Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  Okay, I really have no idea what a donkey cabbage is. I opted to use the title of the tale to serve roasted Brussels sprouts for our 2020 Thanksgiving Grimm Menu though. This is my usual way to serve Brussels sprouts though this Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad is also delicious. " The huntsman winds up in a cabbage patch and realizes he has been tricked. Some of the magic cabbages cause the man to become a donkey while others turn him back into a man. He feeds these cabbages to the maiden and her mother. The mother dies but the huntsman transforms the maiden back into her human form. The two are married."  ~Donkey Cabbages Ingredients  serves 8 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, halved olive oil freshly ground salt freshly ground pepper Procedure Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the Brussels sprouts in half, then place them in a mixing bowl. Drizzle them with enough olive oil to coat them and make them glisten. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes. ...

Next month several bloggers are tackling the challenge of creating nutritious meals that stay within the budgetary constraints of what a family of four receives on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which is $5.53 or $16.60 for the day. Yes, really. Challenge accepted.  For my first attempt at the challenge, I eschewed my usual grocery stop and headed to our local Grocery Outlet. There are good options there, including organic produce but it's not a consistent inventory. So I never know what I'm going to find. But, if you hunt, it's not bad...and it's a highly affordable option. I picked up ingredients to make a tuna pasta and roasted Brussels sprouts. The grocery bill was $5.66. And while I did add half of an onion, olive oil, salt, and pepper from my pantry and fridge, I went with serving sizes and only used half of the pasta package and half of the jarred sauce - which I will use for another meal. Plus we had enough leftover that my ...

Gimjang  is the traditional process of preparing kimchi. This is not that. I'm pretty sure actual Koreans wouldn't consider this kimchi either. But, it's similar to what I buy in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods...and they call that kimchi. So, I'll do the same! There's a Korean saying:  "There are as many types of gimchi as there are holes in the ground." Reason being that that's how gimchi/kimchi is traditionally made. A friend who lived in Korea for many years informed me that traditional kimchi is made in fall, left in kimchi pots in the ground for several months during winter, to ferment naturally. Although most Koreans now, she wrote, have special "kimchi refrigerators" - sort of like wine fridges - that keep the kimchi at the right temperature until it's ready in spring. Wow. I want one of those! So, my version of fermented cabbage may be the furthest possible process from authentic  gimjang , but it tastes great a...

Another of my veggie sides on our Thanksgiving table was this easy Brussels sprout salad. So easy, but so full of flavor with the crushed Szechuan pepper dressing. Szechuan peppers are not actually peppers. They are sometimes called Chinese coriander. A couple of things to note: they aren't spicy hot like other peppers. In fact they aren't chile peppers at all. They are the seed pods from the Chinese prickly ash bush. They are one of the five spices in Chinese Five Spice along with fennel seeds, star anise, cinnamon, and cloves. For this dish, you want to shred or thinly slice the Brussels sprout heads. I have, long ago, painstakingly peeled each leaf off the heads, but didn't have the patience for that this time. So, I sliced them on my mandolin. I think, too, you can actually purchase them already sliced. Do that if you're pressed for time! You'll have a delicious side dish on the table in no time flat. This recipe serves 12, but you can easily scale bac...

For another Halloween sidedish, I roasted some Brussels sprouts. And they were a hit! More than three people asked me for the recipe. I think my husband is right: more people would eat vegetables if they ate them at my table. As I told one friend - it's all about high temperature, low time. The longer Brussels cook, the more bitter and sulphury they become. Ingredients Brussels sprouts (enough that lay in a single layer in your baking dish) olive oil minced garlic freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper freshly squeezed lemon juice Procedure Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the Brussels sprouts in a mixing bowl. You can slice the larger ones in half, but you can leave the little ones whole. Drizzle them with enough olive oil to coat them and make them glisten. Toss them with minced garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes. Move the sprouts around in the pan. Roast for another 10 minutes. When cooked and slightly browned, season wi...

Okay, there's a story behind the name of this recipe. Let me start with this: R loves Brussels sprouts. He dances around at the market when he sees them. But he doesn't like mustard. In fact, if I even say the word mustard in relation to a dish, he decides before he even tries it that he doesn't like it. It's a little ridiculous, especially for a kid who eats everything. So, I wanted to try a mustard-glazed Brussels Sprout. I had mentioned it and he asked if I could do some mustard and some not. Well, I didn't agree to that, so I skipped the non-mustardized version. They all were the same. When I served them, he asked if they had mustard. I - here's the lie - "they have olive oil and soy sauce." Yes, I do believe that omission is still a lie, but I ran with it. He ate his serving and helped himself to some more. "So?" I queried, "Did you like the Brussels sprouts?" Yes, he nodded enthusiastically. "Okay," I pa...

This is a Thanksgivukkah variation on my Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts . 1 onion, diced 4 slices of pastrami, chopped 2 handfuls of fresh shitake mushrooms*, washed, dried, and thinly sliced Saute the onions begin to caramelize. Stir in the pastrami and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms soften. Toss that into the oven-roasted Brussels sprouts. Serve hot. *These shitake mushrooms are from Far West Fungi in Moss Landing. Love our local farmers!