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Cast Iron Cooking Secrets
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Have you noticed that that cast iron cooking is experiencing a resurgence in restaurants and homes? Why cooks today are selecting cast iron over modern cookware? To answer these questions, we traveled to South Pittsburg, Tennessee to visit the Lodge Manufacturing Company and to the National Cornbread Festival.
After spending three days in South Pittsburg, we learned the real secret to success and how to solve many challenges.
What the people of South Pittsburg did that made them successful!
The Big Secret Is:
- Use the American spirit – work together – make it happen
- Develop community ownership for the event
- Met together as a team to solve big challenges
- Join with local businesses like Lodge Manufacturing Co.
- Involve lots of community volunteers to plan, work, and add ideas
- Use profits to benefit and build a thriving community
- Select a product that connected the local business and the region
- Made it fun and share this with each other
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Southern Cast Iron Cooking Recipes
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Barbecued Pulled Pork Meatloaf with Sweet Taters
A comfort dish with a Southern soul
About the Recipe: Get ready to enjoy a great tasting meatloaf! Juicy beef combines with pulled pork, barbecue flavor, popping peppers, and is topped with brown sugar, blackened spiced bacon. It just couldn’t get any better except that tiny golden sweet potatoes add their Southern soul to the recipe.
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Southern Biscuit Tomato Pie Pizza
With Sausage Gravy and Fresh Basil Flavor
About the Recipe: One taste of Nashville’s country biscuits from Biscuit Love restaurant, and I knew I had to use that crust on a Southern pizza. Of course, sausage gravy became the sauce topped with fresh sliced tomatoes, basil, and soft melt-away cheese. So delicious – no wonder these flavors were born in the South.
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Vanilla Bourbon Butter Bundt Cake
A rich butter cake with a light dash of Kentucky Bourbon
About the Recipe: This recipe reminds me of the cake my mom baked when I was young, that had a rich buttery flavor and light pound cake texture. The Bourbon flavor is light and well blended with the other ingredients. It is perfect to serve in slices as a dessert and pairs well with sliced fruit or berries.
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Lodge Cast Iron Factory Tour
Lodge Manufacturing Company’s
Mission Statement – To make our company a great and safe place to work while we provide products and service to our customers.
Reasons to Buy Cast Iron Pans:
- Cast Iron pans can be heated to extremely high temperatures without negative health issues
- This cookware is visually appealing since your dinner can be served right in the skillet. It adds a rustic and unique feel to homemade meals and restaurant dinners.
- Pots and pans made with cast iron last longer than any other cookware. In fact, many young people are still using their grandma’s favorite cast iron skillet.
- Use any utensils with it, even metal.
- It’s extremely durable and older pieces you find at street markets that are rusty can easily be re-stored to look new again.
Amy Rogers – Associate Demand Planner – Lodge Manufacturing Company She is the marketing member responsible for interviews and will also be the chairperson of the marketing committee next year, 2020.
Lodge Representative –
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Creamy Rainbow Chard Spread with Swirled Bread Bits
Soft warm mini biscuits with meltaway veggie spread
About the Recipe: Just imagine crunchy hot biscuit bits spread with melting cheese covered minced rainbow chard! This is Southern comfort all the way. The best part is that they are prepared in one cast iron skillet that is cooked in the oven and served right to the table.
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The National Corn Bread Festival
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Cornbread Cooking Contest
The National Cornbread Cook-Off: As part of the Festival, Lodge sponsored a search for the nation’s best cornbread entrée. The selected 10 recipes must be original, use at least one cup of Martha White Cornbread Mix and be cooked in Lodge Cast Iron cookware. The invited finalists cooked live on the stage during the Festival.
This year Lidia Haddadian, won the top prize with her recipe for Smoky Cajun-Style Shrimp ’n Bacon Pizza with Crispy Cornbread Crust. She received a $5,000 cash prize, a cook-off trophy, a 30-inch stainless steel gas range, and other special gifts from Martha White as well as Lodge Cast Iron Manufacturing Co.
Shauna Havey took home the second-place prize with her Korean BBQ Pork Cornbread Totchos, while Chelsea Hanson placed third with her Nashville Hot Chicken and Cornbread Waffles.
For More Information See:
http://www.lodgemfg.com/story/2019-national-cornbread-cook-off
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Chefs Take the Stage
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Biscuit Love Restaurant
Nashville, TN
Chef Karl Worley appeared on the Cornbread Stage mixing and baking biscuits, a favorite from his restaurant Biscuit Love. Later, he invited the audience to come up on stage and enjoy a sample. It was then that I knew I had to introduce you to Chef Karl. His biscuits were light, crisp, buttery and everything that a Southern biscuit should be and more.
Chef Karl believes that food should also nourish your soul and he created a space where families can enjoy being together. The restaurant makes all their food from scratch, uses top quality local ingredients, and is known for creating delicious dishes that honor the deep-rooted traditions of the South.
