In the kitchen, nothing cooks quite like cast iron. Stainless steel, aluminum, copper, they all have their places and superior attributes for certain tasks. But for three things, in certain situations, I always turn to cast iron.

To Sear

Searing is a funny thing. The reason most of us think about why we do it is actually quite wrong.

We’re often told that searing meat causes it to retain juices. According to none other than renowned food scientist Harold McGee, meat is actually slightly more likely to lose moisture when seared first. What? (Check out McGee’s book here).

Searing using cast iron gives meat a distinctive, delicious texture.

Yup. Seems that when we sear, we are exposing meat to higher temperatures (typically higher than 350 degrees Fahrenheit), which destroys more cells and releases more liquid.

So why sear? There are three very good reasons.

First, for flavor. Browning meat creates carmelization, which tastes good. Secondly, for texture. The difference between crunchy, chewy exterior meat versus softer, tender interior meat is interesting to our palate.

And lastly, because goshdarnit, browned meat looks nice.

All the above can be said for other, non-meat products, too, which brings us back to cast iron.

Iron’s ability to consistently retain heat across the pan means that whatever’s being cooked in it will be evenly and beautifully cooked.

To sear, bring the pan to temperature over medium heat on an appropriately sized burner. Ensure the pan is fully heated before you begin cooking. Cast iron can take a long time to heat up or cool down, so you want it right before you begin, since it can be difficult to adjust quickly.

I typically sear “dry,” with no fat, to get that crispy, browned surface. (Note: a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet is essentially a non-stick pan once it has been well seasoned by baking with a light coating of oil. Click here for instructions from our friends at Cook’s Illustrated.)

Dry the food well with a paper towel, especially scallops. And remember to use a potholder or dry dish towel on the handle, since it heats up, too. As a safety measure when I’m done with a cast-iron pan, I leave a dishtowel or potholder draped over the handle (away from any hot burners) as a reminder NOT to touch it.

A Le Creuset enameled cast iron pot. Image credit: Le Creuset.

To Braise

Braising involves first searing to develop color and flavor, then cooking “low and slow” in a liquid like stock or wine. This method is ideal for cooking tough meats— cuts like roast, brisket or round, as it helps break down the tough, connective tissue.

I go to my enameled cast-iron cookware for stews and hearty dishes like Boeuf Bourguignon (Julia Child’s recipe is my go-to.)

While traditional cast-iron Dutch ovens can obviously withstand the soak of cooking liquids for hours at a time, I prefer to use the enameled for long, wet cooking for one basic reason: Aesthetics. The enameled cast iron (think Le Creuset, Staub and Lodge) hold heat, go from stovetop to oven to serving, look terrific in their myriad colors and are a cinch to clean.

To Bake

Cornbread, Pineapple-Upside Cake and Tarte Tatin. These comfort-food desserts simply don’t taste as good cooked in a traditional cake pan. Trust me on this. It’s that carmelization thing, which is even more pronounced with sugar.

Baking in cast-iron produces a beautiful browning and sugar-y thickening that makes a big difference between just delicious and decadent.

Cornbread baked in cast iron pans has an edge over other cornbread: caramelization.

For cornbread, by pre-heating the skillet, you ensure a rich, brown crust all around the cornbread. The caramelization on the cake and tart is stunning, thanks to the consistent heat. And there’s something decidedly Old World about hoisting that skillet around to flip the dessert out. Those cooks of yester-year were tough.

This Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food) is a perfect example of how to use a cast-iron pan to turn out a delightful dessert. (And because I never remember to take butter out of the refrigerator in time for it to warm to the right temperature, I’ve included my own food-processor technique using cold butter.)

Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients:

6 T. unsalted butter, cold
1/3 c. packed brown sugar (light or dark, depending on your taste)
½ c. granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. all-purpose flour (spooned into a measuring cup and leveled off)
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 c. chocolate chips (milk, dark, bittersweet, whatever you prefer)
1 c. unsalted nuts, toasted and chopped roughly (I use walnuts; whatever nuts you use, keep the pieces kind of large, so you can really bite into them in the finished cookie).

A completed Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie. Image credit: Sam Klein.

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Have at the ready a 10-inch cast-iron skillet (un-greased, of course).
2. Using a food processor, combine butter and sugars until well blended. (If you’d prefer to do this by hand, the butter will need to be at room temperature.)
3. Add egg and vanilla and blend until well mixed.
4. Sprinkle flour, baking soda and salt evenly on top and blend until combined.
5. Spread the chocolate chips and nuts in the cast-iron skillet.
6. Scrape the batter into the skillet and spread it evenly around the pan with a rubber spatula. The chips and nuts will get mixed in just fine. Smooth the top.
7. Bake until the cookie is golden brown on top and just set in the center, 18-20 minutes. The residual heat from the pan will continue cooking while you let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
8. Cut into wedges and serve with ice cream for a delectable cookie sundae. A glass of milk goes pretty well with it, too.

