Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Here we are at the first #KitchenMatrixCookingProject post for June. This month, Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories selected our recipes. Woohoo. You can read more about our project: here . We'd love to have you join us. And, if you don't have a copy of his cookbook, you can read his Spring roll recipe online . You might remember that I recently spent 30 hours running the camping kitchen for the 8th grade graduation trip; you can read about that adventure here . So, my lunch crew selected a menu from Vietnam and had 'fresh Spring rolls' on their list. Fantastic! And, as luck would have it, several of that team had made these before. So, I didn't do much except provide the ingredients. They did the rest...from peeling shrimp to slicing cucumbers and rolling. The rolling was the biggest task since they were feeding sixty people! The Spring Rolls An InLinkz Link-up Ingredients  makes 8 rolls (I multiplied this by 4 to make just over 30 ...

Another year. Another cooking project. Yeah, I'm a sucker for any cooking project that gets us out of our own culinary traditions. So, I was excited to see the new #EattheWorld project, being spearheaded by Evelyne of  CulturEatz . Here's  her challenge . In February  we kicked off the project with Cuba; in March we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a tabletop trip to Ireland! And you'll see a new country celebrated on the 10th of every month. This month, the group headed to Thailand. I can't wait to see what country she has planned for us next time. This is already one of my favorite monthly events! Eat the World: Thailand Edition You can see what the other bloggers are sharing for our third edition of #EattheWorld... Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Thai One On  Amy from Amy's Cooking Adventures: Chicken Satay   Evelyne from CulturEatz: Thai Steamed Fish Recipe with Lime and Garlic Sauce   Wendy from A Day in the Life on th...

Today I wandered the downtown farmers' market, looking for a vendor I had planned to interview for a story. Unfortunately, he was not open for business as his website indicated he was. Bummer. The up side: I discovered marionberries and golden raspberries from Borba Farms in Aromas. They were my perfect dessert. While the boys demolished our Chocolate Mousse Ice Cream , I devoured these by the handful. Marionberries are a fleeting summer treat. I usually only see them for a few weeks...if that. Technically, they are Marion blackberries, named after the county in Oregon where they were developed, a cross between a blackberry and an olallieberry. Marionberries have a rich, earthy flavor without the bitterness of some other blackberries. Golden raspberries are one of the three that you can find during the summer months - black raspberries, red raspberries, and golden raspberries. I just love their sun-kissed, golden hue and sweetness. Thanks, Borba Farms! Do you have th...

Once your fresh crab is cooked (click for how to cook fresh crab ), you'll need to crack and shell it to get to the creamy, glorious meat. Procedure Twist legs and claws from crab body. Using a nutcracker, crack the shell of each leg and claw section. Pull body sections apart and dig out pockets of meat, using your fingers, a small fork, or a pick. Discard shells. One cooked, cleaned 2-pound crab yields approximately 1/2 pound, or 1 C, of crab meat. I decided to use the shells for making a crab stock.

When I was talking to Riley - on the way home from mandolin lessons tonight - about what he wanted to make with dinner, he didn't miss a beat: "I want to make the ricotta gnocchi like Chef Brad made at La Balena." Okay. "And I want to make the beef heart Bolognese...just like Chef Brad." Oye. I was able to talk him out of the beef heart Bolognese; we had ground beef in the fridge. Look what he made! 2 C whole-milk ricotta (we used Riley's Homemade Ricotta !) 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 1/4 C white whole wheat flour 1 1/2 C grated Parmigiano-Reggiano dash of grated nutmeg freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper Stir together ricotta, eggs, cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add flour, stirring with a silicone spatula to form a soft, wet dough. Shape dough on a parchment-lined surface with lightly floured hands. Roll into 1" ropes and cut crosswise into 1" pieces with a lightly floured knife to form pillow dumpl...

  I've been making this for years...and I've never really measured until this year. I am certain there are plenty of version of this fresh relish out there. It's so easy, fresh, and delicious. 2 C fresh cranberries 3 seedless, organic clementinues 1/4 C coconut sugar ground cardamom ground cinnamon ground nutmeg Place the cranberries, spices, and sugar in a blender. Slice two clementines into wedges and place them in the blender. Squeeze the juice from the third clementine into the blender along the the empty skins. Blend until desired texture. You can make a smooth paste, or leave it more rustic. Spoon into a jar, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use. I've never really had leftovers on this, but I would say, use it within a week.

This recipe came to me in response to  my call for wonderful sidedish recipes   on twitter- not as a blogpost of her own, just as a tweet from @Jayasax . So, I am posting it here. Seventy-three characters. Impressive. Though this is not my recipe, nor have I tested it, it is similar to a fresh relish I've made before, pre-blogging days. And I will definitely give this a try before the year is through. Thanks for submitting it, Jaya. Cranberry relish! 2 c. cranberries, 1 c. orange, 1 c. sugar, grind it up!

Trompe-l'oeuf is not a real phrase. But it popped into my head as I was happily whisking some fresh Fogline Farm eggs into my crêpe batter this morning. Trompe l'oeil (trick of the eye) is a technique in art that involves realistic imagery to create an optical illusion that the painted objects exist in three dimensions. Think Pozzo's painting in Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio in Rome. L'oeuf means 'egg'.  Trompe-l'oeuf = egg trickery. That's what I was pondering while cooking breakfast this morning. Layers at Fogline Farm in Soquel Here's my question: can I really discern the taste difference of an über-fresh egg from pastured-raised, antibiotic-free, and pesticide-free layers? I think I can. Are the whites more clear, more taut? I think so.  Are the yolks more vibrant from the insects and worms that the chickens have in their diets? Yes. Is my EGG-citement about these beauties justified? I think it is.  Or is it a trick of the eye...

It's time for the November  Secret Recipe Club  reveal: Delishhh is a food blog written by Ewa who was born in Sweden, raised in Asia and now lives in the Seattle. She has a passion for international flavor and all things related to food. She enjoys sharing her recipes and her evolving fascination with the global artistry of culinary delights. My kinda gal for sure! There were sooooo many of her recipes that I wanted to try. Her Spiced Pumpkin Cake ,  her Plum-Marscarpone Pie , and her B alsamic Glazed Flank Steak  immediately jumped out at me. Her Rosemary-Parmesan Crackers are on my short list. But it was her restaurant review for Tamarind Tree in Seattle and recipe for Vietnamese Spring Rolls that were screaming my name. I didn't have any rice vermicelli, but I had a clump of enoki mushrooms. They look similar to noodles, right!? I also adapted Ewa's recipe to match what I had on hand, swapping out the basil for mint, adding cucumbers and avo...