Culinary Adventures with Camilla

When I started talking about what to make for this month's  Food'N'Flix  which is a double feature with  Cook the Books  of  The Hundred Foot Journey* , the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf really wanted to re-do his Spiced Coconut Sea Urchin Soup . You can read the invitation by  Deb of  Kahakai Kitchen   for the Cook the Books portion. Here's  her  invitation ;   here's what D and I made for that event:  our version of  Sungta ani Bende Kodi . But, in our attempt to re-do the urchin soup, we were foiled in sourcing urchin locally. I heard buzzings about an echinoderm epidemic; I also heard it was due to the oil spill in Santa Barbara earlier in the year. Whatever the cause, there have been no urchin to be had. I did think we caught a break when a local seafood purveyor was taking advanced orders for urchin. I placed my order, but kept getting emails - "not this week, maybe next week." I was holding out, hoping that we wo...

Ingredients For the Cheese 1 C raw cashews, soaked overnight and drained juice of 1 lemon, approximately 1/3 C 1/3 C water 1 T organic coconut oil 1 t raw apple cider vinegar dash of salt For the Pesto 1  C fresh basil leaves, torn 2 garlic cloves 1/3 C raw pistachio nuts olive oil, as needed 1 t salt To assemble 1 to 2 T sliced tomatoes confit or sun-dried tomatoes To serve 1 T chopped hazelnuts vegan crackers Procedure In a blender, or food processor, blend all of the pesto ingredient together until you have a thick paste. Line a ramekin with plastic wrap. In a blender, or food processor, blend all of the cheese ingredients together until smooth. Spoon part of the mixture into the prepared ramekin. Spoon in a layer of pesto. Lay sliced tomatoes on top of the pesto. Top with remaining cheese. Refrigerate, or freeze, until set. Mine took several hours. To serve, invert the cheese onto a serving platter. T...

As Jake's gluten-free, dairy-free experiment continues, I am having to do some experimenting of my own. Earlier this week I decided that I wanted a creamy alfredo penne with my roasted salmon. As it was, I told the minis it was gluten-free and dairy-free; it was received with a roll of the eyes. Had I not told them, I'm not sure they would have made a peep. It was good...and easy! Actually, making this dairy-free alfredo was easier than making a regular alfredo. Ingredients 1 C raw cashews 1 C water 2 T dairy-free butter 2 cloves garlic, minced 3/4 C grated parmesan cheese dairy-free topping + more for sprinkling cooked pasta (I used gluten-free) freshly ground salt freshly ground pepper olive oil Procedure Soak the cashews in water over night. Drain. Place soaked cashews and 1 C water in a blender. Blend till completely combined and smooth. In a large, flat-bottom pan, melt the butter and cook the garlic until softened. Pour in the cashew cream and stir t...

I love the idea behind the Crazy Ingredient Challenge (CIC); we are assigned two ingredients to cook and create. This month, Kelly of  Passion Kneaded  and Lori of  Lori's Culinary Creations  are hosting. So, here goes... August's Crazy Ingredient Challenge = cashews and coffee I thought about all the possibilities and decided to use cashew nuts to make a dairy-free milk creamer for a New Orleans-style  Café au Lait . My husband has recently decided to cut out dairy. So I'm on a dairy-free adventure. It's all new to us. A café au lait is French pressed coffee to which steamed (or warmed) milk is added; it differs from a caffè latte  which uses espresso as its base. While I typically lean towards a latte , Jake prefers the au lait and he really appreciated the dairy-free effort. Ingredients  for the Cashew Milk Creamer 1 C raw cashews 1 to 2 C cold water 1 to 2 T maple syrup 2 t pure vanilla extract Procedu...

Inspired by Jaime Oliver's Crunchy Carrot Pitas , a Food Revolution Day recipe, we decided to do a little twist; we made pizza! I had some carrots from Grimmway Farms   and some bell peppers from   Baloian Farms , both are sponsors for this year's #BrunchWeek, so this was a quick, easy dinner. Quick and Easy Pizza Dough 1 T active dry yeast 1 T organic granulated sugar 1 C warm water 3 C white whole wheat flour 1/2 C ground cashews 2 T olive oil freshly ground pepper freshly ground salt fennel pollen more olive oil for drizzling Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let bloom until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour, ground cashews, and oil. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes. Roll the dough - with a floured rolling pin - onto baking stone. Make it as flat as you can. It will puff up! Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fennel pollen. Drizzle with more oli...

That is 'bison' as in Bison Brewing Company , in Berkeley, not bison the animal! For Dylan's May the Forks Be With You brunch , I called this Qui-Gon Jinn-gerbread. A note about Bison's Organic Gingerbread Ale: I have been looking for this for two years! It's a limited release ale - only available between September and December - and for the past two years, by the time I get around to looking for it, I can't find it. This year, I saw it at our local Whole Foods in November and snagged up three four-packs before they disappeared. I decided to sacrifice one to this gingerbread coffee cake for Dylan's birthday brunch. 1/2 C chopped cashews 2 T dark brown sugar 1-1/4 C butter, plus some for greasing 1 C unsulphered molasses 1 C dark brown sugar, packed 1/2 bottle Bison Brewing gingerbread beer 2 t ground ginger 2 t ground cinnamon 1 t ground nutmeg 1/4 t ground cloves 2 C white whole wheat flour 1/4 C dark rye flour 1 T baking powder 1...

1 large ripe pineapple 1/2 C port wine handful of raw, halved cashews Peel and slice pineapple into bite-sized pieces. Play them in a flat dish. Pour port over the sliced and let stand for at least an hour - several if you have the time. Turn once and turn again just before serving on dessert dishes. Cashews are one of the major crops of Mozambique. So sprinkle te nuts over the pineapple or just pass a bowl of nuts alongside the dessert.