Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I have long been a fan of Lidia Bastianich since I stumbled across her cooking show on PBS when we lived in Oklahoma in the early 2000s. So, when a friend lent me a copy of  My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family, and Food by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich* , I was thrilled to dig in. On the Page I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, reading it late into the evenings after the boys went to sleep and early in the morning before I had to get up and make breakfasts and lunches for the family. I had not idea that she was one of the ethnic Italians who was stuck behind the iron curtain in Yugoslavia. Or that she and her family escaped and lived in a refugee camp for two years before the United States began accepting refugee applications. Eventually, they immigrated to New York before settling in New Jersey. Hers is truly the American dream; from coming to America not speaking the language to helming a veritable restaurant empire, Lidia illustrates the values of family, hard ...

It's time for Fish Friday Foodies' August event. W e are a group of seafood-loving bloggers, rallied by Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm , to   share fish and seafood recipes on the third Friday of the month.  This month, Sue of  Palatable Pastime  is hosting as we share Japanese seafood recipes . She wrote: " We're posting Japanese fish and seafood recipes. Please note that cooked recipes are welcome and that these do not need to be only sushi or sashimi recipes, although raw recipes are welcome as well.  I find summer a very pleasant time to have Japanese as it suits well for both cold foods and grilled fish, among other things." Before I get to my post for the event. Here's the rest of the #FishFridayFoodies' offerings... A Living Legend + Panko-Crusted Abalone Over Green Tea Soba Noodles from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Grilled Salmon Packets from A Day in the Life on the Farm Hibachi Shrimp with Yum Yum Sauce from P...

To commemorate milestones, I let the boys pick a celebratory meal. Anywhere they want to go or, more likely, anything they want me to cook. D finished his summer school math class yesterday and asked for his favorite: chicken and waffles. Easy. Done. What we didn't know, when he picked the menu, was that he got 100% on his final and will be headed into calculus next year. As a sophomore. He logged in and saw his score and grade while I was cooking. Sometimes I just stare and them and wonder where they got their aptitude for math and science. It certainly wasn't from me. In any case, he wanted plain ol' chicken and waffles; I decided to shake it up and add some Japanese flavor flair. This is a pretty simple recipe with four parts that come together into something incredibly tasty. Try it and tell me what you think! Also, I did the kabocha fries first and served them room temperature. The chicken was last and served hot. Shichimi Togarashi is also called Japanes...

Last autumn I was introduced - through a fellow food blogger (thank you, Heather of girlichef !) - to Not Ketchup * when Erika agreed to sponsor an online blogging event. Erika had so much fun with us last year that she agreed to sponsor another event for me this year. So, y ou'll see more Not Ketchup posts when we launch our #TripleSBites event next Monday. I will admit that my stomach used to turn at the word 'ketchup.' I envisioned the bright red goo squeezed out of foil packets from when my grandfather used to take us to his favorite fast food restaurant. Yuck. I avoided ketchup for decades. Then I became part of the mom-crowd and saw ketchup everywhere we ate. Not only did I see it, but I joined the ranks of ketchup-eaters along with my then-toddlers. Still we were careful about which brands we purchased, avoiding any with high fructose corn syrup. Eventually, when my boys were old enough,  we made our own ketchup . Still, all the ketchups were tomato b...

I used to buy  Supplì al Telefono from my neighborhood rosticceria in Rome probably more often than I should admit. They're delicious and easy to eat while on the go. And I was always on the go. Not much has changed in that regard. Supplì al Telefono , literally means  supplì  'to the phone.' Odd name, perhaps, until you think back to the days when phones had cords. Yes, younguns, phones used to have cords! Inside the  supplì  are molten bits of mozzarella cheese; when you bite into them and pull away, the melted cheese is long and stringy, resembling a telephone cord. Like this... This is a great dish to use up leftover risotto. I decided to give a baked version a try and used panko breadcrumbs instead of a finer traditional crumb. Also, I had a Veronese risotto all'amarone ; that's why my risotto is red. Use whatever risotto you have on-hand. Ingredients  3 to 4 C leftover risotto, chilled 2 T tomato sauce + more for se...

Risotto, to me, is always savory. I did make a Spiced Chocolate Risotto once that was delicious, but I hadn't thought about making a sweet risotto until I was craving rice pudding and all I had in the house was arborio rice. So I made a sweet risotto with coconut water and coconut cream, dosed it with vanilla, and sprinkled it with cinnamon. Perfect. And in the morning, I took the leftovers and - inspired by  Crema 's risotto cakes with chive blossoms, another Chef Jon Moser creation - I made risotto cakes for breakfast. I took the cold risotto formed them into palm-sized patties and pressed them into panko breadcrumbs. Then I cooked them in a large flat-bottomed pan - with a pat of butter - until they were crisp and nicely browned. Since I had leftover mamey pulp*, I whisked that (2 generous tablespoons) into a sauce with some heavy cream (1/4 C) and warmed it. Ecola! Breakfast. "Easy peasy lemon squeezy!" as my 9-year-old says. * Not quite sure wha...

What says 'autumn' to me? Pumpkin? Yes. Witches? Most definitely...especially in the form of Liquore Strega . I came across a recipe for meatballs that used a liqueur in its sauce -  The Haggis and the Herring's Meatballs in Amaretto Barbeque Sauce . And I thought: why didn't I think of that? I cook with wine; I braise in beer. But I have never put a liqueur in a savory sauce. While I couldn't bring myself to cook with Dr. Pepper, I used the recipe as a jumping off point to create some meatballs with pumpkin puree cooked in a sauce with Liquore Strega . In case you're unfamiliar with Strega... Liquore Strega , Witches' Brew, is an Italian herbal liqueur whose bright golden hue comes from the presence of saffron in its formulation. I remember when I first spotted that sunny bottle on a shelf at a bar in Rome. The bartender let me taste it and when I asked what was in it, he answered: "Tante cose, cara, ma il colore viene da il zafferano." [...

While I have one child who, literally, jumps up and down for joy when he sees brussel sprouts on the stalk at Trader Joe's - yes, I do get lots of odd looks for that one - I also have a child who laments that we don't have chicken strips like other kids. Fine. I decided to give oven-baked panko crusted chicken a try. It was easy, tasty, and stopped the whining. And I served them with brussel sprouts to make the other kid happy. Perfect. chicken breast pieces eggs, beaten panko bread crumbs smoked sea salt freshly ground pepper Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Mix the last three ingredients in a bowl. Dip the chicken pieces into the beaten egg and press them into the panko crust mixture. Place them in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, turn over, and return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes.