Cast-iron: so hot it’s cool

The classic piece of cookware is getting attention from cookbooks.

Cast-iron cookware has always been cool, whether it’s a treasured heirloom, a well-seasoned kitchen tool or a collectible piece of artisan Americana.

Certainly, in the South, castiron has become a cultural icon, while hiding in plain sight as the sacred vessel for favorite family fried chicken, cornbread or hoecake recipes.

Lately, though, cast-iron cooking is getting a lot more attention in the broader culinary world. Its naturally non-stick, all-purpose ways with frying, searing, roasting and baking have become hot topics, and the subject of several recent cookbooks.

In “Stir, Sizzle, Bake” (Potter, $25), New York food writer and home cook Charlotte Druckman takes on two things many people find daunting — the cast-iron skillet and baking. And she does it with recipes for the likes of scones, sticky buns, arepas, pizza and even a cornflake-milk layer cake.

“I actually think that because you have the control variable of the cast iron, it makes the baking seem less daunting,” Druckman says. “Really, cooking with cast iron is so easy. I found that to be more true as I did the book. And the crust from cast iron is so good. If you like any kind of golden-brown thing, how could you not use it?”

“Stir, Sizzle, Bake” is structured as a baking how-to, starting with the easiest “no-bake baking” recipes and progressing in difficulty to things like that crazy layer cake, which is a tribute to Atlanta chef and baker Liz Lorber.

One of the least complicated but most interesting recipes in the book is a hoecake Druckman learned to make under the tutelage of Nashville pastry chef Lisa Donovan. She gave it a twist with a 10-inch-skillet super-sized version topped with kimchi, scallions and nori.

“A hoecake is a pretty tricky thing to flip,” Druckman says. “So if you mess up at all, you can just throw that stuff on the top, and no one can see it — and it tastes really good, too.”

In “Cast-Iron Cooking” (Storey, $12.95), Los Angeles chef and food writer Rachael Narins

offers easy skillet recipes and common-sense tips for caring for cast-iron cookware.

“My first job in high school was at a cookware store. I started collecting cast iron because I thought it was really pretty, and it was what was in my budget,” Narins says. “As I learned to cook, it was something I always had on hand.”

While Narins understands that caring for cast-iron pans is often a vexing task for new owners, she has some very simple advice.

“Don’t be intimidated,” she says. “It’s just a matter of use it, clean it, dry it, and use it, again. That’s all you have to do.”

As far as the recipes in the book, Narins included family favorites, along with dishes she thought worked especially well in cast iron. “I don’t think you can have a cast-iron cookbook without a cornbread recipe,” she says.

But one favorite that’s sure to surprise is the Dutch Baby, an easy-to-make egg dish that she says is ideal for an elegant breakfast.

“I don’t even think you could make it in anything but cast iron,” Narins says. “It’s a cross between a pancake and a souffle, and you just mix it up in a blender and pour it into a pan.”

‘As I learned to cook, [cast iron] was something I always had on hand.’ Rachael Narins Los Angeles chef and food writer

COURTESY PHOTOS Recent cookbooks capitalizing on the popularity of cast-iron cooking include, clockwise from left, “Stir, Sizzle, Bake: Recipes for Your Cast-Iron Skillet,” “Cast-Iron Cooking” and “Better Homes and Gardens Skillet Meals.”