Camille Cares

JUICING, KALE, DONUTS…and other NEW FOOD TRENDS in 2013

camillecares — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 03:22:37 +0000

Spring has finally sprung in New York City and that can mean a whole lot in these mean, “where are you sitting your high waist skort”, “eww my glasses”, “we don’t work 9-5″ – streets. In the foodie world, a lot of mouths are out enjoying the vitamin D surplus that the one extra hour brings to our ash-stricken faces. A lot of restaurants and watering holes are feeling their registers cranking and waiters stand daring and proud as they run over the special for the evening and the cocktails for the season. A lot of visitors will come pounding the sidewalks of Manhattan and Brooklyn in search of the hottest of the haute and cozy of cozy spots for food, drink, and scene.

Personally, this is my time to select my items for my spring and summer “BEST SPOTS FOR….’ list. This list usually corresponds with the overall urban “new’ food or drink on the foodie scene. We all know what the food trends are, eh hem were: SLIDERS and BACON had an extremely long run, CUPCAKES and CAKEPOPS can shove the sugar, LEMONADE, WHISKY, and BLOODY MARYS can go take a walk, and shall I even utter TRUFFLE, while I enjoy my newest food trends of 2013: KALE, JUICING, DONUTS, and POPCORN are taking over your mouths.

Mark my words, this spring and summer you will gorge yourself on numerous dishes of kale, while hiding your wrappers and oily tissues from the donuts and popcorn you splurge on at live shows, street fairs, carnivals, and even gourmet restaurants. Ooh the greasy, comfort of your childhood will be all smeared on your cheeks from the chocolate, cream filled donuts on July 4th. Yeah, cupcakes those are for losers, donuts are for winners in 2013.

Do I think pop food and trend culture has lost its mind? Yes, I think our foodie culture is losing it’s mind with the whole popcorn thing, but if my mind serves me right I bet there is a direct correlation to farmers, federal credits, and seed cultivation.

We definitely have lost our minds, or in the least stayed straight on the same side of blaring confusion of what to and what not to eat. I read a joke the other day that said “2013 is all about the fat” as if that was ever the truth in NYC. However, with donuts and popcorn being our newest trends, I see the ongoing battle of the bulge lingering. But do not fear kale and juices are here.

The one trend that has consumed my life for the past two months has been juicing! I now live and die by the juice. From reading up on cancer treatments to wanting to fit into my bathing suit for my honeymoon that was 3 months after my wedding, I found a great healthy friend in my juicer. My daily intake of vegetables has now multiplied because each juice I prepare has 5+ vegetable ingredients.

So remember where you heard it first, this spring and summer season, you will wipe the donut and popcorn crumbs off your mouth not once or twice but many times while checking off your grocery list that is topped with a big bushy bunch or kale followed by carrots, broccoli, radishes, beets, spinach, kiwis, cantaloupe, cucumbers, apples and all the other fun fruits and vegetable creations your can come up with. For recipes, please email me and remember to register with your email addresses for blog updates.

Until next time,

Filed under: Pop Foods, yummy Tagged: 2013, donuts, juicing, kale, nyc, pop foods, popcorn, trends

My First Hollandaise

camillecares — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 16:49:06 +0000

My first hollandaise

My first hollandaise with pan seared salmon and fried egg omelet

Isn’t she the cutest hollandaise you’ve ever seen?

If you’d like my recipe for this dish, send me a note at camille@camillecares.com and sign up for my newsletter

happy happy hollandaise = happy Sunday brunch

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: brunch, hollandaise, salmon

Sunday Dinner in Brooklyn, New York

camillecares — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 02:08:04 +0000

Camille Cares teaches how to make one of her favorite side dishes for

Sunday Dinner, Trini-Style!

