Chef Paulo

Cast Iron & Dutch Oven

Cast iron and Dutch ovens are not trendy — they are the two pieces of cookware that quietly do the most work in a Mediterranean kitchen, from a hard sear to a slow braise. This is where the technique behind that work lives: how to get the most out of the cookware you probably already own, one real mechanism at a time.

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Carrots, garlic, onions and fresh herbs cooking with meat in a cast iron skillet, showing cast iron cooking in everyday home use
Cast Iron & Dutch Oven

Cast Iron Cooking: The Complete Guide

The pan I reach for most often is the least sophisticated object in the kitchen. No coating to wear out,…

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Clean, well-seasoned cast iron skillet resting on a wooden board after washing, showing how to clean cast iron without stripping the seasoning
Cast Iron & Dutch Oven

Cleaning Cast Iron: The Soap Myth, Stuck-On Food, and Rust

The question people ask about cast iron is whether they’re allowed to use soap. The question that actually decides whether…
Enameled cast iron Dutch oven in warm terracotta red with the lid on, the size and style most home cooks should buy
Cast Iron & Dutch Oven

The Best Dutch Ovens: Sizing, Enamel and What the Price Buys

A lamb shoulder with olives and preserved lemon wants three hours of low, quiet heat and a pot that holds…
Chopped tomatoes simmering in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet on a stovetop, the acidic food most often listed under what not to cook in cast iron
Cast Iron & Dutch Oven

What Not to Cook in Cast Iron (and When the Rules Bend)

A skillet that sears branzino beautifully on Monday can turn a Tuesday tomato braise faintly metallic, and the pan hasn’t…
A bare cast iron skillet, empty and dry, heating on a gas stovetop over a low blue flame whose burner ring is noticeably narrower than the base of the pan
Cast Iron & Dutch Oven

How to Preheat a Cast Iron Skillet: Why Slow and Low Beats Hot and Fast

The first time someone hands you a cast iron skillet, they usually skip the one thing that actually matters: how…
A matte black bare cast iron skillet beside a glossy navy enameled cast iron Dutch oven with its lid on, standing side by side on a pale wooden worktop
Cast Iron & Dutch Oven

Enameled vs Bare Cast Iron: Which One Do You Actually Need?

A real Mediterranean kitchen asks two very different things of its cookware in the same week: sear a branzino or…
Browned bone-in lamb chops in an open cast iron Dutch oven, the braising liquid pooled shallow around them so the seared tops stand well clear of it, with onion, garlic and rosemary alongside
Cast Iron & Dutch Oven

How to Braise in a Dutch Oven: The Method Behind the Recipes

Somewhere along the way, braising in a Dutch oven got a reputation for being complicated — a special-occasion, all-afternoon kind…

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