Meet the Cooking in Cast Iron
Contributors
Rick Mansfield: I’m a Louisiana
native who transferred to the the Yankee territory of
Kentucky a few years ago (Kentuckians don’t consider
themselves Yankees, but they put spaghetti in their chili
which proves they are). Cooking has always been a creative
outlet for me. I don’t know if I’m a great cook or not, but
folks we entertain often get seconds, so that’s compliment
enough for me. Plus I married a woman who is quite talented
in the kitchen as well, so we don’t suffer in our home when
it comes to good dining. I’ve always enjoyed experimenting
and trying new dishes. For the longest time, however,
cooking was always about the ingredients themselves, and
what the food was cooked in seemed incidental. And then a
few years back, Mom gave me a cast iron skillet for
Christmas. I had to season it myself, and I didn’t do that
very well. But slowly that pan won me over. And the more I
used it, the more I saw the value of cast iron. Food tasted
different in cast iron: it tasted better--whether that was
cornbread or chicken marsala. My gumbo not only had a
completely different (and better) flavor, but a new
consistency as well when I tried cooking it in a cast iron
dutch oven. Gradually, Kathy and I got rid of the teflon
and “converted” (it’s almost like a religious experience)
to cast iron. The contributors at this website consider
ourselves “cast iron advocates.” We hope to win you over,
too.
Feel free to check out my personal website as well:
This Lamp. Or follow me on
Twitter and/or
FaceBook.
Kathy Mansfield: When I think of
cast iron cooking, I often think of my grandma’s well-used
black skillet she used to fry chicken and bacon or cook a
roast for Sunday dinner. As a child, I thought that skillet
was old-fashioned and way too heavy to use and clean. I
didn’t understand her need to continue to use something
that could be so easily replaced with modern cookware. Mom
did the same thing – insisted on baking her cornbread and
biscuits in a heavy black iron skillet. I knew that when I
grew up and had my own home, I would use modern, stainless,
lightweight, nonstick, colorful cookware to match my
placemats and accessories. Well, here I am, 41 years old,
and using reliable, black, cast iron cookware. Sometimes,
Moms and Grandmas do know
best.
Pat Delia Hollenbeck: Cooking in
cast iron started very early for me. Mom handed me the job
of cooking for the family when I was ten years old and
she had to go to work to support four children when my dad
passed. It was a challenge for both of us. Mom had plenty
of phone calls from me that first year until I had a grasp
on our family’s regular recipes. Through trial and
error I found that our cast iron skillet was the most
forgiving cooking pan for a little kid just starting out on
a lifetime’s culinary journey. Through trial and error I
learned how to take a recipe and make it one that the
family enjoyed and how to use spices and herbs to enhance a
dish. I also learned why cooks used cookbooks, pot
holders, trivets, and aprons. I gained my deep appreciation
for cast iron cookware during those early years and on
through today. I rescue and restore abused and
abandoned cast iron cookware.
JT McCubbin: Together with my wife
and two children, we live just outside Louisville,
Kentucky, where the motto is, “You’ll like it here...it’s
all right,” I tend to take an introspective approach toward
many aspects of life, maybe even philosophical. This is
true for the role that food and cooking play in the
livelihood of my family. Not only what we cook, but what we
cook with, is important as we foster a means of connecting
with the history of our family and reach forward,
establishing new traditions to build the childhood memories
of our kids. Gone are the days of chasing the latest and
greatest, celebrity endorsed cookware with chemically
derived coatings, or anodized alloys. It’ll be iron, thank
you, and maybe a good wooden utensil to go with it. If what
we choose to eat plays a vital role in our health and
well-being, then the tools we use in its preparation can be
viewed similarly. These implements however, do more than
get us from raw material to meal. For me, cast iron
introduces another layer of joy to the cooking
experience.
Leila Wells: Having grown up in a
traditional southern family, it seems I have always known
the uniquely tantalizing scents and tastes that can be
found in a mother's kitchen in the heart of Georgia.
Although mom's kitchen was her own, she let me venture into
it from time to time, and there, I could assist with
smaller tasks while she concentrated on preparing an
entree. When I moved into my own kitchen, I made the usual
calls home for recipes and advice. Gradually, I understood
that the most interesting meals (at least to my taste) were
founded in trusted recipes that I could improvise.
Ironically, the notions I held about cooking grew as I
explored other arts like music and pottery. Today, I am no
musician, nor am I a potter, but I value the creativity,
spontaneity, and “flavor” of these arts all the more
because they season my approach to food. Inspiration may be
derived from so many sources, but taking risks in cooking
is a direct result of courage. It is a courage familiar to
a performer and an artist--one that is nurtured and
occasionally forced if it is to mature. Eventually, courage
and confidence have blended in my kitchen. This mixture
bakes imperfectly over time, but the scents are familiar to
me. As a mother now, I look forward to sharing my kitchen
with my son when he is ready to explore it. My entrees may
not look like my mother's, but I've found they can be just
as tasty and just as central to building community in my
home as my mother's entrees have always been.
Interested in writing for Cooking In Cast Iron? Contact
Rick@cookingincastiron.com.
