Well, it looks like it will be excellent scallops and steak. The short food video that accompanies the article, “The Upside-down Grill,” by Mark Bittman in yesterday’s NYTimes teaches you how to “grill” food in your oven with a cast iron skillet. (Thanks for pointing it out to me Sara.)
Here’s the general idea: Put the top rack in your oven as high as it goes and turn on the oven as hot as it goes. Put your cast iron skillet in for 15-20 minutes. You need the skillet to be totally preheated. Take out the skillet and drop on a handful of scallops. Get the skillet back into the oven right away, because it will be smoking. Two minutes later the scallops are done with a grilled crust!
Use the exact same technique for steak, just let it cook for 7-10 minutes. This style of cooking is called cooking a la planche in Spain.
