Customer Reviews

Griswold and Wagner Cast Iron Cookbook: Delicious and Simple Comfort Food

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first heard of Joanna Pruess' new book, The Griswold and Wagner Cast Iron Cookbook, about two weeks ago. While it's always questionable as to whether we need yet another cookbook around our house, this one seemed too good to resist, so I ordered it here from Amazon. And I was right. I have a number of cast iron related cookbooks, and this one may already be my favorite.

This volume is a really nice, high quality hardbound book with a stitched spine. It lays flat on the counter which makes using it while cooking very easy. You can't begin to imagine the quality of the pictures until you see them. They were taken right in Pruess' home by a professional photographer as she prepared the recipes. These full color photographs occur on almost every other page. This is one of those cookbooks that's simply fun to sit down with and go through page by page.

The book is simply gorgeous. It can just as easily sit on a coffee table as it could sit on a kitchen counter. One of the elements of this cookbook that really rings true to me are the pans Pruess used in the pictures. When I see, for instance, the picture of the skillet in the oven on p. 88, I notice the pan has carbonization building up on the inside. In other words, this is a pan that gets regular use and has been used for quite a while. I can relate to it because it looks like my primary cast iron skillet. This is really in contrast to some cast iron books I've seen in which a marketing department simply went and bought pre-seasoned pans from the store and prepared a few of the recipes in them. I can even think of one cast iron book that actually has food sitting in a gun-metal gray unseasoned cast iron Dutch oven. That's definitely not the case with this book as page after page contains pictures of Pruess' own "much used pans."

If you click on the "Look Inside" image of the book on the top of the Amazon page, check out p. 33 which contains "Mom's Mac and Cheese with Bacon." The recipe is an adaption of Pruess' mother's recipe. Of course, all proper mac and cheese recipes should be baked in an oven, but what really makes it nice is the topping made from a combination of cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiono cheeses and panko bread crumbs. This was the first recipe we tried and it's absolutely delicious. It may just be better than the recipe we've made for years that's our previous favorite. We've also made the Clam-and-Corn Fritters (p. 52) which were quite tasty. Simply looking at the selections and pictures makes me want to systematically walk through this cookbook over the next few months trying out most, if not all, of the recipes.

Pruess also provides lots of tips about cleaning, maintaining, and even restoring cast iron. There are plenty of historical vignettes as well as older Griswold and Wagner advertisements including tips from Griswold's "Aunt Ellen" from nearly a century ago.

Get this book for yourself or as a gift for friends during the holidays. It's a winner.

This is a find! I inherited many cast iron pots and skillets from my mother and grandmother, without any working knowledge of how to use them. Years and years ago, I watched my grandmother make home fries (yes - complete with lard), then wipe the pan "clean" and return it to the warming oven above her old stove. But that was the problem - how to use these old pots in a contemporary kitchen? Voila! Joanna Pruess' cookbook does just that, providing mouth watering classic recipes perfect for my vintage cast iron!

I love "Mammy Lape's Roast Beef" recipe which produced succulent roast beef that is fork-tender and much like the well-loved Amish version. This recipe has already become a family favorite. "Mom's Mac and Cheese with Bacon" is a home run recipe - unbelievably fragrant and bubbly when cooking - my version looked as delicious as the photographs in the book, which incidentally are one of the things I really appreciate about this cookbook.

Great recipes, great photos, great tips and a great chance to continue a family tradition that most of us remember with pleasure - cooking with cast iron!

In my experience with cast iron cookbooks, you get one of two things: either basic recipes that any moderately experienced cook could come up with on their own without the use of a cookbook or gourmet recipes that require all sorts of exotic difficult to find ingredients & long drawn out instructions & prep time. This book has a nice mix of usable recipes. Two other cast iron cookbooks I recommend are Cooking In Cast Iron by Mara Reid Rogers and The Cast Iron Skillet by Sharon Kramis.

