Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This month the #FoodNFlix bloggers are watching "Chocolat" and the #LitHappens group is reading Chocolat , the novel that inspired that movie. I watched, re-read, then found a follow-up novel by Joanne Harris, Peaches for Monsieur le Curé: A Novel .* I did learn - after I finished - that this is the third book and I skipped the second one. Whoops. I guess I'll read them out of order. If you're interested in my thoughts about Chocolat novel in my Pain au Chocolat post. On the Page photo from amazon.com Vianne returns to Lansquenet after receiving a letter forwarded from Armande via her grandson Luc. Armande entreats Vianne to return and save Reynauld because he won't ask for help on his own. With a continued focus on the central themes of discrimination, feminism, and racism, this novel has even more xenophobia than Chocolat . Possibly because though Vianne is 'other' she is a singular person; and even Roux and his nomadic river people are...

I love that these don't involve any baking but they look phenomenal on a cookie platter. They are ridiculously easy to make, too. Ingredients 4 C organic shredded coconut (I used a finely shredded kind that's really between shreds and flour) 1 can sweetened, condensed milk 12 oz dark chocolate, chopped salt (I used a vanilla salt that I had gotten from Susan, The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen ) Procedure In a large bowl, stir together coconut and condensed milk; it will form a thick, sticky paste. Roll mixture into 1" balls - you should get about 3 dozen balls from this quantity. Place coconut balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Put the tray in the freezer form, at least, 30 minutes. While balls are chilling, temper your chocolate over a double boiler.  Using two toothpicks or forks, dip the coconut balls into the chocolate, covering evenly. Move the balls back to the tray and finish coating them completely. Sprinkle with salt. ...

Honey Ganache makes approximately 5 dozen truffles Ingredients 3-1/4 C 72% cacao chocolate, chopped 2 C organic heavy cream 3 T butter, softened 2 T honey (I used a local avocado honey) Procedure 1. Place chopped chocolate and honey in a large mixing bowl.  In a medium saucepan, bring cream to a boil.  Pour boiling cream over the chocolate.  Let sit for three minutes, then whisk until smooth.  Stir in butter. 2. Refrigerate until firm - at least two hours. I left mine overnight. Procedure Line a cookie sheet or tray with parchment paper or foil. With a tablespoon or tablespoon scoop, scoop chilled ganache from your bowl and place on the lined tray. Refrigerate for a minimum of 15 minutes. (I let them chill for about 30 minutes.) For chocolate-dipped truffles...how to temper chocolate... Place half of your chipped chocolate (I didn't measure, but you can just repeat the process if you run out of chocolate)...

If you've been following me this month, you'll know that I attended a Truffle Making class  right before Valentines' Day led by Jenn of  Rook No. 17 . She is a chocolatiering wizard and an incredible culinary inspiration. She had us make a trio of dark chocolate decadence: one with champagne and gold leaf, one with raspberry dust, and one with granulated honey. I went home and decided to make some saffron-infused truffles for my Spice It Up! class. The kids had voted to learn about saffron that week. I made a kid-friendly White Chocolate-Saffron Truffle and a Strega-Spiked Saffron Truffle for grown ups. Liquore Strega - in case you're unfamiliar - is a saffron liqueur from Italy. So, for this event - girlichef 's National Margarita Day round-up - I decided to try my hand at a tequila  truffle. Here we go...these have a healthy dose of tequila in a Kaffir lime-infused ganache and are finished with a fleur de sel sprinkle on the top. Lime, salt...that al...

