Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I love the idea behind the Crazy Ingredient Challenge (CIC). In the CIC, we are assigned two ingredients to cook and create. Lori of  Lori's Culinary Creations   and Kelly of  Passion Kneaded are our fearless leaders. So, here goes... August's Crazy In gredient Challenge = chili powder and honey Ingredients Lamb 1 rack of lamb splash of olive oil freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper 1 T crushed garlic Glaze ½ C olive oil 1 ½ C chopped yellow onion (approximately 1 large onion) ½ C tomato paste ½ C orange marmalade 1 C balsamic vinegar 1 C organic, raw honey ½ C Worcestershire sauce 1 C Dijon mustard ½ C  tamari 1 C  hoisin sauce 2 T chili powder 1 T ground cumin 2 crushed tepin chiles Procedure Lamb Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add crushed garlic and sear rack of lamb for 1 to 2 minutes on all sides. Set aside for a few minutes. Arrange the rack bone s...

Wow! It's been a month since our last   Cooking Around the World Adventure   dinner. Yikes. I need to get better about this because I am bound and determined to wrap this project this year. Tonight we headed, via tabletop, to Rwanda, the land of a thousand hill. Rwanda is a land-locked country, just south of the Equator in central Africa. It's surrounded by four countries: Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The population is approximately 12 million people. And though Rwanda is densely populated, if you look at the horizon, you'll see hill after hill after hill. Hi, Bonjour, Muraho! The official languages of Rwanda are English, French, and Kinyarwanda. Here's what we ate...our spin on a traditional Rwandan chicken stew in a celery-tomato sauce. Ingredients 1 chicken, cut into serving pieces 3 T olive oil 1 onion, peeled and diced 2 shallots, peeled and diced 3 large tomatoes, blanched, peeled and mashed 4 celery st...

I actually made this as part of an SRC 'rescue' of Bad Girl's Kitchen tonight, but I wanted to pull this recipe out of that post so that it would be searchable on its own. This was an amazing - and easy - dessert. This will definitely be on our table again! Enjoy.   Spiced Coconut Pudding inspired by Bad Girl's Kitchen's Spiced Coconut Custard 1 can (approx. 14 ounces) coconut milk 2 crushed tepin chiles 3 eggs, beaten gently 1/4 C organic granulated sugar 2 T rice flour 3 T butter Heat coconut milk and tepin chiles in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Gently bring to boiling, stirring, then turn off heat. Let milk and chiles steep for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Removed the chiles. Whisk the egg yolks and chile-infused coconut milk together in a large sauce over a low to medium heat. Add in the sugar and flour. Whisk until smooth. Continue whisking until the pudding coats the back of a spoon. Remember it will thicken as it cool...

Two years ago we attended our friends' 4th of July Chili Cook-Off...and my Chili al Diavolo was dubbed 'Grand Champ.' Since we missed last year's event, I'm not the defending champion this year, but I still wanted to make a chili that dazzles. This chili - Peck O' Peppers Chili - features beer-braised chunks of beef, caramelized onions and shallots, four different kinds of chilis, and a chili beer! Sadly, my plan to use buffalo meat got nixed by my 10-year-old. This took hours of simmering and thousands of chops, but it was well worth the effort. 1 pound of beef 1 pound of ground beef onions shallots 1 T minced garlic 1 bottle of beer (I used a summer wheat, with honey and orange, for this part) 1 bottle of Rogue's Chipotle Ale (1 pt+) 2 shots of espresso 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder 5 C pureed tomatoes paprika cumin sea salt 2 fresh poblano chilis 1 fresh Anaheim chili 3 fresh goldspike chilis 1 crushed tepin chili 1 fresh red ...

If you've been following along with this rhubarb recipe debacle, you'll know that my first take at this assignment was, tragically, devoid of the namesake ingredient: rhubarb. How do you make a rhubarb sauce without rhubarb? Well, you don't. But I tried...and so did a bunch of the bloggers in the Food Matters Project . Then, the day after my attempt, I came across rhubarb at a grocery store whose produce clerks had sworn to me, over the phone, that they wouldn't have rhubarb available until June. I bought every single stalk. No joke. I just needed to get some other rhubarb creations out of the way before I braved this again. Besides, I wanted to read all of the other bloggers' takes and incorporate the best elements. I have to admit that the four in my household are rhubarb fanatics. And I got four thumbs up on this dinner. But my husband did say, "if someone doesn't like rhubarb, this is definitely not the dinner for them...but I love it!" Me...

