Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This month I am hosting Food'N'Flix and have the group watching Spirited Away . You can read my invitation here . And I will give my thoughts about the movie in another post. It just inspired me to try all sorts of Asian recipes!  First up:  Bò Nướng Hành Hương,  the Vietnamese version of Japanese Nikumaki which is beef wrapped around green onions, then grilled. I prefer the Vietnamese version as it has more spices for flavor, giving the meat a sweet, sour, and salty taste. And, perhaps, it's a ubiquitous Asian dish because a friend mentioned that it looked like a Korean BBQ dish. Ingredients  makes 4 servings 1 pound beef tenderloin steaks, pounded thin 2 green onions ½ Tablespoon five spice powder ½ Tablespoon tamarind paste 1 teaspoon honey 1 teaspoon soy sauce or gluten-free tamari 1 clove garlic, finely minced 2 Tablespoons canola oil 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil + more for drizzling Also needed: 100% cotton twine for tying ...

This recipe was created in conjunction with #BurgerMonth 2018.  Thanks to event sponsors for providing prizes for an awesome Grilling Prize Package.  Please follow along at #BurgerMonth to find over 100 fantastic burger recipes. May is Burger Month. So says our fearless leader, Kita at  Girl Carnivore . For the past few years, I've taken part in this burger-palooza that she calls #BurgerMonth. Every year she invites food bloggers to get wild and crazy with the burger creations. Done!  In 2014, I shared a  Bulgogi-Spiced Burger with Homemade Kimchi . In 2015, I found inspiration in the sea and made a  hand-chopped salmon burger with cuttlefish buns . And last year, I went for an Indian-inspired burger and served a mixed lamb-beef patty:  Kheema Aloo Burger with Fresh Mango Chutney . Last year I served up a  Chile Relleno-Topped Chorizo Burger . Earlier I posted my  California Kurobuta Pork Burgers  and today, I'm sharing...

For our second February post in our year-long project that I'm calling the Kitchen Matrix Project, after Mark Bittman's  Kitchen Matrix  cookbook - you can read about it:  here  -  Wendy at  A Day in the Life in the Farm  picked 'Roasted Chicken Parts' which meant we could make Greek-style, Chinese-style, or with garlic, rosemary, and lemon...along with any variations or adaptations that we needed or wanted. The Other Chicken Parts An InLinkz Link-up Chinese-Style Roasted Chicken Parts  Looking at the options, we decided to go for a variation on the Chinese-style chicken. Ever since I had the kids blend their own Chinese Five Spice in my Spice It Up! class, D loves making his own blend. I never really know what he puts in there, but he keeps my 'Chinese Five Spice' jar filled. The usual 5-spice blend… cinnamon cloves fennel seeds star anise Szechuan peppercorns The extras… anise seed ginger n...

Every time we have ribs for dinner, we chuckle about this story. D was about three-years-old at the time, riding in the cart with me at the grocery store. He asked me about the rack of ribs in the cart, pointing, "Mommy, what are those?"  Ribs , I answered.  His chubby fingers went to his side and he declared, "These are my ribs!"  Yes, that's true.  Horror contorted his little face and he whispered, pointing into my shopping cart, "Whose ribs are those?!?"  Not a person's , I assured him.  "Then who?" he demanded. He knew meat came from a living animal. But, I suppose, ribs were a little too recognizable. Now he loves ribs, but we still tell that story every time they're on our table. The marinade on these ribs were inspired by the flavors in some of our favorite Vietnamese dishes. Well, it has a lot of Asian-inspired flavors. It was tasty! Ingredients 1 medium shallot, finely chopped 2 lemongra...

Since today kicks off the Chinese Lunar Year of the Horse, we blended our own Chinese Five Spice. I cheated...and I had Jake grill the chicken for me ahead of time. Double cheating! But my Spice It Up! class is five minutes shorter today due to an earthquake drill, so I can use all the help I can get. In China, Japan and other Asian countries, it’s customary to eat long noodles, signifying longevity, on New Year’s Day. Since the noodles are never to be broken or shortened during the cooking process, I decided to go with a stir-fried “Long-Life Noodles” dish. CHINESE FIVE-SPICE CHICKEN 2 lb chicken thighs 1/3 C soy sauce 1/4 C olive oil 1 T crushed garlic 2 t Chinese five spice powder 1 t grated fresh ginger Combine all ingredients except chicken, and use as marinade. Then, marinate chicken at least an hour, but can marinate overnight. Bake in a 375 F. oven, basting once or twice, for about 45 minutes or grill until done. I made this ahead of time and tossed ...

While I took a shortcut , the kids ground and blended their own Chinese Five Spice today in our Spice it Up! class. First I had them smell the blend and see what scents they could discern. Then we let the spices fly! The usual 5-spice blend… cinnamon cloves fennel seeds star anise Szechuan peppercorns The extras… anise seed ginger nutmeg turmeric cardamom

I swapped lesson plans for this week's Spice it Up! class. I had originally planned a tabletop jaunt to Provençe, but realized that Chinese Five Spice was much more appropriate. I can't believe I almost missed that it's Chinese New Year. The year of the horse begins today. Perfect. We're grinding and mixing our own Chinese Five-Spice in class and making noodles!  Truth be told: the kiddos are grinding and mixing their own today. Me? I cheated. Teachers get to use shortcuts, right? I picked this up at Whole Foods and used it on the chicken for the Long Life Noodles. Recipe to come. Do you grind and blend your own spices? I love it...when I'm not pressed for time. Gong xi fa cai.