Culinary Adventures with Camilla

It's hard to believe that we are inching our way towards the end of summer. Our younger son has already gone back to school and our older son is getting ready to head off to college. Yikes! Welcome to the August installment of our #EattheWorld project, being spearheaded by Evelyne of  CulturEatz . Here's  her challenge .  This month, we are sharing Native American recipes. Here's the #EattheWorld line-up... Sneha’s Recipe: Three Sisters Soup-Native American   Magical Ingredients: Succotash   A Day in the Life on the Farm: Celebrating the Algonquin Indian Tribe with 3 Sisters Casserole Skillet   Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Wild Rice, Squash, & Corn Soup   Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Purple Corn and Api Morado   Cultureatz: Indian Navajo Taco with Fry bread Back in 2010, I went with a 'How the Other Half' eats for our Thanksgiving theme. I made and served... Wild Sage Bread , Pueblo (New Mexico) Corn Soup with Venison , Oneida (New York) Bak...

Last year for Thanksgiving, I cooked a Native American feast and called it: How the Other Half Ate. One of the side dishes I made was a baked pumpkin from the Ojibwa tribe in Canada. And since Belle had given me a gorgeous, voluptuous pumpkin yesterday, I baked it last night. Three-quarters of the baked pumpkin I turned into puree for future pumpkin treats. And a quarter of it I put back in the oven this morning for breakfast. Ojibwa-Style Baked Pumpkin... Slice the pumpkin into wedges. Smear a bit of butter on the pumpkin or drizzle it with oil. Sprinkle with brown sugar and spices. This morning I used ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Bake till the pumpkin begins to brown. I served this with some plain yogurt, granola, raspberries, green figs, mint tea and called it breakfast.

Not being a big fan of turkey meat, and bolstered by Krulwich Wonders blog on npr.org , I decided not to serve turkey on Thanksgiving. Instead, I opted to serve quail, duck, pheasant, and chicken. I stuffed the duck and chicken with navel oranges and lemons, rubbed them with a dry mixture (ground ancho chilis, ground sumac, ground cumin, oregano, and sea salt), then roasted them in a 350 degree oven. Both birds were around 6 pounds and took about 2-1/2 hours to cook completely. The pheasant, pictured, weighed a little less than 3 pounds and cooked in about an hour.

From the Comanche tribe in Texas... My Thanksgiving meal involved some bartering. I had offered to trade some freshwater pearls for some fennel pollen, but when Jenn Erickson - of Rook No. 17 - met me to trade pearls for pollen, I was delighted to find some bonuses: wild dried tepin chilis and a Madagascar vanilla bean. I had to do some reading about the tepins, but realized they would add some spectacular flavor to my Comanche marinade. I was right! Wow. Now I just need to think of something to do with my fragrant vanilla bean. Ingredients 2 crushed tepin chilis 1 bottle of birch beer or root beer 1/4 C vinegar (I used a red wine vinegar) 1 t ground cumin 1 T oregano 1 t sea salt 1/4 C maple-agave syrup 1/4 C olive oil 2 T fresh, rough-chopped cilantro Procedure Whisk all marinade ingredients together and marinate quails for at least 6 hours. Grill over hot coals.

From the Cherokee tribe in Texas... I've never liked stuffing that was actually cooked inside of a bird. Just a quirk...so I make the stuffing separately. Start with your favorite cornbread recipe. Sauté chopped celery, onions, leeks, and fennel bulb in butter till softened. Add fresh, rough chopped sage leaves. Cube the cornbread and stir in the butter mixture. Blend till the cornbread is completely moistened and begins to come together. Mix in dried currants, dried mulberries, chopped roasted chestnuts, and yellow corn kernels. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. This was - by far - one of favorites for the day!

I know, I know...I spent about six weeks baking nothing but pumpkin, but this Native American variation was superb. It's an Ojibwa recipe from Ottawa, Canada. Cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds. Place two orange halves in the cavity and fill the pumpkin half-way with water. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Let cool then slice into wedges. Brush with melted butter, drizzle with maple syrup. Bake again till the tops begin to brown. What a nice, sweet flavor foil to salty roasted meats!

From the Pueblo tribe in New Mexico... Ingredients 2 dry cakes of yeast 2 C cottage cheese 4 eggs 2 T melted butter 2 T organic sugar 16 t crushed dried whild sage 2 t salt 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 C warm water 4 C white whole wheat flour 1 C chestnut flour Procedure Dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the egg and cheese until smooth. Add melted butter and yeast mixture. Add flour mixture slowly, beating vigorously after each additiontill a stiff dough is formed. Cover dough with a cloth and let rise in a warm place for an hour or until dough is almost doubled in size. Punch down, knead for a minute, and roll into rounds. Place on a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the top and press a fresh sage leaf into the top. Cover and let rise for another 45 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. I served this with a dipping sauce of pumpkin seed oil and pomegranate balsamic vinegar. Wow!