Not Your Mother's Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook

Thanks to NetGalley, I was able to read Not Your Mother's Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook by Lucy Vaserfirer. In the introduction Vaserfirer discusses why to use cast iron cookware, and which types she recommends. She also details what one can cook in cast iron, and what the various sizes of skillet are suitable for. I particularly appreciated that the skillet sizes were listed in both inches and cms here. She then goes over the various tools and utensils that are useful for cast iron skillet cooking, some of which are also pictured in a keyed photo. An in-depth overview of different cooking methods follows, before a couple of exhaustive sections on cleaning and maintenance, another on seasoning and then finally restoration. The introduction ends with a section full of information on the recipes to follow, and the ingredients they use.

There are six recipe chapters; Eggs and Breakfast, Starters and Snacks, Mains, Sides, Sweets and Bakes, and finally Spices and Sauces. Each recipe has an introduction with serving suggestions and yield, a recommend skillet for preparation, the cooking method used, followed by the ingredients and then finally the directions. The ingredients are listed both in cups and grams or ml, and the size in both inches and cms. Oven temperatures when applicable, are listed both in Fahrenheit, Centigrade and gas marks.

I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but the way they are presented is wonderful and I truly wish all cookbooks would list them in the same manner. Even if the recipes haven't been tested in metric, not having to convert cups to grams is a huge boon, and makes life easier for those of us who prefer to use scales in the kitchen. My only quibble, and it is a small one, is that I would have loved more photos of the finished dishes. Other than than, I think this is a very nice book and I will be attempting quite a few of these dishes once I've seasoned my skillet.