Heritage
This is part 7 of a 7 part series on my exploration of past-iron. Its best to read them in order:
Part 1: Return of the Cast Iron Cookware
Part 2: The Search for Cast Iron Knowledge
Part 3: A Steak Pun is a Medium Well Done
Part 4: Rare Stake or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Cast Iron
Part 5: Cast Iron Politics?
Part 6: A Brief Walk Through the History of Cast Iron Cookware
Part 7: Heritage
An important part of any craft is heritage. Craft is passed down from father to son, mother to daughter, and about any other familial relation you can imagine. Heck, in the western world, many have their names derived from the craft of one of their ancestors. Shumacher, Archer, Miller, Cooke, all often come from the occupation, a shoe-maker, an archer, a miller, a cook. My enthusiasm for cast-iron cookware is no different. One might remember in my first post I mentioned my parents, especially my father, using cast iron, and giving me my new skillet. Much of what I learned came from them. Like father like son.
Just like the meme, I’ve followed in my father’s footsteps in a number of ways. I look like him. I worked in a library while I was at university. I love travel. I love hats. I love cast-iron cookware. A few weeks ago, I was back home, and wondering what to make my last blog post about. What could I cook that would make a fitting end? Then I got an idea, why not collaborate? So we did, my father wanted to cook some enchiladas anyways, so we made it a father-son cooking event.
My father lived quite the life before he ended up as a university librarian. One of his adventures was living in New Mexico for a few years. There he picked up an amazing way to make enchilada sauce using cast iron. It takes some time to cook, so as he got busier in life, he cooked it less and less. Hence, this was quite the treat.
The first step is to create the sauce. In order to do this a number of spices, including some habanero chili powder to give it a kick, are mixed together in a bowl. To get a liquid consistency, some broth is poured in — we used some chicken broth.
While mixing that, some shortening is spread on the cast iron. While shortening is normally not needed to prevent sticking with cast iron, it helps with this recipe as it is combined with flour. After the shortening is spread around and the pan is sufficiently heated, flour is sprinkled onto the pan. This helps to give the sauce, when it is poured, a more consistent texture. You have to be careful though! My father showed me how to only pour small amounts of the flour in; this allows it to mix with the shortening and prevents any clumps from forming.
After that is done, its time to get the sauce in there. We poured to sauce into the cast iron, and my father had me stir continuously. That way the sauce wouldn’t get too solid and it would all mix together. Around this time it is a good idea to put the ground beef on too, to provide the meat for the enchilada.
When the sauce is ready, along with the ground beef and the tortillas — all cooked on cast-iron, its time to create the enchilada and get it ready for broiling. To do this, we dipped the entire tortilla into the sauce. This ensures the whole thing is coated in the tasty enchilada goodness.
After that, we built the enchiladas. We stacked up a few tortillas covered in the sauce, with some ground beef, and a mixture of 4 cheeses on top. Then we broiled each enchilada, to get that cheese melted just right. After that, it was time to eat our tasty goodness.
The enchiladas ended up great. I hadn’t had them in that style in a long time, and it felt like I was in New Mexico. Heck, now its making me hungry! That’s the beauty about craft though, the learning, the passing down. My father picked up this recipe from someone in New Mexico years ago, and now I know the recipe so I can cook it wherever! We made this one in New York, but I could just as easily make it in Switzerland (if I could get the ingredients, which would be hard!) Craft is made to be passed down, and I look forward to one day passing this recipe down to my offspring.
And with that, I think it is a good ending. I have explored my cast iron skillet, the history of cast iron cooking, and now seen the familiar ways tradition can be passed down. It has been a fun journey, and I am certainly a better cook for it. Now if you’ll excuse, I think it is time for lunch.
