Culinary Adventures with Camilla

The second Saturday of the month is one of my favorite days. Do you know why? Because it's our #winePW - Wine Pairing Weekend - reveal. I absolutely adore it. How can you not love bloggers who love food  and  love wine?! It's a fantastic event from which I never fail to make a wine shopping list. And this month Christy of  Confessions of a Culinary Diva  is hosting. Here's  Christy's invitation   for  " South of the Border." She's asked us to explore regional foods from Mexico and pair them with wine. What a fun project! If you see this early enough, please join us May 9th at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. We’ll be chatting on twitter at  #WinePW  about our South of the Border food and wine pairings. We’d love to have you join us! During these events, I try to highlight a local-to-me vintner and, if possible, a new-to-me vintner. It's an adventure all around. This month, however, I opted to go with one of our favorites: Halter Ranch Vin...

This past weekend, while Jake was out on his mountain bike with friends, I took the boys into town for an adventure of our own. We ended up at Trio Carmel where I needed to pick up some wine I had ordered. We spent quite awhile tasting the vinegars and olive oils they have. So many choices. In the end, we selected three of our favorites: Lemongrass Mint White Balsamic, Cinnamon Pear Dark Balsamic, and Espresso Dark Balsamic. I was inspired by the espresso vinegar to make a coffee-rubbed pork tenderloin. Ingredients 1 pork tenderloin, approximately 2 pounds 5 cloves garlic, peel and slightly crushed 3 T ground coffee (I used some Verve Coffee ) 1 T coarse salt (I used an alderwood smoked salt) 1 T organic dark brown sugar 1 t sweet paprika 1t smoked paprika 1 t freshly ground black pepper 1 t ground cumin 1 t unsweetened cocoa powder 2 T olive oil espresso balsamic vinegar Procedure Place pork tenderloin in a baking dish. Pierce the pork with the...

Figs and sin - as in Adam-and-Eve sin - have a long visual history . When they were disgraced and banished from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were often depicted covering themselves with fig leaves. Adam and Eve by Abrecht Dürer, 1504. Rijkmuseum. Amsterdam. Why were fig leaves for shame? Or modesty? Maybe because fig leaves are larger than, say, grape leaves...and definitely larger than apple leaves. I digress. All of that was just to explain why, when Erika of Not Ketchup , asked me which fruit ketchup I wanted to try for #TripleSBites, I selected fig. Spiced Fig. There you have it. My mind works in mysterious ways sometimes. Then I begin thinking about the recipe I would share. I decided to share an oven-roasted flank steak that is so simple you can have it on the table in less than an hour. It's been rubbed with Voodoo Chef 's RED rub, seared with Acala Farms Chili Cumin Infused Cottonseed Oil, and drizzled with a sauce made from  Not Ketchup 's Spiced...

"Sharing recipes for food that men love to eat." That was what was written about this week's #SundaySupper event. Okay. Given that I am a permanent resident in Testosterone Land - surrounded by my husband and our two sons - I merely mentioned it and was greeted with a unanimous chant of "MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!" Fine. Before I get to my recipe, meet my crew. The two little ones, don't quite qualify as "men" yet. Though our eldest son just left youth size shoes...and youth size shoe prices. Oye. But I'm definitely in the minority in my household. This is J - my Grill Master. Not much to say about that. I hand him raw meat, he does something with fire, and it comes back cooked to perfection. This is R - my Precise Kitchen Elf. He derives much culinary inspiration from his favorite cookbook:  The Hungry Scientist . This is D - my Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf. You've seen him before in my #SundaySupper posts; he massaged the kale ...

I'm on Orphan-detail again today for the  Secret Recipe Club  - for a Group B orphan today! - and I am thrilled to be cooking from On the Move-In the Galley . One of the reasons I always volunteer to help out an SRC orphan is to meet new foodie bloggers. But, in this case, I've been reading this blog for awhile now. So, I was doubly happy to help out. There are so many recipes I love on this blog. On my short-list: Bacon-Date Tart , Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin , Vieux Carre , and Avgolemono with Lamb Meatballs . Today, pressed for time and not feeling too good, I opted to do her Basic Balsamic Reduction . I've seen so many recipes that call for a balsamic reduction, but it was nice to have a "recipe." This concentrates the flavor and makes a delicious syrup. 1 C balsamic vinegar Place this in a saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Simmer until reduced by at least one half. The longer you simmer, the thicker it becomes.  That's it! I served it...

I wanted to try a new way of making ribs and did some reading about a dry-rub + foil roasting method. Of course, I couldn't follow a recipe to save to my life, so I did my own version of the rub but did follow the guidelines for the oven temperatures and times. Yum. 1 rack of pork baby back ribs Dry Rub: 1 C organic dark brown sugar  3 T pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika) 1 t ground cumin 1/2 t paprika dash of ground coriander dash of ground cardmom freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper Procedure: The night before, or first thing in the morning, prepare the rub. Combine all ingredients, and mix thoroughly until well blended. Coat the ribs. Remove the ribs from their packaging.  Rinse and pat them dry. With your hands, pat the rub onto both sides of the ribs, going heavier on the meaty side. Refrigerate for as many hours as you can; I ended up leaving them for 8 hours. Right before you want to cook them, preheat the oven to 225 ...

For my Mistress of Spices -inspired dinner, I chose a Cocoa-rubbed Fish with Coconut Chutney. I wanted to make something with turmeric, though I didn't make it on a Sunday. Oh, well. Tilo says: "Each spice has a special day to it. For turmeric it is Sunday, when light drips fat and butter-colored into the bins to be soaked up glowing, when you pray to the nine planets for love and luck." Cocoa-Rubbed Fish I used some fresh ono that a friend had caught and created a dry rub with organic brown sugar, cocoa powder, ground cayenne pepper, ground turmeric, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and freshly ground pink Himalaya salt and flower pepper. Pat your filets dry and completely cover the fish with the spices, gently rubbing the flavors into the flesh. Heat butter and oil in a large flat-bottomed pan set over a moderate heat and cook the fish for 3 minutes before turning. The sugar will have caramelized and the fish taken on a dark sheen. Cook on the other si...

As we move into summer vacation, the days grow longer, the fruits get sweeter, and Jake dusts off the charcoal grill...especially on Friday evenings when all we have to do is spend time together. No homework to do. No uniforms to iron. And no bedtimes to keep. Love it! Tonight I had some pork cutlets. Here's what I did. Every single person in the family devoured it and asked for seconds. That is an accomplishment. While the coals are burning down to the proper temperature, rub the pork with ground cumin, ground cinnamon, ground coriander, and freshly ground smoked sea salt. Then make a quick chutney. One thing I like to do is tie in flavors between dishes. Since I used ground coriander in the rub on the meat, I used fresh cilantro in the chutney because it's all the same plant. Why the different names? I have no idea. For the chutney... scallions rhubarb apricots raw sugar honey red wine Cook all of that in a large flat-bottomed pan until ...