Super Skillet

Last Christmas, I got a cast iron skillet. This thing weighs more than my two-year-old son and could easily deflect heavy artillery. Oh yeah, and it was under $20. Hopefully this post won't yuppify the skillet and send the price through the roof.

So, people kept telling me that I needed to "season" the skillet and I had no idea what that meant. Well, it means that when you cook with it, you scrub it out (no soap) and then rub it down with oil and heat it on the stove until the oil smokes. Once you do this 8-10 times, the pan is amazing.

It gives things a great flavor. We cooked steaks in the skillet and I was amazed. You heat the oven to 500 degrees, and put the skillet in the oven while it heats. Get the steaks at room temperature, coat them with oil, salt and pepper. Turn the heat on high and take the skillet out and throw the steak on, while the stove is on high.

Cook the steaks for 3-4 minutes on each side, flip once. You will get a nice brown crust and unbelievable flavor that will compensate for the smokey mess in your kitchen. These were the best steaks I'd ever cooked at home.

The skillet is also great for frying onions, potatoes and chicken.