Culinary Adventures with Camilla

When I was talking to Riley - on the way home from mandolin lessons tonight - about what he wanted to make with dinner, he didn't miss a beat: "I want to make the ricotta gnocchi like Chef Brad made at La Balena." Okay. "And I want to make the beef heart Bolognese...just like Chef Brad." Oye. I was able to talk him out of the beef heart Bolognese; we had ground beef in the fridge. Look what he made! 2 C whole-milk ricotta (we used Riley's Homemade Ricotta !) 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 1/4 C white whole wheat flour 1 1/2 C grated Parmigiano-Reggiano dash of grated nutmeg freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper Stir together ricotta, eggs, cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add flour, stirring with a silicone spatula to form a soft, wet dough. Shape dough on a parchment-lined surface with lightly floured hands. Roll into 1" ropes and cut crosswise into 1" pieces with a lightly floured knife to form pillow dumpl...

Somehow I managed to put several dishes on the table yesterday without snapping a photo of them. Yikes. I guess I was busy getting people fed! These were delicious! No special proportions or procedures. Just use great ingredients... Yukon gold potatoes butter heavy cream freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper snipped chives Cube and boil the potatoes until they are tender. Drain and smash with butter and heavy cream until they are the consistency that you want. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in the chives. Serve hot.

This was a complete surprise to me, but this might have been my absolute favorite thing on our Thanksgiving table. It was fresh, potent, and the perfect flavor foil to my braised brisket. I have never actually bought fresh horseradish until this week. Have you? It looks like a stick! 1 C fresh parsley, chopped 2 t grated fresh horseradish zest from 1 lemon juice from 1 lemon 1 T olive oil freshly ground sea salt Mix all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving to make sure the flavors are well-combined.

This is a painless way to preserve some of your summer tomato bounty. Or, in my case, the summer tomato bounty from my friends' garden! On a parchment-lined baking sheet, place halved tomatoes end to end. You want to leave some space between the tomatoes so that their liquids can evaporate. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the tomatoes in the oven and roast for 1 hour. Take the tomatoes out of the oven and gently press them down with a fork to express some of the liquid. Sprinkle them with freshly ground sea salt and other herbs, if you like. Return them to the oven. Let them roast for another hour. After that, you can keep them in the oven until they reach the consistency you like. Roast them even longer to attain that texture of a store-bought sundried tomato. I like them with still a little bit of juice. Roasting tomatoes this way concentrates the sugars in the tomatoes and turns these into a mouthful of summer! I have placed these on top of focaccia and salads. And...