Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This is a virtually effortless appetizer that's as tasty as it is simple. I had planned to make my own vinaigrette as a marinade, then a bottle of beet vinaigrette arrived from one of the event sponsors  Out of the Weeds  and my dish was decided. It was even easier than I anticipated. Thanks, Robin. Just for fun, here are the (purported) aphrodisiac qualities to this appetizer... Beets : When I visited the ruins of Pompeii, I saw frescoes of beets on the wall of the brothel. In Greek mythology Aphrodite ate beets to augment her beauty. Ancient Romans believed that drinking beet juice was a love potion of sorts. But there may be some science in relation to this myth: naturally-occurring nitrates in beets can increase blood flow and beets also contain high amounts of boron, which is directly correlated to the production of sex hormones. You decide. I just love the pink color they lend to dishes. Chocolate or Cocoa:  Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, which ...

from amazon.com This month the  Pass the Cookbook  crew - under the leadership of Kita, the culinary force behind  Pass the Sushi  - is cooking Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food .  This post contains an amazon affiliate link at the bottom - for the book. Our three choices this month were for skirt steak, Tres Amigos, and eggplant parmesan. I opted for the second one! Sort of. I have to be honest, I am not good at translating two dimensions (words) into three dimensions (real-life). So, I cannot even imagine what this dish was supposed to look like! Sorry. I'm thinking some kind of rosette: a scallop wrapped in petals of salmon and halibut. In any case, I say that I 'sort of' made it because I skipped the halibut completely and used some fresh gravlax as the salmon part. And, as for my name - Seafood Kisses 'n' Hugs - I thought the scallops looked liked 'O's and I formed the gravlax into 'X's. Love...xoxo...get it? ...

Despite the dozens of things I have to get done before the school year is over, I had all of the ingredients I needed for the  Food Matters Project  assignment this week...and we have to eat, right?!? I may as well cook with a purpose. So, tonight, after a much needed stroll on the beach, I came home and whipped up my version of Bittman's Mexican-Style Fruit Salad with Grilled or Broiled Fish. The recipe was selected by Sarah of  Food and Fredrick .  Click here for what our week's hostess created in her kitchen. And to see what the other bloggers cooked and blogged, click here and look in the comments section. This was so simple, I almost loathe to call it a recipe. But maybe that's the beauty of it... Chicken, rubbed with minced garlic and sprinkled with fresh dill, freshly ground pink Himalaya salt and flower pepper, broiled in the oven. While the chicken cooks, make a fruit salsa: diced fresh mangoes; cubed, peeled kiwi; sliced strawberries...

 Grapefruits lopped in half are a breakfast table staple in our house. Filipinos soak the segments in vinegar. I know, I know, that sounds beyond bizarre; it's actually very good. Some people sprinkle theirs with sugar. We, usually, devour ours plain in all its juicy, tangy splendor. But I wanted something a little bit more exotic for Jake's birthday and I found a recipe for broiled grapefruit with honey, cardamom, and vanilla . Perfect. When Riley first took a a bite, he had this look of horror on his face. "Why is the grapefruit hot, Mommy?!?" Then he declared, "Mmmm...cardamom. This is good." While I am still a fan of the slice-and-go method, my experiment was a wild success. two large grapefruits, halved and the sections sliced from the membrane 2 T organic honey 1 t pure vanilla extract pinch of ground cardamom Position an oven rack about 4 inches below the broiler and pre-heat the broiler. This was the first time that I've used our broil...