Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This is a sponsored post written by me in conjunction with a Locavore Feast I hosted .  Some ingredients were provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links. While most of the wine pairings for the Locavore Feast came from Donkey & Goat, I did receive a special treat for one course: a wine from local winemaker Ian Brand.* So, I poured that wine with salads that featured produce from Farmer Jamie at Serendipity Farms. Both are local producers; both are people I adore. What a treat! Have you ever had purslane? I first encountered purslane in a CSA box years ago. It almost looks like a succulent. Amazingly, its leaves have more omega-3 fatty acids than in some of the fish oils. I think I read somewhere that it's technically a succulent herb. And it definitely has a lot of flavor. Think sour and salty all at the same time. It's the perfect base for pesto. Pesto  is a sauce that originated in the Ligurian region of northern Italy.  Pest...

When I was working on a post about orange wines from Italy - it's coming soon! - I grabbed a bottle of wine from one of my favorite restaurants. I sat with my friend, who owns the restaurant, and we talked about possible pairings. She thought "something with mushrooms." When I was testing the pairings, I made this dish. While everyone liked it, Jake determined the other dish went better with the wine. So, this dish just gets shared as a regular recipe; the other recipe will be posted for the wine pairing event. Ingredients  serves 2 as an entree Mushrooms 2 large portabello mushrooms, brushed clean of dirt 1/2 C olive oil 1/4 C balsamic vinegar freshly ground salt freshly ground pepper canola oil for the grill (pan) Caprese 3/4 C mozzarella ciliegie, sliced in half 3/4 C diced tomatoes olive oil 1 T fresh basil, roughly chopped  + basil leaves for garnish freshly ground salt freshly ground pepper Procedure Place mushrooms in...

This round  Simona, of  Briciole   selected our February-March selection. Her  announcement post is here .  The Unprejudiced Palate: Classic Thoughts on Food and the Good Life   by Angelo M. Pellegrini*  is our current  Cook the Books   read. Submissions are due at the end of the month...so I'm squeaking this post in just before the deadline. Oh, well. On the Page... I am truly torn. I read this book in the course of one evening, devouring the Italian food philosophy that I myself embrace since I learned to cook in Rome in the late 90s.  I love the Italian way of cooking and looking at food: nurture a garden, share well-cooked meals family and friends, and have a passion for ingredients and cooking that nourish the body and the soul. But, simultaneously, I felt more than a little disdain in the author's voice. Like the Anthony Bourdain of his time - remember this book is over half a century old! - Pelligrini struck me as...

Another festive 'recipe' for Halloween. It's less of a recipe - it's your basic caprese salad; it's more of a presentation... Ingredients mozzarella balls mini heirloom tomatoes fresh basil, chopped olive oil fleur de sel to taste Procedure Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Serve on a platter with some toy eyeballs as "garnish."

When I was invited to a friend's post-Christmas pie tasting party, I responded that I would bring one sweet pie and one savory pie. The discussions began around our dining room table:  What makes a pie a pie?  Sensibly, Riley said, "A pie has no frosting." True . Jake declared, "It's the crust." Okay . And my sweet, Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf asserted, "A pie has a crust...and is low to the ground." Huh. "You know, a cake can be tall; a pie is short." Employing all three of those criteria - no frosting, a crust, and low to the ground - a galette can qualify as a pie. So, I decided to make a veggie galette for my savory 'pie' offering. I had a caprese tart in mind, but one of the things I love about caprese is its freshness. That didn't lend itself to a cooked tart. I settled on a veggie tart with a caprese topping. And since our hostess is mostly gluten-free, I went that route for my  pâte brisée  . Pâte Brisée  ...

This was a new one for me : Little Gems lettuce. I'm a fan. I love these tight blossoms of edible goodness. There were at least three in our Fogline Farm CSA box today, two green and one burgundy. Lovely. I used the oregano and purple Little Gems lettuce from the box in a colorful Caprese for dinner tonight. 2 C ciliegie mozzarella 2 C heirloom cherry tomatoes, some halved 1 Little Gems lettuce head, torn into bite-sized pieces 1 T chopped fresh oregano freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper olive oil Place all of the produce in a salad bowl. Dress with a splash of olive oil; season to taste with salt and pepper. This was a great dish paired with my Warm Brown Rice Salad  and a fresh pear. Dinner's ready!

Can you call something a recipe if all it requires is slicing and layering? Perhaps. This is the Italian 'recipe' we made during our Culinary Adventurers class this afternoon: Insalata Caprese .  Heirloom tomatoes + fresh mozzarella + fresh basil Then we sprinkled it with freshly ground salt and drizzled it with olive oil.

The combination of a sunny Indian summer evening and some luscious tomatoes from Belle's garden meant one thing for dinner: caprese pasta. This dish reminds me of so many summer dinners at my apartment in Trastevere. I love that the only thing you have to cook is the pasta. While the pasta boiled, I sliced a ball of fresh mozzarella and fresh tomatoes. Then when the pasta was done - al dente! - I tossed it with the cheese, tomatoes, and a handful of arugula leaves. A splash of olive oil to make everything glossy; fresh ground pepper and some grey sea salt for some more flavor. Che squisito! And so, so fast.

1 T active dry yeast 1 T organic granulated sugar 1 C warm water 1-1/2 C white whole wheat flour 1 C chestnut flour 2 T olive oil 1 t pink Himalaya salt Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza stone dusted with flour. Smear with minced garlic and tomato sauce and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving. Top with sliced fresh mozzarella, fresh cut tomatoes, and rough chopped fresh basil. Sprinkle with pink Himalaya salt and drizzle with olive oil.

To add a splash more color to my salad course, I topped the greens, watermelon radish, and pomegranate seeds with golden beets, caprese-style.  I write 'caprese-style' because caprese salad is fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and olive oil.  So, technically, this wasn't a caprese.  But it looked like a caprese. Sliced golden beets with slices of fresh buffalo mozzarella sprinkled with oregano and pink Himalaya salt and drizzled with olive oil.  Love the colors...and the flavors.