Adventures in Culimancy

Culimancy: a term best described as Cooking Magic.

The Only True Magic

Why is this page called "Adventures in Culimancy" and not "Recipes in Cast Iron?" What is "chaos magic?" Is it witchcraft or Satan?

Medieval Cast Iron Cookery

An ongoing project to take authentic recipes from ancient cookbooks from the Middle Ages through the early American era, and translate them into modern kitchen recipes.

Facebook group: Cast Iron Cooking

Want to be sucked into the Cult of Cast Iron? Come on over to Cast Iron Cooking on Facebook , where cast iron enthusiasts are enjoying themselves, indulging in their obsession with cast iron, and cooking lots of great meals.

Breads

Axolotl Dough Bread

A simple dough recipe, to make and bake your own bread and biscuits in whatever shape you want.

Cast Iron Pizza

Using the famous no-knead bread recipe, here's an easy-to-make pizza that you can put together with your kids…and feed the whole family.

Impossible Pie

Use Bisquick® biscuit mix to make a tasty pie with any filling you want – either a meat pie or a sweet pie.

Irish Soda Bread

A simple recipe that doesn't require yeast.

Mielie Bread

Also called "mealie bread," this is a South African style of cornbread that uses sweet corn kernels in the batter.

Molasses Bread

From Liz Taller-Sapp: a quick and easy brown sweetbread.

New England Brown Bread

Steamed molasses bread – a New England specialty, meant to be served with Boston Baked Beans.

No Knead Focaccia Bread

A slow-rising recipe to produce a huge loaf of Italian spiced cheese bread.

Yankee Molasses Oat Bread

A classic recipe for an easy-to make and wonderful-tasting Northern bread.

Vegetables

Boston Baked Beans

A traditional New England dish.

Bubble and Squeak

Also known as leftover hash and, of course, corned beef hash. This is a classic dish from Great Britain with a delightful name and some less than delightful ingredients.

Cast Iron Ratatouille

Thanks to the wonderful movie Ratatouille for this dish.

Colcannon

A traditional Irish dish of mashed potatoes and cabbage.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

A basic recipe to put together this dish, often used in casseroles and other recipes.

Fried Salad

Cook up cabbage and other veggies in a hot pot with sweet-and-sour vinegar dressing.

How To Cook Rice

The ancient Chinese secret! Why spend $25 to $100 on a rice cooker when you can do it yourself?

Macaroni and Cheese Bundt Cake

Baked mac and cheese, shaped into a huge cake and drizzled with cheese.

Pasta Aglio e Olio: Pasta Without Tomato Sauce

An Italian delicacy, consisting of no more than pasta with garlic and olive oil. You'll be amazed how delicious this is.

Popess Lilith's Awesome Sauce

Because one sauce is never enough.

Pot o' Roasted Vegetables

A quick and easy meal of fresh roasted veggies. It's not just healthy and easy to make – it's delicious.

Pumpkin Stew

A delicious stew of chicken in spicy curry sauce, with lots of tubers, roasted in a huge pumpkin!

Quick Ketchup Substitute

As good as store-bought ketchup, maybe better!

Quick Stuffed Mushrooms

For the hobbit in all of us.

Ramen Noodle Stir Fry

A stir fry dish that produces ramen noodles far more tasty – and nutritious – than those awful cup-o-noodle packs.

Risotto

Creamy rice and mushrooms prepared in the traditional Italian style.

Spinach Hash

Spinach and hash - two disgusting-looking, but good-tasting, flavors that go good together.

Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese

Comfort food at its finest – mac and cheese with a homemade cheese sauce.

Wok Roasted Peanuts

Easy to make, and far better than roasted peanuts from the jar.

Meats

500 Degree Cast Iron Roast Turkey

In November of 2014, I experimented and used the recipe for Skillet Roasted Chicken to cook a 12-pound turkey in cast iron at 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The result: an excellent, well-cooked turkey that took only ONE HOUR AND FIVE MINUTES to roast!

American Chop Suey

Whether you call it Hamburger Helper, American goulash, or American chop suey, this is filling and delicious.

American Irish Coddle

A classic Irish dish of sausages, bacon, and potatoes cooked in cast iron.

