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Steaks. Get the pan screeching hot. Throw on a dollop of clarified butter, folled by seasoned steaks. Sear on both sides for about 4 - 5 minutes. Depending on how thick your steaks are cut, finish in a 450* oven until medium rare. I like bone in ribeye, or porterhouse steaks.

Pommes Anna. Peel and then thinly slice about 5 medium sized Yukon Golds. Layer them in buttered pan. Drizzle melted butter and season each layer with salt and pepper. Bake in 450* oven until golden brown, about 30 - 45 mins. Periodically smoosh the top down with a metal spatula, this will help it form a cake and keep the top surface flat. Let cool slightly and invert onto serving dish.

Wilted veggies. Heat olive oil in pan, throw in diced shallot and smashed garlic. Pile on veggies, salt and pepper. Cover and let them wilt down. Turn them over with tongs, turn up the heat, splash with chicken stock.

Tarte Tatin. Cooking peeled cored and sliced apples in sugar and butter on the stove top until they become a dark, mahogany carmelly mass, let it cool, cover with your favorite pie dough and pop into the oven, until the dough browns. Let cool, invert onto a serving dish

That's a whole dinner :)

My favorite thing to make in a cast iron pan is a Puff Pancake. The recipe I always use is from a Fine Cooking magazine, which you can also find here:
http://www.philipbarron.net/archives/puff-pancakes
I do find that you don't need to use as much butter as the recipes call for...i usually use 1/2 the amount.

Other than that, I don't use it for anything specific...they are great all around pans, and if it's well-seasoned enough it a great non-stick pan alternative.

all of the above, and i love roasting a chicken in mine, also.... or a little pork roast....

above all else, grilled cheese.

Pancakes! 1000000 times better than in non-stick

I make everything in my cast iron pans (I have 6" to 18"). Last night I made quesadillas. You simply have to season (oil after cleaning just a little) them-more at the beginning- and hand wash and dry them (paper towels) right after you have cooked. The bottom of the pan will become 'rustic', but it is what it is-don't try to make them look super clean. My mom was from the south and that was all they had and when I first married and did not have them I did not realize how lacking my kitchen was. Go to yard sales and you might pick them up for a song as I did. Pork chops and lamb chops can be the star in your meal from a cast iron pan.

@dbcurrie and dmcavanaugh are right. All kinds of great cornbread comes out of cast iron pans. Try a fritatta for dinner and remember they are not just for the top of the stove but to use in the oven.

Some people may like the pans that are grill like (ridges) but I am not sure I would and have never purchased one. Think about it before you buy one like that and also maybe someone will post how they like that kind of cast iron pan.

kaiserschmarren. saute a peeled and cut up tart apple in a couple of tablespoons butter, mix a batter of half a cup of flour, two eggs, a cup of milk, a tablespoon of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt and a few drops of vanilla. pour this over the apple, dot with lots of butter and cinnamon sugar, and bake it for half an hour in a preheated 350 oven. oooh baby.

I don't even bother to put my skillet away--it stays on top of the stove, ready at all times.

The only thing I don't use it for is anything with tomatoes, except for fried green ones.

My favorite can't-do-it-without-cast-iron dish is roasted butterflied chicken. It requries large and a medium cast iron skillets: preheat the med. skillet in the oven > butterfly and season chicken > brown chicken skin-side down in the larger cast iron > flip bird over > top bird with bottom of pre-heated med skillet > roast/bake for 45-60 minutes, removing the med skillet for the last 15 or so minutes. It'll get a healthy dose of chicken fat into the larger skillet, which helps with the seasoning as well if that's a goal.

Everything- From steaks to stews, fried chicken, blackened fish to sauted zucchini, cornbread, biscuits, caramel rolls and even pineapple upside down cake.

It's great for foods that need to move from the stove top to the oven.

Cook, fry, bake or braise.

you won't go wrong with any of the above advice, my cast iron cookware is more than 100 years old and it will be around for my sons when i'm in the ground. my pots/pans have survived cooking in the fireplace, on the bbq pit and hurricane katrina. take care of them and they'll be around for your great, great, great grandchildren. (unless one of them decides that putting them in the dishwasher is the best way to clean them)

I originally bought my cast iron skillet to make cornbread. I put the skillet in the oven and then preheat to the desired temperature.

I have also begun using my iron skillet to finish a frittata in the oven. It's great!