Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This summer, my Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf is working as an apprentice at a local organic farm. He absolutely loves it. And I adore that's he's such a sponge for knowledge. He comes home every day that he works and explains to Jake what kind of flowers they need to plant as pest indicators; he shares with us how to plant multiple crops together to balance the nutrients in the soil. This really is the perfect summer job for him! One Saturday he invited me to join him and I was put on weeding a row of red cabbage seedlings. Then we pulled up some leeks to take home. I'll be honest: getting paid in vegetables makes me so happy. This is a really simple preparation that renders the leeks silky smooth. Ingredients  serves 4 to 6 Leeks 3 to 4 organic leeks, trimmed, cleaned, and halved lengthwise 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1 Tablespoon butter Topping 1/4 cup bread crumbs (I used leftover sourdough whirled in a food processor) 2 Tablespoons grated pa...

Most people go on vacation and go out to eat. Not me. I always make sure I have a full kitchen because vacation is a time when I get to catch up on my cooking to-do list. Tonight, after five hours on the road, I opened a bottle of La Folette Pinot Noir and made a gluten-free mussels casino. "You can't go wrong with bacon, Mom," noted the Precise Kitchen Elf. Yep. You're right. Bacon, shallots, and parmesan cheese are a magical combination. Ingredients 2 pounds mussels, cleaned  2 shallots, peeled and diced 4 slices bacon, diced olive oil 1/2 C gluten-free bread crumbs* 1/2 C grated parmesan cheese 1 T fresh parsley, chopped + more for serving 1-2 T olive oil + more for drizzling freshly ground salt freshly ground pepper Procedure Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large skillet, cook the bacon and shallots until the fat is rendered and the shallots are caramelized. Move them to a medium mixing bowl. Place the...

It's time for Group B's December 2015  Secret Recipe Club   reveal. I can't believe that another year has flown by. This month I was assigned to  Well Dined   which is written by Sarah. Sarah's blog started when she and her husband, Jasper, began to record their thoughts on places at which they ate. So, it all began with restaurant reviews. After working at Williams Sonoma (lucky gal!) as a demonstrator, she started posting recipes in addition to the review. And I am so glad she did! She has a ton of recipes. A ton. And I love that she organized them by seasonal produce. Well, she has things indexed and cross-indexed, so you can find recipes how ever you want to search. Me? I search by season. Given that we're in throes of late Fall, I gravitated towards things such as Sweet Potato Gratin that she served for Christmas a couple of years ago; Salt Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese ; and Apple Galette with Salted Bourbon Caramel . Her Miso Tahini Soup ...