Culinary Adventures with Camilla

The Republic of Gambia is the smallest country on the African mainland and is bordered on three sides by Sénégal. A wide variety of ethnic groups live in The Gambia and its cuisine is a mixture of Native, Arabic, Portugese and British influences.   For our tabletop travel to The Gambia, we cooked a traditional Gambian one-pot stew of fish and vegetables in a tomato broth. And since it's usually served with rice, I used the opportunity to makes these cute lil' rice dudes my cousin had sent me a photo of with a note that read: "thought of you when I saw this." Adorable.   The funny thing: I made two rice dudes - one of each of my kids - and my husband wanted to know where his was. Oh, brother!   Serekunda Fish Benachin Benachin literally means 'one-pot.' So, all of this went into one pot and simmered until cooked and soft. Then I laid the fish on top and steamed them until they were opaque. One recipe I found listed measurements in "cigarette c...

I had initially planned to make Doro Wat (chicken wat ), but I missed putting the chicken into the fridge when I got home from the grocery store the night before. So, it was sitting at room temperature for far too long. I dumped it in the garbage - with a little bit of cursing (in Italian! I only curse in Italian, so no one knows what I'm saying. And even if the boys repeat me, no one will understand them.) - and changed directions, using whatever vegetables I had. There is an Ethiopian vegetable stew that looked interesting, but I preferred the spice combination in the wat , so I flew by the seat of my pants on this one. 1 onion, diced 1 shallot, diced 1 head of cauliflower, shopped into bite-sized pieces 2 zucchini, chopped 4 potatoes, chopped 2 C tomato sauce 1-1/2 C water 1 t ground cinnamon 1 t ground cumin 1/2 t ground paprika 1/2 t ground ginger 1/2 t ground cardamom 1/2 t ground nutmeg zest from 1 lemon juice from 1 lemon salt and pepper to taste ...

When you add four ingredients to vegetables, you transform them into Earth's candy - caramelized and concentrated. Delicious. Oh, the four ingredients: olive oil, salt, pepper, and heat. I decided to roast some of the root vegetables I had in the fridge to put atop our Easter salad. Peel and cut veggies into bite-sized pieces. For this batch I used celery root, parsnips, carrots, and red beets. Place them in a roasting pan, drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle them with freshly ground sea salt and pepper. I did add some fresh rosemary to this batch. Okay, this took five ingredients! Cover them with foil and roast in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and let them roast - and caramelize - for another 15 minutes. Place the roasted veggies on top of mixed greens. Season with salt and pepper. Dress with olive oil and juice from one lemon. I used a rosemary -infused olive oil. Toss and serve. I am sharing this recipe with Beyond the Peel's Whole Food Wednes...

Sunday was always the day, in Italy, to use up the veggies that were leftover from the week. Sometimes it was a minestrone. More often than not I made a vegetable frittata. Fast, easy and portable, it makes a great snack after a Sunday hike. Use whatever veggies you have on hand.  This morning I parboiled purple potatoes and carrots, added some crimini mushrooms, covered it all with eggs beaten with milk, and topped it with shredded parmesan cheese. Bake it in a 350 degree oven till the center is firm, usually about an hour.  It's just as good cold as it is warm.