Corn Bread by Kelley

Posted on by August 7, 2016

This was a light fluffy bread with some spiciness and an almost creamy texture made interesting by the whole-kernel corn.

Ingredients:
2   boxes of corn muffin mix per the box directions.
Half & Half – enough to make it the right consistency
2  eggs
1  chopped pickled jalapeno
1C  sharp cheddar cheese grated fresh; i.e  not the pre-grated stuff
1  can of whole kernel yellow corn, drained
2 strips of Applewood thick-sliced smoked bacon.  Crumbled with half in batter and half sprinkled on top of the batter in skillet.

Mixed and  let sit in the bowl for about 30 minutes. Poured into the warm 10″ cast iron skillet with some bacon grease left and the bits from the frying. Then into a convection oven on bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes and until a tooth pick came out clean from the deep center.

The final product was very high in the center and very moist. A 12″ skillet would have made a flatter less mountainous bread.

Afterwards she said she wished she had added chopped green onions.  [I do not know why we were not worth that small extra effort.  🙂 ]

Pinto Beans with Cumin

Posted on by February 23, 2013

The beans below were served with the first turkey I did in the Big Easy–an infrared turkey fryer. They rank as one of the best pots of pinto beans I ever made.

1 lb. pinto beans
1 t Cumin
1 t black pepper, course ground
1.5 T chicken base from Sam’s
1 large onion
Smoked ham hock

Began the process below about 6 AM.

1.  Dropped beans into boiling water, covered and turned off to sit for an hour.

2.  Poured off sugars in the water and rinsed lightly.

3.  Put into small cast iron dutch oven, covered with filtered water, added spices and base and brought to a slow boil for maybe a minuted then turned down to simmer without a lid.

4.  Added water as needed to keep covered. Added onion after a couple of hours.

5.  Added ham hock after maybe 4 hours.

6.  Pot simmered until we went shopping in late morning during which the fire was off and no lid. When we returned I turned it back on and it simmered for several more hours.

7.  Mary says I always over cook beans so she turned it off several times during the afternoon but I would find out and turn it back on for a while.

7 PM – The beans were great with the first turkey in the Big Easy. Also see Kelley’s corn bread recipe she created tonight that was TDF; i.e. To Die For.

First Turkey in The Big Easy

Posted on by February 18, 2018

I bought CharBroil’s Big Easy oil-less infrared turkey fryer via EBay for $89.99 and this was the first trial. I had seasoned the SS inner tub with corn oil and heated it until the smoke began to diminish per the directions.

The bird was a Jennie’s 14.6 pounder that I seasoned with Don’s Cajun all purpose rub bought at Don’s Meat Market in Lafayette, LA. The bird was bought frozen and thawed in hot water in the sink that morning. That took about 5 hours.

Patted dry, rubbed generously with corn oil, then shook on the rub generously. It sat for maybe 30 minutes then into the cage and into the Big Easy. Lit the Big Easy and set the timer for 2 hours. The directions said to anticipate 10 minutes per pound. There was a regular gusty breeze so I used the wire lid but finally moved it out of the middle of the patio.

With two meat thermometers in place-one in each side-it was at 160-degrees with 20 minutes to go in what should have been a 2 hour 20 minutes time period. The meat was done correctly, moist and very flavorful even thought I had not injected any cajun seasoning.

This was a great meal and was this inspiration  for this web site to keep a record and have WP’s tagging feature to help find things later.  See also how I made the pinto beans that was a side dish and Kelley’s Cornbread she made up for this meal.

No. 12 Lodge SK

Posted on by February 24, 2013

We owned this one before starting to buy CI on Ebay late in 2012. It is Mary’s favorite chicken frying skillet–at least it was until I bought the chrome No. 11 Griswold.

It has a recessed fire ring with “V” shaped gaps at 3, 9 and 12 o’clock. There is a reinforcing lip around the edge and a pour spout in both sides. Based on the references below from Greg it was made from 1960-1993.

Greg at the Black Iron Dude site responded to a question about someones 8SK with the same markings and four gaps in the heat ring like this one–only an the person asking had an 8 and not a 12.  Greg said it sounded like a Lodge as he has not heard of anyone else have breaks in the heat ring. The second question by the same guy about that date made lead to this response from Greg:

“Lodge pieces are really hard to date as even Lodge never kept very good records.
The 8SK designation is still in use today.
Heat Ring = pre 1993
Are the pouring spouts larger than what you see on curent Lodge skillets? If yes I’d guess it was made before the 1960s.
If they are similar in size that would indicate to me 1960-1993.”

The markings are:

12
SK

MADE
IN
USA

D

No. 10 Wapak skillet with Erie ghost

Posted on by July 21, 2013

Bought on ebay on Apr 01, 2013 for $43.00 plus shipping for $16.95 from Salem, Virginia. Sold by jjcool70 who said he bought in at an estate auction. When it arrived the prior seasoning was worse than it looked in the photos. But the bad condition kept the price down so it is ok.

Once it had been in the lye bath and then in the electro bath we found an Erie ghost at 12:00 in an arc just like an Erie.

No10 WAPAK top No10 WAPAK bottom

No. 10 Griddle Piqua Favorite Ware

Posted on by July 14, 2013

Bought on EBay from suziesvintage on Feb 11, 2013 for $24.99 plus $12.43 shipping from Versailles, Ohio. Seller said: “The town [Piqua] where this piece was manufactured is about 20 from where I am. It was probably bought and used locally.” Versailles is west-southwest of Piqua.

I electrocuted it–as Kelley and Mary say–and it cleaned up very nicely. Then seasoned it with flack seed oil for an hour at 400-degrees. Repeated several times.

Favorite Ware Piqua #10 Cast Iron Griddle bottom Favorite Ware Piqua #10 Cast Iron Griddle top

No. 9 Erie cast iron skillet with the maker’s “Champagne Glass” mark

Posted on by March 16, 2013

Bought by the seller in an estate auction in Spence OK in 2012.

No. 9 Erie cast iron skillet with the makers “Champagne Glass” mark. Per Roy G. Meadows’ article on Erie Cast Iron on the WAG’s web site it is a 2nd series made between 1886 and 1892. Also in that article the makers marks are listed and based on the larger triangle on top, a roundness to that larger triangle and its position at 12 oclock to the handle I am confident the mark is the Champagne Glass rather than the Hour Glass as advertised by the seller. The position of the Hour Glass mark is cited to be at 12:30 and this one is at 12:00 as the Champagne Glass is cited to be located.

Won on Ebay on Feb 05, 2013 for $49.99 with shipping of$10.59 from Spencer, Oklahoma. Bought from winchester54.

In response to my question about known history of the skillet and how it was cleaned and seasoned the seller Kenneth said: “[I] purchased it from a local estate auction back in the summer of 2012. I have been told that the uneven bottom comes from use over a flame type cooking heat and not from a electric burner. The cleaning was with a wire brush on a right angle grinder and the seasoning was with Pompeian Olivextra Oil.” 

Kenneth responded to my question about the bow in the bottom and if it wobbled by saying: “The bow is toward the bottom and it does wobble ever so slightly on the heat ring.”

top inside

Logo  Bottom Handle triangle