Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sokol Blosser . Complimentary wine was provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links. However, all opinions expressed here are my own.   Linda of My Full Wine Glass is hosting the Wine Pairing Weekend bloggers this month with a theme of foods that are hard to pair. You can read her invitation here . There are definitely foods that I find more challenging than others to match. I can't wait to have this group take the mystery out of some of those. If you are reading this early enough, feel free to jump on our Twitter chat. We will be live on Saturday, June 12th at 8am Pacific time. Just follow the hashtag #WinePW and be sure to add that to anything that you tweet so we can see it. Here's the line-up of articles on the subject... Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm asks Difficult? Yes….Impossible? No. Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla goes for Over the Top Taco Night: Pork Carnitas + 2012 Sokol...

    This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of L'Ecole .  Complimentary wine was provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links.  However, all opinions expressed here are my own.   If you're been following my blog, you'll know that I'm doing a series of monthly posts in collaboration with  L'Ecole Winery .* A group of us participate in a virtual tasting with their marketing manager, the winemaker, and the general manager and discuss timely topics. This month, we are looking at how to make your weeknight meals shine with a truly special value wine! 2020 L'Ecole Chenin Blanc Old Vines When you come across a standout wine that's easy on the pocket book, you make notes that it's perfect for everyday dinners  and  special occasions, right? That's what I did when I had a chance to taste the 2020 L'Ecole Chenin Blanc; I can see why this was the wine selected for this topic. This wine retails for $17 ( on their website ). T...

Today is our third  May post for our Kitchen Matrix Project, named after Mark Bittman's  Kitchen Matrix  cookbook. You can read about the year-long project:  here . This month, I chose the recipes and went with a Latin theme. So, last week, we worked with masa. The first week of the month, we made salsa. This week, we're making carnitas. And so on...you get the idea. The #KitchenMatrixCookingProject Carnitas Plates An InLinkz Link-up Carnitas Braised in White Wine slightly adapted from Mark Bittman This recipe in Bittman's book is an oddity in that there is only one recipe; if you don't have a copy of the cookbook, you can read it online: here . There are no variations, no matrix on other possibilities. So, I made my own adaptations based on what I had on hand and on a previous experience with making carnitas. Actually, I have made carnitas quite a bit. In fact, I even won a cooking contest at a local brewery making carnitas with one of...

It's not a party without some carnitas. I recently won a recipe contest with my Legend of Laguna Carnitas over Pan-Fried Polenta Cakes . And - though I won - one of the comments made by a judge stuck with me: "It's not really carnitas because she didn't make it with lard." While I quelled my gag reflex - lard!?!? - I did start to think about what the lard would do and how it would change my dish. I was thinking that bits might crisp in lard and figured that I could achieve the same effect with butter. So, as a riff on ubiquitous tailgate baked potato skins, I made Carnitas-Stuffed Potatoes with a Carrot Karma* pico de gallo, using Carrot Karma Hot Sauce by Intensity Academy - one of  our #10DaysofTailgate sponsors. The sauce added a slightly sweet, subtle heat to my fresh salsa. Ingredients Carnitas 3 pounds skinless, boneless pork, cut into 2-inch pieces  2 C  liquid (I used a mixture of beer, chicken stock, and water) 1 T Carrot Karma Hot Sau...

When I saw #peterbsbrewsandbitescontest - a cooking contest to create an appetizer using one of their brews - announced on  Peter B's Facebook page , I   was instantly inspired. I created a dish showcasing my favorite  Peter B's  brew: Legend of Laguna IPA. Then I submitted my IPA-Braised Carnitas Over Polenta Cakes to the contest...and waited. The three finalists were announced... Beer Fondue by Rachel N. IPA-Braised Carnitas over Polenta Cakes by Camilla M. Vegan Beer Caramelized Leek & Onion Dip served with Beer Pretzel Bites by Briana S.  ...followed by more waiting. Yesterday, the chef at Peter B's recreated our three dishes and we were judged by the Beer Geeks, the Grub Hunter, and KRML's Program Director AKA Chris, Merideth, Mike, and Jeff. I was oddly nervous that a professional chef was making one of my recipes. Here's the crew, judging the dishes during Pub Talk  last night. photo by Portola Hotel & Spa As is a...

When I saw #peterbsbrewsandbitescontest - a cooking contest to create an appetizer using one of their brews - announced on Peter B's Facebook page , I   was instantly inspired. I wanted to create a dish showcasing my favorite Peter B's brew: Legend of Laguna IPA. I am definitely not a hop-head; I am typcially not a fan of IPAs. But the first time I tasted the Legend of Laguna IPA, in a tasting flight, I was enamored. It was my favorite of the six for sure. I went back to try it a second time and had the same reaction: I love the citrusy, everygreeny taste! It's bright without being too bitter. I'm definitely a fan. So, to play on those orange and pine flavors, I created some carnitas-topped polenta cakes made with citrus juice and pine honey. If you're local, here's a link to all the places you can purchase bottles , and the brew pub also has growlers & growlettes to go! Here we go...what I made for #peterbsbrewsandbitescontest... N...