It's been a hard day's night

and I've got recipes like you wouldn't believe, but first, some tidbits about cast iron that would otherwise languish unread in my recipe notepad.

Cast iron isn't always perfectly nonstick..but you CAN make pancakes in it. The secret is lots of butter and ignorng the recipes on the mix box - pour a little powder in the bowl, then add a little water. and mix. see how it looks. try it out. this is how you learn. fuck recipes.

top chili with that corn flour-heavy cream weirdness? keep in mind I've only made it with regular flour and no flavor before. (i mixed the whole milk and spiced flour i was using for the chicken-fried steaks...the post is down the page if y'all forgot already)

if you're making a sandwich, toss the skillet on medium for five minutes before you start making it - by the time everything else is ready (veggies cut, meat chosen, condiments applied to bread, cheese, etc, and cleaned) the pan will be hot - by using that pocket of time, you leave yourself nothing to clean but the pan - and toss the meat into the skillet. let it toast. let it get brown. brown is flavor.

i have to make a "use the back of the pan" fajita recipe. do it with chicken. do it korean style. oh hell yeah.

also, i know i can make green curry in a cast-iron skillet.

the cookbook we're writing here? call it... Pan American

the cast iron skillet is uniquely american
what we put in it is a melting pot of the cultures that make america great.
from lemongrass to chorizo, pirogi to pancetta, this cookbook's about great food, solid recipes, and the original nonstick cookware.

cover shot - me in chef jacket and jeans, steeltoe boots. flag bandana, stars out.(or in?) head down. holding my skillet up by the handle to cover my face.

pictures - this is a package of rice stick noodles. this is a package of rice stick noodles separated into chunks. this is how many of those chunks you should use.

and here are two quickies:


Guarana steak

for those times when you need a slap of beef and a buzz. buy a decent piece of meat for once - ribeye, ny strip, something like that. leave it out of the fridge for 15 minutes to bring it down to room temperature.

(you did remember to inject it with a mix of Crystal hot sauce and Goya Guarana soda that's been simmered down, right? Good)

Poke repeatedly with a fork, then hammer furiously with a blunt object. Rub with a paste made of pureed chipotle peppers in their adobo, garlic, white and black pepper, and my secret - a little brown sugar.

Sear on high, then kill the heat and keep flipping after both sides are brown. Chefs just flip it like a pancake. I use tongs. It's your call.



pork tenderloin with a woodchuck cider (one amber, one pear) pan reduction, in which sauerkraut is simmered for a long time to make it taste milder.