This is one of those “do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do” stories.
When Julie Medalis brought a cabinet’s worth of properly seasoned cast iron skillets — one from her parents, a couple from yard sales — to her marriage 13 years ago, she had strict orders for husband Brian Kelley about how they were to be cared for.
“There are very clear rules about cast iron skillets so they will remain non-stick forever,” said Medalis, a marketing consultant living in the Tuxedo Park neighborhood of North Baltimore. “And the first rule is you are never supposed to use soap to clean them.
» Lay out a tortilla on clean work surface. Sprinkle with a handful of grated cheese of your choice.
Add a little of this and a little of that of “yummy” things: cooked chicken bits, sauted peppers and onions, crab meat, scallions, grilled veggies, whatever is in the fridge and hasn’t gone bad.
Top with another handful of grated cheese.
Cover with a second tortilla and press down slightly.
Lift and slide the quesadilla into a very hot ungreased cast iron skillet, being careful not too let any of the filling fall out.
Cook until it starts to char. Flip tortilla, cook again until charring begins.
Serve with sour cream and salsa for dipping.
“And if you scrub too hard you can eat away at the beautiful seasoning [the slick black sheen baked into the bottom of cast iron], and it leaves a bare spot looking naked and sad.”
Mr. Kelley, a freelance copywriter, is apparently one of those people to whom you only have to tell something once.
“When Brian does the dishes, he follows it to the letter,” said Medalis, a native Long Islander who would like to get more in touch with her Lithuanian roots here in Crabtown. “But every time I do the dishes, he always catches me using soap because something in me can’t accept that if I don’t use soap, the next thing we cook in the skillet will taste like the last thing we cooked.”
Here is a handed-down tip for the Medalis-Kelley family from Examiner food blogger Juliette Goodwin, one that goes against the grain of a local Lebanese woman who proudly declares that water never has and never will touch her cast iron pans.
Heat the pan, pour salt into the pan, remove pan from heat and scrub gently with a brush or towel, adding a bit of water if believed necessary. Rinse and put away for the next batch of potato pancakes.
“You absolutely must use cast iron for grilled cheese and pancakes and omelets and searing chicken breasts,” said Medalis, free-associating off the top of her head.
“What drives me crazy is watching people cook with Teflon or other non-stick pans and think it’s not going to stick,” she said. “Not only do they stick, but the food never browns properly and doesn’t cook as evenly.
“Nothing cooks better than cast iron.”
>> Stories about cast iron cookware exist in just about every family. If you have a good one, please send it to Rafael Alvarez at [email protected].