Even though I am miles from my birthplace of Port of Spain, Trinidad, I am still deeply in love with its cuisine. My favorite meal is Sunday Dinner. Trinidadian Sunday dinner has a reputation of having lots of traditional side dishes. Today, I am making a must-have dish called “callaloo” with salted pig tail and crab legs. Callaloo is a popular Caribbean vegetable dish that is prepared as a side dish or as a soup in other countries. In Trinidad, callaloo is prepared with dasheen bush, okra, coconut milk and the regular mirepoix of garlic, onions, scallion, pumpkin, thyme and other grounded seasonings. I am substituting the dasheen bush for fresh organic whole leaf spinach from the farmer’s market.

This dish can seem very intimidating for a new cook, as it involves multiple steps, ingredients and is rated based on texture, aroma and taste. I do not eat callaloo from everyone because of the precision involved in preparing this dish. My first time making it on my own without help from my mother was about a year ago and now I think I can successfully make callaloo on my own without the assistance of a recipe.

In addition to this side dish, Sunday dinner is not complete without a stewed meat, salad, and provisions. Today, I am making stew chicken, pigeon peas with rice, salad, and plantains. I hope you enjoy my pictures of my healthy Sunday Dinner meal and come back for more fun, tasty treats prepared by yours truly, Camille Cares.

Callaloo:

Dasheen bushel *spinach can be used*

1 pack frozen or fresh okra

diced pumpkin, onion, garlic

1/4 cup coconut milk

2 tbsp golden ray

2 tbsp cooking oil *your choice*

1 scotch bonnet pepper

thyme *fresh*

salt, pepper

1/2 cup water

crab *addt’l your choice*

salted pig tail *addt’l your choice*

Salted Pig-Tail- In a small pot filled with water add salted pig tail. Let boil for 20 minutes. Throw out water, refill and boil again for another 10 minutes.

Callaloo- In a large pot heat oil. Add in the chopped dasheen bush or spinach, okra, onions, pumpkin, garlic, and scotch bonnet pepper on medium-high heat. Allow the greens to sweat and create it’s own liquid. This should take about 10 minutes. At this time add crab legs, water, salt, pepper, thyme, coconut milk, and golden ray. Cover and let cook for an additional 20 minutes on low-medium heat. Remove from heat and separate the pig tail and crab legs from the thick green mixture. Take the callaloo by the spoonful to the food processor or blender and let it rip for a few pulses. Throw it back into the pot on low heat and let the ingredients bubble a bit together again with the crab legs and pig tail. Enjoy with some white rice and salad.

~ C.C.

Filed under: CamilleCares Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged: callaloo, Crab, Pig tail, stew chicken, sunday dinner, Trinidadian Cuisine

Bacon + Bacon + Bacon + Asparagus

camillecares — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:07:15 +0000

Here are a few photos from my latest way to slip in vegetables into the regular dinner mix. Give it a try and I know you will love it.

1. Cut the edges off the asparagus.

2. Take a strip of bacon and squeeze the bottom of the asparagus and bacon together between your thumb and index finger and slowly start to wrap the bacon upwards until it is all wrapped tightly.

3. Place the asparagus in the heated saute pan and allow to brown for a few minutes then turn over and brown the other side.

4. Remove the asparagus, place on rack and allow to dry with air cooling above and below to maintain crispy exterior.

5. And yes, you can use turkey bacon, I bet it cuts some of the total fat and calories. Enjoy!

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: asparagus, bacon

Dried Goods Make-Over

camillecares — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:33:37 +0000

Supporting American Jobs and Mason Jar Cabinet Make-Over Project

Please take a look at my photos of my mason jar cabinet make-over end of year holiday project. 2012 is looking like a very exciting year ahead and I wanted to make sure I began the year on the best foot. Sort of like the classic reggae line “I’m stepping in hotter this year”.

One of my many projects around the apartment was to reorganize my food cabinets. But I asked myself, how best can I tackle this project? With some help from other food/parenting/family blogs and Amazon, I was able to jump right into this creative and fun mason jar cabinet make-over project. Here are some photos that track my journey to cleaner, Eco-friendly stored dried goods. I hope you enjoy and get inspired to also clean up your cabinet act!