Okay, I need to stop being super cheap and start being just regular cheap.
Can anyone recommend a decent non expensive cast iron pan?
Lodge is a consistently recommended brand for cast iron. Their 10" is $15-ish on Amazon right now.
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Make sure you season it, and keep it oiled. It will become naturally non-stick and all you need is water and a scraper to clean it…never soap. It’s seriously one of the most useful things to have in your kitchen, and if you store it correctly, it will last forever. I have a large one (12") that i use for meat, etc. I also have a 9" skillet that is probably about 75 years old, a hand me down from my husband’s grandmother. I use that for eggs and other things that don’t need a large surface area…and it still works great.
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Don’t buy expensive pans. They are almost always a waste of money.
Don’t bother herbing your fish - it’ll just mess up the surface and the herbs will burn etc. If you’re going to flavor it just put aromatics in the oil that’s released and give a little baste, then toss the herbs. Fish cooks fine in nonstick but salmon is meaty enough to withstand almost any method.
I feel so nerdy answering questions people only sort of asked.
Agreed. The heat you’d need to get crispy skin will burn your herbs. Put the herbs in the sauce, imo.
Beure blanc is great on fish, and very easy to experiment with different herbs.
Saucery is definitely the missing link in my cooking. I know enough about cookery to make most anything you put in front of me edible but I lack the finishing touches of a real chef. Sure I’ll make simple pan sauces from fond etc. but you’ll basically never find a mother sauce bubbling away in my kitchen. Naked food and awful plating will always limit how my plates look.
Whenever I try to save up bones or lobster shells or something I inevitably throw away frosty garbage cleaning out my freezer a year later.
Wow, I was going to say that I really like the 12" size of my cast iron pan, which can comfortably sear two steaks at once. I don’t think they would fit as well in a 10", but for under $15 right now, that’s an absolute steal, especially if one is on the fence and wants to just try one out.
Care for a cast iron pan is easy. Don’t let people who believe myths that it’s hard to care for scare you.
Cliffs:
- Wash with soap and water after use. People think this is bad, but it’s fine, as long as you…
- Dry it off. You can stop here if you want, but for best results, you should at least occasionally…
- Give it a light coat of oil. Put it on a hot burner until it starts smoking a bit. Turn the burner off, and you’re done.
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Yep. Buerre blanc with whatever herbs is, I think, 100% of my sauces for fish ITT.
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I usually just spray cast iron down while it’s still hot, then stick it right back on the stove until it smokes a bit. If you use soap you’re removing the coating of oil that’s already there, only to reapply more in the next step.
Pickled mini sweet peppers
Calabrian peppers
Beef + onion
Pepperjack + Chedder
Green Bell
Salsa Verde
Best nachos I’ve ever had. (Humblebrag)
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In honor of America, I made the national dish of a completely different country 
The only fresh beans at the store were snow peas so that’s what we got. No rabbit either because the only local place is the artisanal butcher and it’s closed for Covid. Rice turned out great, perfect socarrat at the bottom.
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Trip report: I found a tin of fancy eco-friendly canned tuna in olive oil that cost like $4.50 a can and I made pesto al tonno with it. Came out fantastic: color, texture, flavor all much better than the regular stuff I’ve been buying. Never knew there was so much variance in canned tuna.
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Made Kenji’s tryhard pancakes, almost red, white and blueberry style, but I didn’t realize we were out of whip cream until this morning, when it was too late. Oh well.
These motherfuckers were fantastic, and almost worth all of the extra effort.
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What’s the difference vs normal pancakes?
Separating the egg whites and whipping until stiff peaks form is a bit far for a lot of people.
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Interesting that it’s super fluffy, since the crumb looks very similar to a rye bread.
Gotcha. That’s my standard procedure for pancakes so I just do that every time.
Not only separating and beating eggs, but also taking care to emulsify the melted butter in the yolk/buttermilk mix prior to adding the egg whites to that, and then to the dry ingredients. It’s a three bowl job when you can get some pretty decent results with one.