Cooking a Steak in a Cast Iron pan

Ok so i Found this and worked out very well so give it a try also keep in mind that it make take a little long depending on the cut of steak that you use. I did NYC Strips and cooked them 4 mins a side and came out very pink but thats how I like my steaks so if you want it done more add more time per side.

What you will need

You need a seasoned cast iron skillet, tongs, safflower or peanut oil, sea salt or kosher salt or Himalayan Pink Salt, and I will assume you have a range and oven. It does not matter whether the range is electric or gas. Good results can be had with either. Also good oven mitts are a must. Any type steak will work, but in this example I am using a ribeye that is a bit over an inch thick. Ribeyes generally have a good flavor so they do not need a lot of seasoning.

If you just acquired your cast iron pan, you will need to season it properly. Most cast iron pans these days come seasoned, but if yours is not, it is easy. Set the oven to 450. Brush cooking oil on the inside surfaces of the pan. Put it in the oven for 1 hour. When it comes out of the oven, let it cool, and wipe any excess oil off. Your pan should look black when it is properly seasoned.

Getting things going.

Pull the steaks out of the refrigerator and let them warm up a bit. We need to preheat the oven to 450 degrees. As the oven heats up, put the cast iron skillet on a large burner and heat it up to high temperature. As things are heating up, place the steak on a plate and pour a little safflower or peanut oil on it. Rub the oil in, then add salt and pepper and rub that in. If you want to add any other seasonings, this would be a good time for dry seasonings. Sometimes I use a mixture of onion and garlic powder with seasoned salt. Turn the steak over and repeat. Now it is time to cook. I also placed a bit of butter in the pan.

Cooking the steak

Once our skillet is nice and hot, take the tongs and place the steak in the skillet, and sear each side for 30-40 seconds. Then take your oven mitt, and place the steak in the 450 degree oven. Luckily, everyone at my house likes their steak medium rare, so all my steaks will have the same cooking time. You will let the steak cook in the oven, 2 1/2 minutes per side. If your taste tends towards medium, you will want to go for a bit over 3 minutes. At the 2 1/2 minute mark, you will pull the pan out of the oven, then turn the steak over, and then put it back in the oven and cook for 2 1/2 more minutes.

Once it has cooked on both sides for the allotted time, take the pan out of the oven and let it set for a few minutes, giving the steak a chance to rest. If you have aluminum foil, loosely cover the steak with the foil while they rest.

While you wait, you can plate your other side dishes. then once a few minutes have passed, take the tongs and put the steak on the plate and enjoy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

These are so good just made them today.

INGREDIENTS:

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup chunky peanut butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Coarse salt for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Beat together the butter, peanut butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract. Scrape the bowl. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips.

Use a cookie scooper , spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle a small pinch of coarse salt on top of each cookie. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the outside of the cookies are set but the middles are still a little soft. Cool cookies on the baking sheets. Store in an airtight container.

I also think a bit of caramel mixed into these cookies would be great.

 

Brownies with Peanut butter Frosting

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups white sugar 1 cup butter 1/2 cup cocoa powder 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 eggs 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 package of white chocolate hot chocolate FROSTING: 1/3 cup Peanut Butter 3 tablespoons butter, softened 3 cups confectioners' sugar 1/4 cup milk 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract Directions:

	Melt the butter or margarine and mix all ingredients in the order given.
	Bake at 350 F degrees for 20 to 30 minutes in a 9 x 13 inch greased pan.

After cooling add frosting

PB & J Squares

OK so here is a new recipe I found and there is a lot you can do with this for mix in I did raisins and Craisins I didn't have any nuts. I'm pretty sure any nuts would work and chocolate chips and i was thinking maybe some pretzels might work.

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups Cheerios® cereal

½ cup peanuts

½ cup raisins

1/3 cup grape jelly

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

½ cup creamy peanut butter

• 1 Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, place cereal, peanuts and raisins; stir to mix. Set aside.
• 2 In 2-quart saucepan, heat jelly, sugar and corn syrup over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to boil. Boil 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until mixture is smooth.
• 3 Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal mixture in bowl; stir until cereal is evenly coated. Pour mixture into pan. With buttered back of spoon, press mixture in pan until even. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• 4 With table knife, cut cereal mixture into 6 rows by 4 rows to make 24 bars. Store in loosely covered container.

A little Help

A little Help

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

So here is new one that i've found and made yum is all i can you can frost them with peanut butter frosting or chocolate or not at all it's your call.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips, nuts, etc)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees (dark or glass pans set oven to 325 degrees)
• Spray a 8 or 9 inch square pan with nonstick spray (or use parchment paper)
• Melt butter in a microwave
• Add both sugars, melted butter, vanilla and peanut butter into a bowl and mix until well combined
• Add in eggs; mix until combined
• In a small bowl mix together flour, baking powder and salt
• Slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture until combined
• Add in chocolate chips
• Put batter into prepared pan and spread evenly
• Bake for about 30-35 minutes (I always start checking them at about 25 min.)
• Cool completely and cut into bars
  
  
  
  
  

Lemon Bars

NGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup white sugar 2 cups and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 6 eggs 1 1/2 cups white sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ¾ of a cup lemons, juiced also save the zest 1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups and 1 tablespoon flour and 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
3.	Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice and lemon zest. Pour over the baked crust.
4.	Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checkerboard fashion.