Culinary Adventures with Camilla

These grain bowl salads are the perfect Autumn side dish or main dish. And I love that they are so, so simple to assemble! Here are six variations using three different grains - farro, barley, and quinoa. But use whatever grains you have. These would be just as tasty with rice, freekah, or even buckwheat! You can watch the process on the CulinaryCam YouTube channel ...or right here! Ingredients are listed below for each bowl. But, as always,  I urge you to just be creative and use what you have. I love how easy these are to customize with whatever ingredients I have on-hand. They are colorful, toothy, and tasty. If you are local to me, I picked up all of the pantry items at The Quail & Olive in Carmel Valley. Anni always has great pantry items whose producers have great stories and make quality items. It's always a treat to go there and get inspired. Simple Crunch Quinoa Bowl 2 cups cooked quinoa 1/2 cup sliced purple cabbage 1/4 cup chopped celery 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper...

I have heard this called roasted  salsa , charred  salsa, and salsa molcajeteada . You certainly don't have to make this in a molcajete , you can do the same crushing and grinding process in a blender or food processor. But there is something fulfilling about charring and grinding this salsa.  I wanted to share this process for our Culinary Cam YouTube channel along with pork carnitas, tropical salsa fresca, guacamole, and homemade corn tortillas. You can what that here...or there . Ingredients 4 ripe tomatoes (I used Roma tomatoes) 1/2 onion (I used a red onion) 1  jalapeño 1 head of garlic, halved salt to taste and to help grind freshly squeezed juice from 1 or 2 lemons or limes 1 to 2 Tablespoons cilantro Procedure You can do this on a grill or a skillet. You can even roast the veggies in the oven. Char everything except the cilantro and the lemons or limes. Use your molcajete to grind the garlic, onions, jalapeño, and tomatoes. Salt as you go...

May 14th was National Buttermilk Biscuit Day. So, this is a few days late, but, really, who is going to quibble about a few days delay. Besides, we make biscuits all year long...not just on a designated  national food holiday. I used this drop buttermilk biscuit as a comparison with a laminated drop biscuit in a Culinary Cam YouTube video. See that here...or there . Ingredients makes approximately 9 2 cups flour 1 Tablespoon baking powder 1 Tablespoon organic granulated sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup buttermilk (or whole milk if you don't have any buttermilk) 1/2  cup (1 stick) melted butter Also needed: baking sheet; silicone baking mat or parchment paper Procedure In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Stir in buttermilk and melted butter. Once everything is combined, let stand for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Use a spoon to drop batter onto baking sheets....

  May 14th was National Buttermilk Biscuit Day. So, this is a few days late, but, really, who is going to quibble about a few days delay. Besides, we make biscuits all year long...not just on a designated  national food holiday. I used this laminated buttermilk biscuit as a comparison with a buttermilk drop biscuit in a Culinary Cam YouTube video. See that here...or there . Ingredients  makes about twelve  2-1/2" square biscuits 1/4 cup organic granulated sugar 3 Tablespoons warm water 2 teaspoons (or 1 envelope) active dry yeast 5 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cold and cubed plus another  1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cold 2 cups whole plain buttermilk (you can use yogurt, instead) light oil for greasing the bowl (I used canola) Also needed: pastry blender, rolling pin, parchment paper Procedure In a small mixing bowl, stir together sugar, 3 Tablespoons warm water, and yeast. Let sta...

This week, with Jill of L'Occasion at the head, the French Winophiles are shining the spotlight on Chablis. You can read her invitation post here . Before Jill lined up a sponsor and media samples for the event, I had tracked down a bottle of a sparkling Rosé to share. So, even though this will not be my pairing or post for the #Winophiles event, I wanted to share a little bit about this wine...and a little bit more about Chablis. Chablis from carlorossi.com I'll be honest: When I saw Jill's topic for the month. I pictured the bottle above. When I was a kid - probably 6 to 9 years old -  my dad was teaching ROTC to students at San Francisco State and Sacramento State. These were young cadets, mostly in their early 20s and mostly single. So, my parents would host spaghetti dinners once a month and invite the students to our house for dinner. I just remember going to the commissary with my dad to get jugs of Carlo Rossi Chablis for those who liked white wine and, maybe the P...

