THREE CAST IRON CLASSICS TO MAKE THIS AUTUMN

Enjoy these simple, delicious, low faff suppers featuring our collection of cast iron pans.

1. TURKISH SCRAMBLED EGGS

Menemen is a Turkish dish combining perfectly scrambled eggs, tomatoes, peppers and onions spiked with aleppo pepper and oregano.

Ingredients

• 4 ripe tomatoes
• 90g green peppers
• 2 spring onions
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• Salt
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 1 tsp of aleppo pepper
• ½ tsp of dried oregano
• 4 eggs
• 1 handful of chopped parsley
• 50g Tulum (or feta) cheese

Method

1. Begin by slicing the peppers lengthwise and the spring onions into rounds. 
2. Add these to a cast iron skillet with a glug of olive oil and fry gently over a medium heat.
3. Once the peppers and onions have softened, grate in the tomatoes.
4. Now add the aleppo pepper, oregano, pinch of sugar and butter.
5. Cook this down for a few minutes to intensify the flavour of the sauce. 
6. When the sauce has darkened crack the eggs into the pan and stir to scramble. 
7. Once the eggs are cooked, remove from the heat and scatter over the parsley.
8. Crumble over some tulum or feta cheese.
9. Serve with fluffy flat breads.

2. LINGUINE ALFREDO

A creamy, garlicky, chive-y update to this stalwart of the Italian-American canon.

Ingredients

• 227g tub clotted cream
• 25g butter
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 clove of garlic (grated)
• 100g of parmesan (grated)
• freshly grated nutmeg
• 250g fresh linguine
• 1 handful of snipped chives

Method

1. Warm a cast iron saute pan over a low heat, add a glug of oil and gently fry the grated garlic. 
2. Once the garlick has softened remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cream, butter and cornflour. 
3. In a separate bowl combine the parmesan, nutmeg and good few grinds of black pepper.
4. Cook your linguine according to the packet instructions. 
5. When the pasta is cooked use tongs to transfer it to the saute pan containing the cream mixture. Be sure to transfer some of the pasta water as you do this. 
6. Combine the pasta with the cream mixture before adding the cheese. 
7. Now stir in the chopped chives and serve in warm bowls with more grated parmesan.

3. SPICY BRAISED BEEF

Few things are as comforting as beef braised low and slow in an aromatic liquor of ginger, garlic and soy.

Dry (ish) Ingredients

• 2 spring onion
• 4-6 whole dried chilies
• 2 fat cloves of garlic
• 5 thin slices of ginger
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp of dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste

Wet Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of dark soy sauce
• 3 tbsp of light soy sauce
• 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp of Chinese 5 spice
• 1 tsp of curry powder
• 2 tbsp of oyster sauce
• Juice and zest of 2 Clementines

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 130ºC.
2. Heat a glug of oil in a cast iron stockpot over a medium heat. 
3. Add all of the dry ingredients and fry until the sugar is melted and the aromatics are fragrant.
4. Lightly season the oxtail and add it to the pan. Sear on all sides until the melted sugar covers the meat. 
5. Add all the wet ingredients, plus enough water to cover the meat.
6. Bring this to the boil and skim any fat. 
7. Put on the lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 3 hours until the meat is meltingly tender. 
8. Serve with fluffy white rice.