Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of  Melissa's Produce . I received complimentary product for the purpose of review and recipe development, but all opinions are honest and they are my own.  This page may contain affiliate links. Welcome to this year's #FreakyFruitsFriday event. The Halloween before last, I noticed that  Melissa's Produce *  had a section on their website for ' Freaky Fruits .' I really wanted to showcase recipes featuring those fruits, so I reached out to my contact at Melissa's and he agreed. This year, I emailed him, again, and he agreed, again. Woohoo. As the produce boxes started arriving, I realized that we had waaaaaaaay more produce than I could feature in just three Fridays in October. So, I decided that I would create some additional recipes and call it 'recipe testing.' The boys helped me brainstorm some ideas. You'll see most of these on the blog in this month. But, as I wrote, this is one of ...

I'm continuing my exploration of wines from volcanic areas. Click to read  my invitation  to the #ScorchedTerroir #winePW event. Scorched New Zealand... I've always wanted to visit New Zealand. Jake and I even considered it for our honeymoon, but we were swayed by a free timeshare from one of my aunts and uncles. So we honeymooned on Kauai and fell in love with that island. We'll make it to New Zealand eventually. Straddling the boundary between the Pacific and the Indo-Australian tectonic plates, New Zealand is rife with volcanic soils. Technically, though, only wines from the North Island are grown in volcanic soil while wines from the South Island are less so. The wine I picked is from the northeastern tip of the South Island. I'm still going to count it as volcanic! In the Glass... Sileni's Sauvignon Blanc has an intriging mix of kiwi, passionfruit and pineapple aromas. On the palate, it's fresh with a lingering acidity. I had initially though...

One of the guys at work nudged about their cookie trays. Okay, I'll make you cookies! So, for the Monday morning meeting last week, I whipped up a bunch of different cookies. Merry Christmas! Ingredients   makes approximately 30 3/4 C butter, at room temperature 3/4 C organic granulated sugar 2 egg yolks 2 C white whole wheat flour 1/2 C ground almonds zest from one lemon 1 t vodka 1 t cold water jam (I had some passionfruit jam) Procedure Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in the egg yolks until incorporated. Stir in the flour and ground almonds until a flaky dough is formed. Add in the zest, water, and vodka, gently working the dough until it forms a ball. Pinch off pieces of dough and form into small balls, about the size of a walnut in its shell. Place each ball onto the baking stone or baking sheet, pressing a "thumbprint" into the center of each and...

We spend a lot of time dreaming up ice cream flavors. Great family pasttime, right? I think so. Well, this afternoon the boys agreed on a passion fruit + lemon curd combination. It started off as a raspberry-lemon curd ice cream, but we had some passionfruits in our fruit basket. Done! Ingredients 2 fresh passionfruit (AKA lilikoi), halved 1 C heavy whipping cream 2 T lemon curd 1/4 C organic granulated sugar Procedure Scoop the pulp out of the passionfruit. Reserve the pod for serving. Place all of the ingredients in your ice cream maker and process according to your machine. Ours took about 40 minutes to come to a soft, gelato-like texture. Spoon ice cream into a container and freeze before serving. To serve, use a truffle scoop and place a mini scoop of ice cream into your passionfruit pod. Serve immediately.

I used my Vanilla-Poached Rhubarb twice today - once for breakfast and once for dessert. Breakfast = steel-cut oats topped with poached rhubarb Dessert  = plain European-style yogurt + passionfruit curd  + poached rhubarb

Okay, I'm a little Pavlova-obsessed right now. That texture! That crisp outside! That gooey inside! I love it. Last night I did mini meringues for a Passionfruit Pavlova with Vanilla Ice Cream . This morning, I used a large meringue to make a sweet brunch treat... Meringue 6 organic large egg whites pinch  fleur de sel 1 t white vinegar 3/4 C organic granulated sugar 1 T cornstarch Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine egg whites, salt, and white vinegar together in a large mixing bowl and beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Combine the sugar and cornstarch together in a small bowl and add to the egg whites in thirds, whisking each addition in completely. Beat until stiff peaks form. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and spoon the meringue into the pan, using a spoon to spread it to the edges. Bake for 15 minutes, lower the heat to 200°F, and bake for another 90 minutes. Turn off the heat and cool the meringues in the oven with the door p...

After a stop at the Penny Ice Creamery a couple of weeks ago - where I had a rose pavlova with pistachio ice cream, candied rhubarb, and a drizzle of white chocolate sauce - I decided to make my own version. I would never have thought to put ice cream on top of a meringue! But it's really a delightful mix of textures. Meringues 6 organic large egg whites pinch fleur de sel 1 t white vinegar 3/4 C organic granulated sugar 1 T cornstarch Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine egg whites, salt, and white vinegar together in a large mixing bowl and beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Combine the sugar and cornstarch together in a small bowl and add to the egg whites in thirds, whisking each addition in completely. Beat until stiff peaks form. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon the meringue into12 big spoonfuls, using a spoon to spread them in a circle. Bake for 10 minutes, lower the heat to 200°F, and bake for another hour. Turn of...

I had some leftover passionfruit juice and pulp after making my Lilikoi-Coconut MOffins so I decided to make a lip-puckering curd with it. Ingredients 1/2 C passionfruit juice and pulp 2/3 C organic granulated sugar 8 T butter 8 large egg yolks 1 T ginger syrup Procedure Combine the pulp, juice, sugar, ginger syrup and butter in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile beat the yolks. Add 1/3 of the boiling liquid to the beaten yolks then add the mixture back into the boiling liquid. Continue beating over medium heat until it thickens. Be careful not to let the curd boil or it will scramble. Pour the curd into a bowl and press plastic wrap against the surface to prevent a film from forming. Chill completely. Spoon into sterilized jars and keep in the fridge.

Last week I took part in a linky party for National Margarita Day. Click for my post...and the other offerings: here . All of the recipes looked fantastic, but The Little Ferraro Kitchen 's Lilikoi Margarita with Li Hing Mui had me dreaming of lilikoi (passionfruit) all weekend. from wikipedia.org I mused aloud, Where can I find passionfruit? My little Kitchen Elf looked at me, exasperated, "Mom, they have it at the Filipino store. Remember?!?" Well, now I do. Let's go! They didn't have any fresh ones, but they did have pulp in the freezer. Perfect! I defrosted one bag and decided to use some of it in our Monday morning MOffins. Then I made a lilikoi syrup for serving. These were lip-puckeringly delicious. I love lilikoi! Thanks, Samantha, for reminding me of this fruit. MOffin = mochiko (sweet rice flour) + muffin. This makes for a quick and portable breakfast. I served these with some yogurt and fresh strawberries. Fast and tasty! ...

You can find the original post at Love & Olive Oil , one of this event's esteemed hostesses. Thanks so much for organizing this, Lindsay. What an amazing event! In case you're new to the fun and games, here's the skinny: 555 bloggers baked and sent three dozen cookies to other bloggers around the world. And, through participation fees and more, we raised a total of $13,778.40 for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer . Like I said - amazing. And I'm proud to be part of it. Here are a few that caught my eye... Rosemary Lavender Shortbread  by Brooklyn Locavore Panforte Bites by Juls' Kitchen Passionfruit Shortbread Biscuits by The Cook's Companion Challenge And, remember, I made  Matcha-Black Sesame Shortbreads ! Look for the Round-Up, Part II...and my favorites from that round!

During our stop in Half Moon Bay, on our way home from Sonoma this afternoon, I popped in to Cunha's Country Store and found this: a bottle of Portuguese passionfruit liqueur. Sugary, honey-colored, deliciously decadent. Saúde!