Culinary Adventures with Camilla

R. my Precise Kitchen Elf, has been asking me to turn some of the last Halloween pumpkins into a pie. So, yesterday while he was helping out at the Food Bank, I roasted them and made pumpkin puree . This afternoon I asked him to wash his hand and get an apron. "Why?" Y ou're going to make pumpkin pie.  "Oh, I wanted you to make it, Mom." Nope. If you want it, you will learn to make it! The Crust 2 cup white whole wheat flour 1/4 cup ground almonds 1/2 cup powdered sugar pinch of salt 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter Mix the flour, ground almonds, sugar and salt; rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in 1 teaspoon of water with a fork until the mixture forms a ball. Roll out between two pieces of parchment paper. Press gently into a pie pan. Chill in the freezer until ready to bake. The Pie 3 cups  pumpkin puree 1 cup heavy cream 3 eggs 1/3 cup maple syrup, agave, and molasses (I would normally ju...

Tonight we headed to Eritrea for dinner in our Cooking Around the World Adventure. Eri - where? Eritrea. Eritrea, roughly the size of Indiana, was formerly the northernmost province of Ethiopia and was once an Italian Colony. The Italians named the colony after the Roman name for the Red Sea, Mare Erythraeum , controlling the area until World War II. Eritrea is bordered by the Sudan on the north and west, the Red Sea on the north and east, and Ethiopia and Djibouti on the south.    This was probably one of the easier international meals I've made. And, surprisingly, Jake declared it in his top 5. When I asked what were the meals above it, he shrugged.  "I don't remember, but this is defnitely 'top 5'." I served a traditional Eritrean recipe for a classic leavened flatbread flavored with garlic, cumin, and cardamom: Hembesha . 1 1/2 C warm water 1 T active, dry yeast 1 T organic granulated sugar 4 C white whole wheat flour (I have no idea w...

This is another dinner that we cooked while out of town last week: tabletop travel to Canada, our neighbor to the north. When doing some research online, I picked two recipes that seemed simple but flavorful. I picked right. Now I am not sure how authentic these are, but they were hits. Beef Stroganoff The recipe that I found, unlike beef stroganoffs I've made before, was served over rice and not over egg noodles. A perfect modification since one of the kids is gluten-free.   1 onion, peeled and sliced 1 pound brown mushrooms, sliced 1 pound top sirloin, 2" wide, sliced thin 2 T brown rice flour 2 C organic chicken broth 1 C organic whole milk European-style yogurt 1/4 C beer Cut sirloin and dredge in rice flour. Melt butter in a heavy frying pan and add floured meat and saute until browned on all sides. Stir in onions and cook until just tender. Add mushroom and cook until they begin to soften. A dd chicken bouillon, beer, sti...

More excuses...last week we were out of town for Spring Break and we had two friends along for the adventure. While I had planned the dinner, printed the menus, and purchased - and lugged - the ingredients with us, I did not fully understand what adding two more people to the table would mean in terms of time management and getting things from the kitchen to the table. So, I did not get many photos of the food before the hungry little kids dug in and began devouring everything on their plates. I guess that's a good thing...but not for my blogging. Soupe à la Noix de Coco Camerounaise (Cameroonian Coconut Soup) This is a traditional Cameroonian recipe for a soup of potatoes, onions and leek in a coconut base. I skipped the leeks but added carrots and celery; also, I left it chunky and skipped the blender. It was a hit. Everyone polished off their bowls and everyone asked for seconds. 3 diced carrots 3 sliced celery stalks 1 diced onion 6 cubed red potatoes ...

It's Spring Break this week, so I thought I would still do some tabletop traveling, but let someone else do the cooking. At least that was my intent. And while it worked for the meal, the flavors were so amazing that I decided that I will actually have to dig up some recipes and give this country a go when we get home. With a trip to the Museum of California in Oakland planned, I did some research and found a Cambodian restaurant - Phnom Penh House - nearby for this tabletop adventure. Authentic food + convenient location = perfect Spring Break "cooking" solution as far as I was concerned! Jake ordered the KARY KHMER, boneless chicken breast meat, potatoes & bamboo shoot cooked in red curry I opted for the MERM CHHOUK SALAD, lotus root salad with peanuts and prawns We also had NOUM KREAP JEAN (ground pork, shredded carrot, cabbage, bean thread, & black pepper, rolled in a thin rice paper then deep fried),   MOARN ANG KREUN (chicken charbroiled with lemong...

