Soul Food = Food Made With Love

Cookware Essentials – The Workhorse – The Cast-Iron Skillet:

I regularly use two types of cookware in my kitchen: Cast-Iron and Cast-Enamel cookware.  First, lets discuss the workhorse – the cast iron skillet.  Months ago, I gave up all my Teflon non-stick cookware.  I dusted off my cast-iron skillets and went completely old-school.  Yes, cooking with cast-iron is old-school. Literally, cast-iron cookware has been around for thousands of years.  Cast-iron cookware is durable cookware and will last for generations. 

My cast iron skillets are the workhorse in my kitchen.  I use them for anything from scrambling eggs, to broiling, to searing meat. There’s a reason cast-iron has continued to be a popular choice among restaurant chefs and home cooks alike.  Cast-iron has stood the test of time.  Let’s look at several benefits of cast-iron cooking:

Heat Resistant:  Cast-iron can be pre-heated to high temperatures without degrading.  Cast-iron can go from the refrigerator, to stove-top, to the broiler, with no problems.   Cast-iron is my go-to cookware whenever I am broiling or searing foods.

Non-Stick: When seasoned properly, cast-iron cookware is nonstick. Seasoning a cast iron pan involves spreading a layer of oil in the pan and heating it so it becomes polymerized oil that bonds to the surface of the pan.  This process gives a “well-seasoned” cast-iron pan its nonstick properties.

A Little Boost of Iron:  Since cast-iron is made of iron, you may actually get a boost of iron when cooking. As the food cooks, it picks up little amounts of iron from the surface of the pan, giving you a little boost of iron in every bite. 

Although cooking with cast-iron required a bit of a learning curve, after watching hours of YouTube videos.  I finally got the hang of properly seasoning, cooking, cleaning, and properly maintaining my essential cast-iron skillets. Never use dish soap and always use wooden or silicone utensils in your cast-iron cookware.  Following the proper do’s and don’ts will preserve your cast-iron cookware for generations.  

Cookware Essentials – The Prima Donna – Cast-Enamel Cookware:

I use my cast-iron skillets for every day use and meal preparation.  However, I reserve my cast-enamel cookware for cooking, roasting, and baking my favorite recipes.  I find that cast-enamel cookware is great for slow-simmering speghetti sauce and other tomato based dishes. 

The acid in tomatos reacts with the metal in non-enameled cast-iron and will give your tomato sauce an acidic taste.  This is not the case with cast-enamel cookware. 

Cast-enamel cookware can be pre-heated to high temperatures.  Cast-enamel cookware is versatile, and can go from the refrigerator, to stove-top, to the broiler.  Cast-enamel cookware is durable and will last for generations. However, you must always use wooden or silicone utensils in your enameled cast-iron cookware to preserve its longevity.   Le’ts look at a few other benefits of cast-enamble cookware.

Versatility – You will certainly need a cast-enamel Skillet, Braiser, and Dutch Oven in your cookware collection.  These three pieces are perfect for cooking just about anything on the stove top or in the oven.

Your cast-enamel cookware will be a joy to cook with. Due to the enamel coating, cast-enameled cookware, is far easier to maintain than traditional cast-iron cookware. 

Easy Cleanup – The glassy coating of enameled cast-iron makes clean-up easier than traditional cast-iron cookware. Just use hot, soapy water, and rinse thoroughly. In fact, many styles of enameled cast iron cookware are even dishwasher-safe. 

Skip The Polymerized Oil Seasoning Process – Because of the enamel coating on cast-enameled cookware there is no need for the polymerized oil seasoning process. In fact, the enamel coating makes enameled cast-iron skillets, casserole pans, and dutch ovens non-stick – similar to properly seasoned traditional cast-iron cookware.

Variety – One of the most notable benefits of enameled cast-iron is the variety of beautiful colors and sizes you can choose from. Manufactures like LeCruset, Staub, & Lodge offer unique cookware pieces in a beautiful array of colors at varying price points. 

The premium French cookware brand LeCruset is the Rolls-Royce of cast-enamel cookware, followed by its French competitor Staub, coming in at a close second. The American made Lodge cookware comes in at an impressive third place, with a price point that is most affordable and is highly recommended. 

Cookware Essentials – The Braiser:

“Traditionally defined, braising is a wet-heat cooking method that’s used to turn tough cuts of meat tender, like thick chicken breast and cuts of beef. The meat is typically browned on the stovetop before liquid is added, and then it’s cooked either on the stovetop or in the oven for a relatively long period of time to break down the meat fibers. I cook my country-style beef ribs and NY Strip steaks in a braiser.

Most braising recipes call for a Dutch oven that’s large enough to accommodate the food, but a braiser is a round pan that is shallower than a Dutch oven, with sloped sides to contain liquid and a wide cooking surface for browning, and can also be used for braising all types of foods.

However, the shallowness of this pan does limit what you can braise—large roasts, such as the bottom rounds or chuck-eye roasts called for in pot roast recipes, won’t fit. 

Like a Dutch oven, a braiser has two handles for easy transport and a lid to retain moisture and is usually made from enameled cast iron, which is great for heat retention. Its sloped sides allow for the easy maneuvering of food when browning. It can also function as a roasting pan, since it is large enough to hold a 5-pound chicken. A bonus: Most braisers are attractive enough to go from the stovetop to the table as serving dishes.”

Cookware Essentials – The Dutch Oven:

A Dutch oven is, in essence, a big pot with a lid.  Before slow cookers and Instant-Pots there was the simple Dutch Oven.

This big-clunky pot with its tight-fitting lid (designed to allow steam to escape) has been cranking out stews, braises, roasts and even baking bread for over 500 years. A good Dutch Oven can travel from your stove to your oven and back again. It is low-maintenance and virtually indestructible.

A Dutch Oven differs greatly from a braiser.  A braiser is too shallow to roast a chicken or large beef roast.  However a Dutch Oven can cook stews, roast a chicken, roast large cuts of beef, sear, and pan- fry.  My Dutch oven sits on top my stove.  My Skillet, Braiser and Dutch Oven are in rotation weekly in my kitchen.  I hope that you find this information helpful in your journey to create your own chef’s kitchen.

Kitchen Essentials – The Air Fryer

If you enjoy fried chicken, fried fish, fries, and onion rings, then an air-fryer is a kitchen essential must-have.  The Power Air Fryer XL is a revolutionary, 7-in-1 multi-cooker which replaces your deep fryer, rotisserie, dehydrator, oven, toaster, pizza grill and microwave. 

This product uses 360º super-heated, cyclonic air technology to cook your food perfectly every time without added fat or calories. It features a one-touch, digital control panel with 8 smart preset buttons, an automatic shut-off timer, an internal light, a window in front, and an easy-grip handle.

This product comes with a rotating basket, rotisserie spit, 3 air-flow racks, drip tray, fork and 3 recipe books as a bonus.  It is 1700 watt power and holds up to 6 quarts.

Air-fried foods are a healthy alternative to deep-fried foods, thanks to their lower content of fat and calories. Instead of completely submerging the food in oil, air-frying requires that just a tablespoon of oil be used to achieve a similar taste and texture to deep-fried foods. 

Deep-fried foods are generally higher in fat than foods prepared using other cooking methods.  Air-Frying your food can have a major impact on your health, as a higher intake of fat from vegetable oils has been associated with an increased risk of conditions like heart disease and inflammation.  There are many Air Fryers on the market.  Whatever product you choose, switching from deep-frying to air-frying will be an investment in your health.