Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This weekend, we did a tea tasting in Berkeley. And for each pot of tea ordered, we got to try two cookies. I opted for a mung bean apricot thumbprint cookie and a tahini cookie. I was immediately inspired to create a version of my own! Ingredients 1 cup flour ½ cup rolled oats  ⅓ cup organic powdered sugar ⅓ cup tahini (sesame paste) 1 egg ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract or paste ¼ cup olive oil ½ teaspoon salt (I used some vanilla salt) 1 Tablespoon black sesame seeds 1 Tablespoon white sesame seeds 1½ Tablespoon organic granulated sugar Also needed: scoop, baking sheets, parchment paper   Procedure Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place flour, oats, powdered sugar, tahini, egg, vanilla, and olive oil in a bowl. With a pastry cutter, blend the dough until pea-sized chunks form. Press the dough into a ball.   Mix the sesame seeds and sugar together in a shallow bowl.   Form dough into 1-inch balls - I used a cookie scoop - and roll them in the sesame see...

  I was reminded that I haven't made bagels in a long time. So, I decided to remedy that this weekend! And I was inspired by this new spice blend from Spiceology that was on my shelf: Ooomami ! How did I not know that someone in my food writing circle was behind this collaboration?! Girl Carnivore is Kita Roberts; and she is the force behind the annual #BurgerMonth event. I've participated for a half a decade or so.  Burger Month is such a fun, carnivorous parade of burger creations. But this post is about bagels...and umami. The spice blend - ooomami - is a play on the word umami. If you ask someone what the basic tastes are, and they are of a certain age, they'll reply: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. They might even be able to show you, on their tongue, where the flavor receptors for those flavors are. But in the 1980s a fifth taste group was recognized: umami which translates to something along the links of savory or meaty. It's a flavor that is present in foods th...

I have been embarrassingly remiss in planning and executing our Cooking Around the World Adventure . We started five years ago and made our way through over 175 countries; then, I stalled and haven't really done anything for two years! And we only have 18 more countries to cook. And my Precise Kitchen Elf has requested that we, "please finish before college." Thank goodness he's only a freshman in high school! Still, I have renewed my commitment to cooking the world with my family. I told them we'd aim to finish before the end of this summer. Just a reminder that these are not wholly traditional recipes. Our dishes are traditionally inspired , but we will use whatever ingredients are local to us. I hope that makes sense. from worldatlas.com About Tunisia... The smallest country in Northwestern Africa, Tunisia is located between Libya and Algeria. Nearly everyone in the country is Muslim; the official language of the country is Arabic. Before gaining...

When my blogging friend Aly of Cooking in Stilettos   and Aloha Flavor  suggested a blogging event called the Harvest #BloggerLuau, I was in. Immediately. I love all the flavors of the islands.  The event didn't come together for a variety of reasons, but I decided to share the recipe I had prepared anyway. It's too good not to share it. Well, if you don't mind tentacles! I had always thought that pokē  was a raw salad served as an appetizer in Hawaiian cuisine. Turns out that pokē is the Hawaiian word that means "to section" or "to slice or cut". So, it's about how it's cut. I found lots of recipes for tako (octopus) pokē . but none with squid. I decided to give it a try. Ika means squid. Click for how to clean squid . Ingredients 2 pounds squid, cleaned 1 C onion, diced 1" knob of fresh ginger, minced 1 T olive oil 1/2 C sake 1 T sesame oil 1 t roasted sesame seeds 1/2 C soy sauce or tamari hot sauce to tas...

I have read about savory granola, but never made it myself. I've made sweet granola tons of times - Coconut Lychee Granola was one of my favorites! - and had some rolled oats leftover from my Mushroom Ginger Oat Congee so I decided to give a savory version a try. Thanks to some prepped herbs from Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices * , an intriguing sauce from Not Ketchup , and hops from a friend's garden, this was delicious, unique, and not too difficult. You'll see this on a salad, instead of croutons, for my dinner party this weekend: A New Year, a menu inspired by seeds, sprouts, and buds. Ingredients 2 C rolled oats 1 C raw shelled pistachios ½ C raw pumpkin seeds ½ C raw sunflower seeds ½ C raw pecans ¼ cup raw sesame seeds 1 T fennel seeds 1 T white sesame seeds 1 T black sesame seeds 1 t chia seeds 3 hops blossoms, dried and pulled apart 1 t  freshly ground salt ½ t freshly ground pepper 1 large egg white, beaten ¼ C olive oil 1 T gin...

