Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Welcome to the May edition of  Food'N'Flix . This month, Kimberly of Coffee and Casseroles is hosting; she invited us to watch Bram Stoker's Dracula *. You can read her invitation: here .  On the Screen Let me start with this: I have never seen this movie. I had an idea of the story, but even when it came out in the early 90s, the mishmash of big name actors and, of course, well-respected director Francis Ford Coppola's name wasn't enough to get me to the theatre. When Jake opened the mail and saw the DVD, he knew instantly it was "for a food project." Ha. Yes, it is. And he followed up that keen observation with a comment that he wasn't really interested in watching it with me. Fine. So, when I came home early from the National History Day competition last weekend - to prep for my cooking class on Sunday morning - I popped in the DVD. But it was late at night, dark outside, and I didn't need anything creepy keeping me awake; ...

While April was a ridiculously unproductive month for me in regards to the  Foodie Reads 2016 Challenge , I have carved out full afternoons to read this month. I had started The Restaurant Critic's Wife by Elizabeth LaBan* earlier this week. But, this afternoon, I curled up under a blanket - while Jake worked on the 8th grade graduation video and the boys did homework - and read the rest of it. I love losing myself in the pages of an entertaining read. On the Page... I had initially thought this novel would be a breezy read about a series of restaurant reviews. It was much more than that. Lila is the restaurant critic's wife and they have recently relocated from New Orleans to Philadelphia. Sam, her restaurant critic husband, is obsessed with anonymity and wants her to stay out of the public's eye. That means he doesn't want he to socialize with her friend from college who has recently opened a restaurant; he doesn't even want her to get to know their new n...

It's Friday night! I'm a few nights late for Mardi Gras . But, as New Orleans' signature cocktail is one of my favorites, it's a must. So, here's a slightly belated Sazerac. Ingredients makes 2 1 ounce absinthe 4 ounces rye  1/2 ounce maple syrup 8 dashes bitters (I used my homemade Meyer Lemon Bitters ) Meyer lemon twists for garnish Procedure  Pour absinthe, rye, and maple syrup into an ice-filled shaker. Shake and strain cocktail into two glasses. Add bitters to the glasses. Rub the rims with a lemon twist and drop twist into the glass. Cheers. Laissez le bon temps rouler!

I wanted a little something sweet tonight, but I didn't want it badly enough to get dressed and go to the grocery store. My problem: I had no butter. Sugar, yes. Flour, yes. Butter, no. Argh!   So, I decided to experiment with an olive oil shortbread. I called it "La Fée Verte" because it has a splash of absinthe and a sprinkling of fennel pollen. This was easy to make - 7 ingredients in all, about 2 minutes active time, 50 minutes of baking, and 20 minutes of cooling. So, in your hand in less than 75 minutes. Awesome! Ingredients 3 C white whole wheat flour 1 C organic powdered sugar 1/4 C organic granulated sugar 1 T absinthe 1/4 t fennel pollen 1/2 t fleur de sel 1 C olive oil Procedure Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, absinthe, fennel pollen, and fleur de sel. Pour in the olive oil and stir until the dry mixture is completely incorporated into a cohesive ball. Transfer ...

It's #Brunchweek!  We're on the last day of our second annual week-long blogging event hosted by Terri of  Love and Confections  and Susan of  The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen ! I hope you checked in with us this whole week - May 5th through 11th - while we celebrated the deliciousness of brunch and prepared for Mother's Day and the summer brunching season.  We are 32 bloggers strong, bringing you recipes for everything from cocktails to eggs benedict to donuts. Our amazing sponsors have donated some great prizes for a gigantic giveaway. Click ( here ) to read about this fun event, the sponsors, and the giveaway! I'll be honest: I have a little fennel fetish. That crisp freshness with slightly herbaceous notes makes me swoon with foodie lust. So, for a #BrunchWeek dessert, I decided to create a lemon tart kissed with fennel in three ways. I added a dash of fennel bitters to my crust, a generous splash of absinthe to the curd, and a sprinkling of fenn...

Why did I name this the Pink Tulle? Well, it's pink...and it makes your palate do a pirouette! How's that?! On Sunday Jake wanted a mimosa-type drink. I had a bottle of Italian bubbles. I had some rhubarb syrup. And I had some absinthe. I sprinkled in some culinary fairy dust AKA fennel pollen and called it good. Ingredients (makes 1 drink) chilled sparkling wine of your choice (prosecco, champagne, or sparkling wine) 1 t rhubarb syrup 1 t absinthe fresh rhubarb for garnish fennel pollen for garnish Procedure Pour the syrup and absinthe into your serving glass. Add a pinch of fennel pollen. Top it off with your sparkling wine. Garnish with either a full stalk of rhubarb or thin slices that will float on top. I tried it both ways. Cheers!

I was trying to come up with a Mardi Gras libation to serve with our Seafood Étouffée tonight. But even the thought of a hurricane glass makes me queasy...and I haven't been to New Orleans since before I had kids! Then I remembered that I've always wanted to try a Sazerac; I'm a sucker for anything with absinthe...and I already had some rosemary-thyme simple syrup . The recipe I found called for whiskey or bourbon. Not being particularly savvy with either of those, I opted to get small bottles and make one with bourbon and one with scotch. Just to try it out. Here's my version of a Sazerac... Ingredients  makes one cocktail ice cubes just shy of 2 ounces whiskey 3/4 ounce simple syrup 3 splashes of bitters (I used some Bar Keep Fennel Bitters ) splash of absinthe (I used St. George) lemon rind twist Preparation To make a simple syrup, place 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes, stirrin...

