Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  This is a sponsored post written by me in conjunction with the October #ItalianFWT event. Wine samples were provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links This month, the Italian Food Wine Travel bloggers are turning their eyes towards Abruzzo. David of Cooking Chat is hosting and that lucky duck traveled to Abruzzo last year for a press trip. You can read his event invitation and some more information about Abruzzo:  here . If you are reading this early enough, feel free to join in the live Twitter chat on Saturday, 5 October 2019 at 8 o'clock, Pacific time. Search for #ItalianFWT to follow along and add that to your tweets so we can see your comments. Cin cin . In the meantime, here are the Abruzzo posts...these will go live between Friday, October 4th and Satuday, October 5th. Steven from Wine and Food Pairings  discusses Cioppino – Red orWhite Wine? Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm writes about The Food and ...

Today Jenn came to my Around the World with Rice class and shared a recipe with us that has been passed down through her husband’s family for generations. She shared that Mike’s mom learned from his Grandma who was married very young and moved in with her in-laws. Her mother-in-law taught her everything about cooking. Most of the kids had had Mexican rice before. When we finally sat down to eat, Jenn was tickled to hear one of the kids declare: "This is ten times better than the rice at Papa Chano's!" Sweet. We talked about a molcajete which is a stone tool, the traditional Mexican version of the mortar and pestle. It’s similar to the South American  batan  and used for grinding various foods. When Mike came by and tasted the rice, toward the end of class, he told us that he doubles the amount of cumin seed, pepper, garlic, and tomato sauce from his grandmother's recipe. But it's hers that I've shared below. Ingredients 4 T oil 2 C l...

I was on a deadline last night and the boys were coming home late anyway. So, I wanted a dinner that was mostly hands-off. This requires a little bit of active time, then it goes in the oven, and you don't have to think about it again for over an hour. It was perfect for me to get in some good, uninterrupted writing time. And that crispy duck skin! It's amazing.  The spice blend I used was an Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf special which means that I really have no idea what he put in it. But, from what was left out on the counter, I know it had juniper berries, cardamom, coriander, paprika, and some cayenne. It was deliciously spicy. Maybe use your favorite spice blend... Ingredients 4 duck legs 1 T butter splash of olive oil 1 large onion, peeled and cubed 1 C chicken stock, preferably homemade 1 C red wine 1 to 2 T spice blend (your choice - D whipped up something with juniper berries, cardamom, coriander, paprika, and some cayenne)   Procedure ...

Who needs a flowers when your Love bring you purple cauliflower?!? In this case it wasn't my husband, but my littlest Love - one of my Kitchen Elves. The Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf walked up to me in Whole Foods with his hands behind his back. "Mom, can you buy something for me? It's edible." Sure. What it is? "Well, I want to buy it with my own money, but I didn't bring any money. But I want to buy it for you because it so pretty!" He swung his arms out and was holding a beautiful, deep purple head of cauliflower. "Can you buy it for me? I'll give you money when we get home." Absolutely. But, you do know that we're going to eat it, right? You don't want me to put that in a vase, do you? "Well, can it sit in a vase for one night? Then you can cook it." Deal. I actually whipped this up the first night the boys were away for Fall Break. So, D didn't actually get to eat the centerpiece! I served this ...

Here we are at day four of #PumpkinWeek v.2016, hosted by Terri of  Love and Confections , where we celebrate our love of the season with an entire week of pumpkin goodies, leading up to National Pumpkin Day. Twenty-one food bloggers have come together to share over eighty recipes with you. In addition to pumpkin biscotti, cupcakes, and madeleines, we are also sharing savory pumpkin dishes such as hummus, chili, and pumpkin empanadas. Come back every day for #PumpkinWeek recipes. You can also find these great recipes and more on  Love and Confections' #PumpkinWeek Pinterest Board ! Once I decided to keep all my offerings savory - and inernational - I looked at pumpkin traditions from all over the globe. On day one I shared  Pumpkin Laska , a curry noodle soup with pumpkin from Singapore. On day two, I posted a riff on a Brazilian shrimp stuffed pumpkin using squid instead of  Lula na Moraga . Yesterday, I shared an Afghani pumpkin dish called  Kadu Boura...

