KITCHEN ADVENTURES: FEAST!<\/strong>: This is what I\u2019ve been eating to celebrate Easter. Ridiculously, it includes none<\/em> of the food I gave up for Lent (meat and artichoke hearts); but it is much fancier and pricier than my usual fare, and definitely more so than the very simple food I ate during Lent. And yes, I know that actually you\u2019re supposed to give the money you save during Lent as alms, rather than using it to buy Camembert. I will do that too. Anyway\u2013onward to the adventures!<\/p>\n Warm Camembert with Wild Mushroom Fricassee<\/strong>: This, like most of the following recipes, was based on a recipe from Food and Wine<\/em>\u2018s 2007 cookbook. I made changes to the ingredients (they want you to use walnuts and walnut oil, and different herbs) and the preparation (they omit the aluminum foil, which I just don\u2019t understand). Still, I never would have thought to do this without F&W;<\/em>, so they receive much of the credit for this really delicious dish.<\/p>\n what<\/strong>: one 8-oz wheel of ripe Camembert in its wooden box; most of a package, or however much looks good to you, of mixed wild mushrooms, chopped into big pieces; s&p; olive oil, chopped garlic, fresh rosemary, fresh Thai basil, aluminum foil<\/em>.<\/p>\n how<\/strong>: Heat oven to 300. Take Camembert out of its wrapping, and then put it back all naked in the bottom half of its box. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and put the box on the sheet, then bake for ten minutes, or until soft. Unless you time it better than I did, the cheese will melt out of its box a bit, hence the foil.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, saute the mushrooms, garlic, s&p;, and fresh herbs in the olive oil.<\/p>\n When the cheese is ready, dump it out (or as F&W;<\/em> says, \u201cinvert\u201d it) onto a platter and spoon\/pour the mushrooms over it. Serve with sourdough toasts. (I used a toasted French roll, because I stupidly forgot that I\u2019d bought sourdough bread for exactly this purpose; the roll was fine, but I think sourdough would have been better.)<\/p>\n why<\/strong>: This was so<\/em> good! Equal parts messy and classy. The herbs really worked: I used a fork to scrape cheese from a big rosemary sprig, then spread the cheese and some \u2018shrooms on toast, and was shocked<\/em> at how delicious it was. No kidding, this is some great food. It\u2019s supposed to serve four as an appetizer, but\u2026 I just had it for dinner. Mmmmm<\/em>.<\/p>\n Squid Ceviche<\/strong>: what<\/strong>: 1\/2-lb. cleaned squid, bodies cut into rings, tentacles left whole; two thin chili peppers (I\u2019m not sure what they were\u2013they were red and green respectively, and long and thin, but only about as hot as a jalapeno), diced; chopped ripe tomato (I used two baby Roma tomatoes because that\u2019s what I happened to have on hand); a lemon; sliced red onion; half a diced avocado (you could totally use more\u2013I saved the other half for the queso fundido, see below); chopped fresh cilantro.<\/p>\n how<\/strong>: Bring a pot or large pan of salted water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. Cook the squid for 30 seconds in the boiling water, then drain the squid and put it in the ice water. Note<\/strong>: I screwed this up kind of a lot, due to failures of equipment (my freezer doesn\u2019t work, so no ice water for me) and imagination (didn\u2019t figure out how to manage the pan properly). So I ended up cooking the squid for maybe 45 seconds in water that was coming back to the boil, rather than actually at a rolling boil, and then once the water was starting to boil again rinsing the squid under cold water in the colander. This seemed to work okay.<\/p>\n In a dish, combine the squid, a bit of salt, and the diced peppers, and refrigerate for 30 mins. Then add the juice of the lemon, cilantro, and red onion to the ceviche, mix well, and refrigerate for two hours, stirring twice. Add the avocado and tomato, and serve.<\/p>\n why<\/strong>: This was good! I\u2019d never made ceviche before. It\u2019s very<\/em> easy, or at least this version is. I will say that I underestimated how much of a very powerful-tasting dish this would make: I was eating ceviche for breakfast the next day, and for snacks, etc. I ate the first round of ceviche with\u2026<\/p>\n Queso Fundido a la Leftovers<\/strong>: what<\/strong>: olive oil, chopped tomato, two of those mystery chilis diced, chopped red onion, leftover chipotle corn bisque from a box, leftover \u201cMexican blend\u201d cheese (actually quite bland\u2013Monterey Jack, colby, and something else\u2013I would have preferred my favorite, Sargento\u2019s Mexican blend), chopped fresh cilantro, 1\/2 (or more) a diced avocado, toasted French roll.<\/p>\n how<\/strong>: Saute the tomato, chilis, and onion until they\u2019re about how you want \u2019em. Add everything else, stir, cookity, decant, serve with toasts.<\/p>\n why<\/strong>: Simple, filling, delicious, and uses up leftovers. It shouldn\u2019t be hard to find ingredients to substitute for the bisque: a splash of tequila, various sauces or marinades, etc. I\u2019m guessing that the Trader Joe\u2019s mojito simmer sauce <\/a>I praised in this space would work very well.<\/p>\n