Bacon Wrapped Roast Chicken

Roast chicken is one of the perfect meat dishes, because there are an infinite number of different ways to prepare it. Here's one version that kicks it up a notch: add lots of BACON!

Barbecue Beef Stew

Barbecue flavoring adds to the traditional beef stew. This is prepared slowly, allowing the beef to become especially tender.

Boston Baked Pork and Beans

Not just Boston Baked Beans – delicious pulled pork with baked beans!

Brazilian Feijoada

The national dish of Brazil is a pork-and-beans stew from Brazil with far more meat than beans. This will satisfy ANYONE with a craving for meat!

Cast Iron Fried Chicken

Just like the greasy fried chicken you get at Crown and Kennedy Fried Chicken…except you don't have to go into the 'hood to eat this!

Cast Iron Pan Seared Lobster

A take on a classic New England delicacy, lobster. However, rather than being boiled, this lobster is split and seared in a hot cast iron pan, then roasted in the oven.

Cajun Seafood Jambalaya

Jambalaya cooked in the Southern cajun tradition: in the great out doors, in a huge cast iron pot.

Cast Iron Iron Chicken

A take on "chicken under a brick" that uses two hot cast iron pans…and a cast iron iron!

Cast Iron Roast Duck

A simple recipe for roast duck that requires only two hours' cooking time…and gives you a lot of duck fat.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

A Louisiana cajun classic.

Chicken In A Crock Pot

A novel way to use your electric crock pot to make a pot full of moist, tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken.

Chicken in a Pot

Based on the classic French recipe poule au pot, this recipe uses a dutch oven to cook a delicious and easily made roast chicken. This one is so basic, with the results consistently good, you'll be coming back to it again and again.

Coq au Vin (Chicken braised in Wine)

Julia Child's wonderful, easy, and delicious adaptation of the classic French dish.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

The famous Saint Patrick's Day dish…that actually isn't from Ireland. But it's about as Irish as you can get!

Doctor Dark's Sleez-E Chili

A chili recipe from a friend from the past.

Dutch Oven Chicken and Rice

A very easy, tasty,and surprisingly popular, way to roast chicken and rice in a cast iron dutch oven.

Dutch Oven Clambake

A New England clambake is a seafood feast that can't be beat!

Dutch Oven Jambalaya

Cooking with a dutch oven – cast iron or ceramic, the dutch oven is a great cooking weapon.

Dutch Oven Roast Turkey

Use a cast iron dutch oven to cook a whole turkey in half the time it would normally take to roast it in the oven.

Dutch Oven "Supermarket Rotisserie" Roast Chicken

Use a cast iron dutch oven to prepare a roast chicken that's every bit as good as the rotisserie chicken at the supermarket deli counter.

Failure Bowls

Now you can have the failure pile sold at KFC as its "Famous Bowls" – right in your own home.

Grandma Z's Casserole

Slack and comfort food with !!!BACON!!!

Grandma Maggie's Prairie Cacciatore a.k.a. Chicken and Ketchup

It sounds disgusting, but it's fantastic. Another comfort food that you'll crave every Fall.

Groundnut Stew

"Groundnut" is the African name for peanuts. Here's a very simple and very popular dish served across eastern Africa of chicken stewed with…peanuts and peanut butter.

Hamburger Gravy – a.k.a. "Shit on a Shingle" (S.O.S.)

Two million United States Army soldiers can't be wrong, can they?

Head Cheese

Also known as brawn, souse or fromage de tete, this is an old-style cold cut made from boiling a pig's head. It's actually an amazing delicacy.

The Hobo Meal

Meat and vegetables on a budget.

Home-Cured Bacon

Are you worried about the rising cost of BACON! Just make your own at home…it's better than anything from the store!

Indian Chicken Curry

A basic Indian curry sauce recipe for chicken.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken in Sauce

A very hot and spicy (and tasty) dish from the Carribean.

Low Country Boil

A Southern-style seafood boil is an event not to be missed!

Low Country Chicken Stew

Doing the low country boil with chicken instead of seafood will give you a huge pot of tasty vittles.

Ma's Vinegar Chicken

A recipe for people who love the smell and taste of vinegar.

Mega Meat Loaf

Meat loaf taken to the extreme.

Nana Pacitto's Homemade Lasagna

Italian lasagna is a feast that must not be missed!