This month the  Pass the Cookbook  crew - under the leadership of Kita, the culinary force behind  Pass the Sushi  - is cooking from Christiane's pick. Christiane blogs at  The Mom Chef: Taking on Magazines   and chose Sheila Lukins, Julee Rosso, and Sarah Leah Chase's   Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook   for this month. As always, we had the choice of three recipes. Our choices this round: Seafood Lasagna, White Chocolate Mousse with Frangelico, and Vegetable Pot Pie. I thought about making combining two of our choices into seafood pot pies, but went with the lasagna. Even though I just made Lasagna alla Puttanesca for our last Pass the Cookbook reveal, in November, I decided to venture down the lasagna path again because this one: (1) involves seafood and (2) includes an anise-flavored liqueur. Ummm...yum. I'm always in when ouzo, sambuca, or their cousins are involved. The original recipe calls for Pernod. I had St. George absint...

When looking at different recipes and menus for a Game of Thrones themed luncheon for Brian , I came across photos for Jon Snow's Pork Pies. I didn't delve too far into what made them special; I just decided to make some fennel scented meat pies with an absinthe crust. Yum! Absinthe Pâte Brisée 2-1/2 C all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling 1/2 C finely ground blanched cashews or cashew flour 1/2 t fennel pollen 1 C butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes 3-4 T ice water 3-4 T abinsthe fleur de sel Place the flour, ground cashews, fennel pollen, and cold butter in a large bowl. Use the patry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 T at a time, alternating with the absinthe, until mixture just begins to clump together. If you squeeze some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and cut again. Note that too much w...

I initially mentioned, before we headed off to pick olallieberries, that I had an olallie-basil martini on the brain for later this evening. Friends' responses ran the gamut from: " I'll take 3 " to " sharing is caring " and " what time should I be there? " But one friend's comment really caught my attention - " just don't call it a martini ." It launched a virtual conversation that made me realize that I fallen prey to a common misconception myself... Tacking 'tini' on the end of a word does not a martini make. Think 'chocolatini' and 'appletini' and my woefully ignorant 'olallie-tini.' Okay. So, what does make a martini? A martini is a drink made with gin and vermouth, garnished with an olive. That’s it. Some may substitute gin for vodka, and call it a 'vodka martini,' but many purists would reject this and simply call it a 'cocktail.' There are variations of the classic ma...

Making my own gravlax had never occurred to me. Until I heard a quick recipe mentioned on NPR's The Splendid Table . I was on my way to Huckleberry Hill for a hill work-out, but it haunted me during my run and I swung by Whole Foods on my way home to pick up some wild-caught salmon and give it a go. Here's a link to the recipe as posted on thesplendidtable.org. I used it as a starting point, but made several modifications to fit the ingredients I had in my kitchen. 1/2 C coarse sea salt 1/2 C raw turbinado sugar 1 t ground black pepper 3 springs fresh dill splash of absinthe 2 pieces of wild-caught salmon, well matched in size and shape, if possible Mix the salt, sugar, and pepper together. Spoon a third of the mixture on a piece of plastic wrap and place one of the salmon pieces on top of it, skin-side down. Put half of the remaining salt mixture on top of the salmon. Drizzle the filet with absinthe. Sandwiching the fresh dill in between, fit the other piece o...

I was craving something sweet and didn't feel like baking. I found two ripe avocados in my fruit bowl and I always have unsweetened cocoa powder. With those two ingredients - a couple of others - and a hand-blender, you can have a rich dessert in about 3 minutes flat. Awesome. I've made a vegan version of this chocolate-avocado mousse . And I had some leftover absinthe from National Licorice Day . So, this Green Fairy* Chocolate-Avocado Mousse was created...and was the perfect antidote to my chocolate craving tonight. 2 ripe avocados 2/3 C honey 2/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder 1 t pure vanilla extract 1 T absinthe fennel pollen for garnish Place all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl - except for the fennel pollen. Use a hand blender till the mixture is smooth. Spoon into serving glasses and dust with fennel pollen to garnish. *Absinthe is an anise-flavored spirit derived from botanicals, including the flowers and leaves of wormwood, green anise, sweet ...

What licorice-flavored libations come to mind? Sambuca, certainly. Ouzo...ooopah! But tonight - for National Licorice Day 2013 - I opted for a St. George Absinthe made from, among other things, star anise and fennel, licorice cousins . Perfect. Years ago I had planned a La Fée Verte party, envisioning an absinthe tasting with lots of tasty French nibbles, but it was hijacked by my husband's UFO theme and I ended up serving Out of this World Amuse Bouche  instead, including Pork Tenderloin with Pistachio Mousse , Linguica Torta , Fennel-Pollen Topped Chocolate Mousse . I shelved my absinthe tasting idea. Andreas at Restaurant 1833 In fact, I had never tasted absinthe until last Fall when I was assigned an article on Restaurant 1833 for  Edible Monterey Bay . [Click to read: Adventuring Back to 1833 .] I went to the restaurant with two friends; we decided that we had to order their Russian-style absinthe tableside preparation. Think fire, absinthe, orange juice, a...