Milk & Honey	The Duo	Peter Rabbit

Laura Grimmer is a professional cook and sommelier who lives to eat, drink and provide sustenance. She came late to the culinary world, selling her PR firm and enrolling at the French Culinary Institute because of a borderline fixation on master chef Jacques Pépin. She left cooking school a classically trained chef with a deeply seated appreciation for tradition in the kitchen. www.perfectpairnyc.com

The essay by Francis Lam (now a judge on Top Chef Masters) extolled the French omelet as the pursuit of perfection.

The French omelet is all about the egg. Perfectly executed, it contains just eggs, a little butter and oil in the pan, salt and pepper (though I prefer white pepper, so there are no black flecks to mar the pale yellow flesh of the finished product). It is smooth, no bumps or bulges of egg curd, the color of butter, and it melts in your mouth.

A French omelet, topped with a tomato garnish.

I recently asked Lam via Twitter (@Francis_Lam) if he still felt the same way about the omelet, as the pinnacle of perfection in the kitchen. His response: “Ain’t nothin’ changed!”

And that’s the beauty of French culinary technique. It doesn’t change, because the results stand the test of time. The same could be said for eggs.

History tells us that wild fowl were domesticated for egg production as far back as 3200 BC. According to the American Egg Board (home of perhaps one of the most catchy slogans ever, “the incredible edible egg”), there is evidence that there were domesticated fowls in North America when Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But, upon a return trip in 1493, he brought with him chickens that became the basis for the stock we know today.

Despite the increase in home chicken-keeping, Americans still get most of our eggs from commercial farms and the stalwart layer, the Single-Comb White Leghorn. U.S. commercial chickens produce about 75 billion eggs a year, or about 10 percent of the world supply.

Single Comb White Leghorns are produce a large share of the white eggs that Americans consume. Breeds such as Barnevelders, Rhode Island Reds, and more produce brown eggs of a range of shades. Araucanas produce blue and green eggs. Image credit: Woodley Wonder Works.

Two-thirds of those eggs are used by consumers, according to the Egg Board, while the rest are used by the foodservice industry and in egg products made by food manufacturers.

There are certainly plenty of other sources of eggs, with more showing up at grocery stores around the country: Duck, quail, ostrich and goose are among the more prevalent newcomers, and most can be used interchangeably with chicken eggs with attention to the portion. According to the American Ostrich Association, an ostrich egg is equivalent to about two dozen chicken eggs—so if you’re cracking one of these five-pounders, plan on company.

A duck egg surrounded by ostrich eggs. Image credit: John Federico.

An easy way to convert recipes is by weight. A chicken yolk weighs around 20 grams, while a white is about 30 grams. Convert accordingly.

That said, non-chicken eggs can be more of a statement on the plate. Pickled hard-boiled quail eggs are a visual delight on a fancy “ladies who lunch” salad. A single sunny-side up goose egg would look gorgeous atop a pan of griddled hash.

A spinach and hard-boiled quail egg salad. Image credit: Tuija Aalto.

As a home cook, I use eggs for so much more than baking. But my favorite use is homemade mayonnaise.

Once you’ve mastered the basics of making your own, you’ll never go back to the jar. The taste is pure and infinitely less sweet than the store-bought variety. (Anytime I taste something sweet that’s supposed to be savory, I immediately suspect corn syrup, which is a no-no in my kitchen.)

In its purest state, basic mayonnaise is the foundation for an endless supply of flavored cold sauces and salad dressings, fish toppings and dips. When I’m making a small batch, I don’t even bother with a food processor. Just a bowl, a whisk, and my imagination.

Making Mayonnaise:

• In a small bowl, separate one egg. Place the yolk in medium bowl, and put the white in a freezer-safe container. (Usually, I put it in a small zipped sandwich bag, label it with the content and the date, and I throw it in the freezer. Whites freeze with no discernible impact on their integrity. You can thaw them and use them as you would a newly separated egg – in meringue, to supplement an omelet, and in recipes. Measure either by portion, if that’s how you froze it, or by weight if you freeze a batch at a time. One white weighs about 30 grams.)
• To the yolk, add a touch of Dijon mustard (start with ¼ teaspoon, and increase to adjust to your tastes), a squirt of lemon (start with ½ teaspoon, adjust accordingly), and a pinch of salt. Whisk together until well combined.
• A typical yolk will absorb between 100-150 grams of fat or oil. I keep my vegetable and olive oils in squeeze bottles, so depending on whether I want a vegetable or an olive oil mayonnaise, they’re within easy reach. (The difference is in taste. When I’m making a garlicky aioli to top croutes or to blend in with a Bouillabaisse, I use extra-virgin olive oil to augment the taste of the Mediterranean; when I’m making a spicy Sriracha-flavored creamy salad dressing, I opt for the neutral palate of vegetable oil.)
• Whisk in the oil slowly, in a steady stream, until the mayonnaise is the consistency you want. If it starts to look greasy or curdled, stop drizzling in the oil and whisk it aggressively until it smooths out. Then keep adding oil to your preferred thickness.
• Taste for seasonings, and whisk in additional salt, lemon juice or mustard as desired. I also add a touch of cayenne pepper, which jumps up the flavor without adding heat. Use with caution.

