Culinary Adventures with Camilla

When I began to look for "traditional" Irish recipes for corned beef and cabbage recipes, I came up with a laughable conclusion: Irish people don't eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, or really any other day of the year.  I can't be too surprised really.  I mean most Americans would swear up and down that spaghetti and meatballs is a traditional Italian dish; having lived in Italy for over a year, I can honestly say that I never once saw - or cooked - spaghetti with meatballs.  Spaghetti, yes.  Meatballs, yes.  But together, no, definitely not. Still this realization didn't stop me from making a corned beef and cabbage dinner for my family tonight...St. Patrick's Day.  I just told them that it wasn't really Irish.  Next year, I think I'll make a beef and beer stew.  That seems to be a much more prevalent dish on dinner tables in Ireland. I started with a pre-brined and pre-spiced corned beef brisket from Trader Joe's....

These take a healthy dose of imagination to see the shamrock because (1) I refuse to use food coloring to make them green and (2) I am, tragically, shape-challenged.  But they tasted great.  I have made other soft pretzel recipes that I prefer, but between my morning bootcamp and getting the boys out the door for school I needed something fast and a recipe that didn't require poaching the pretzels before baking. 1-1/2 C hot water 1 T active yeast 1 T organic granulated sugar 1/2 t pink Himalaya salt 5 C white whole wheat flour 2 T organic dark brown sugar 1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and granulated sugar in warm water. Let stand until bloomed, about 5 minutes. 2. Add flour, brown sugar, and salt. Form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. 3. Roll out tubes of dough and form into shamrock shapes - hopefully you're better at that than I am.  Place ...

This afternoon I received a short text message from my husband: "Irish. Carbomb. Cupcakes." Sadly, I am just that predictable.  All he had to write were those three little words and I picked up the ingredients for these treats on my way home from work.  I have to admit that I have never tasted them; the two times I've made them, they disappeared before I could really indulge.  I didn't make that mistake tonight.  And, yes, now I get it.  It was very tough to stick to my one-bite taste.  Wow. In spite of their gruesome name, these are a St. Patty's Day tradition for us.  I mean, how can you go wrong with a Guinness chocolate cake filled with a Bailey's-marscarpone filling, topped with a whiskey buttercream?!?  You can't. Guinness Chocolate Cake 1 cup stout (Guinness), 2 sticks butter, ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 cups all-purpose white whole wheat flour, 2 cups organic cane sugar, 1½ tsp. baking soda, ¾ tsp. sea salt, 2 large eggs, 2/3 c...

My mom always told me that you need to have at least three different colors on your plate. She wasn't talking about food coloring; she was talking about vibrant, natural colors. And it makes sense. With different hued foods, you're getting different nutrients.  For example red foods are often high in lycopene while orange and yellow foods provide you with beta-carotene; green fruits and vegetables contain chlorophyll while purple and blue foods include lutein. Here's an easy breakfast that will have your family eating a rainbow of colors all on one plate.  I use whatever vegetables I have on hand.  This morning it was zucchini, mushrooms, sweet red peppers, and spinach.  I sauté the veggies in a splash of olive oil.  And since my boys live in a restaurant, I have to cook the eggs different ways for the different tastes.  Riley likes his eggs over-medium, so I plate the veggies first and top them with over-medium eggs.  Dylan prefers scrambled eggs, s...

This is so easy and it's done in a jiffy. 1-1/2 C white whole wheat flour 1/2 C organic granulated sugar 1/2 C corn meal 1 T baking powder dash of pink Himalaya salt 1-1/4 C milk 2 eggs 1/3 C oil (I usually use canola) 3 T melted butter. Preheat oven to 350. Butter your baking dish. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir till everything is moistened. Pour into prepared pan and top with fresh blueberries and a sprinkling of more corn meal. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

One of the things the boys love about going out to eat: they always get a special drink.  They like horchata when we go to a Mexican restaurant; fresh coconut juice is their beverage of choice at a Thai or Vietnamese place; and at an Indian establishment, Dylan is always excited about his "Indian smoothies."  I tried to tell him that it's called a lassi ; but he is adamant that "'Lassie' is a dog." True enough. These are so easy to make and much better for them than a milk shake!  Plus, the yogurt has a nice, cooling effect on their mouths from the spicy curries we always order. Sweet Lassi 1 C plain yogurt (I usually use a thick, creamy Greek yogurt) ½ C water ½ C ice cubes 3-5 t organic sugar (to taste) pinch of salt Blend all the ingredients at high speed in the blender till frothy.   Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

When we were last in Italy - sadly that was ten years ago - Jake had a rule: " tre gelati ogni giorno " (three gelati everyday).  No matter where we were, be it bustling Palermo, sleepy Ustica, or my favorite city in the world (Rome), we found a gelateria three times a day, plunked down some lire , and indulged.  My favorite is ficchi (fig); Jake preferred nocciola (hazelnut). So, when we came home, we hunted high and low for a good gelateria.  You would think with the number of Italian immigrants in this area that someone would be making genuine and delicious gelato.  But if there is one such establishment here, we haven't found it.  Instead I invested in a gelato maker and played with all sorts of recipes. What we did stumble across on one trip to Berkeley is a teeny tiny ice cream shop whose imaginative flavors always make my head spin.  Thankfully the line is always out the door and I have lots of time to peruse the options.  So, whe...