Thread: Cast iron?

Ooooooo Looking good

Today I got out the big Wagner skillet and the Kitchen Aid stand mixer for German Potato Pancakes. No pics but I'll share my Mother's recipe for them---->

German Potato Pancakes
5--cups of shredded raw potatoes.
2--large eggs, beaten.
1/4--cup flour.
1/4--teaspoon baking powder.

Shred the potatoes, I use the Kitchen Aid and shredder attachment with the #1 fine shredder. Mix all the ingredients by hand in a mixing bowl. Spoon good size dollops in your cast iron skillet with LOTS of lard and spread them out about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Fry until golden brown and then flip them to do the other side. This is one recipe that I use high heat on my Wagner and I call for all the power my poor stove can give. I want the skillet hot so the things smoke a bit while frying. Serve them up with big mugs of steaming coffee. Some people top them with syrup, jam, or sugar. I just lightly salt them on the plate. Left over pancakes make great snacking for TV. You will be amazed at how a batch of potato pancakes will season a cast iron skillet. Enjoy. Look sharp and smell nice for the ladies.

Originally Posted by Benz

Today I got out the big Wagner skillet and the Kitchen Aid stand mixer for German Potato Pancakes. No pics but I'll share my Mother's recipe for them---->

German Potato Pancakes
5--cups of shredded raw potatoes.
2--large eggs, beaten.
1/4--cup flour.
1/4--teaspoon baking powder.

Shred the potatoes, I use the Kitchen Aid and shredder attachment with the #1 fine shredder. Mix all the ingredients by hand in a mixing bowl. Spoon good size dollops in your cast iron skillet with LOTS of lard and spread them out about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Fry until golden brown and then flip them to do the other side. This is one recipe that I use high heat on my Wagner and I call for all the power my poor stove can give. I want the skillet hot so the things smoke a bit while frying. Serve them up with big mugs of steaming coffee. Some people top them with syrup, jam, or sugar. I just lightly salt them on the plate. Left over pancakes make great snacking for TV. You will be amazed at how a batch of potato pancakes will season a cast iron skillet. Enjoy. Look sharp and smell nice for the ladies.

My friend, I highlighted one line in the recipe in Red, what kind of potatoes do you find work best? Russet? Red? Gold? White? Also Peeled or Un-Peeled? Just wondering

Thanks for posting the heritage recipe that you've already shared with me.

Roy--I find that it really doesn't make much difference as to variety of spuds. Today was a mix of Red Pontiacs, and Yukon Golds. One thing my Mother always told me was to never use new potatoes as they didn't taste right for pancakes. I wait until the spuds are out of the ground and in storage for a good month before making pancakes. Mom always peeled them and so do I. Another thing I do is before mixing the indredients is to squeeze the water out of the shredded taters to get rid of the excess starch.

Finally

The wife finally asked to use a Cast Iron pan woooohoooo getting there gents getting there

No Pics.. but she made a pretty nice Dutch Baby in the 10" Skillet for breakfast yesterday.

Easy Peasy clean up which was so important for her embracing the whole switch to CI, a few more success's and I may convince her yet

Originally Posted by Benz

Today I got out the big Wagner skillet and the Kitchen Aid stand mixer for German Potato Pancakes. No pics but I'll share my Mother's recipe for them---->

German Potato Pancakes
5--cups of shredded raw potatoes.
2--large eggs, beaten.
1/4--cup flour.
1/4--teaspoon baking powder.

Shred the potatoes, I use the Kitchen Aid and shredder attachment with the #1 fine shredder. Mix all the ingredients by hand in a mixing bowl. Spoon good size dollops in your cast iron skillet with LOTS of lard and spread them out about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Fry until golden brown and then flip them to do the other side. This is one recipe that I use high heat on my Wagner and I call for all the power my poor stove can give. I want the skillet hot so the things smoke a bit while frying. Serve them up with big mugs of steaming coffee. Some people top them with syrup, jam, or sugar. I just lightly salt them on the plate. Left over pancakes make great snacking for TV. You will be amazed at how a batch of potato pancakes will season a cast iron skillet. Enjoy. Look sharp and smell nice for the ladies.

Small world...that's just like my mom's old recipe. She would also us a variation when we went camping. At night she would wrap some potatoes in foil, throw them in a CI Dutch oven, and have my dad bank some coals around the DO and leave it over night. Her and I were always the first up the next morning. We'd fish for an hour or so until my day awoke; then she'd skin the tators and make up the pancakes.

God I miss those days...getting that warm childhood feeling just sitting here thinking about it.

I've been thinking about my departed father here lately. He used to talk about the things that were fixed out at the homestead when he was growing up. Things like pork cracklings (which are the result of making lard from scraps) pickled pigs feet, head cheese, dry cured hams and bacon (he swore those hams were best after hanging for about a year) anyway, Old Time Foods.

So I decided to try my hand with head cheese. No I didn't have access to hog heads, (That's what Granny used) however fresh pig feet and hocks are available. I made a broth with pig feet, onions, carrots and garlic. After cooking until the feet fell apart I strained and dumped the solids and then returned the liquid to the pot and refrigerated it.

In the meantime I put the hocks in a cure to turn them into 'eisbein'. After three days I skimmed the fat from the liquid, drained and rinsed the hocks and put it all in my dutch oven.

Here's some pics;

Hocks in the broth (I added more stock after the pic)



The hocks after a couple of hours of light simmering.



Then the skin was removed and tossed. Then the meat was refrigerated while I quick cooled the liquid until I could remove the fat and put it back on the heat to start reducing it wayyyyy down.

Once the broth was reduced the meat was chopped



Then the meat was placed in a pan and topped with the reduced stock



Into the frig overnight with a sister pan filled with water to keep it pressed down.

VIOLA! HEAD CHEESE!



I've had a sample and I'm pleased, it's quite good. My youngest brother is supposed to be here for the day and night so we'll have it for supper as sandwiches like dad said he used to.

Just picked up this new Lincoln skillet. Just so happens it matches my Lincoln straight razor.

I literally just got home from meeting an old friend who wanted to get rid of a cast iron piece. I took one look and thought to myself/this is made by the C. H. Ina Company. However I think it'll be serviceable.

I just took the pics.



Hmmm Where have I heard this name before?

Here is the favorite in our home for the past 50 years. I am 71 years old. My Mother had use of or was around when it was being used by her Mother. My Grandmother used it her entire life
and remembered well all the dinners and breakfasts from this pan with her Mother who could recount yankee renegade cavalry raiders cleaning out their smokehouse a couple of times. Helping themselves to the winter supply of hams, bacon and sausages.

The pan handle was broken off and welded back with brass early in it's stay with my Grandmother. The repair has never been an issue. At some point, obviously, the legs were sawed off to make it stove ready I suppose.

I cannot even begin to imagine how many batches of sausage and gravy, fried chicken and cream gravy have been served from this pan. There have been several hundred Sunday dinner pot roast's with all the fixings served when this pan was brought to the table.