Nana Pacitto's Homemade Pasta Sauce

This one is dedicated to my beloved Typical Italian Grandmother, bless her heart.

No-Fold Omelette

You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs…but this method will let you make an omelette without having to fold it over.

Oriental Wok Stir Frying

The ancient Chinese secret of producing a restaurant-style Chinese stir fry in your wok.

Oven Roasted Pork Belly

An Asian treat that can't be beat!

Pasta Fagioli

The traditional Italian dish of pasta and beans, done as a pasta and meat sauce dish.

Pastalaya

A take on traditional cajun jambalaya, made with pasta rather than rice.

Pernil

Puerto Rican roasted whole pork shoulder. This dish is popular worldwide and served on many holidays.

Pho: Vietnamese pho noodle soup with beef – one of the most delicious foods in the world!

• Phở Bo (Beef noodle soup)
• Phở Ga (Chicken noodle soup)

Portugese Linguiça Sausage

Prime Rib Roast

A fine and expensive cut of meet deserves first clast treatment – namely, "reverse sear" roasting in a cast iron skillet.

Rabbit Stew - With Bacon

You've never had rabbit before? This is a good way to start.

Ragu Bolognese

The traditional Italian meat and pasta dish – not a tomato-laden "spaghetti sauce," but a true meat sauce.

Reverse Seared Roast Beef

A bloody rare roast beef, prepared to be pink and juicy and dripping with blood. A carnivore's delight.

Roast Turkey Wayside Inn

Presenting a classic recipe for holiday roast turkey, as prepared by none other than Vincent Price, the icon of horror film…and gourmet chef!

Searing a Medium Rare Steak

On December 15, 2011, I cooked the best steak ever. Here is my story.

Skillet Roasted Chicken

The easiest way there is to quickly roast a chicken.

Slow Roasted Cast Iron Turkey

When it comes to roasting a turkey in cast iron, low and slow is the way to go! See for yourself.

Steak Diane

One of the easiest and best date night dishes. It has steak, cast iron, and fire.

Surf-n-Turf Chowder

On a low to medium budget, you can make tasty chowder in your cast iron dutch oven.

Wayside Country Sausage

A simple and delicious homemade sausage from the Wayside Inn of Sudbury, Massachusetts,

Zuppa di Pesci alla Jessica Darling

Italian-style fish soup that dates back to the days of the ancient Romans.

Dessert Delights

5 Minute Microwave Cake

Make a small cake for yourself in the microwave oven!

Apple Maple Bacon Cake

Because everything is better when your put bacon on it.

Angel Food Cake in Cast Iron

What? Angel food cake in a cast iron bundt pan?!? Yes!

Bread Pudding

An ancient medieval standby, but still delicious today.

Brain Jell-o

Abby Normal's Favorite for Halloween and Graduations.

Bundt Apple Pie

My own invention – an apple pie baked in a bundt pan. Wait until you see the result!

Buttercream Hard Sauce

The classic cake topping enjoyed by the aristocracy before cake frosting was discovered. And still worth trying today.

Carrot Cake

It must be healthy – it has carrots in it! Actually, what you get here is a thick, rich cake with cream cheese frosting.

Cast Iron Brownies

Chocolate heaven in a cast iron pan.

Cast Iron Cannoli

A classic and wonderful Italian pastry.

Cast Iron Pound Cake

Not just a moist and delicious cake – also, some tips on making this cake in a manner that doesn't require you to grease and flour the cake pan.

Cast Iron Pumpkin Pie

Why settle for a bland, meager store-bought pumpkin pie? You can use a cast iron pan to bake a monster pumpkin pie that puts store-bought pies to shame!

Chocolate Chip Meringue Kisses

These cookies will literally melt in your mouth.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Cake

Jumping on the pumpkin spice bandwagon and loving it.

Chocolate Cobbler Cake

A chocolate dutch oven treat.

Chocolate Lava Cake

Chocolate cake with a hot molten chocolate center – if this isn't sheer chocolate decadence, then nothing is!

Cranberry Sauce

Simple and much better than canned.

Creamed Banana Ice Cream

A variation on ice cream that uses mashed bananas and cream, rather than the usual frozen milk.

