Culinary Adventures with Camilla

It's the end of the road for the #KitchenMatrixCookingProject. We've been working out way through Mark Bittman's Kitchen Matrix*  for over fifty weeks. First, let me start off by thanking my #KitchenMatrixCookingProject gals - Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  and Karen of  Karen's Kitchen Stories  - who   cooked along with me for a year. You can read more about our project  here . But, I can tell you that committing to a year-long cooking project is no easy task and these ladies were fantastic. So, thank you, Wendy and Karen. I so appreciate your dedication to this with nothing more than my gratitude in return! You are both amazing. Second, I wanted to shine the spotlight on some of my favorite weeks of cooking. There were so many fun ingredients, but these were the three that I enjoyed the most! Whole Duck Cassolet :   I loved this week because it definitely got me out of my comfort zone...and it was delicious! Click here for...

This is the second to the last Kitchen Matrix Cooking Project post. Boo! It's hard to believe that Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm , Karen of  Karen's Kitchen Stories , and I have been cooking along with Mark Bittman's Kitchen Matrix for a year. You can read more about our project  here . And in this final month, Karen picked the recipes. This week, she selected Bell Peppers + 16 Ways. Bittman offers everything from Salsa Sofrito to Frittata. I ended up trying four different preparation for dinner one night. And there was a clear favorite. But, first, here's what the others shared... An InLinkz Link-up Before I share the preparation that received all thumbs up from my crew, here's what I tried...and I will share these recipes soon. With Killed Shallots With Anchovies Vietnamese Style Forbidden Rice-Stuffed Bell Peppers I  made a few changes to Bittman's recipe. First I added in a mirepoix of sorts - shallots,...

December? How can it be December?!? Well, that means that the Kitchen Matrix Cooking Project - really Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm , Karen of  Karen's Kitchen Stories , and I - wraps up this month. Can you believe it's been a year? I can't. You can read more about our project  here . And this month, Karen picked the recipes. This week, she selected Spice Blends + 10 Ways. Bittman offers universal instructions for toasting spices, letting them cool, then grinding them until powdery. He suggests ten different spices that include Adobo, Chili Powder, Nori Spice, Jerk, and more. I've been blending spices for years and love how I can customize them to our tastes. I'm going to share some of our favorite spice blends along with ways I use them. But first...the rest of the #KitchenMatrixCookingProject crew's blends... An InLinkz Link-up Chinese Five Spice I actually made a batch for a February #KitchenMatrix when I made Chinese-Style...

Can you believe that November is almost over.  That means that the Kitchen Matrix Cooking Project - really Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm , Karen of  Karen's Kitchen Stories , and I - is also drawing to a close soon. You can read more about our project  here . And this month, Wendy picked the recipes. This week, she selected Thanksgiving Leftovers + 20 Ways. Bittman offers a five recipes each for use with leftover turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. The Leftover Line-Up An InLinkz Link-up So, I guess I should say that because I don't do a traditional Thanksgiving menu, my leftovers are also not traditional. I didn't serve turkey; I served pan-seared duck breasts, seafood, and venison meatballs. I didn't make stuffing or mashed potatoes. And there weren't cranberries on my table though we did have pomegranate arils scattered over the salad. I created a Hans Christian Andersen-inspired menu with a Little Mermaid seafood pl...

Today, we're headed to Afghanistan for a sweet and savory dish of spiced pumpkin topped with a yogurt-garlic sauce.  Kadu Bouranee  is made of pumpkin, or other winter squash, sauteed with spices and topped with the yogurt garlic sauce. We loved the sweetness of the pumpkin with the tartness of tomatoes and freshness of the yogurt sauce. This a bonus #KitchenMatrixCookingProject that carried over from last month because Wendy and I weren't able to get it together the week we had originally scheduled to cook Bittman's Pumpkin + 3 Ways. So, Karen agreed to hold hers and we're offering a bonus post this week. You can read more about our project  here , but basically   Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm , Karen of  Karen's Kitchen Stories , and I have been making our way through Bittman's Kitchen Matrix Cookbook. What a fun year it's been! Before I get to my pick, here's the rest of our pumpkin patch... An InLinkz Link-up Kadu ...

I know, I know. Risotto is made with arborio rice. But I had barley...and I really wanted to make a citrus-y 'risotto' to go underneath my seared scallops for this week's project. So, this isn't really risotto, but I didn't want to invent a word for barley done risotto-style. Here we are moving into the second half of November.  That means that the Kitchen Matrix Cooking Project - really Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm , Karen of  Karen's Kitchen Stories , and I - have been doing this for ten months already. You can read more about our project  here . And this month, Wendy picked the recipes. This week, she selected Scallops  + 12 Ways. Bittman offers a dozen preparations with scallops including six grilled and six raw. I will definitely be trying his Miso-Glazed Scallops and Panzanella Scallops on the cooked side. For the raw scallops, the Salsa Cruda and Tartare were intriguing. I love scallops, but it's not the preferred seafood at my ho...

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is fast approaching? That means that the Kitchen Matrix Cooking Project - really Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm , Karen of  Karen's Kitchen Stories , and I - have been doing this for ten months already. You can read more about our project  here . And this month, Wendy picked the recipes. This week, she selected Cabbage + 12 Ways. Check out the line-up... An InLinkz Link-up I enjoy cooking with cabbage and was more than a little interested in trying several of Bittman's recipes. The Thai Style Raw Cabbage will definitely be on our table soon as will the Stir-Fried Cabbage with Pork and Peanuts. Yum! But the recipe I decided to try for this week was Bittman's Hot and Sour Soup. I did substitute brown crimini mushrooms for the shiitakes and forgot to add the scallions. Otherwise, I stuck pretty close to the original. I really love that this was on the table in less than 30 minutes. Ingredients serves 4 to 6 ...

Can you believe that it's November? That means that the Kitchen Matrix Cooking Project - really Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm , Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories , and I - have been doing this for ten months already. You can read more about our project here . And this month, Wendy picked the recipes. This week, she selected Vegetable Soup + 12 Ways. Check out the line-up... An InLinkz Link-up In four categories - creamy, brothy, earthy, and hearty - Bittman offered a trio of options. It's still not really soup season here. We just got back from our annual Halloween camping trip and it was in the mid-60s till almost dinner time. Here's our crew carving pumpkins and me in a hammock - notice the shorts and short sleeves! But, when we pulled into the driveway on Sunday, I remembered that I needed to make a vegetable soup. So, I went easy and used all of the vegetables in my bin! I had onions, celery, carrots, zucchini, and spinach. I would ...

My parents' birthdays are five days apart. Well, two years and five days. Kinda funny that Jake and I  also celebrate our birthdays within a week - again, two years and a week. So, our family birthday celebrations are slightly easier to schedule because we have joint dinners for them and for us. This year, my parents were in Hawaii for my dad's birthday; I scheduled a party when they came back. Happy birthdays to Nonna and Nonno! While they were in Hawaii, I asked my mom if they wanted lasagna or paella for their party. She didn't even hesitate...and she didn't ask for my dad's input either. "Paella!" she declared. Perfect timing, too, because I knew I needed to post a paella dish for this week's #KitchenMatrixCookingProject. Before I get to our paella party, here's what the other gals are sharing this week... An InLinkz Link-up For years, my paella pan languished in the cupboard, collecting dust. Then a friend fr...