Everyone loves cooking and relishing the flavor of their dishes. There are plenty of ways to make your recipes flavorsome, and one of the ideal means is to use the right utensil and cook it in the right direction. You must try different styles of cooking and use various utensils to try out your cooking experiments. Cast iron skillet is one such efficient cooking vessel that can add a unique flavor and texture to your dishes. These are better known for their sturdy design and heat holding capacity. There are several benefits of cooking in an iron skillet, such as they are incredibly non-sticky and really easy to clean once they are properly seasoned.
You must have a cast-iron skillet in your kitchen that you can use to make different dishes. If you are new to using an iron skillet, then you must not hurry with things and take ample time to cook in it. There are plenty of things that you can try in a cast iron skillet as a starter and gradually move to other complicated recipes. So if you are also planning to buy a new skillet for your kitchen, here are four food items that you can try in it.
Fry A Few Eggs
You would not want to make your special recipe by making it in an iron skillet for the first time. It is always better to take it slow and make things pretty simple. Try to fry eggs in your iron skillet and learn how to manage the heat and adjust the flame. Frying eggs in the iron skillet will work as a litmus paper test for your iron skillet. You need to preheat the skillet for at least five minutes; don’t use any oil. After preheating, add butter or oil to fry the eggs. Give eggs a little time to set into the pan before you flip it. To cook the white, reduce the heat and prevent the burning.
Smear Pork Chops
Once you are pretty confident with frying eggs and mastered the art of managing the heat, you can increase the difficulty level. You can move forward with something meaty. One of the easiest ways to handle meat is to smear pork chops or steak. These two are the best things to highlight the features of a cast-iron skillet. When you cook meat in an iron skillet, you need to put in a little extra effort to clean it. Just like frying eggs, make it slow and give ample time to cook the meat. After cooking the meat, pour some wine into the skillet to make the pan sauce. You don’t have to worry about deglazing when making pan sauce in an iron skillet.
Fry Some Crispy Schnitzel
The best thing about iron skillet is that they can provide your dishes with the required crispiness. After making eggs and pork chops in the skillet, you will become quite a pro. You can move further with frying some chicken or pork schnitzel. You would need enough oil seasoning to make schnitzel. It would need plenty of oil for the meat to get a crispy crunch. The key to crispy schnitzel is to remain patient and give it more time. Using butter is also a great alternative to give your schnitzel with an iron skillet. You can surprise everyone at dinner by serving crispy and crunchy schnitzel; don’t forget to mention the magic of iron skillet. All you need is to remain patient with the cooking time.
Fancy Frittata
Frying eggs in a skillet are for beginners, scrambling them would take some time, but you can always try frittatas for the starter. Frittatas are nothing but baked eggs that are seasoned with sautéed veggies before putting it into the oven. You can use different vegetables and sauté in a pan; you can also use the crispy schnitzel. Once the veggies are ready, you can create the baseline for the egg. Brush the iron skillet with butter or oil and place the base of the veggies before adding the eggs. Don’t forget to preheat the iron skillet before adding the ingredients. As always, patience is the key to a successful iron skillet recipe.
The Bottom Line
If you love cooking and experimenting with different dishes, then you must always be open to new things. It is not just trying new recipes and experimenting with ingredients; you must also try cooking with different utensils as well. It is true that each utensil offers a different cooking experience that will be completely distinctive. Hence, you must try different utensils, and if you haven’t given cast iron skillet a try, now is the time. You would be surprised to know the variance in your dishes while cooking in an iron skillet and you will definitely love the smell and flavor of everything that you will cook in it.
