Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Orecchiette are a pasta whose name translates to "little ears", deriving from the Italian word for ear: orecchio. These are traditionally made in the Puglia region of Italy. Because of their shape, I like to use them for dishes have have chunky bits - peas, cubed veggies, pancetta - that get caught in the indentation. In this case I made a very simple pasta to go along with some scallops. While the pasta cooked, I tossed lemon zest, capers, olive oil, a splash of heavy cream, and a bit of fresh lemon juice into a large mixing bowl. Once the orecchiette were done, I drained them and transferred them into the bowl, mixing till everything was coated and had a nice glossy sheen. I sprinkled it all with smoked sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and grated pecorino cheese. Done.

"Cake for breakfast. Again!" That is exactly what my 7-year-old said. Really? I thought it would be a welcome treat. I was wrong. So, Jake and Riley downed the cake while Dylan and I ate leftover pho. Bellies full, I think we're all ready for the final push to get out of our old house. Moving stinks. But we are almost done. Phew. 2 C white whole wheat flour 2 t baking powder 1 t baking soda 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 T ground cardamom 1 T ground nutmeg 2 eggs 1-1/2 C unsweetened applesauce 1/2 C olive oil 1/2 C organic plain yogurt 2 T molasses lemon zest juice from one lemon 2 C fresh blueberries brown sugar and granola for topping, if desired Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a baking dish. Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add wet ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until just moistened. Gently stir in blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading it evenly to the edges. Sprinkle with brown sugar and granola, if d...

After seeing the candied orange peel on Jake's affogato at Ici in Berkeley, I decided that I would infuse lemon peels with beet juice and, hopefully, created a pink candied peel naturally, without food coloring.  The lemon peels were looking very pink through the first two blanchings, but by the time they were completely candied, they just looked like orange peels.  Oh, well.  They taste delectable even if they aren't the color I intended. Take the peel of your citrus and slice into thin pieces. Place them in a pot, covered with cold water, bring them to a boil. As soon as they boil, remove from heat and drain. Repeat two more times. Place sugar and water in a pot to make a syrup, using more water than you think you'd need, because you are going to simmer it down. As it starts to thicken, place the blanched peels in the syrup and simmer till the peels become translucent. For me, that took almost 90 minutes. Let the peel cool, completed in the syrup. Remove the pe...