Have I told you that I have a girlichef crush? I love that blog and everything she cooks. I was intrigued by her recipe for Posole de Camerones  last week and decided it would be the perfect New Year's Eve lunch. Of course I used it more as a point of inspiration instead of an actual recipe, making more than a couple of changes. However, I think I stayed true to the flavors. Delicious! INGREDIENTS Herbed Salsa Verde: 1 C arugula 1 C fresh mint leaves 1 C fresh cilantro leaves zest of 1 orange ground black pepper big pinch sea salt Lime Sea Salt: grated lime zest 1 tepin chili 2 T coarse sea salt Posole: 2 T olive oil 1 chopped onion chopped celery chopped carrots 5 C vegetable boullion 2 lbs uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined 2 C cooked white hominy juice from 1 orange Additional Garnish: sliced sundried tomatoes anchovy filets fresh squeezed lime juice PROCESS Herbed Salsa Verde: Mince everything and set aside. Lime Sea Salt: Mash all ...

My marinated quail was such a hit last year for Thanksgiving that I decided to do it again. This year, to stick with the Californio theme, I served the birds with an Almendrado (almond sauce). I also used more of my chardonnay molasses. Delicious! Ingredients 4 crushed tepin chilis 2 bottles of birch beer or root beer 1/2 C balsamic vinegar 1 t ground cumin 2 T fresh oregano 2 T fresh thyme 1 t sea salt 1/2 C chardonnay molasses 1/2 C olive oil 2 T fresh, rough-chopped cilantro Procedure Whisk all marinade ingredients together and marinate quails for at least 6 hours. Grill over hot coals. Thanks to my grill-master husband for making this so easy.

This began with Michelle Miller's Spiced Apple Chutney but evolved to include beets as well as some other variations. I started by chopping the following into small pieces: 1 onion 1 fennel bulb 1 sweet red pepper 1 sweet yellow pepper 3 golden beets 9 green apples In a large saucepan, I crushed 8 tepin chilis - this chutney has a lot of heat, so adapt as needed - and heated them with olive oil.  Then I added all of the chopped ingredients, a jar of green peppercorns, 3 C raw sugar, 1 C apple cider vinegar, 2 C white balsamic vinear, 3 T pomegranate vinegar, 1 T ground ginger, 1 T ground cumin, and a pinch of saffron threads.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce to a simmer, stirring about 1 hour until thick. Place in hot water bath for 10 minutes. Serve with a lamb roast.

I sauteed diced onions in a pat of butter and a splash of olive oil.  Then I added cubes of chicken and pancetta and cooked them completely. Next I added all the seafood (a combination of fish, oysters, mussels, octopus, shrimp, and squid), a can of tomatoes, red wine, a few saffron threads, a couple of bay leaves, two crushed tepin chilis, ground ancho chili powder, and ground cumin. Finally, I brought that pot to a boil, reduced the heat, added sliced okra, and simmered till everything was completely cooked.  Before serving I stirred in cooked brown rice and topped it all with rough-chopped parsley. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

When searching for a recipe in which to use my cactus paddles, I came across Rick Bayless's recipe for Sopa de Hongos y Nopales (Mushroom-Cactus Soup with Roasted Tomatillos), published in From Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen (Scribner, 1996).  The title of this post is accurate; I was inspired by the flavor combinations in his recipe but completely diverged to create my own version.  And the verdict: all three of my boys devoured their bowls.  Jake even said that it was "red book worthy."  I have a red journal into which I've been tucking family favorites for the past ten years.  So, I'll say this was a successful culinary adventure. Rub three cactus paddles, two red bell peppers, and four tomatoes with olive oil.  Roast in a 350 degree oven till the skin begins to char and pull away from the meat, about an hour.  Let cool and rub off the blackest parts of the skin.  Slice into 1/2" squares. In a large souppot, brown minced onions, shallo...

This is a variation of the Comanche Marinated Quail that I did for Thanksgiving this year. I did one hen person, but we have lots of leftovers! One hen can easily be split between two people. 4 crushed tepin chilis* 1 bottle of beer 1/4 C vinegar (I used a red wine vinegar) 1 t ground cumin 1 t paprika 1 T oregano 1 t sea salt 1/4 C maple-agave syrup 1/4 C unsulphered molasses 2 T fresh, rough-chopped cilantro Whisk all marinade ingredients together and marinate hens overnight or for at least 6 hours. Grill over hot coals. *Thanks, again, to Jenn Erickson - of Rook No. 17 - who gave me the wild dried tepin chilis in exchange for freshwater pearls!