Iron Skillet Love Affair + Peaches

Yes, I must admit that I am in love with my iron skillets. We had these old ones lying around in the Woodsmen stash. We had purchased these in our days of touring the public auction circuit. Grandma Spicy is sure that they were not expensive, especially knowing that the Woodsmen picked most of these up. They are not the coveted Griswold brand; they are very serviceable and I have not regretted bringing them into this kitchen. Although they are too heavy to hang on my pot rack; I am sure I do what many has down throughout the years, it reigns supreme on my stove. Wondering at first when I put the skillet down on my new fangled stove; an electric smooth top, would this skillet perform with this foreign taskmaster. It was a smooth (no pun intended) transition. Being totally transfixed; thinking about how many hands had touched that handle and how much love was used when fixing meals with this skillet. This skillet was a seasoned veteran and I gained confidence using this iron master.

Water is your enemy when cleaning an iron skillet, basically you scrap the leftover food gunk out of the skillet and wipe clean with a paper towel. If you must use water; after cleaning you must dry it on the stove burner to deter rust. Finish off with a very small splash of oil (about the size of quarter), use a paper towel to wipe this all around the skillet; heat the skillet again on the stove burner, this is called seasoning your skillet. Lucinda Scala Quinn get’s the props for my iron skillet coalition; she has a lovely cooking show on Lifetime. Learning every time watching her show is my usual result; it is a good investment of time via a DVR. She had an entire segment about the iron skillets.

Making a Peach Easy Batter Cobbler in my trusty skillet was a new experience I tried today. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-batter-fruit-cobbler/detail.aspx We had picked up some fresh Illinois Red Haven peaches that had just arrived at our local Mennonite Market. They were a little under ripe yesterday, so I used the old timer’s tip of wrapping them individually in newspaper. They stayed wrapped overnight, the next day they smelled that marvelous peachy smell and were ready for consumption.

Modifying the recipe for my vegan lifestyle was simple. The ¾ cup milk became Silk Coconut Milk and the 4 tablespoons butter became my non-dairy Earth Balance natural buttery spread. Then, because Grandma Spicy likes things spicy, couldn’t resist getting that nub of ginger I keep in the freezer and grate about 2 tablespoons into my batter to compliment the peaches. Yes, that’s right I keep my “real” ginger in the freezer, it keeps and is just great for grating. The cobbler was great, it was wonderful treat on a July day!

Grandma Spicy