Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Here we are at the second event of 2021 for our Soup Saturday Swappers group. Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  started this event and, every month, I get a new array of soup recipes to put in my to-try pile. This month, our group's founder is hosting and invited us to celebrate National Potato Month; she wrote: February is national potato month and national sweet potato month. Let's celebrate by sharing a soup or stew that features potatoes! Here's the line-up of recipes from the #SoupSwappers... Chicken Chili with Sweet Potatoes by A Day in the Life on the Farm Chunky Sweet Potato and Ham Soup by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking  Crockpot Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Curry Soup by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice German Potato Soup by Making Miracles Peas & Potatoes Stew by Sneha's Recipe Peruvian Potato Soup (Locro de Papas) by Karen's Kitchen Stories  Potato Cauliflower and Peas Soup by Magical Ingredients  Spiced ...

Having friends who fish is the best. Well, really, having friends who fish and share is the best! Jake came home with a large fillet of salmon from Phil, a friend at work. Sweet! So, last night, I poached it in olive oil, put it on a bed of lentils, and topped it with some pickled ramps. Dinner!! Ingredients Olive Oil-Poached Salmon salmon fillets (serving sizes vary, but I did 1/4 pound per person for this dinner) olive oil as needed 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed 3 to 4  fresh fennel fronds freshly ground salt freshly ground pepper Lentils 1/4 C olive oil 1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced 1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced 1 t ground cumin 1 C brown lentils 2 C fresh tomato wedges 1 t ground sea salt olive oil for serving To Finish freshly ground salt pickled ramps  Procedure Olive Oil-Poached Salmon Select a large enough pot that the salmon fillets can sit flat without touching each other. Pour olive oil in...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of  KitchenIQ .   All opinions are my own. When one of my contacts at KitchenIQ asked if I wanted to do a post featuring a few of their new kitchen tools, I agreed immediately. I am not a gadgety cook; I really don't have a lot of kitchen appliances. But I have received tools from KitchenIQ before and they are definitely my favorite. The Tools... KitchenIQ kitchen tools are easy to use, easy to clean, and they do what they claim they'll do! Plus, plus, plus. I love them. I received the Grate Ginger Tool , the V-Etched Spice Grater , and the V-Etched Better Zester ! I'm going to do a quick rundown of each of the products, share a recipe that used all of the tools, and - at the end of the post - you'll have a chance to win all three of these tools for yourself. Good luck!!! The Grate Ginger Tool is one of those tools that I never knew I needed...and, now, I'm wondering how I lived without it. I use fres...

One of my best friends was in the hospital last weekend. Thankfully, she's on the mend and home now. I offered to send a meal over one evening this week so she would have one less thing to worry about. So, I cooked a big pot of soup and have my fingers crossed that it's cooler today and soup will be appropriate and appreciated. Ingredients 1 T butter 1 T olive oil 1 C diced onions 1 C chopped carrots 1 C chopped celery 1 T minced garlic 1 t minced ginger 1 t minced turmeric 12 to 16 ounces pork loin, thinly sliced into strips 6 to 7 C chicken stock 1-1/2 C green or brown lentils 1/4 C fresh tomato sauce freshly ground salt, as needed freshly ground pepper, as needed freshly squeezed lemon juice, for serving dried red pepper chili flakes, for serving Procedure Melt butter in olive oil. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, and turmeric. Cook until the onions are softened and translucent. Add the pork and brown until coo...

This round  Debra of  Eliot's Eats  selected our April-May selection. Her announcement post is here .  The Feast Nearby: How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering, and eating locally (all on $40 a week)  by Robin Mather  is our current  Cook the Books   project. And you have plenty of time to join the party, if you wish. Submissions aren't due till June 1st! I just got an early start...because I read it in one sitting. On the Page... I have to admit: I was completely put off by the subtitle:  How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering, and eating locally (all on $40 a week) . I envisioned a self-absorbed memoir that was more focused on grocery receipts than the actual food. How wrong I was! She mentions her divorce only in the introduction and, while what transpired informs her current situation, it doe...

Red lentils are my go-to when I need a quick, but filling side dish. Red lentils, unlike green or black lentils, cook in less than 30 minutes. Love it! Ingredients 2 C red lentils 2-1/4 C water 2-1/4 C chicken stock 1 minced clove of garlic 2 splashes of olive oil 1/4 C fresh herbs (I used parsley from High Ground Organics tonight) fleur de sel to taste Procedure In a medium sauce pan, soften the garlic in a splash of olive oil. Stir in the lentils and add the liquids. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until softened and fluffy. It usually takes about 20-25 minutes. Add another splash of olive oil, fold in the herbs, and season to taste with salt. Serve hot.

