Culinary Adventures with Camilla

In an effort to make all of my holiday gifts this year, we are sharing recipes for hand-crafted edibles. Over the course of twelve weeks, we'll be sharing recipes that you can make at home to give to friends and loved ones, or things to serve at holiday parties. We hope you'll follow along for inspiration. You can find out more information, including the schedule:  here . This week, we are letting out our inner chocolatiers shine, sharing all sorts of recipes with chocolate. Here's what we're posting this week... Amy's Cooking Adventures  shared 10+ Homemade Candies Fantastical Sharing of Recipes created Salted Chocolate Cookie Butter Bark Cookaholic Wife  cooked Peanut Butter M&M Bark Making Miracles  made White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge Christmas Tree Lane  posted Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Bark A Day in the Life on the Farm  wrote about Fruit and Nut Clusters Culinary Adventures with Camilla  rolled some Saffron Truffles ...

In an effort to make all of my holiday gifts this year, we are sharing recipes for hand-crafted edibles. Over the course of twelve weeks, we'll be sharing recipes that you can make at home to give to friends and loved ones, or things to serve at holiday parties. We hope you'll follow along for inspiration. You can find out more information, including the schedule:  here . This week, we are "going nuts" and sharing all sorts of recipes with nuts. Think spiced nuts or nutty fruit cake or whatever floats your nutty boat! Here's what we're posting this week... Amy's Cooking Adventures  shared her  Salted Chocolate Cashew Butter Cookaholic Wife  cooked up  Slow Cooker Cinnamon Almonds Making Miracles  made  Honey Roasted Almonds Christmas Tree Lane  posted  Crockpot Spiced Nuts A Day in the Life on the Farm  wrote about the  Easiest Nut Brittle in the World Sew You Think You Can Cook  prepared  Orange Rosemar...

Elizabeth at  The Lawyer's Cookbook   is hosting this month's  Food'N'Flix  event. We watched, or rewatched as the case may be,  Hocus Pocus.  Click to see  Elizabeth's invitation . On the Screen... I have never actually seen this movie. But it was rated PG, so I put it in the Netflix queue and sat down with the boys when it arrived. This was a good one-timer for us. It was fun, but I don't think we'll become the family that watches this every Halloween. The basic plot: three witches are hanged in Salem, MA, 300 years ago. Their bodies are cursed. Flash forward. The witches are trying to exact their revenge on two little kids in present day, well, present day when the movie was made. There is a lot of witches fly around on brooms - and vacuum cleaners - and the cat can talk. It's mayhem and madness all stirred together in a confusing cauldron with a lot of hysterical shrieking. Lots. But the sisters' antics did make me smile every ...

This month the  Pass the Cookbook  crew - under the leadership of Kita, the culinary force behind  Pass the Sushi  - is cooking from Cooking Up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from the Times-Picayune of New Orleans by Marcelle Bienvenu and Judy Walker. The cookbook was intended to connect people who lost their favorite family recipes when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. The recipes are assembled from local papers that people had clipped and saved throughout the years. After the hurricane, people were hunting for their saved recipes, submitted comments and questions, and other readers did their best to match up the recipes. This book is a collection of some of those. For that reason alone, it is an amazing publication.  As always in this group, we had the choice of three recipes. Our selections this round: Chicken-Sausage Jambalaya, Crawfish in Saffon Cream, or Bananas Foster Pie. I decided to adapt the crawfish option, making a Sea...

With saffron on my mind and  Truffle-Making class  last week, I decided to try and make some saffron truffles - spiked with Liquore Strega , naturally - for my Valentine. All I have to say is 'wow.' Are you allowed to say that about something you made yourself?! I did buy a mini scoop yesterday. Even though I am a non-gadgety cook, this is a must for easy truffle making. I can't believe I've never had one before! Thanks for the tip, Jenn. Start with my  Strega-Spiked Saffron Ganache . Procedure Line a cookie sheet or tray with parchment paper or foil. With a tablespoon or tablespoon scoop, scoop chilled truffle ganache from your bowl and place on the lined tray. Refrigerate for a minimum of 15 minutes. (I let them chill for about 30 minutes.) For chocolate-dipped truffles...how to temper chocolate... Place half of your chipped chocolate (I didn't measure, but you can just repeat the process if you run out of chocolate) in a double-boiler a...

