Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Welcome to the November  event for The French Winophiles, a wine-swilling, food-loving group coordinated by Christy of  Confessions of a Culinary Diva . Here's where we've been and where we're going... June - Loire Valley (click for my post:  here ) July - Provence or Corsica (click for my post:  here ) August - Southwest (click for my post:  here ) September - Languedoc-Roussillon (click for my post:  here ) October - Côtes du Rhône (click for my post: here ) November 21 - Bordeaux December 19 - Champagne January 16 - Burgundy February 20 - Alsace To Bordeaux...    The Bordeaux region lies in the south western part of France, on the Atlantic coast. Almost all of Bordeaux’s great wine estates are near the Gironde Estuary or its two major rivers, the Dordogne and the Garonne.  Bordeaux has a climate that's influenced by maritime airflow from the oceans with damp Springs, dry Summers, and mild Winters...

Ceviche  is easily one of my top three favorite appetizers of all time. It's a simple dish of seafood "cooked" by the acid in lemons and limes. It's so easy, but it requires incredibly fresh ingredients. I usually ask my fish monger which is the best choice for  ceviche  that day. Sometimes he'll say shrimp, sometimes it's the scallops. The day I made this, he said both. So, I used both! Ingredients 1/2 pound scallops, sliced (click  here  to see the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch findings on scallops) 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise 1 t freshly ground salt ½ t freshly ground pepper 6-8 fresh lemons, juiced (I used Meyer lemons from a tree we have in our yard) 1/2 C chopped organic red bell pepper 1/2 C chopped organic cucumber 2 organic green onions, thinly sliced 1 T olive oil 2 T salsa or hot sauce (I used some Carrot Karma Hot Sauce from Intensity Academy ) fresh lettuce, ...

Today I guest posted over at  The Weekend Gourmet . Click to see my Scallop Ceviche recipe on Wendy's blog:  here .

I remember reading something about scallops once: cook quickly, sauce lightly. Makes sense since scallops are so succulent and delicate. So, I usually follow that advice though I have no idea where I read that. Tonight I sauced a little heavier than usual to create a flavor-rich amuse bouche to kick off our Sunday dinner. This is what I served for our first course: seared scallops with pepper purée and caviar limes. butter Scallops, rinsed and dried (one or two per person) 1 T citrus pepper purée per scallop 1/2 caviar lime per scallop  freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet melt some butter. Press the scallops into the pan to sear them quickly on each side, probably two minutes per side. Leaving them on there longer produces a thicker crust and nice color. To serve, place a tablespoon of pepper purée on a serving plate. Gently lay a scallop on the purée. Squeeze the caviar lime pulp on top of the scallop. Garnish...