Almost caught up! I've posted recipes, but not the country write up. Sorry! Last week we traveled, in our  Cooking Around the World Adventure , into the Ps. First up: Pakistan. A few fun facts... The official name for Pakistan is the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The name Pakistan means ‘land of the pure’ in Persian and Urdu. The national flower of Pakistan is the jasmine. The currency of Pakistan is the Pak Rupee. Pakistan is the world’s second-largest producer of chickpeas behind India. A baby is born in Pakistan every seven seconds. What we ate... As our starter, we made: Aloo Tiki And for dinner, we made: Koftay I actually liked the first dish so much that I even made it for breakfast this morning. And served it with eggs. Well, these Global Table Ambassadors are signing off for now. We'll be headed to Panama next!

Our  Cooking Around the World Adventure  has brought us to Nepal. Dylan and I - a couple of years back - went to a Nepalese restaurant when we took Pia there during her Eat-Your-Way-Around-Berkeley Birthday weekend. The food was delicious. Country: Nepal Fun Facts : Nepal’s local name for Mt. Everest is Sagarmatha , or “goddess of the sky.” The flag of Nepal is the only national flag that is not quadrilateral in shape. [See right.] Eight of the world’s highest peaks can be found in Nepal. Touching anything with your feet is considered offensive in Nepal. The abominable snowman, also known as the yeti, is a legendary apelike creature that is believed to frequent the high valleys of Nepal. Greetings in Nepal are similar to the greetings in India– people put their palms together and then bow their forehead, saying “ Namaste ,” which directly translates to “I salute the God in you.” Here's what we made... Momo Click for the o...

This week  Anita of Cooking Poetry  picked our Bittman recipe for the week: Dal with Lots of Vegetables. Here's  what the creative cookers made  (look in the comments section). I actually made this last week while we were out of town, at Lake Tahoe. What a perfect dish to combat the chill from sledding all day. It was a hit! Bittman writes that dal, in India, is often a thin lentil stew...but that if vegetables and meat are available, they're added. He also states that there's no need to be finicky about what kinds of veggies you use. So, I used what I had on hand. 1 T olive oil 1 C chopped sweet onions 2 strips of applewood smoked bacon, diced 1 T minced ginger 2 C chopped lacinto kale 1 C wild arugula 1 C baby spinach 1 C mixed baby greens 1 diced carrot 4 cardamom pods 1 T mustard seeds 2 whole cloves freshly ground salt freshly ground pepper 2 C green lentils 2 C organic chicken broth water In a large souppot, heat the oil over mediu...

Is there anything better than a bowl of soup on a drippy, drizzly grey evening? I don't think so. And it doesn't hurt that it's so easy to whip up. 2 C cooked lentils (I had leftovers, but they cook in about 30 minutes anyway) 1 lb 96/4 organic, grassfed ground beef 2 shallots, finely chopped 1 T crushed garlic 1 C fresh tomato sauce 5 C organic chicken broth 1 bunch kale, chopped into 2" pieces optional: parmesan cheese rind In a large souppot, caramelize the shallots and garlic in a splash of olive oil. Add in the ground beef and cook until completely browned. Add in the liquids and bring to a boil. If you're using the parmesan rind, add that in as well. Drop in the kale and lentils, simmering until the kale stems are fork tender. Serve hot with slices of crusty bread. Do not serve the cheese rind; it's just there for added flavor. Enjoy!

Before tonight I definitely couldn't locate Burundi on a map. So, it's not just the little Manns who are getting a lesson in geography through this cooking adventure! We wrapped up the 'B' countries with some tabletop travel to the the east African nation of Burundi. Burundi is sandwiched between Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda in Africa; it occupies a high plateau just about equal in size to Maryland. While we put five dishes on the table for our Burmese feast, as Burundi is one of the five poorest nations on our globe, I decided to only make one thing: Soupe aux Lentilles et Legumes (a traditional Burundian Lentil and Bean Soup). Interesting combination...I have never put lentils and beans together in a dish. 1 fennel, diced (the traditional recipe uses onion) 2 carrots, diced 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced 2 celery stalks, diced 1/2 head of cabbage, thinly sliced 1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and sliced into 1/2" pieces ...