The  Foodie Reads 2016 Challenge  is in full swing and the end of our first month is looming. I had never heard of this book, but it was mentioned during an Italian wine twitter chat; I had to get it.  Heat  by Bill Buford.* On the Page... This coming-of-age-in-the-kitchen is a hodgepodge of high-end restaurant gossip (Will Elisa and Gina have a kitchen cat-fight?), kitchen secrets (Though the short ribs at Babbo are billed as Brasato al Barolo , they are not actually braised in Barolo, but in a cheaper varietal Merlot.), and devoted love letter to the quickly disappearing tradition of homemade food. There's something for everyone. Like melodrama? You'll enjoy the cast of characters in the Babbo kitchen, especially the antics of Marco Pierre White. Like reinvention stories? Us 40 somethings can certainly understand the appeal of reflecting on life and career, not to mention the romance of actually changing course for a new career. Can you say 'mid life...

A twist on Aldous Huxley's  Brave New World, m y planned 'Brave New Swirled Soup' - 'Pumpkin, Corn, and Lemongrass Soup with a Swirl of Crème Fraîche' became 'Pumpkin, Corn, and Lemongrass Soup with a Swirl of Plain Yogurt' after I sent the crème fraîche over to my parents with the boys a day early. The boys spread it on their bagels for lunch! Oye. The plain yogurt worked out fine...and makes for a silly story. Brave New World 's title comes from William Shakespeare's The Tempest.  In Act V, Scene I, Miranda exclaims: O wonder! How many godly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't. The irony: Miranda, who was raised on an isolated island, is praising men not  acting in godly manner at all. Huxley uses the same irony when the "savage" John refers to what he sees as a "brave new world." It's been a long time since I've picked up eit...

Ingredients 1  C onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced 1 C fennel, stalks trimmed and cut into 2" pieces, fronds reserved 2 C diced apples 1 C diced zucchini 2 C chicken stock 1 C milk 1/4 C fresh herbs (I used a mixture of parsley and thyme) freshly ground salt freshly ground pepper shredded parmesan for garnish Procedure Place onion, garlic, fennel, apples, zucchini, and chicken stock in a large pot. Simmer until the apple and fennel are cooked and the liquid has reduced slightly. Let the soup mixture slightly cool and blend till smooth. Add in milk, to your preference on thickness. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat to warm again, then fold in fresh herbs just before serving. Garnish with fennel fronds and a sprinkle of shredded parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Laissez le bon temps rouler!  I forgot to put the andouille sausage in my Sweethearts' Seafood Boil   last weekend, so I had a pound that was begging to be used. And I had a jar of RED spice blend from  Voodoo Chef *  that was sent to me for participating in an online event earlier in the month. Put those together - and given that today is Mardi Gras - the culinary lightbulb of inspiration blinked: Red Beans and Rice! It's easy; it's filling; and, most importantly, it's delicious. Note: mine is not a traditional red beans and rice recipe. I throw in whatever veggies I have on-hand for a nutritious, one-pot meal. Thanks to our High Ground Organics CSA for keeping my fridge stocked with fresh, amazing produce. Ingredients 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and diced 1 large leek, trimmed and diced 3 or 4 small carrots, diced 4 celery stalks, diced 2 T butter splash of olive oil 1 pound cooked andouille sausages, halved and sliced 1 bunch kale, thinly sliced ...

This round Rachel, at  The Crispy Cook , selected  Sustenance & Desire: A Food Lover's Anthology of Sensuality and Humor  by Bascove for our December 2014-January 2015  Cook the Books   project. Click to see  her invitation . T his post contains an Amazon-affiliate link at the bottom  - for the book. This was the perfect selection to span the holidays. There was no plot to follow, characters of which to keep track, all the while trying to balance holiday parties and general end-of-the-year mayhem. This was a delightful collection of poems, paintings, and short editorials that could be read, furtively, while waiting for the kids to fall asleep so Santa could crumble the cookies and fill the stockings! There were many moments of inspiration. I considered doing something with artichokes... The artichoke of delicate heart  erect in its battle-dress, builds its minimal cupola... -Pablo Neruda ...or something with cheese... ...

When I started planning my post-Christmas Columbian feast, arepas kept coming up in my search. I know this is inaccurate, but think of them as thick, stuffed tortillas; they are more like corn cakes, I suppose. We liked them so much, I've already made them again. In any case, I started with R's Handmade Corn Tortillas and went from there. We stuffed ours with queso fresco and topped them with crumbled morcilla , blood sausage. I had just picked some up from Boccalone in the Ferry Building. Ingredients makes 16 cakes 2 C masa harina 1 C hot water 1 C hot chicken stock 4 T butter, softened 2 egg yolk 1 C crumbled queso fresco butter or oil for cooking the arepas cooked blood sausage, crumbled, for serving fresh cilantro, for garnish crema Mexicana or sour cream, for garnish Procedure Place the masa harina in a large mixing bowl. Add the hot water and stock. Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until well-combined. Stir the egg yolk and butter ...