Fried Bologna

Ingredients

• 8 slices bologna, cut 1/4 inch thick (about 12 oz)
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp yellow mustard, for serving (optional)
• 8 slices white bread, toasted, for serving (optional)

Before you cook

• Cut four evenly spaced slits from the outer edge toward the center of each bologna slice, stopping about an inch from the middle, so the slices cannot dome up in the pan.

Steps

1. Wipe the vegetable oil around a 12-inch cast-iron skillet with a paper towel and set the skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Lay in as many bologna slices as fit flat, usually four.
3. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes without moving them, until the undersides are freckled dark brown and the notched edges have curled and crisped.
4. Flip the slices with a thin spatula.
5. Fry 2 minutes more, until the second side is browned and the centers have puffed slightly.
6. Move the slices to a plate and fry the rest the same way in the fat they left behind.
7. Serve hot, stacked two slices to a sandwich on toasted white bread with a swipe of yellow mustard.