With saffron on my mind and  Truffle-Making class  last week, I decided to try and make some saffron truffles - spiked with Liquore Strega , naturally - for my Valentine. All I have to say is 'wow.' Are you allowed to say that about something you made yourself?! I did buy a mini scoop yesterday. Even though I am a non-gadgety cook, this is a must for easy truffle making. I can't believe I've never had one before! Thanks for the tip, Jenn. Start with my  Strega-Spiked Saffron Ganache . Procedure Line a cookie sheet or tray with parchment paper or foil. With a tablespoon or tablespoon scoop, scoop chilled truffle ganache from your bowl and place on the lined tray. Refrigerate for a minimum of 15 minutes. (I let them chill for about 30 minutes.) For chocolate-dipped truffles...how to temper chocolate... Place half of your chipped chocolate (I didn't measure, but you can just repeat the process if you run out of chocolate) in a double-boiler a...

After the kiddos voted to learn about saffron this week, and after my Truffle-Making class on Monday, I decided to make some kid-friendly truffles with saffron just for them. It is Valentines' Day after all. I started with a White Chocolate-Saffron Ganache , letting it chill overnight in the fridge. I did go out and buy a mini scoop yesterday. Though I am a decidedly non-gadgety cook, this is a must for easy truffle making. I can't believe I've never had one before! Procedure Line a cookie sheet or tray with parchment paper.   With a tablespoon or tablespoon scoop, scoop chilled truffle ganache from your bowl and place on the lined tray.  Refrigerate for a minimum of 15 minutes. (I let them chill for about 30 minutes.) For chocolate-dipped truffles...how to temper chocolate... Place half of your chipped chocolate (I didn't measure, but you can just repeat the process if you run out of chocolate) in a double-boiler and, over low heat, warm u...

Years ago, I came across  Rook No. 17's Dark Chocolate Truffles . I've made truffles many, many times since. And I am incredibly fortunate to know the über talented Jenn in real life. So, when I saw that she was hosting a truffle-making class this week - in preparation for Valentines' Day - I snagged up two of the spots and invited my other favorite Jenn. Woohoo! Girls night. I knew ours guys wouldn't complain. They would, after all,  get a box of handmade, hand-dipped chocolate magic out of the evening. The Basics... chocolate + cream + butter + [optional add-ins] Jenn pre-made three different ganaches for us: champagne, raspberry, and honey. We chatted, dipped, swirled, dusted, sprinkled, and painted to create some fabulous truffles. The champagne ganache was dipped and affixed with edible gold leaf ... The raspberry ganache was sprinkled with a gorgeous homemade raspberry dust ... And the honey ganache was dipped and dusted ...

Before I start this post, I want to say that I made a HUGE mess. It was a gigantic, sticky, tasty mess. I had good intentions and my components were all perfect. But, when I tried to put them all together...let's just say, 'ugly' would be a generous description. I originally titled this post 'Gingo-Mars' but after I made them, they became Mess-omars. Caroline from Caroline Makes  is hosting  Food'N'Flix  this month. And her pick -  When Harry Met Sally  - is one I've probably seen fifty times. No exaggeration. Maybe more. When I was in high school, my best friend, Jenn, and I would make apple pies on Friday evenings and watch it ad nauseum; we were real party-girls, can't you tell?!? Click  here  to see Caroline's invitation to her movie selection. Please, forgive the long, long, Dostoyevsky-long post. This is one of my favorite movies of all time! So, one night, I pulled out my DVD and Jake and I watched it again. I had a notepad and ...

Our final international treat for our Global Dessert Tasting menu, based on  Global Table Adventure's new year's food suggestions  - is a nut candy from the Caucausus Mountains in Georgia. Normally we quickly eat a dozen grapes to accompany the strokes of the clock at midnight - in Spanish, or Portuguese, style - but this year, we'll be  getting our 'grape' on with churchkhela , a Georgian grape confection. While Sasha's recipe looks fantastic, I wanted to simplify and find a recipe that used grape juice instead of me having to puree and drain grapes overnight. I still needed 3-4 days for it to dry. And since we're an anti-walnut household (don't ask!), I went with pecans. Ingredients 40 pecans, approximately 6 C grape juice 3/4 C organic granulated sugar 1 C flour Confectioners' sugar Procedure I didn't have a needle. But I always have sterling silver jewelry wire. So I improvised and threaded my "nee...