfits can show you that you can look OK (I don't look great, and that's not my goal as a doc control specialist who has to hoist dusty old cardboard boxes some days) for a fairly manageable amount of money.

Hipsters and Bohemians

Lens flare, pipe, beard, glasses, deep-v, weird hair...  Catnip for hipsters.

I just read a pretty good article about the "Fall of the Hipster."  What do you think?

For ages and ages, there have been bohemians.  As the article says, we may have called them punks, hippies, beatniks, flappers, or any iteration of the word "bohemian."  But, they are the cutting edge of the new guard (avant garde), and where they lean, the rest of society, including the squares and basics, follow (even if it's a few years later).

This explains why, after the "squares" of the 60's admonished the damn stinky hippies, ten years later they were wearing bell bottoms and sandals (with no nylons!) gotten from JC Penney.  The article shows a similar thing happening now, as ten years ago hipsters were ridiculed for their tight jeans and ironic shirts, but now, every suburbanite teen has the same uniform, gotten at Target.  And every Brentwood mom is wearing bohemian boots and a scarf, because it's what everyone else is doing ("I'm trendy").

The other interesting part of this article is how the fashion industry is constantly struggling to remain relevant.  So, they try to see what's on the cutting edge, and they lucked out with hipsterdom.  Hipsters have been dressing more or less the same for the past ten years.  It helps, as the article says, that the look is based on what's in the thrift store, because bohemians usually are running on a lower amount of funds than the average bear, and generally shop at thrift stores.

But what about the new hipster?  The article says this is more of a "Portlandia" hipster than a "Vice" hipster.  It's kinder, gentler, softer, and more conscientious.  It is a hipster who worries about where their food comes from, worries about what we are doing to the environment, worries about America's actions and their effects on the rest of the world, and most importantly to clothing retailers, worries about where their clothing comes from.

The new hipster doesn't mind dressing in full-on normcore.  As long as the clothing is AUTHENTIC, it doesn't matter.  Give us some Levi's, a plain sweater, and a pale blue button-down oxford.  Some well-made, maybe ARTISAN-made, shoes as well.  Sure, we may look like our grandparents, but it is COOL now that mainstream and basic has co-opted the hipster aesthetic.  The substance behind this is intriguing, and I hope that the new trend is responsibility all-around.  I'm excited to see what us 30-somethings will accomplish. 

Make Out Like A Bandit

Gun, hat, and mustache not required, but nice to have.

Looks like I need to dig out all those gorgeous scarves I never use in my scarf drawer.  Fashion week shows so many looks with them, ranging from fancy knotted silk scarves, to the classic western bandana.  I'm loving it.  A new way to accessorize!  I'm loving them paired with ponchos and shearling.  Cowboy style is a classic, always.