Culinary Adventures with Camilla

As we ended Day 16 of our shelter-in-place order, I rummaged through my cabinets for inspiration to bake cookies. I came across two bags of Pinole Azul from Rancho Gordo , which is a ground, spiced blue corn flour used to make Atole. I decided that it could substitute for ground nuts since I didn't have any. If you don't have any Pinole Azul, feel free to use masa harina in its place. Just add in some extra cinnamon. I also found a jar of Blackberry Lemon Summer Jam from Happy Girl Kitchen Co . What I love about thumbprint cookies is their flexibility. You can use any kind of jam or jelly; and you can get that added texture with anything from ground nuts to a coarser grind of flour. Be creative. It's the perfect #ShelterinPlace recipe that allows you to rummage through your cabinets and still make a delicious cookie! Ingredients  makes approximately 30 cookies 3/4 C butter, at room temperature 3/4 C organic granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 C flour 1/2 C Pinole ...

This weekend, R said, "Remind me why you don't call these 'biscotti', again, Mom." Well, while 'biscotti' literally means twice cooked, it just refers to any cookie or biscuit. What Americans call biscotti are actually cantucci. "So, can we make some cantucci?" he asked. I walked right into that one. So, we headed to the store. R picked up some dried figs and slivered almonds. It's funny, I mentioned cranberries and walnuts or apricots and pecans. And he walked back to the cart with dried figs and almonds. "How about this mixture, Mom?" That'll work. I actually love the way that the figs looked sliced in there. I don't know why I've never used them before. Also, since these included slivered almonds, I decided to swap out the ground almonds I usually use for some Pinole Azul , a ground hierloom blue corn from Mexico that's mixed with a little bit of piloncillo  and ground cinnamon. Ingredients 2 C...

Excerpted from A Couple Cooks |  Pretty Simple Cooking: 100 Delicious Vegetarian Recipes to Make You Fall in Love with Real Food  by Sonja Overhiser and Alex Overhiser. Copyright © 2018. Available from Da Capo Lifelong Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc. It's soup season! And the weather definitely took a turn towards the chilly side as soon as September 21st arrived. Funny how that works. Just yesterday I went to work with a scarf and boots! Okay, no comment on the lack of make-up, please. Moisturizer with sunscreen is about all that I manage most days. This is just to show you that Fall has hit on the central coast of California. So, as we head into Fall - and Sonja and Alex have launched their monthly Pretty Simple Cooking Club - I was excited by their pick of Chipotle Black Bean Soup that appears on pg. 175 of their cookbook  A Couple Cooks - Pretty Simple Cooking: 100 Delicious Vegetarian Recipes to Make You ...

Welcome to the  Foodie Extravaganza !  v. January 2017 = Our Very Own Virtual Popcorn Stand Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays or cook and bake together with the same ingredient or theme each month. This month we celebrate National Popcorn Day (which is January 19th) by serving up popcorn as creatively as we can. I'm hosting and here's the challenge I shared with the crew... "National Popcorn Day is celebrated annually January 19th. It can be sweet, savory, buttered, plain, and even shaped into balls. “Corn,” the word, in England, simply referred to grain. With maize being the prominent grain the Americas, “corn” really did refer to corn! As early as the 1700s, popcorn was used in headdresses worn during Aztec ceremonies honoring Tlaloc, their god of maize and fertility. Early Spanish explorers were fascinated by the corn that, when heated, burst into a little white flower. Today, Americans consume 13 billion quarts...

This quintessential New Orleans dish, holds a special place in my heart. When R was a toddler, he wasn't very good at sitting still for dinner. He would take one bite, run away from the table, come back, take one more bite, and leave again. The sole exception to this pattern was when my mom and dad picked up red rice and beans from a local restaurant. R loved it, sat through the entire meal, and devoured his entire bowl. So, when we were planning the Cajun menu for D's birthday party, R excitedly agreed to make the red beans and rice. I used the Domingo Rojo beans from Rancho Gordo , one of my favorites! I used to buy a ton of dried beans whenever we were at the Ferry Building in San Francisco till I discovered them at Happy Girl Kitchen here in Pacific Grove. Woohoo. Ingredients 1 pound dried red beans, soaked overnight 1 T butter 1 T olive oil 1 C diced organic white onion (you can use yellow, too) 1 C diced organic green bell pepper 1 C diced organic cel...

Laissez le bon temps rouler!  I forgot to put the andouille sausage in my Sweethearts' Seafood Boil   last weekend, so I had a pound that was begging to be used. And I had a jar of RED spice blend from  Voodoo Chef *  that was sent to me for participating in an online event earlier in the month. Put those together - and given that today is Mardi Gras - the culinary lightbulb of inspiration blinked: Red Beans and Rice! It's easy; it's filling; and, most importantly, it's delicious. Note: mine is not a traditional red beans and rice recipe. I throw in whatever veggies I have on-hand for a nutritious, one-pot meal. Thanks to our High Ground Organics CSA for keeping my fridge stocked with fresh, amazing produce. Ingredients 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and diced 1 large leek, trimmed and diced 3 or 4 small carrots, diced 4 celery stalks, diced 2 T butter splash of olive oil 1 pound cooked andouille sausages, halved and sliced 1 bunch kale, thinly sliced ...

One of the great things about being a food writer: learning more about artisan foodsmiths. Today I received a package from Rancho Gordo Beans , one of the sponsors for all the Food52 potlucks coming up next month . Rancho Gordo Beans grows heirloom beans in Napa. Heirloom varieties tend to have lower yields than other beans, but the payoff is in the flavor and texture. Most Rancho Gordo beans are new world crops, meaning they are indigenous to the Americas.  Originally from Colombia, these beans - Cargamanto - have been bred around the world and have become Madeira, Borlotti, Tongues of Fire, Wren's Egg and many more. While I packaged up most of these for the potluck giveaways, I kept a pound for myself to try this recipe... Pasta e Fagioli adapted from the Food Network recipe olive oil 5  cloves garlic, smashed red pepper flakes, to taste 1 T chopped fresh rosemary 1/4 C cubed pancetta 5 canned whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand 1 C dried cranb...