We make crêpes all year round. They are fancy enough for a celebration yet simple enough for everyday. So, when I thought about making a video for an easy Mothers' Day dish on our Culinary Cam YouTube channel, I landed on crêpes. You can watch it there ...or here. Ingredients makes approximately one dozen 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3 eggs 2 cups organic whole milk dash of ground cardamom butter, for cooking For serving: jam, unsweetened whipped cream, lemon wedges, Nutella, cheese (for any savory lovers!), and - for this post, I used - a trio of citrus curds Procedure Whisk all of the ingredients together until lump-free. Let sit for at least 30 minutes. Heat a large flat-bottom pan and rub the bottom with butter. Pour the batter into the pan and quickly make a tilting motion to distribute the batter all over the pan. The goal: have as thin a batter layer as possible. Cook until the crêpe is a bit stiff and flip over, cooking for another minute The pancake should be lightly brow...

  Queso Blanco just means 'white cheese' in Spanish, but it's really synonymous with ooey, gooey, cheesy deliciousness that uses a chip as a vessel to my mouth, right?! Okay. Maybe not. But, chips + cheese = happy Cam. And this is so easy to make. We filmed this process for the CulinaryCam YouTube channel. Watch it here...or there . Ingredients Basic Queso 12 ounce evaporated milk 1/4 C all-purpose flour 1 to 2 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed 3 to 4 cups shredded cheese (I used pepper jack and mozzarella) Also needed: your favorite chips for dipping Add-Ins diced tomatoes pickled jalapeños green onions cilantro Procedure In a medium saucepan, whisk together evaporated milk, garlic, and flour until well combined. Heat until the milk begins to steam. Slowly add in shredded cheese. Stir or until completely melted and nicely thickened. Remove from heat and stir in whatever add-ins you want. Spoon the queso into a serving bowl and top with remaining herbs. Serve with chips....

So, I know that corned beef and cabbage isn't a traditional Irish dish. I've known that for years, but it didn't stop me from making it and filming the process for the Culinary Cam YouTube channel . Still, it''s true: Irish people don't eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, or really any other day of the year. Though, I discovered that the Irish did actually make corned beef because their salt taxes were lower. It allowed corned beef to become a great Irish export as it traveled well all over the world, even as far as the West Indies.  I can't be too surprised really that Irish people don't eat this.  I mean most Americans would swear up and down that spaghetti and meatballs is a traditional Italian dish; having lived in Italy for over a year, I can honestly say that I never once saw - or cooked - spaghetti with meatballs.  Spaghetti, yes.  Meatballs, yes.  But together, no, definitely not. Still this realization doesn't stop me from ...

  Today the Sunday Funday group is celebrating chicken. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group. Today Stacy is hosting and she's given us the following prompt: Share your favorite family friendly chicken recipes, cooked any way you like it! Creative or traditional, we are always looking for ways to serve this ubiquitous bird. Vegetarians only: feel free to use protein substitutes. Here's the line-up of how the #SundayFunday bloggers are using chicken in their kitchens... Chicken and Stuffing Bake from Palatable Pastime Chicken Biryani-Gujarati Style from Sneha's Recipe Chicken Fajitas from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Chicken Ramen Noodle Dump Casserole  from A Day in the Life on the Farm Creamy Spinach and Red Pepper Chicken from Making Miracles Saucy Pepperoni Roasted Chicken from Food Lust Peo...

These peanut butter cookies were a family affair when we filmed this for the Culinary Cam YouTube channel. Here's a behind the scenes shot as they heckled me for making Peanut Butter Miso Cookies . Sometimes you just need to go back to the basics, right? And I love that these can be made in about 30 minutes with ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. Watch the video on my channel...or here... Ingredients  makes approximately 20 cookies 2/3 cup organic peanut butter (I used crunchy) 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature 3/4 cup organic dark brown sugar, lightly packed 1/3 cup organic granulated sugar plus more for rolling 1 egg 1-1/2 cups flour  1/2 teaspoon baking soda Also needed: baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon mat; cookie scoop, optional; fork Procedure Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk together the flour and baking soda in a small mixing bowl. Place 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a separate bowl for rolling the cookies later. Set ...