MADCookie

I love my cast iron skillets. Really. They are so durable and to work with. They get stinking hot and stay that way. They can go from my stove top right into the oven.

I have one interesting skillet called a comal , which was given to me to make my own corn tortillas. It made terrific tortillas, but only one at a time, which didn't work for my family. I switched to using my large electric griddle.

Cleaning and caring can be interesting. I love hearing of the different ways to do it. I'm not saying there is only one way to season a skillet because I've heard a bunch of different techniques. Here is mine based on Alton Brown's technique (link: scroll to SCENE 10).

Cleaning, in general, I just scrub it clean (see hot and cold versions).
If cool

1. I run very very hot water into the skillet and use a steel wool to scrape it clean.
2. Towel dry thoroughly!
3. Put skillet on a burner on the stove to warm it up and to evaporate any last moisture.
4. Rub the insides with solid shortening, then wipe up the excess.
5. Rinse the skillet under hot water to get off more excess fat.
6. Towel dry and set on burner (not on, but still warm) to cool off and burn out more moisture.
7. Done.

If hot

1. I add a bunch of kosher salt (because of its size) to the skillet and use paper towels to scrape it clean. If the skillet is very dry, then I'll add solid shortening. The salt turns black!
2. Wipe out extra fat.
3. Done.

Favorite Meals or Uses

• Corn bread
• Tortilla fryer for tacos
• Chicken pot pie
• Crumb cake

Comal



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So I gave it a whirl to use a brine. It is basically a c.r.a.p.-load of salt (1 cup) and liquid (1 cup each of water, vinegar, apple cider). I added molasses, whole black peppercorns and mustard powder for some extra flavoring. Pork loins and chicken breasts separately soak in the brine for little over two hours.

I can't remember the last time I had pork. This was good and moist. I did taste salt in both the pork and the chicken. I will need to refine this more, but it is a good start.

One thing I learned during this project was that cures are basically brines without water. So, this makes me think that if you have a cure or rub that you really like, then make a brine with it and soak your meat.

Before grilling


After grilling

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Alton Brown did a Good Eats show "Fry Hard 2: the Chicken (Fried)". Here are my results of his procedure.

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Boneless chicken breast fillets take a bath in low fat buttermilk. Alton suggested using a whole frier chicken and cutting it up yourself, but that doesn't work into the busy life of MADCookie.

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The next day, the chicken is drained and liberally seasoned.


Dredged through some flour to protect the seasoning.


FRIED.


I'm sorry there are no photos of the final product. I admit that the cooked them too long on the skin side - they were burnt, but that isn't the reason for no pictures. We were just hungry. The thing that stood out the most for me was how moist the chicken was. Elijah said he liked it and it is on his favorites list. The little girls were less then impressed. The beautiful Leslie liked it (except the burn, which I understand and agree).
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