I saw a few of Jill's Prairie Homestead posts that came up on Facebook, about sourdough starter (something I am dying to learn), then during the Covid lockdown she shared a simple pantry bread recipe and tips to make it (how warm water should actually be, adds an egg, turn oven on then off for a warm place to raise bread) which I tried and it was amazing! She shares what she actually does, the corners she takes, everything one needs to know...and did you know I am also a prairie girl? (Alberta, Canada.) It is also a book of learning how to do things yourself instead of relying on stores, which is my goal.
I bought the cookbook (e-version) for my lovely stepdaughter's birthday as she also loved the recipe; not the print as we are both in New Zealand (over $70 here) AND it was lockdown so it would never arrive at all...and ended up screenshotting the entire book for her so she could access it more easily.
It was an amazing way for me to dive through and pick my top exciting gems, from knowledge like how to seal cast iron pans (I only had vague hear-tell), to how to properly make stock so the collagen (jelly stuff) is extracted from the bones! From home foraged (dandelion greens) breakfast fritattas, to pulled pork, the temperature needed to brew yogourt; and of course that sourdough starter to make sourdough bread! It's a big deal; I feel like I was fumbling in the dark, and now I know!
Doing anything new is intimidating before you do it; that is why I am going to record on this blog every time I try something new from the Prairie Homestead Cookbook...it will help me, and you as well! Starting with my attempt to seal my cast iron pan.
Cast iron care
12 May
I have an immortal cast iron pan, I have learned to use it and I love it. But I was a bit vague about the sealing washing thing? Some people said just cook sausages? But when I cook messy stuff, and handwash with soap and water, it would be stripped. I would wipe out with oil and go again...
Apparently...
using lard (no thanks), bacon fat (I can do that), or linseed oil (ok), you coat it inside and out and place upside down in a 160 C (sorry Jill I use Celsius, fyi she said 350 F) oven for one hour. Then turn it off and let it cool inside.
WHAAAT is that all?
Great to know definitively that the hard sealing will withstand handwashing with soap and water....
Cue to cooking fettuccini carbonara next night or so, one of the few dishes in my repertoire (learned from hospitality classes at school where I support students as a teacher aide), which has bacon. Saved the grease after baking the bacon. Poured it into pan, wiped all around. Obviously put in oven at 160 C for an hour....
This is the result (I had missed the wipe it outside bit btw). It is patchy, but think it will require a few more sealings. But SO easy to do!
