Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  This month, I hosted the Food'N'Flix group and asked them to watch The Pickle Recipe . You can read my invitation here . Here's what the bloggers shared... Ogórki Kiszone   by A Day in the Life on the Farm Wendy wrote, "I had never heard of this 2016 film before. I was surprised to see that it was filmed here in my home state Michigan, set in Detroit. I love watching films that are filled with familiar images."  She describes the movie as "a fun, light hearted comedy that reminds us of what is truly important in this world.  Joey learns many lessons while struggling with his conscience and his relationships." And Wendy whipped up her fermented Polish dill pickles. I can't wait to try her recipe - Ogórki Kiszone . Beet Pickled Eggs by  Amy's Cooking Adventures Amy was unimpressed by the movie, writing, " The Pickle Recipe is a fairly underwhelming film in which our protagonist, being short on cash, tries to hoodwink his grandmother out of...

When I received a shipment of German wines for an upcoming post for Wine Pairing Weekend, last month, I immediately asked friends who have lived in Germany and are of German descent if they would teach me some recipes. They did one better: they offered to host a dinner with traditional German recipes if I would make and bring sauerkraut. Done! Thankfully, I remembered the week ahead of time because this sauerkraut needs to ferment for between 3 to 10 days; this version was 7 days. And...it was a hit! One of the kids said she didn't normally like sauerkraut, but she liked mine. The host stuck his nose in the jar before we served and nodded, saying, "That smells right." There are very few ingredients. The only things that I would suggest having to make your life easier: a mandolin slicer, glass fermentation weights, and a vegetable tamper. I use mine all the time! But you don't need them to make this recipe. They just make this process easier. ...

I may have mentioned a 21-day detox I was doing. Yesterday was the last day. In any case, one of the guidelines was to eat fermented vegetables with every meal. That works for me since I love fermented veggies. But it took until the very last weekend for me to get my act together to make my own. I had purchased a fermentation tool set that included glass fermentation weights and a vegetable tamper. I already had a mandolin slicer.* And I had four beautiful heads of cabbage in my High Ground Organics CSA. Well, there were two heads already included; then I swapped some lettuce for the other heads of cabbage in the trade box. I did some research and decided to start simple. We'll see how this batch turns out in a month. And we'll go from there. Ingredients 2 medium cabbage heads, finely sliced, approximately 8 C cabbage 2 T sea salt 1 T caraway seeds Procedure Place cabbage and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Massage the cabbage and sal...

I have always made pickles with vinegar. Then I read that not all fermented foods are pickled and not all pickles are fermented. Huh? Naturally, I did more research. Here's what I found... Foods that are pickled have been preserved in an acidic medium. But those don't offer you the same probiotic and enzymatic nutritional value of homemade fermented vegetables. If you ferment vegetables, they will create their own self-preserving, acidic liquid that is a by-product of fermentation. Ubiquitous and beneficial lactobacilli proliferates to create lactic acid that pickles and preserves the vegetables. Okay, I was ready to try... Ingredients 6-7 cucumbers (I used organic seedless Persian cukes) 3 whole garlic cloves, peeled 2 to 3 fennel stems 1 T fresh fennel fronds 3 to 4 sprigs fresh dill 2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme 1 to 2 sprigs fresh oregano 1/2 t fennel pollen filtered water 3 T Himalayan or unrefined salt  1 large, sterile glass jar with a lid ...