Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I joined this annual #FoodBloggerLove exchange that the team at The PinterTest Kitchen is coordinating. Very similar to the Secret Recipe Club to which I belonged for several years, we were assigned another blog, explored, then selected one of their recipes to cook and post. What fun! I received Cook's Hideout , written by Pavani. You can also find her on Facebook , on Pinterest , on Instagram , and on Twitter . Though Pavani hails from Hyderabad, a bustling city in South India, she currently live in New Jersey with her family. She explains the blog's name: "When I decided to start a food blog way back in 2006 and was thinking of a name for the blog, I remembered my husband telling about his favorite food joint called “Hideout” in Davangere, Karnataka (also in Southern India). I thought that was an apt name for the kitchen where I love to hide and cook, so that’s how the name “Cook’s Hideout” came into being. I was intrigued by the multitude of Indian recipes, s...

I completed failed at trying 52 different cheeses last year...remember my ill-conceived Formaggio Fridays of 2013?! Oh, well. And I knew better than to set myself up for that again this year. But as I try cheeses I find unique and tasty, I'll share them with you, dear readers. And this - Gjetost from Norway - is a cheese not to be missed. I had previously gotten it a specialty cheese shop in town. I was tickled to find it at our local Whole Foods for less than half the price. I had my Culinary Adventurers taste it during our global cheese tasting. The kids dubbed it 'caramel cheese.' I'd go so far as to call it salted caramel cheese. Gjetost (pronounced YAY-toast) is made by cooking a mixture of milk, cream, and whey very slowly. The heat transforms the milk sugar into caramel. The texture of gjetost is smooth and firm and a little sticky - not unlike a real caramel. Due to its sweetness, I usually serve it on a dessert cheese tray. Today I served it wit...

Unlike most of the countries in our Cooking Around the World Adventure , I have actually been to Norway. A couple of times, actually. I had some good friends who lived there while I was in college and directly after. So, I flew there once, from Berkeley, for a self-declared long weekend. And I took the train from Rome when I was living and working in Italy a couple of years after that. The wife is Norwegian, the husband American. So, they split their time between there and here. My memories of those two trips are hazy; my memories of the food and drinks are even more so. I remember going to a microroastery and espresso bar in Oslo. I do remember eating Pølse (basically hot dogs) rolled in lefse (flatbread) with mustard and raw onions. And I clearly remember, standing at at the edge of a frozen lake, debating which items to carry on my back while we skiied to her family's cabin. Akevitt won out over food. Yes, my priorities were way out of whack in college: booze over food. Need...

When I saw this recipe, I knew that I wanted to make it. Then a friend gave me 2 cups of homemade duck stock and it was a done deal. This is, of course, my adaptation; the original uses fish stock instead of duck, lemon juice instead of lime, asparagus instead of peas, and parsley instead of carrot top greens. As always, I use what I have! boneless and skinless Pacific Cod (click for Seafood Watch designation: here ) 2 C homemade duck stock (thanks, Undine!) 2 T butter 2 T flour 1 egg yolk freshly ground sea salt freshly squeezed lime juice 1/2 C cooked and peeled shrimp 1/2 C blanched fresh peas 1 T carrot top greens Cut the fish into pieces. Poach in duck stock for 8-10 minutes - until fish is opaque and firm to the touch. Transfer the fish to a deep serving platter and keep warm. Melt the butter and stir in the flour. Gradually whisk in the stock. Simmer until thickened. Beat the egg yolk and whisk into the sauce. Season with salt and lime juice. Garnish...

Inspired by Global Table Adventure's new year's food suggestions - have I mentioned recently how much of a foodie crush I have on Sasha Martin?!? - , I decided on a Global Dessert Tasting menu for my family. To ring in the new year, we're enjoying kransekake from Norway! Rings - and circles - symbolize continuity and "coming full circle."  Kransekake is a delicious tower of  almond-scented cookies where the mortar is royal icing. Yum! I used Sasha's recipe to the letter...mostly. 1-3/4 C ground almonds 2 C organic powdered sugar 3/4-1 cup flour 2 egg whites 1 T olive oil Make a dough and roll them into uniform cylinders with varying lengths to make different sized circles. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes until they are puffed and golden. Let cool. 2 C organic powdered sugar 1 1/2 t meringue powder water, as needed Make the icing and pipe haphazard squiggles over the cookies. Then stick the next smallest cookie on top ...