I have some cast iron pans, the standard no-frills Lodge stuff. Since we moved to a place that has a ceramic cooktop, I have to find ways to use the cast iron in the oven. The only thing I’ve done so far is make cornbread.
I’m wondering if any of you have some tips/suggestions for oven-based cast iron cooking. I’m looking for dishes that are vegetarian, as well as those that include fish. What can I make?
Thanks!
Oh geez, where to start.
Poached white fish in pinot grigio, dill, and lemon.
Lasagna.
Egg plant curry.
Let me look through my notes
To start with, good question BTW.
I like to make a lentil stew in the oven. Just the same as you would make it at a stove. (Recipe?*)
Also marrowfat pea, field pea, marrowfats (translate is loosing it) are great in a iron cast in the oven.
Oh, and a fish stew can also be very nice. (Recipe?*)
*Do you want, and do you mind I’m ‘rough’ , in the sense of mention ingredients. But not a lot about measurements, amounts, etc?
You can make lovely pizzas with a cast skillet, but you WILL burn yourself cooking them.
frittata
NYTimes’ no-knead bread
any casserole dish, from mac & cheese to scalloped potatoes to Tater Tot casserole
stew
veggie pot pie
pie in general
I’ve made the no-knead using my (enameled) dutch oven.
Is casserole-type stuff OK to make in the non-enameled skillets? Do I need to preheat the skillet, or just use it as I would use a glass dish?
I’m OK with approximations!
OK, tomorrow in the morning for me, I will write. 
Tarte tatin and other rustic fruit tarts (and cobblers and open-top pies) come out very nicely caramelized when baked in cast iron.
Here’s one not mentioned. Preheat the oven to 350F. Put some butter in a pan and, over medium heat, fry a nice chunk of salmon that you rubbed with some spices that you like. If you start with the non-skin side, brown it to barely golden, then gently flip it to skin-side down and let it brown that side a while. Then take the whole thing, still in the pan and finish it off in the oven. That’s a wonderful thing about cast iron - can go from cooktop to oven and back, no problems. I do this all the time, but more often with steaks. Check the internal temp of your salmon with a thermometer. Fish is done between 150F and 160F, depending on your preference.
If you have two cast iron pans and a surplus of butter and olive oil, you can make potatoes Anna about 30 minutes before you start the fish. Cast iron can stick potatoes to the bottom, so use very generous portions of the fats to cook those potatoes to a rich golden brown top and bottom.
Pommes Anna is simple to make. Slice up a bunch of clean potatoes, leaving the skins on. Make them 2-3mm thick. In a bowl toss them with salt, pepper, olive oil and melted butter. Put extra olive oil in the pan. Layer the potatoes in it, really packing them in. Then stick it in the oven. They are done when they look like this on the sides, as your finishing maneuver is to invert them on a plate. Since it’s cast iron, you might need to take them out of the oven, let them rest a minute or two in the pan, then release them from the bottom of the pan with a spatula before inversion.
This uses a special cast iron piece, but you can just use a super heated pan.
Creme brulee.
It is very dramatic.
and very delicious
You beat me to it… this is a favorite of the kid.
Doesn’t exactly answer the question, but you can buy single-burner portable butane stoves from around $25 (they are often sold as camp stoves). They aren’t cost-effective to use every day, but at $2/can for the fuel they aren’t too bad for occasional use (we use ours when we want to use the round-bottom wok).
When I first moved into my place and bought my new gas stove it was about a week before the plumber could come to do the gas fittings - so dog, I set my propane stove up on my propane stove. I would totally invest in a single burner propane stove for your wok, the heat can really help, and a single burner would probably store inside the wok!
/2¢
Okay, I promise not to derail. But for wok-ing consider a rocket stove.
Totes not practical for inside use, but the fuel is dirt cheap (well, you scavenge for it) and the temps are very, very high. So high you could potentially melt aluminum woks.
The small butane stoves put out as much or more heat than the propane stoves of the same size. The advantage of propane is that you can move up to larger cans, higher gas flow, and accordingly more heat, but I wouldn’t want to use one indoors that is significantly hotter than our butane burner; our kitchen is tiny and full of wood.
Vegetarian paella. I have a feeling you could get a great socarrat (the crust) with iron in the oven. In fact, cut a circle of aluminum foil about an inch smaller than the vessel, and lay it on top as it bakes (so the middle doesn’t dry out but you have crispy edges).
Yes, valencians, I am a mad scientist heretic.
(And awwwwaaaaaayy we go!)
How did I forget this.
Roasted tomatoes. High acid food is fine in cast iron, as long as the pan has been used half a dozen times.
Pack your pan with the best tomatoes you have. Spritz with oil, add salt. Roast at, I dunno, 425f till slightly charred.
Push through a sieve and use on everything (especially pasta)
Now I am properly embarrassed.
http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2010/08/layered-ratatouille.html
