Culinary Adventures with Camilla

While Befana left D a Tronchetto di Natale , she left R a Galette de Rois . He has always loved the French Epiphany tradition of slicing into the galette and wondering who will end up with la fève , a small porcelain piece whose discovery renders the finder king (or queen) for the day. I have to say that in all the years we've been doing this as a family, D has ended up with  la fève  every single year. Every. Single. Year. I know that baffles and frustrates my scientically-minded R. "Mom, statistically, one of the rest of us should get it. Eventually." We shall see.  Well, this was not the year for someone else. The Wom was crowned king this morning. I remember the first time D got  la fève. It was a little turquoise-colored ceramic disc; he thought it was an antique. He proudly took it to school and showed his kindergarten teacher who was a friend of mine. When D was smaller, he had a large vocabulary that didn't match his annunciation!  She email...

It's 'Befana Day', as Dylan says. You can read my brief take on this baking, tipsy witch: here . In years past, we have made Couronne De L'Épiphanie , a Spanish Epiphany bread,   and  Dreikönigskuchen , a German one. This year, I opted to make some brioche dough rolls. And while we slathered them with homemade marscarpone and Aunt Jenn's homemade cherry jam for breakfast, I will fill them with gelato for dessert tonight! Brioche is fairly easy to make, but it's time-consuming and required me to get up at 3:30 this morning, and again at 4:30am, to get it on the table by 7:30am. But this pillow-soft, golden-hued bread is worth it! 1/2 C warm water 1 T active dry yeast 3 T organic granulated sugar 6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 4-1/2 C all-purpose flour 1 t sea salt 10 T butter, at room temperature splash of olive oil 1 egg mixed with 1 T heavy cream, for egg wash Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Let bloom for...

If you follow my blog with even a modicum of regularity, you'll know that I don't really leave well enough alone. Ever. So, for our Befana breakfast this year, I wanted to do a twist on last year's Couronne De L'Épiphanie (Spanish Epiphany Bread) - with raspberries and roses. I started with a brioche dough... Homemade Brioche adapted from the  Barefoot Contessa 1/2 C warm water 1 T active dry yeast 3 T organic granulated sugar 6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 4-1/2 C all-purpose flour 1 t sea salt 10 T butter, at room temperature splash of olive oil 1 egg mixed with 1 T water, for egg wash Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Let bloom for 5 minutes. Add the eggs and beat on medium speed until well mixed. With the mixer on low speed, add 2 C of the flour and the salt and mix for 5 minutes. With the mixer still on low, add the remainder of the flour and mix for 5 more minutes. Scrape the dough into a large oiled b...

For our second Epiphany treat, I made a Dreikönigskuchen (German Epiphany Bread) though I should probably write 'Dreikönigskuchen-inspired' since I skipped the rum-soaked raisins on the inside and the candied cherries and glaze on the outside. Still it was delicious and thoroughly enjoyed by all. 2 C white whole wheat flour 1/4 C barley flour 2 T active dry yeast 1/3 C organic raw sugar 1/4 cup warmed milk 7 T melted butter dash of pink Himalaya salt 1/2 t groundcardamom 1/2 t ground cinnamon 2 eggs Place the flours into a bowl, make a hole in the middle, put the yeast into it and mix it with a pinch of sugar and some of the lukewarm milk. Dust the mixture with flour, cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes. Add the melted butter, salt, lemon, cardamom, cinnamon egg, remaining milk and flour to the flour and yeast mixture. Knead dough till smooth. When the dough begins to form a ball, form dough into a log. Pinch off large tablespoons of d...

I made some fennel-pepper biscuits tonight to go with my acquacotta for our Feast of Befana.  4 C white whole wheat flour 2 t baking powder 1 t pink Himalaya salt 4 eggs 1/4 C fennel seeds 1 T coarse ground black pepper 1/2 C olive oil 1/2 C warm water Mix all dry ingredients. Make a well. Add eggs, oil. and warm water to the mixture. Pour into flour mixture. Mix well. Knead dough. Form into bicsuits, plaing them in a buttered pan. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden.   Traditionally these biscuits are served with a homemade grape jelly; I didn't have time to make grape jelly, so we used some strawberry jelly that I had on-hand.

To end our Feast of Befana I made a Couronne De L'Épiphanie (Spanish Epiphany Bread). To make the bread... 3 C white whole wheat flour 1/3 C olive oil 1/3 C organic raw sugar 2 t active dry yeast 1/2 C warm water 2 eggs 1 T rhubarb liqueur (the traditional recipe calls for brandy) 1 T rosewater (the traditional recipe calls for orange flower water) pinch of salt 1 egg white, beaten powdered sugar sliced almonds candied lime and clementine peels Place warm water in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Let bloom for 5 minutes. Add in all of the other ingredients, mixing till the dough comes together. Knead until the dough becomes even smoother and more elastic. Grease the bowl, cover with a cloth, and let rise in a warm place for about 90 minutes, until the dough has doubled in volume. Place the dough on a floured surface, knead for 2 to 3 minutes. Roll the dough into a long sausage-shape. Place on a baking sheet, forming the dough into a circle; join the two ends...

According to Italian folklore, Befana is a woman on a broomstick, enticed by gifts of wine, who brings treats for all the girls and boys on the eve of the Epiphany. A baking, tipsy witch. Sounds like my kinda gal. Generally my boys receive books that align with their interests on December 25th, and, usually, what they ask for from Santa. This year Riley wanted binoculars for whale watching while Dylan wanted an old-fashioned calligraphy pen. They received a few puzzles and games that we can play as a family as well. But we reserve the fun toys for January 6th...from Befana. You know those toys you trip over in the middle of the night and curse all the little pieces. Each and every one of them. So to usher in the Epiphany, and because I'll use any excuse to whip up something out of the ordinary, we have a Feast of Befana. So, tonight I'll be making acquacotta (literally "cooked water") and fennel biscuits. Recipes and photos to come. Buona Befana!

I realized that if I wanted to candy citrus peels for my Epiphany breads, I needed to do it tonight. I vacillated between candying the peels and saying 'screw it', thinking that maybe 2012 is the year that I learn to say no, just no. But my flirtation with idleness was brief and less than 5 minutes after the thought flitted through my mind, I was in the kitchen peeling the limes. I have never had any luck with measurements for this, so here's the basic procedure, or rather, what worked for me: take the peel of your citrus and place them in a pot, covered with cold water, bring them to a boil. As soon as they boil, remove from heat and drain. Repeat two more times. Place sugar and water in a pot to make a syrup, using more water than you think you'd need, because you are going to simmer it down. As it starts to thicken, place the blanched peels in the syrup and simmer till the peels become translucent. For me, that took almost 90 minutes. Let the peel cool, complet...