Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Weekends in a French Kitchen (click to read about the project: here ) is launching this week.  And if you're game, I'm including affiliate links to the cookbooks at the bottom of the post. Special thanks to the project organizers: Alice of  A Mama, Baby and Sharpei in the Kitchen , Christy of  Confessions of a Culinary Diva , Tammy of  Telling Stories from Chez Nous , and Emily of  Blue Bungalow . What a fun, fun project they have designed. Join us. This week's selection from Daniel Boulud and Dorie Greenspan's cookbook - Café Boulud Cookbook - is Skate with Brown Butter and Capers. Here are the Tips and Tricks for this recipe from the team leaders. I have never actually had skate, so I was very excited to try it, for the first time, and this great, summer recipe. Skate ranges on the sustainability list based on location of catch and method of catch. Click for the  Seafood Watch recommendations  and just be sure to ask your fish monger...

Evelyne at  Cheap Ethnic Eatz   is hosting this month's  Food'N'Flix  event. We watched, or rewatched as the case may be,  Butter.  Click to see  Evelyne's invitation .   On the Screen... Despite being a huge Jennifer Garner fan - yes, I own the Alias box set* and have no problems watching and re-watching the episodes - Butter never appealed to me. But, for Evelyne, I decided to risk it. Butter immediately makes it clear that it won't be taking itself too seriously. The entire backdrop for this light satire/dark comedy is, after all, a cutthroat butter carving competition. And the cast of characters is largely caricaturized and one-dimensional. We have the ruthless, ambitious Laura, played by Jennifer Garner; Laura's unfaithful husband and reigning butter-carving champ Bob, played by Ty Burrell; a gold-digging hooker/mistress who is also a butter-carving competitor, played by Olivia Wilde; and (new to the Hollywood scene) Yara Sha...

Inspired by my batch of  Nasturium  queso fresco , I decided to make arepas for dinner tonight. Many thanks to my friend Shiho for the blossoms! They are lovely and tasty. Ingredients  makes 12 to 14 cakes 2 C  masa harina 1 C hot water 1 C hot chicken stock 4 T butter, softened 2 egg yolk 1 C crumbled  Nasturium  queso fresco butter or oil for cooking the arepas fresh herbs, for garnish crema Mexicana  or sour cream, for garnish fresh herbs, for garnish (I used carrot top greens) Procedure Place the masa harina in a large mixing bowl. Add the hot water and stock. Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until well-combined. Stir the egg yolk and butter into the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes. Separate the dough into 16 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Make an impression in the ball with your thumb. Spoon some queso fresco into the hollow. Then press the dough togethe...

Making cheese is on my summer foodie bucket list. I mean, I've made cheese before, I just want to get more adept at it. Earlier this week a friend posted a photo that she had tons of nasturtium in her yard and asked if anyone would like some. Me!!! I miss my nasturtium plants from our old, old house. Last night - when I was already in comfy clothes (read: pajamas) - she texted and let me know that she had some for me. So, I pulled on a dress, grabbed a bottle of wine, and headed to her restaurant. She gave me a container of blossoms, a jar of pods, and a bottle of coffee sake to try.  Sweet deal! Sometimes when I get beautiful ingredients, I am inspired immediately. Sometimes, I just want to hoard them and look at them for awhile. These fell into the former category. I decided to head back into the kitchen - even though the floors had already been mopped for the night - and make some fresh cheese for dinner tonight. I love this queso fresco recipe because I can have fres...

Even though I wrapped up my review of Miche Baker's  Cooking with Flowers , I am still relishing adding blossoms to my culinary creations. So, tonight I made some cheesy black bean quesadillas with chicken and nasturtiums for dinner. So fast, so easy, and so tasty. Lightly butter a large flat-bottom pan. Lay tortilla in the pan. Cover with shredded cheese. Add slices of roasted chicken, cooked black beans, and nasturtium petals. Cover with more cheese. Top with a second tortilla. Heat until the tortilla is lightly toasted. Flip over and complete toasting the other side. Serve hot with a side of salsa.