A Beautiful Housewife

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Do you have an antique cast iron cookware that has been passed on to you from your great great ancestors? Are you struggling of cleaning it so it won’t get rusty. I hope to help resolve some of those questions in this article.

I love my cast iron skillets, passed down from my Mom; I remember her using them to make delicious fried chicken dinners, cornbread to go with our Great Northern beans and the best popcorn. The only thing I did not remember was what she did to keep those skillets nice and clean. Some folks dries their cast iron cookware slowly on the stove and then lightly grease them with oil. What I usually do is first we would need a thin coat of cooking oil. You can use a spray oil if you have one.

This process is called seasoning. The importance of seasoning serves as a natural way of creating a non stick surface for your cast iron skillet. If however, your cast iron has been neglected and rusted over the years you don’t have to throw it right away. You can always restore it by seasoning it for a couple of time until it looks just as new.

The more you use your cast iron the better seasoned it becomes. A black shiny skillet is a well-seasoned utensil and the one that will give the best flavor. Seasoning must be done on both inside and outside part of your cast iron. You also need to season your lid. If you want to make your cast iron black and shiny again, try frying a bacon or any fatty meats in it. It will help it become seasoned faster and give you that shiny black non-stick interior you are working for.

Ways to season you cast iron skillets.

1. After cooking in it, wash it with a hot water. Scrub it with a stiff brush to clean the residue out.

2. Rinse it well. Pat dry it with paper towel.

3. Apply a thin coat of shortening both inside and out

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line oven rack with foil to catch drips

5. Put cookware upside down on the upper rack of your oven and bake for one hour.

6. Let it cool before taking out of the oven.

7. Store it in a cool, dry place and allow air to circulate around it

8. Do not wash it in a dishwasher.

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Over the years many types of pizza have been developed. Some styles are regional; others seem to appear all over. This just speaks to the popularity of pizza as a convenient, delicious meal. Whether you bake it yourself or get it delivered from a pizza place, this is one meal that is enjoyed all over the world.

The New York variety is known for its chewy, thin crust that serves as the basis for the sweetened tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella cheese. New Yorkers eat their slices folded in half. Don’t be surprised to see yellow oils dripping down your arm. This is from the cheese, which is rich in butterfat. New Yorkers prefer it without a lot of toppings to distract them from the goodness of a plain simple pie.

Chicago Style is deep dish. Invented by Ike Sewell in 1943, the deep-dish pizza contains a huge amount of toppings to make sure you are getting a hearty meal. Additionally, the crust is built up high on the sides to contain all the goodies. In Chicago, the cheese goes on first, then the toppings, and finally the sauce. Margarine is added to the pan to create a crisp, lightly fried crust on the bottom. This is eaten with a knife and fork.

California or West Coast style features unusual toppings and combinations. After rising, the dough is partially baked, and then finished once the toppings are added. This allows the crust to bake into a delightful, airy, and tender bread. Some common toppings include smoked salmon, shrimp, Dungeness crab, or asparagus. Vegetarian pies are very popular too.

Pan style is baked with oil in the pan. This makes a crunchy fried bottom on the crust and alters the flavor just a little bit. This style gives a thicker crust that has been given time to rise before baking. Any toppings can be used for pan style pizza.

Cracker style crusts became the rage in the 1950s. This dough was allowed to ferment before baking, which gave it a cracker-like texture. This was a new technique. Normal thin crust is usually hand stretched. One may wonder where did pizza originate? Most think of Italy, but these thin crusts were very popular with the Greeks and Etruscans, who happened to be occupying Italy.

Focaccia style pies reach back into the far reaches of history to pizza’s early beginnings. This type does not have sauce. Instead, it is topped with oils, grilled vegetables and whatever other toppings that may be on the menu. This type of pie has been eaten in Europe since before the introduction of the tomato.

Other styles continue to be developed. A Tex-Mex style offers a crust that contains masa flour, making it taste more like a corn chip. Tex-Mex pizzas are often topped with shredded beef, corn, and other Mexican style toppings. The sauce is similar to picante sauce. Other regional taste use specific cheeses like Provolone instead of mozzarella to finish them off in the Midwest.

pizza dough recipes vary widely and you can use different kinds of flour and different flavorings for a range of wonderful homemade pizza results. At our site, you can find lots of pizza dough recipes to team with your favorite pizza sauce and pizza toppings. Nothing is as tasty as homemade pizza!