Being fond of cooking, I’ve tended to collect recipes, utensils and gadgets. One thing that had been missing was a cast iron skillet. I’d been hearing about the wonders of these (naturally non-stick over time, holds heat, evenly distributes heat) for a long time and have been disillusioned with the non-stick stuff (though a small non-stick pan for eggs is handy). So we finally decided to pick up a Lodge cast iron skillet. Though it’s sold as pre-seasoned, we seasoned it once before use.

Our first attempt at using it was to make pan seared steak for Christmas lunch, using directions (1, 2)  from Alton Brown. A juicy 12 oz ribeye, seasoned with kosher salt and coarse ground pepper. Seared for 90 s on the oven top and then put into a 500F oven for 3 minutes each side resulted in a beautiful medium steak. While the steak was resting, we put together a simple sauce with red wine, shallots and the brown bits from the pan.

The result was heavenly! Looks like cooking will be fun with the new skillet.