Before tonight I definitely couldn't locate Burundi on a map. So, it's not just the little Manns who are getting a lesson in geography through this cooking adventure! We wrapped up the 'B' countries with some tabletop travel to the the east African nation of Burundi. Burundi is sandwiched between Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda in Africa; it occupies a high plateau just about equal in size to Maryland. While we put five dishes on the table for our Burmese feast, as Burundi is one of the five poorest nations on our globe, I decided to only make one thing: Soupe aux Lentilles et Legumes (a traditional Burundian Lentil and Bean Soup). Interesting combination...I have never put lentils and beans together in a dish. 1 fennel, diced (the traditional recipe uses onion) 2 carrots, diced 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced 2 celery stalks, diced 1/2 head of cabbage, thinly sliced 1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and sliced into 1/2" pieces ...

Jake is home and we are back on track with a tabletop travel adventure to Burma tonight. I actually debated on whether or not this menu should be cooked and blogged with the letter 'b' as Burma is now Myanmar and has been since 1989. But, going with Sasha of Global Table Adventure's list...'b' it is! Apparently the United Nations recognizes the name change as do a few other countries, but it is not recognized by the United States or the United Kingdom. Interesting to note, when the boys tried to look up the country in their atlases, 'Burma' did not exist. It was listed, in the index, as 'Myanmar. However, when they went to the correct page, the country was labeled 'Myanmar (Burma)' on the map. Burmese cuisine is an amalgam of Indian, Chinese, and Thai cuisines. But what they do that really intrigued me: salads. So I came up with a trio of Burmese salads that take a vegetable - or fruit - and really make it pop with flavor. I should say ...

I love that technology allows men to brag about their indiscretions!  So even though Jake is on a 36-hour road trip, eating - shudder! - at McDonald's, I decided we were pressing forward with our cooking around the world adventure without him. Riley was my kitchen elf tonight as we traveled to Burkina Faso by tabletop. I have to admit that I have never heard of Burkina Faso. Turns out it used to be called 'Upper Volta' until 1984 when it was renamed. Burkina Faso means 'land of the upright people.' Okay. I still had to look that one up on the map. It's located in west Africa, surrounded by Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest. After a full day of adventures, from the farmers' market to the beach, I opted for a one-pot dinner: a Burkinabe sweet potato-cashew soup. So delicious! Traditionally this dish is completely pureed, except for the cashews, but I wanted a ...

We are back on track with a tabletop travel adventure to Bulgaria tonight. Bulgaria is a mountainous country on the Balkan peninsula that is bordered by Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, and the Black Sea. The cuisine seems to reflect influences of those neighboring nations. Since Jake was out the door to see a play tonight, I needed recipes that were quick and easy. Here's what I made... Vipava Corba (Bulgarian Cabbage Soup) click the name for the original recipe post Tutmanik (Bulgarian Cheese Bread) Enjoy my tabletop travels. Join me in whipping up a dish or two. If you do cook something from If If you cook a recipe from one of these countries, I'd love to hear about it. Feel free to comment on the posts themselves or email me at constantmotioncamilla at gmail dot com. This Knight of the Global Table Adventure is signing off for now. We're traveling to Burkina Faso next.

We haven't been cooking around the world recently. And Dylan has let me know, in no uncertain terms, that I need to get back in the saddle. Fine. So, while Jake took Riley to his mandolin lesson, Dylan and I got busy with the pots and pans. Tonight we traveled to Brunei by tabletop. Brunei, officially 'Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace ' is a small sovereign state on the island of Borneo and completely surrounded by Malaysia. I read this etiquette guide (from wikipedia) to the little boys last night before dinner: Eye contact - In Brunei society, some conversations between males and females have a very little contact, unless necessary due to religious reasons. However, most people maintain direct eye contact to signal interest, and staring in Brunei society is considered as extremely rude and should be avoided. Physical contact - It is best to avoid physical contact and touching between members of the opposite sex while conversing in public. Communication styl...