Pots and Pans

I was recently at a friend's house, and I expressed some concern when I saw her put some non-stick pans on the stove and heat them up with nothing in them.

"What kinds of pans should I be using?" she asked.

The answer isn't as simple as one might think. Keep reading if you're interested...

Why Cast Iron?

In my post a few days ago, I recommended using (and buying) cast iron.

Cast iron cookware has many virtues. I'm not the first to point them out. But I'm going to point them out anyway.

• Cast iron heats uniformly. Great for searing, toasting, and sautéeing, and great for baking.
• It holds a lot of heat. So when you drop in a cold piece of something, the pan doesn't get cold, and the something sears. Or if the pan is full of oil, the oil doesn't get cold.
  
• You can make cast iron REALLY hot. Simply put it on a high flame with nothing in it for a while. Great for searing and blackening. Cast iron can also go in the oven, and under the broiler if you are sensible about it.
  
• Over time and with proper use, cast iron develops a pretty good non-stick surface. The more you fry in it, the better it cooks, the less it sticks, and the easier it gets to clean.
  
• It is heavy, and will impress your guests and potential burglars.
• It is nearly indestructible. You can use metal spoons and tongs in it all day long. Even if you mess up its finish, you can easily refinish it yourself.
• It is a bargain, whether you buy it new or used.

Its downsides:

• If you use it to cook things that are acidic or too liquid (spinach, tomatoes, stews, soups), it can oxidize, discoloring the food, and adding some iron to it. A little supplemental iron in our diets can be okay, depending, but black tomato sauce is a bummer.
  
• Cast iron holds a lot of heat. If you want to be able to vary the temperature quickly, like when you're stir-frying or sautéeing something delicate, this can be a drawback.
  

When I'm not using a cast iron pan, I might use enameled cast iron (Le Creuset), anodized aluminum ("classic" Calphalon, not nonstick or "infused"), or stainless steel.

Enameled cast iron cooks very much like cast iron, except that its finish is impervious to acid and liquid. It is more fragile than cast iron; you don't want to bang it with a metal spoon, or burn things in it. It tends to be expensive. Great for soups, stews, and roasting.

Anodized aluminum heats nicely. Unlike cast iron, aluminum holds little heat; this can be nice when you want to vary the heat quickly and precisely. Anodized aluminum is also more fragile than cast iron, is expensive, and is increasingly hard to find. Anodized aluminum can really do everything pretty well; if I could only have one type of pan, this might be it. Fortunately, I have no such limitation.

Unfinished aluminum has nothing to recommend it over anodized aluminum, except that it's cheap. But unfinished aluminum oxidizes, and is pretty toxic, so I don't use it.

Stainless steel heats okay but not great, although some fancy stainless pans, like All-Clad and other laminated types, heat nicely. Stainless steel is impervious to acid and liquid, is not so fragile, and can be inexpensive (although not the All-Clad). A good choice for messy, sticky, or corrosive things, like dessert sauces and acidic reductions. Or for boiling water.

Non-stick is fragile, and can't safely be used on high heat because of toxicity. I can see the case for frying eggs and fish in non-stick, because fried eggs and fish are very delicate—but that's about all. I avoid it when I have a choice.

I don't have experience with glass cookware. My impression is that it heats poorly, is fragile, and is difficult to clean.

Burns Supper Hangover

You've just hosted a winning Burns Supper. But blast! You have enough tatties and neeps left over to feed the cast of Braveheart for a month! What to do? Consistent with the general Scottish feeling that deep-frying anything makes it better, a feeling not foreign to my American shores, I present:

Tattie and Neep Croquettes

Equipment:

• a mixing bowl
• a deep skillet or chicken fryer, ideally cast iron, like this
  
• spoons and spatulas for mixing and cooking
  
• some paper towels
• (optional) a slotted spoon or spider

Ingredients:

• tatties
• neeps
• eggs
• salt
• pepper
• oil or fat for deep frying
  
• (optional) truffle oil

Recipe:

1. If your skillet is cast iron, preheat it over medium heat.
   
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix tatties and neeps, roughly 2 to 1. Add salt and pepper to taste. (And don't be afraid to taste.) If your tatties don't already have truffle oil in them, then for God's sake, add some! Add one beaten whole egg for each cup or two of vegetable. Mix well.
   
3. Using your hands, form the mixture into croquettes. These can be very similar to Tater Tots (but are more expensive, because they sound French). You can also make them into small patties, which fry nicely.
   
4. Spread the paper towels on a plate, ready to receive the croquettes when you are done frying them.
   
5. Place the skillet on medium heat, and add your oil or fat, a couple of inches deep. (A word about your choice of frying fat. For the purist, I suppose rendered sheep fat would be the only option. For the rest of us, options include other animal fats, olive oil, clarified butter, and coconut oil.)
6. When the oil is hot (which you can test by throwing a tiny bit of vegetable mixture into it and waiting for it to sizzle), gently put your croquettes into the pan, being mindful not to crowd them. If you have a lot of croquettes, or a smaller pan, do them in batches. Don't splash oil on your hands if you can help it.
7. Carefully turn the croquettes every minute or so, until they are a nice golden-brown shade on all sides. Total cooking time will depend on the size of the croquettes, the heat of your stove, the moisture content of your vegetables, and too many other factors to list here. So keep your eye on them.
   
8. Remove the croquettes from the oil (with the slotted spoon if you have one) and put them on the paper towel.
   
9. (Repeat with subsequent batches, until you are done.)

Serve hot, warm, or cold, with fancy home-made mayonnaise and parsley.