Joanna Pruess' latest oeuvre "Cast Iron Cookbook" is a beautifully written, designed and photographed book with vintage graphics and lovely photography by Alan Batt while at the same time it is also a really useful, hands-on guide to preparing lots of hearty, wholesome meals. We have made several of Joanna's recipes including the Raspberry Blackberry Crisp and Mom's Mac and Cheese with Bacon, which we took to parties and they were the first dishes to disappear among a hungry crowd of more than thirty guests. Friends who were at the party later told us they were inspired to make mac n' cheese after tasting ours but their versions weren't as tasty as the one we did from the book. There's an interesting history about the cast iron cookware your grandma might have bequeathed you but the dishes themselves are totally geared to the modern cook and to contemporary tastes. The truly international selection of items span the globe and include quesadillas, fritters and frittatas, pizza, rösti potato, Provençal onion, tomato and olive tart, grits and cornbread, stews, steak n' stout, Korean braised short ribs, meatloaf, chile, chicken al mattone and fried chicken, tamale pie, fajitas, bratwurst and sauerkraut, jambalaya, paella and crawfish etouffé. The shrimp posole is delicious as are other original and surprising recipes such as easy cassoulet. And desserts get their turn in cast iron too, with clafoutis, cobblers, tarte tatin and soufflés. If you can't find something to make and enjoy in this book then you need hitting over the head with a cast-iron skillet! You really can use this book to produce a wide variety of dishes for sharing and it's a compendium of entertaining ideas. It's also a great gift, we have given it to several friends who have become cast-iron geeks overnight. Now we have to compete with them on E-Bay, bidding for old Griswold and Wagner skillets and Dutch ovens! The book also has some important tips on seasoning and caring for your cast-iron cookware as it's not your usual teflon on aluminum and requires special care and feeding (but it's worth the trouble). It's the latest in a line of Ms. Pruess' really well-tested books of hearty, tasty recipes and intriguing ideas. Also check out her books "Seduced by Bacon" (you will be) and "Soups for Every Body".
Pam and John Harding, New York City

I've thoroughly enjoyed Joanna Pruess' Cast Iron Cookbook. Over the last few years, I've acquired quite a selection of cast iron cookware and find it the most reliable method for preparing tasty comfort food. I've even thrown away my teflon pan in favor of cast iron. The recipes are well chosen and represent a wide range of tastes. However, the recipes are all for dishes that you'd actually want to prepare and serve. They all seem to have been carefully tested and all of the ones I've tried have been hits with friends. None are too intimidating.
Highly recommended.

I love this cookbook. It is beautiful, had great general information about cast iron and also has a lot of interesting non recipe related content -- like old news clippings on, "What every Housewife should Know." The recipes are great -- have tried several of them at this point. I am relatively new to cooking with cast iron (although I think I am a convert for life) and have found the recipes very well laid out, thorough and easy to follow. Even more than that, the food is several steps above your basic cast iron fare. But none of the recipes are overly complicated -- filled with wonderful recipes for dishes like tamale casseroles, lamb stuffed peppers, short ribs. mac n cheese with bacon. I should mention that this cookbook is not really for the calorie conscious!

I confess, I bought this book because of the pictures of the cast iron fried chicken. I positively salivated. And the recipes turned out to be as good as they looked! For these alone, it was worth the price of the book! But it does not stop with the chicken--there are many wonderful sounding recipes (and pictures). The history notes in the book were interesting, also. Buy it for the chicken alone and the rest for a treat.

I cook with my cast iron a lot. I collect cookbooks. I love American History. So, when I saw this cookbook, I was excited to purchase it. The recipes for the most part are not anything too new for me since I have cooked in cast iron for a while... however, I think they would be helpful and fun for a new-to-cast-iron cook. The photos are lovely, and the conversational tone of the writer about the cookbooks is well done. The crowning glory of this cookbook though, is the historical information, posters, letters etc. from the Griswold and Wagner companies. Those are really fun. Is this cookbook a kitchen necessity? No, I wouldn't say so. However, it would be a great addition or even gift for anyone who does any one of these things:

1) Collects cookbooks
2) Collects/enjoys Cast Iron
3) Loves American History
4) Would like to cook with their cast iron more

Or any variation of the above items. It's a great read, a useful book and I recommend it!

I love this book. Lots of history, pictures and comfort food recipes along with proper care of cast iron cookware.

The book I ordered was titled "Griswold and WagnerWare Cast Iron Cookbook: Delicious and Simple Comfort Food". But the words Griswold and Wagner do not show up on the book cover I received, nor on any of the inside title and copyright pages. The listing on Amazon still shows the Griswold and Wagner version.

I ordered this book as a gift for my wife, a great cook and a native of Erie, Pennsylvania, who loves anything Griswold. Unfortuantely, this small, nominal change greatly reduces the value of this from being a clever and considerate gift, to just another cast iron cookbook. Although all other characteristics of the book appear to be as promised, I am disappointed.