Devil's Food Cake

Sinfully delicious dark chocolate cake, summoned from the nether realms with a heavy metal bundt cake pan.

Dulce de Leche

The wonderful "sweetness of milk" from Argentina.

Dutch Baby

A simple and easy egg pancake cooked in a cast iron skillet.

Easy Cast Iron Pancakes

Possibly the easiest pancakes you can possibly make from scratch.

Epic Bundt Cookie

What can you call a monster-sized cookie baked in a bundt pan? Epic!

Giant Cookie In Cast Iron

What more can you say other than this: giant chocolate chip cookie!

Homemade French Vanilla Coffee Creamer

Make it yourself – it's easy and tastes delicious.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

Why have those chemical-laden microwave popcorn packets when you can make it yourself, just as fast?

Horrible Truffle Cookies

Chocolate chip truffle cookies so horrible, you'll have to eat them all so that no one else gets them.

Homemade Pure Vanilla Extract

It's amazingly easy to create the finest vanilla extract on the entire planet.

Homemade Yogurt

Easy to make at home with only two ingredients!

Hot Apple Crisp

Easy to make with your kids, and utterly delicious.

Hot Fudge Awesome Sauce

A hot fudge sauce that can't be beat, to top your ice cream sundae.

Jamaican Black Rum Fruitcake

A Jamaican tradition for weddings and at holidays, especially Christmas. This is nothing like those store-bought fruitcake bricks.

Kitty Litter Cake

Yeah, it's an old joke – but it's still funny.

Krispy Kreme Kopykat Kake

Around 2014 or so, the Krispy Kreme doughnut company released a boxed cake mixed to stores, based upon its recipe for glazed doughnuts. This is an attempt to recreate the flavor of the cake.

Lemon Bars

A tasty homemade pastry dish.

Magical Apple Pie

Use cooking magic to conjure up an apple pie with a flaky crust and delicious filling that won't leak all over the place.

Melted Candy Corn Brownies

This recipe takes a bag of candy corn and makes it completely disappear!

New England Spider Cake

A New England take on the classic recipe for Skillet Cornbread. It creates a sweet custard-like corn cake.

Peanut Butter Hot Cocoa

A decadent drink that's good enough for kids and adults alike.

Pecan Pie

The classic Southern dessert, consisting of sugar, syrup, and pecans. No wonder everyone loves it!

Rice Pudding

An ancient, sweet, and very tasty Oriental dish that can be served for breakfast or dessert.

Rice Pudding (Baked)

Another way to prepare rice pudding, without stirring but with a lot of patience. So easy, you can let your kids make it (if you watch over them when it goes into the oven).

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Use the seeds left over from carving your jack-o-lantern to make this tasty, salty snack.

Skillet Cornbread

The best cornbread is always made with cast iron – no exceptions.

Slutty Brownies

a.k.a. The World's Greatest Brownies. They're naughty and they're easy, but ohhhhh so good.

Southern Moonshine Cake

A dangerous cake using genuine Tennessee moonshine.

Transform Candy Corn Into Chocolate

Some cast iron magic: transform a little bit of cocoa powder into a lot of melted chocolate sauce…using candy corns!

Vinegar Chocolate Cake

One of the richest and easiest chocolate cakes you'll ever make…and it contains no eggs and no milk.

Wok Corn

Use your wok to make…popcorn!

Holiday Treats

For those special times of the year.

Christmas Plum Pudding

The classic Christmas pudding, steamed up in a classic British style.

Figgy Pudding

As a companion, we also present that other traditional holiday pudding that everyone sings about…but almost no one knows what it is.

Holiday Eggnog

What's special about this homemade eggnog recipe? You can enjoy it at any time of the year!

Hoppin' John

A dish from the Deep South, traditionally served on New Year's Day.

Magical Fruitcake

You'll never settle for atrocious store-bought fruitcake ever again when you see how easy it is to make a delicious fruitcake!

Razzleberry Dressing

The famous poultry sauce in a jar, seen in the classic Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol.

Roast Turkey in Cast Iron

How could we have Thanksgiving without it!

Tourtiere

A pork pie dish from Canada or France, usually served on Christmas Eve.

Yuletide Corned Beef

A spicy and sweet meat dish that's quite different from St. Patrick's Day corned beef.