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Chef Karl and his wife Chef Sarah Worley, graduates from Johnson & Wales University, launched their award-winning restaurant in 2012, starting with a food truck, they now have 3 Metro-Nashville locations, which serve brunch and sandwiches.
Biscuit Love was selected as one of the 50 best new restaurants in the US by Bon Appétit magazine in 2015 and the East Nasty Sandwich was selected as their favorite sandwich of that year as well.
https://biscuitlove.com/about-biscuit-love/
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Shirley Corriher’s “Touch of Grace” Southern Biscuits
Moist batter creates steam and light fluffy biscuits
Recipe Created by: Shirley Corriher; Shared by Chef Karl Worley in Art of the Biscuit
What This Recipe Shows: Low-protein flour like White Lily helps make tender, moist biscuits. A very wet dough makes more steam in a hot oven and creates lighter biscuits.
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Chef Shannon Johnson
Chef Shannon Johnson brings more than 25 years’ experience in the culinary field. Throughout his career, he has been responsible for directing food development, ingredient and product improvement, and new product innovation and campaign menu testing to help drive measurable quality and convenience for restaurant guests.
His work experiences including Executive Chef for Walt Disney Company; Vice President of the Culinary and Menu Strategy teams at Applebee’s; Executive Chef, Director of Menu Innovation for McDonald’s Corporation; and led Research and Development, QA and Sensory as Chief Food Innovation Officer for Kentucky Fried Chicken, US. At Chattanooga State he oversees the Culinary Arts portion of the Hospitality Management Program and directs the Michael P. Hennen Hospitality and Culinary Center.
For more information see:
https://www.chattanoogan.com/2015/1/21/292472/Johnson-Named-Director-Of-Hennen.aspx
Chef Shannon Johnson explaining the dish he prepared on the Chef Demonstration Stage at the National Cornbread Festival.
Chef Shannon Johnson Interview
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Welcome to Cornbread Alley
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Rockin’ Moroccan Garbanzo Cornbread
An amazing chicken chickpea cornbread with a Moroccan twist
About the Recipe: This recipe is a meal in one slice since it contains cooked chicken, cheese, and chickpeas. It could even be a grab ’n go recipe for a picnic or quick snack.
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Cornbread Alley – Cornbread Festival
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Cornbread Alley is a charity event where each person making a $5 donation receives a different cornbread from each of 9 different charities all working together.
The picture above shows the nine different biscuits served in Cornbread Alley.
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Ellis Island Ham and Cheese Cornbread
A twist on traditional cornbread makes it a mini meal
About the Recipe: This recipe is a twist on traditional cornbread, and the idea of adding available meats or cheeses to bread probably was brought to our country by some of the Ellis Island immigrants. The cast iron skillet makes the crust crunchy and so delicious. Tiny pieces of ham and cheese are baked in the cornbread, which is moist and delicious to serve with soup or a salad
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Southern Cast Iron Cooking Recipes
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Elegant Crusted Catfish with Lemon Browned Butter Drizzle
The secret step that makes this so delicious – brine the catfish
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About the Recipe: Using a non-stick cast iron skillet makes this recipe easy since you can brown the fish and then finish it in the oven using the same pan. Adding peppered grits with their zesty taste is balanced with the add-ons, mushrooms, watercress, and peppadew peppers. The final drizzle of brown butter with a touch of lemon creates an elegant dinner for that special occasion.
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Cold-Oven Moroccan Boneless Chicken Breasts
This is the easiest way to bake chicken breasts
About the Recipe: You won’t believe how easy this is to prepare. Just coat your chicken with oil; season it with your favorite spices; place it in a cold oven and let it bake itself for about 25 minutes. I like to turn my chicken halfway through the cooking time to distribute the spices evenly.
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Roast Chicken Bowl Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette
Serve your salad in small or dinner bowls
Or serve it in a large dinner bowl and let each guess serve themselves
About the Recipe: Serving dinner in bowls is so trendy. Try using small or dinner servingpeppers, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini. Vary the shapes of the added vegetables. Roast the chicken breasts with a zesty seasoning and drizzle the chicken slices and salad with white wine vinaigrette. bowls for a delicious chicken salad with lots of fresh lettuce,
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Very Berry Streusel Crunch Cake
Rich streusel cake dotted with blueberries and cranberries
About the Recipe: This rich cake batter is topped with fruit and covered with streusel. As it bakes, the cake batter will rise up around the fruit and the streusel will crinkle slightly. Serve it for breakfast like a coffee cake or later for dessert.
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Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Yes, it’s a cookie and Yes, it’s a pie – It’s Fork ‘n Finger; Serve it Your Way
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About the Recipe: Serve it as a big cookie or use it as a crust to make a Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie. It is delicious either way. For an easy pie, just top each slice with a dollop of strawberry whipped cream and add a decorative fresh strawberry. It’s a “serve it your way” recipe.
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