Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Today was the day I promised them would come: we ate crickets. I'm not sure they believed me at the beginning of our six weeks together. But, c'mon, I did feed them durian (click to read about that adventure )...did they really not think I could find some crickets to feed them?!? So, I packed up my bin of ingredients and tools and planned to have them make cricket chip cookies. That is - chocolate chip cookies with cricket flour. One student asked if I were going to put the whole crickets in them, too. Good idea!! Ingredients ½  C butter 2  C semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided ¾  C organic granulated sugar 1/3  C unsweetened cocoa powder ¾  C flour ¼ C cricket flour* ½  t salt 1 t baking powder 1 t pure vanilla extract 1 large egg crickets for garnish Procedure Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place 1 C chocolate chips and butter into a small saucepan. Heat over low heat unti...

While I don't find using cuttlefish ink that bizarre, the boys decided we should cook with cuttlefish ink for my Bizarre Foods SEM because "other kids might not have ever tried it." Okay. That makes sense. Ingredients  makes 2 to 3 servings 1 C flour (I used a blend with semolina, bread flour, and all-purpose flour) 1 egg water, as needed 2 t cuttlefish ink Procedure Spoon the pasta flour blend into a large mixing bowl and make a hollow in the center, like a volcano. Spoon the cuttlefish ink into the crater of the flour volcano. Use a fork to begin incorporating the flour. Making a whisking motion with your fork, starting in the middle and blending in the flour from the bottom moving upwards. If your dough is too wet, add a small amount of flour; if your dough is too dry and crumbly, add water 1 t at a time. Turn the dough onto a lightly dusted board and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is elastic and smooth. Roll out as thinl...

"Next week, we're eating snails," I announced to my Bizarre Foods class. Little did I know how much of an adventure it was going to be. First, I remember seeing escargot in many stores - Safeway, Cost Plus, the commissary - the last time I bought them. But this week, they were nowhere to be found. The checker at Safeway told me that they hadn't carried them in a long time. Boo. But my dad finally located a can at Nob Hill in Pacific Grove. Thanks, Dad. Second, my mom couldn't find her shells. So, I found escargot dishes and put a couple on hold at Sur La Table. But a friend offered me hers. Sweet. I love my little village. All set... Escargot, French for 'snail', is a cooked land snail. Escargots are usually served as a starter in Portugal, Spain, and France. May 24th has been designated "National Escargot Day" in the United States. We're a little bit early, but oh well. The verdict: meh. I was able to get ten out of twel...

I haven't had a chance to post this. It's been a busy week! But two Fridays ago, I brought a durian to school for my Bizarre Foods SEM . Are you familiar with durian? No, I did not murder a hedgehog, as a friend initially thought when she saw my photos. The durian whose name is derived from the Malay-Indonesian languages word duri for "spike" is distinctive for its formidable, spike-covered husk, its noxious odor, and its distinctive flavor. Did you read: noxious odor?! The fruit emits a distinctive smell that is potent even through its armor. Some people regard the durian as sweet-smelling; others find the aroma overpowering and revolting. My class and I thought that, perhaps, it's similar to cilantro where some people like it and others think it tastes like soap. In any case, it does have a distinctive smell. So, back to my banishment. I had posted a photo of the fruit on Facebook the night before class and a friend, who works at the school, must h...

Remember, I'm teaching a Bizarre Foods SEM this term? Today, we traveled by tabletop to the Philippines. Don't worry, I didn't make the kids eat balut. Considering I won't even eat balut...I figured that wouldn't be very fair. But we did talk about balut . For our make-project today, I decided that eating seaweed was bizarre enough for some of the kids. Besides this dish has special significance to me. My grandmother, my dad's mom, used to make the most amazing seaweed salad. I remember when I went to Oahu with her as a child, we would drive to Ewa Beach and pick seaweed. She would clean it and make a fresh seaweed salad with it.  Today, I made it with my own kids and ten other students. Reactions were varied. One student said that the seaweed didn't taste like anything, that it just had a funny texture. Another student declared, "I really hate kale."  One student said he didn't want to try it. I insisted. Just one bite....

For the past few years, I've only taught SEM - Schoolwide Enrichment Model - once a year. I used to teach every term and I've taught everything from Italian to ocean conservation. Most recently, I've focused on cooking classes. But wrangling a dozen kids for six weeks at ninety minutes per class on a Friday afternoon is less than relaxing, especially when there are knives and hot stoves involved. The only good thing: all the kids want to be there. They chose the class. However, it's still a lot of work. Hats off to all you teachers. Seriously. I am in bewildered awe. Jenn and I just taught 'The Science of Cooking with a Food Writer & an Engineer' last term; I thought I would be done teaching for the year. But, when I realized that this was the last time I would be able to have both D and R in class together, I had the boys help me pick a topic. Inspired by Andrew Zimmern's "Bizarre Foods", we're going to traverse the globe looking at bi...

I think that I may regret getting him this book... He's had the book for awhile. But he pulled it off the shelf this week and asked if I could take him to Whole Foods to get the ingredients. Okey dokey. I've never had garlic ice cream. This will be an adventure! He did adapt the original recipe a bit since he doesn't like his ice cream too sweet. I won't argue with that. Ingredients 2 C organic whole milk 1 vanilla bean 1 clove of garlic 1 C organic sugar 1 C organic heavy cream 8 egg yolks Procedure Thinly slice the peeled clove of garlic. And scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod.  Separate the eggs. Reserve the egg whites for something else. Place the 8 yolks in a large mixing bowl. In a medium sauce pan, place the milk, garlic, and vanilla seeds and pod. Bring the milk to a boil. Remove from heat immediately. Add the sugar and heavy cream to the egg yolks. Whisk to combine. Strain the milk mixture into the egg yolks and p...