I have seen this spelled a couple of different ways - dukkah , dakka , duqqa . However you spell it, you must try this versatile spice blend. I'm going to spell it the first way. Dukkah is an Egyptian spice blend, consisting of herbs, nuts - usually hazelnut -, and spices. The word is derived from the Arabic word for "to pound"; the mixture of spices and nuts are pounded together after being dry roasted. The actual ingredients of the spice mix vary from cook to cook though there are common ingredients, such as sesame, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper. I changed it up a little with some sweetness and used pistachios because I liked the color.   Ingredients makes about 1 cup 3 T coriander seeds 1 T black cumin seeds 1 t cardamom seeds 1/2 t green peppercorns 1/2 C shelled raw pistachio nuts 1/4 C white sesame seeds 3 T unsweetened shredded coconut 1 t sea salt Procedure Toast coriander, cumin, cardamom seeds, and green pepp...

Whenever I send Jake out to grill salt-crusted lamb lollipops for dinner, I send him out with something for the boys. Neither really like lamb right now; I'm sure they'll grow to like it. But, for now...more for me! I saw organic drumettes at Whole Foods, so I picked them up. What I didn't anticipate: the questions. What's a drumette? Is it from a really miniature chicken?!? Do I have to eat it? I'd rather eat from a full-grown chicken, Mom. Oh, brother! 1/2 C vinegar (I used an orange balsamic vinegar) 1/2 C organic honey 3 T unsulphered molasses 1/4 C gluten-free soy sauce (we're not gluten-free, but it's what I had. Feel free to substitute for whatever soy you have) 10 to 12 chicken drumettes 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds 1 T sesame oil Combine everything, except the drumettes, in a large mixing bowl until completely combined. Place the chicken in the bottom of a dish that has a lid. Pour the marinade over the top and roll th...

This week  Sandra of Meadows Cooks  picked our Bittman recipe for the week: Japanese-Spiced Roasted Beets. Here's  what the creative cookers made  (look in the comments section). Clad only in a tanktop and shorts, with my boys splashing outside in the pool, turning on the oven was the last thing I wanted to to this afternoon. So, I opted for a Japanese-Spiced Beet Salad instead. 2-3 beets, scrubbed, dried, and julienned 1 celery root, peeled and julienned 1 C organic wild arugula 1 t toasted sesame oil 2 t olive oil 1 t rice wine vinegar dash of chili powder splash of soy sauce freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper zest from 1 lemon sesame seeds for garnish Place the beets, celery root, and arugula in a large mixing bowl. In a cruet - of just a mason jar with a lid - place the sesame oil, olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, chili powder, sea salt, pepper, and lemon zest. Shake to emulsify. Toss into the beet mixture until completely coa...

The Food Matters Project  challenge for this week was Mark Bittman's Sesame Noodles with Spinach and Salmon, chosen by Sara of Pidge's Pantry .  Click here  to see what everyone else made. Look in the comments section. This was an easy dinner on a Sunday night. Well, easy for me. My husband had to pick the crabs clean...which I really, really appreciated. I did pour him an oatmeal stout while he cracked and pulled. And I especially loved that the crab was pulled from the bay this afternoon. I am so grateful to have friends who fish and crab. Or, in this case, friends of friends. 3 C baby kale leaves 1 C thinly sliced shitake mushrooms 1 T minced garlic enough whole wheat spaghetti noodles for everyone you're serving olive oil sesame oil soy sauce sesame seeds for garnish 2 handfuls haricots verts, blanched crab meat smoked salmon Cook the pasta. In the meantime, brown the garlic in a large flat-bottom pan. Add the shitake mushrooms and baby kale. Co...

When I picked up a jacket my husband had left at our friends' house, she had tucked a small container of zahtar into the bag. Zahtar is a spice blend that originates from the Middle East and is used to sprinkle over dips, deep-fried vegetables and flat breads. I found a recipe to make my own blend - equal parts sesame seeds, thyme, and sumac with a dash of salt - but, for now, I used my foodie score to season egg salad for sandwiches. Yum! Zahtar-spiced Egg Salad: hardboiled eggs, peeled and diced; mayonnaise; zahtar.