Cast Iron Skillet Big Flavors (26 page)

MAKES 10 SCONES

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  Preheat the oven to 425°F. Generously butter a 12-inch cast iron skillet, and flour a surface well for shaping the dough.

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  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or with your fingers. Stir in 1 cup of the cheese. Make a well in the center of the dough and pour in the egg and cream. Mix until the dough just comes together.

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  Gather the dough into a ball and turn out onto the floured surface. Knead the dough several times, adding more flour if the dough is too wet. Roll or pat the dough into a circle ½ to ¾ inch thick. Cut the circle into 10 triangles. Transfer the scones to the buttered skillet, leaving ¼ inch between each scone. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup cheese. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

2½ cups self-rising flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ cup (½ stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1½ cups grated cheddar cheese, divided

1 large egg, beaten

1¼ cups heavy cream

caramel apple crisp

There are many apple crisp recipes out there, but this one has just the right combination of filling with apples, and a golden, crunchy topping that only a cast iron skillet can produce. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

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  Preheat the oven to 350°F.

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  To prepare the topping, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon. With your fingers, cut in the butter until the mixture is nice and crumbly.

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  In a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, cook the butter and granulated sugar together just until it bubbles and starts to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the apples. Sprinkle the lemon juice and oatmeal topping evenly over the apples. Bake for 1 hour.

CRISP TOPPING

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

FILLING

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

6 Jonagold or other firm, sweet, juicy apples, peeled, quartered, and cut crosswise into ½-inch slices

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

fresh rhubarb and huckleberry tart

You can use different fruits with this recipe. We like apples and rhubarb together or plums when they are in season. If you can’t find wild huckleberries, strawberries also complement the rhubarb nicely. This is such a great dough and is very forgiving. The sour cream keeps the dough moist, while the cornmeal gives it a crispy texture.

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

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  To prepare the filling, in a large bowl, add the rhubarb, huckleberries, and sugar and toss to coat. Let sit for 15 minutes. Pour off and reserve ¼ cup of the rhubarb liquid. Add the cornstarch and lemon juice to the fruit and toss to coat. Set aside.

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  To prepare the glaze, in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the ¼ cup rhubarb liquid and strawberry jam and as it heats up, stir to combine. When the jam has become more liquid, about 5 minutes, remove from the heat and set aside.

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  To prepare the pastry, preheat the oven to 400°F.

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  In a small bowl, combine the sour cream and ice-cold water.

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  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt. Add half of the butter and coat well with the flour mixture. Add the remaining butter and coat well with the flour mixture. Mix with your hands or a pastry cutter or food processor until the pieces of butter are pea-sized (about 8 to 10 seconds in the food processor). Add the sour cream mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, gently mixing after each addition. Once all the liquid has been incorporated, form the dough into a disk.

FILLING

1 pound rhubarb, chopped ½-inch thick (about 5½ cups)

½ cup fresh or frozen (thawed) wild huckleberries

¾ cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

GLAZE

¼ cup rhubarb-sugar liquid from filling

3 tablespoons strawberry jam

PASTRY

¼ cup sour cream

⅓ cup ice-cold water

1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus 2 to 3 tablespoons for rolling

⅓ cup cornmeal

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus additional for buttering the skillet

2 tablespoons raw (turbinado) sugar, for sprinkling

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  Lightly dust a cutting board with flour and lightly butter a 10- or 12-inch cast iron skillet. Roll out the dough, lightly dusting the top of the dough if it starts to stick, to form a 14-inch disk. Fold the dough over the rolling pin and transfer to the skillet. Carefully lay flat in the skillet; there will be extra dough, which you can let overlap until the fruit is added. With a slotted spoon, transfer the fruit to the center of the skillet, working your way out and lifting the edge of the dough so the fruit flows under it. (There will be extra liquid left in the bottom of the bowl; you can save this syrup for later use on pancakes—just heat and serve.) After adding all the filling, spread it out evenly, lifting the dough at the edges and laying it back down on top of the fruit. You will have a 3-inch border to overlap all the way around. With a spoon, drizzle ¼ cup of the glaze evenly over the top of the fruit.

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  Sprinkle the raw sugar on the exposed, overlapping crust and bake until the crust is golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

caramelized onion piadina with chèvre and kalamata olives

Piadina is a thin Italian flatbread that is similar to focaccia but thinner and round. Turning the cast iron skillet upside down and baking on the bottom of the skillet is like baking in a hearth oven! This bread is tender and light—a nice change from chewy, tough crusts. As you remove the piadina from the oven, spread it with butter and apricot jam for a delectable treat.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

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  Preheat the oven to 450°F.

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  To prepare the crust, dissolve the yeast in the warm water, add the sugar, and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the salt, flour, and olive oil. Mix well. Flour a board generously and knead the dough on it for several minutes, until the dough forms a smooth ball. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest for 30 minutes in a warm place. Meanwhile, prepare the topping.

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  Heat the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, thyme, and sugar and cook until golden, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

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  Clean the skillet. Turn upside down and brush with olive oil. When the dough is ready, flour a board well and roll out the dough into a circle the size of the skillet. Place the dough on the oiled skillet bottom and spoon the onions evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Sprinkle evenly with the chèvre and olives. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve.

CRUST

1 (¼-ounce) package active dry yeast

¾ cup warm water

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1½ cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

CARAMELIZED ONION TOPPING

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 sweet yellow onion, cut in half, then thinly sliced crosswise

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon sugar

2 ounces chèvre, crumbled

¼ cup chopped kalamata olives

Sea salt

moist skillet corn bread

This corn bread is so moist, with a crispy crust. We recommend finely ground cornmeal such as Alber’s brand. Our family’s favorite way to eat this corn bread is with a simple honey butter.

Variations:
Add ⅔ cup fresh corn when it’s in season. If you like an even spicier corn bread, add ½ cup pepper jack cheese. You can also add 2 teaspoons chopped rosemary and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme to your dry ingredients.

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

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  Preheat the oven to 400°F.

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  Position a rack in the center of the oven. Generously butter the sides and bottom of a 10- to 12-inch cast iron skillet. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and chili powder. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, half-and-half, and 4 tablespoons of the melted butter (cooled slightly). Add the egg mixture to the cornmeal mixture and stir just until combined. Do not overmix.

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  Heat the skillet over medium heat. Pour the cornmeal batter into the hot skillet, jiggling the skillet slightly to level out the batter.