Cast iron favorites

I recently had a note from a longtime friend just to remind me of how old we are getting and something that happened many-many years. Something that she is now experiencing. I am not going to say that something similar has happened or has not happened to me. I will leave that to your imagination. My mother-in-law who went home to be with the Lord years ago, awoke one morning and could not find her dentures. Poor thing searched high and low and could not find them. She went to the post office or a local store and explained that someone had come in her house at night and store her dentures. The rural carrier, who had known her all his life, calmly said, “Miz Sara, they are in your mouth.” She calmly replied,” Oh, thank you for finding them Clint.” With that, she turned and went home.

Let me remind you: Don’t laugh too much — it could happened to you. This is a true story that happened in Bonaire. There are a few of us around that remember it. Have a great day, enjoy the fair and remember that I’ll be seeing you around. -Agnes

Fall and winter always brings about more thoughts of the use of my cast iron. I do love to cook in my frying pans. I am going to share a couple of my favorites. -Agnes

Mexican Beef Cornbread Skillet Casserole

Yield 6 servings

2 tablespoon oil or bacon fat

1 chopped onion

1 pound lean ground beef

1 can drained and rinsed black beans

1 cup frozen corn

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup oil

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat the fat in a skillet and stir in onion, meat, cumin, and chili powder. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Then add the corn and black beans. Stir to combine and spread out in the skillet. In a bowl, mix the corn meal, egg, oil, and milk. Pour this mixture into a greased iron skillet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the skillet from the oven and pour the meat mixture over the cornbread. Top with shredded cheese. Bake for 10 more minutes.

(NOTE: This is always a good re-run for left over chili or taco salad mix.)

Iron Skillet Apple Pie

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

5 Granny Smith apples — peeled, cored, quartered, and thinly sliced

2 (9 inch) refrigerated pre-rolled pie crusts (found in Dairy Section)

1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup white sugar (for top)

1 tablespoon butter, cut into small chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 1/2 cup butter into a heavy cast iron skillet, and melt butter in the oven. Remove skillet and sprinkle with brown sugar; return to oven to heat while you prepare the apples. Remove skillet, and place 1 refrigerated pie crust on top of the brown sugar. Toss together apples, sugar, cinnamon, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, flour, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt. Mix and pour in pie crust. Top the remaining pie crust pie crust. Sprinkle top with 1/4 cup sugar and dot with 1 tablespoon of butter. Cut 4 slits into the top crust for steam. Bake in the preheated oven until the apples are tender and the crust is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Serve warm.

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