While the kiddos got a White Chocolate-Saffron Ganache   for their Valentines' Day truffles, I decided to a version fit for adults. I used dark chocolate, folded in some saffron threads and spiked it with Liquore Strega , a saffron liqueur from Italy. O dio! Strega-Spiked Saffron Ganache makes approximately 5 dozen truffles Ingredients 3-1/4 C 72% cacao chocolate, chopped 2 C organic heavy cream 1 pinch of saffron threads 3 T butter, softened 2 T Liquore Strega Procedure 1. Place chopped chocolate, saffron threads, and Strega in a large mixing bowl.  In a medium saucepan, bring cream to a boil.  Pour boiling cream over the chocolate.  Let sit for three minutes, then whisk until smooth.  Stir in butter. 2. Refrigerate until firm - at least two hours. I left mine overnight.

For National Licorice Day, I decided to make a licorice-y seafood stew with the licorice cousins : fresh fennel, fennel seeds, anise seeds. Whether you call it  cioppino ,  ciupin ,  cacciucco,  or  buridda,  I think this is a quintessential Italian seafood stew. It's made with whatever seafood is readily available; the flavor combinations are all very Italian. And just as every, and I do mean every, Italian dish is made differently by each Italian cook, here's my version... Ingredients 1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced 2 C fresh tomato sauce 6-7 C vegetable stock (or fish stock) 1 C dry white wine 3 bay leaves 1/2 t anise seeds 1 t fennel seeds pinch of saffron scallops cod, cut into chunks clams splash of Liquore Strega , saffron liqueur (or use any licorice-flavored liqueur) fresh oregano (I had a fragrant bunch from my WE Cooperative CSA!) freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper fenn...

After the mini boys went to bed, I decided to continue my pumpkin + witch theme with a Pumpkin- Strega Cake. Click to read about Strega and my first foray into pumpkin bliss this season . Okay, so this wasn't a huge success. I wouldn't categorize it as a 'flop' since Jake and I each ate a slice while snuggled on the couch with a swig of Strega  and BBC's Sherlock Holmes ; it was a nice date but the cake was on the dry side. If I had to do it again, I would add more olive oil and more eggs. 4 C white whole wheat flour 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 C maple syrup 2 eggs 4 t baking powder 2 t ground cinnamon 2 t ground nutmeg 1 T ground ginger 1 t ground cardmom 1/2 C milk 1/2 C whole milk yogurt 2 C pumpkin puree 2 T olive oil 1 T pure vanilla extract 2 T Liquore Strega Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a baking dish; I used a 10" round baking stone. Blend all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add in the wet ingredients. Sti...

What says 'autumn' to me? Pumpkin? Yes. Witches? Most definitely...especially in the form of Liquore Strega . I came across a recipe for meatballs that used a liqueur in its sauce -  The Haggis and the Herring's Meatballs in Amaretto Barbeque Sauce . And I thought: why didn't I think of that? I cook with wine; I braise in beer. But I have never put a liqueur in a savory sauce. While I couldn't bring myself to cook with Dr. Pepper, I used the recipe as a jumping off point to create some meatballs with pumpkin puree cooked in a sauce with Liquore Strega . In case you're unfamiliar with Strega... Liquore Strega , Witches' Brew, is an Italian herbal liqueur whose bright golden hue comes from the presence of saffron in its formulation. I remember when I first spotted that sunny bottle on a shelf at a bar in Rome. The bartender let me taste it and when I asked what was in it, he answered: "Tante cose, cara, ma il colore viene da il zafferano." [...

Liquore Strega (saffron liqueur), chocolate, espresso, and anise-infused cream...this mousse is a chocolate lovers' dream: rich, decadent, and a perfect addition to my amuse-bouche menu.  INGREDIENTS: 1 ½ pounds semisweet or bittersweet dark chocolate ½ C espresso ½ C Liquore Strega* 4 egg yolks 1 C anise-infused heavy cream** ¼ C sugar 8 egg whites pinch of pink Himalaya salt PROCEDURE: Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler or bain marie over low heat. Stir in the espresso and liqueur. Cool to room temperature. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time.Whip the cream until thick. Gradually add the sugar until stiff peaks form.Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Fold the egg whites into the cream.Fold the egg white-whipped cream mixture into the chocolate mixture. Pour into individual serving glasses and refrigerate for – at least – 2 hours before serving. *If you do not have any Liquore Strega - it is available through BevMo! - Sambuca or Gallian...

Liquore Strega , Witches' Brew, is an Italian herbal liqueur whose bright golden hue comes from the presence of saffron in its formulation.  I remember when I first saw the sunny bottle on a shelf at a bar in Rome.  The bartender let me taste it and when I asked what was in it, he answered: "T ante cose, ma il colore viene da il zafferano ." [Many things, but its color comes from saffron.]  Saffron, mint, fennel, and almost seventy other herbs are blended together to make this liqueur.  I was immediately smitten. It will appear in my chocolate mousse and in my cioppino for tomorrow's dinner party.  Recipes to follow.