Eggs, lemon juice, and oil: some of the ingredients you’ll need to make your own mayonnaise. Image credit: Katherine Martinelli.

Just a few of the things I use with this base:

• Lemon: Add 1 teaspoon lemon zest and additional lemon juice to thin the mayo. Uses: Creamy lemon salad dressing, sauce for broiled salmon or asparagus or broccoli.
• Lime and Sriracha: Add 1 teaspoon lime zest, lime juice and a squirt of Sriracha, to your taste and consistency. Uses: Amazing zesty and creamy salad dressing, perfect foil for crab cakes or salmon cakes, complements Merguez sausage.
• Garlic: Mince 1 clove garlic and whisk that in at the beginning with the mustard and lemon juice. The perfect aioli. Uses: Dip for raw vegetables, slather on grilled or toasted rustic bread, blend in soups to add depth and creaminess.

As for the humble French omelet, I must admit that most weekends, you’ll find me, like Francis Lam, at the stove, non-stick skillet in hand, in pursuit of the perfect omelet.

If you make your own omelets, try Martha Stewart’s simple instructions. It’s a different animal from the dry, browned version most of us grew up eating or the over-stuffed blob on the plate at most sticky-tabled diners.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that style of omelet. But, once you’ve experienced the ephemeral egg in perhaps its purest, most incredible, edible state, you may never go back.

Use these products from Hudson Made when preparing and serving your next delicious egg-based meal:

Flame-Blackened Wide Serving Spoon	Milk & Honey	Worker’s Apron

Laura Grimmer is a professional cook and sommelier who lives to eat, drink and provide sustenance. She came late to the culinary world, selling her PR firm and enrolling at the French Culinary Institute because of a borderline fixation on master chef Jacques Pépin. She left cooking school a classically trained chef with a deeply seated appreciation for tradition in the kitchen. www.perfectpairnyc.com

The Great American Flask by Jacob Bromwell

Copper, known for purifying liquids that come in contact with it, has been used in the distillation process of whiskey for centuries. The style of this Jacob Bromwell showpiece could have been found on the old pioneer trails as Americans made their way across unchartered lands. I utilize the flask from the comfort of my own couch. My only question is what to fill it with.

If I want to throwback to pre-Prohibition days, I’ll opt for rye, which largely disappeared after the 1920s and has only recently seen resurgence from artisan makers of fine spirits. Rye whiskey must be made from a mash of at least 51 percent rye and aged in new oak barrels. If I had to drown in a vat of rye, I’d pick High West Distillery’s Rendevous Rye. Made from a 95 percent mash rye, the rich amber spirit holds up in mixed drinks and is a powerful elixir on its own.

Sometimes my sweet Southern side comes out and I prefer smooth bourbon. A truly American product, Kentucky has a stronghold on the corn-based whiskey and follows a similar distillation practice as rye. While I may be a purist, in the Hudson Made tradition my heart (and my flask) are devoted to Hudson Baby Bourbon, made from 100 percent New York corn.

And when I am alone on a gloomy night with no comfort except my dog and my DVR, there is no better soothing spirit than Writer’s Tears. Dating back to the 15^th century, Irish whiskey has a long, troubled history and only the strong have survived civil and trade wars. This pure pot still whiskey is made from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley and is unique to Ireland. Best appreciated when writing one’s memoirs or a nasty break-up note, I have found it equally enjoyable while gazing out my window at the New York skyline.

To celebrate the launch of the flask, Hudson Made teamed up with New York City cocktail chemist and barkeep-about-town Paul Ammerman to create a drink that brings the Hudson Made philosophy to life. “I decided to incorporate maple syrup into this modern interpretation of an Old Fashioned since we’re at the beginning of maple-tapping season,” says Paul of his creative process.

Paul Ammerman and “The Hank Hudson”

Imbibe in “The Hank Hudson” through the end of maple-tapping season at Louis 649, where Paul holds court on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. If you’d rather hole up and make a batch yourself with Hudson Made’s exclusive recipe:

2 oz. High West Distillery Double Rye
½ oz. Luxurado Amaro Abano
½ oz. Sugar Hill Farm maple syrup
1 dash absinth

Stir. Serve on the rocks with an orange twist.

Need more ideas about how to fill your Bromwell flask? Check out some of my favorite aficionados of ardent spirits at the lifestyle blog Inside Hook. They’ve got the low-down on local whiskies and seasonal cocktails. Now get swiggin’.

Matthew Wexler is the National Style and Travel Editor at EDGE Media Network. More of his musings can be found on his blog, roodeloo.com. This post was written in collaboration Sloan Rollins.