This is an appreciation post for my cast iron skillet!
When I bought my 12″ cast iron skillet 7 years back, it was because of it’s popularity in the world of cooking. But sadly I didn’t find it useful! Despite of avoiding cleaning with soap, reseasoning regularly and not cooking anything acidic, it never got to that ‘nonstick-like’ place.
Every time I saw my skillet sitting ideally, gathering dust in the kitchen cabinet I would fell sad. It’s a great, high quality utensil; I just cannot make it work! It was time to call a family meeting! Jaimin and I decided to give the skillet one last try before retiring it. After doing good amount of in-depth research, we cleaned it throughly; removed all uneven seasoning and seasoned again multiple times. It looked brand new!
Since that day I have made sure I use enough butter/oil to avoid sticking, clean the skillet immediately with soft cloth while it is still hot and reseason often (~ once every three months). And since then I have never looked back!
As cast iron has ability of retaining heat equally, it improves the quality of cooked meal immensely. It is now a crown jewel of my kitchen!
It has made superb burgers, mouth watering grilled cheese, egg scramble, crispy handvo, smokey stir fry and now soft and crispy pancakes.
If you are bored of regular pancakes or just love pancakes, give these a try!
Apple Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 eggs well beaten
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 medium apples, peeled and coarsely grated (I used on granny smith and two gala apples)
- butter for cooking
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220 F and place large baking sheet inside.
- Mix the eggs with the milk in a large bowl.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together.
- Combine the wet and the dry ingredients and stir in the apples.
- Heat a thin layer of butter in a skillet over low to medium heat. Drop large spoonful of batter into the pan and flatten it out a little and cook until golden brown underneath.
- Flip the pancakes and cook them for an additional two or three minutes.
- Once the pancakes are golden brown on the second side, transfer them to heated oven.
- Repeat with the remaining batter.
- When ready to serve, dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately.