The Perfect Shot

We tend to eat out a lot. I've had so many wonderful meals that I want to capture on film and blog about to remember. Other food bloggers may not have any qualms with snapping a food photo for blog purposes at a nice restaurant, but I just can't bring myself to take that leap. There seems to be something wrong with bringing a camera out in the middle of the meal unless perhaps you're with a large group and take pictures of people not plates.

I guess I just don't know the proper restaurant picture taking etiquette. Should you ask the server if it is ok to snap a shot of a pretty plate? Is it wrong to draw attention to yourself by bringing out that camera? Is it ok to ask for a table that is well lit for picture purposes? Are you just embarrassing your dining partner by staging the perfect food photo?

A few weekends ago on our trip to Miami I had this dilemma while having a wonderful dinner at the North One 10. We indulged ourselves with a full spread: wine, appetizers, entrees, dessert. The atmosphere of the place was so cozy and quaint and the food delicious but I dared not spoil it by snapping photos. The restaurant was incredibly small, candlelit, and romantic. We found ourselves surrounded by beautiful people chit chatting about the stock market, their former band, friendships with celebrities, etc (yes, I'm a tad of an eavesdropper). How stupid would I have felt pulling out a camera to take a picture of my roast duck and soy milk panna cotta. There seems to be a time and a place for food photos and I think that's best done in the kitchen, so not to ruin the mood of a nice restaurant experience. Maybe all of us food bloggers should just kick back and enjoy our dinners and keep our cameras at home.

T-day Recap

Ok let's get this over with -- the Thanksgiving Day recap. There are bigger and better things to blog about. We wanted a quick and simple Thanksgiving this year. I didn't bother to make anything fancy or things that would result in too many leftovers.


I'd like to say everything went off without a hitch. The recipes were easy to follow and not very time consuming, but somehow my mom's and my combined brainpower was a little slow. The pumpkin bread pudding lacked sugar! The sweet potato casserole lacked eggs! I'm not sure how I forgot to add sugar to the bread pudding, but after tasting it and figuring out what went wrong, a simple syrup glaze saved it. The sweet potatoes were near going into the oven when we saw the uncracked eggs on the counter. So we took it out of the pan, pecan topping and all, and mixed the eggs in. At least we figured these things out before it was too late. The biscuits, ham, and roasted asparagus came out without incident.

The menu:
Citrus and Dijon Mustard Glazed Ham
Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan
Touch of Grace Biscuits
Pioneer Woman's Sweet Potato Casserole
Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Don't we all have those stories about skipped ingredients and spice mix-ups? Don't accidentally put curry in your pumpkin pie! Next up, Christmas cookie extravaganza! Enjoy these simple muffins in the meantime.

Pumpkin Muffins
Gourmet November 2006

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup Smart Balance oil (or any neutral oil)
2 eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together flour and baking powder. Mix together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. In a small dish, combine 1 tbsp brown sugar and cinnamon. Spoon batter into muffin cups, then sprinkle the tops with the cinnamon brown sugar mixture. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Muffins are best the next day. I like them with a nice dollop of apple butter.

Makes 1 dozen.

Wine Time

Here are a couple wines we've liked recently:

Quinta do Ameal Loureuro 2006
a nice dry white wine with just enough mineral and crispness
goes perfect with light seafood dishes

Domaine La Fage Cote Sud and Chateau Pesquie Terrasses 2004
both really nice reds that are satiny smooth on the palate and give just enough 'umph' to be memorable
perfect for everyday table wine paired with light summery foods or just to sit and sip while reading a book which is my favorite way to enjoy wine

A late addition
Tour de Mandelotte 2005 Bordeaux
under $10 but tastes like a more expensive wine
blackberries and red currants give a full bodied Bordeaux experience

Thanksgiving is looming...

Better than Xmas

I'm excited. Not only is Thanksgiving almost here and Rock Band mere days away, but I also have a big box of cookbooks coming my way very soon. While flipping through a copy of Saveur last night, I came across an ad for the Good Cook Book Club. I'm sure I've seen it before but I actually read it this time and succumbed to their terribly good deal. They offer 4 cookbooks for $1 each with membership. The only catch is you have to buy 2 at regular price within the year. If that wasn't enticing enough, they also offer 50% off 1 book to count towards the 2 you are required to buy. So I perused the site to see if they had any decent cookbooks. Sure the site is filled with Rachel Ray's cookbook #37 and Sandra Lee's semi-homemade-thoroughly-worthless cookbook, but if you can get past all the junk there are some really wonderful books to be grabbed. Here's what I picked up:

Beard on Food
The Lee Brother's Southern Cookbook
Dorie Greenspan's Baking
Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges
A Tale of 12 Kitchens

I'm of the opinion that you can never really have too many cookbooks. I'm looking forward to cooking anything out of these books. I certainly have my work cut out for me.

Deflame.

I love to see how the trends change periodically in food. Ten years ago everything in the grocery store was low fat/low calorie. Five or so years ago everything was marked low carb. Now we have whole grain, high fiber, all-natural, organic, free-range, antioxidant rich, hormone free, etc. This is all fine and good but what I'm most excited to see is non-inflammatory food peering it's lovely head out into an otherwise inflamed world. How exciting is it that organic milk now comes with added DHA, and dried pastas are fortified with omega-3 fatty acids! Foods that are naturally packed with omega-3 fatty acids, like olive oils and fish, are now labeled so to educate the consumer. This is a step in the right direction.

Unfortunately the average American probably has no idea that the food pyramid should be debunked, and high quantities of grains (even whole grains) are considered hugely responsible for the high incidences of inflammatory diseases in this country like diabetes, Alzheimer's, heart disease, and arthritides. Grains are high in omega-6 fatty acids which when in conjunction with low levels of omega-3's, create a cascade of inflammatory processes in the body. This boils down to some common sense food habits we all know. Don't eat processed foods, loads of grains, bad oils (canola, seed oils, soy bean, etc), or a lot of refined sugars. Do eat loads of fresh fruits and vegetables, eat lots of fish, eat meats that are grass-fed, and supplement with quality fish oils. Anyway, nutrition related topics are my bread and butter. Loads of information is available online about it. And this new book I think will touch on some of these things as well. I'll read it and get back to you, blog.

So put all those new non-inflammatory foods to good use with a guilt-free recipe.

Lemon Thyme Smoked Salmon Spaghetti
adapted from Maninas: Food Matters

8 oz dry, omega-3 fortified spaghetti
1 large package quality smoked wild salmon, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
6 or so sprigs of thyme
1 lemon and zest
1/2 C cream
Parmigiano-Reggiano to taste
olive oil (this is a good recipe to use a more expensive, tasty oil)


Boil a big pot of salted water to cook the pasta. The enriched pastas take a little longer to cook than regular semolina. Meanwhile, make an infused oil. Line the bottom of a medium saucepan with a thin layer of oil. Add the sliced garlic to the oil at medium-low heat and cook until the garlic is just soft and fragrant then add the thyme and zest and reduce the heat. Add the cream after a few minutes and stir to combine. Add the salmon right before you add the drained pasta and give it a good squirt of lemon. Add more thyme and Parmigiano-Reggiano to garnish.

Fall is in the air

I'm always missing the four seasons I once had living in Virginia. Thankfully there is finally a chill in the air here in Florida. All the rain has subsided and now we have nice sunny days with enough of a breeze to leave the windows open. With the chill I'm ready for Fall flavors and hearty, stick-to-your-ribs meals. I've been making lots of heavy pasta dishes, eyeing the pomegranates, pears and oranges, and craving gourds. I can't wait until Thanksgiving and the smell of roast chickens stuffed with rosemary and sage.


Here's the perfect Fall cocktail to sip on cool evenings while visions of butternut squash dance in your head. (I feel a 'you know you're a foodie if....' joke coming on....)

Pear Martini

2 oz Pear vodka
< 1/2 oz Amaretto
1/3 oz fresh lemon juice
> 1/2 oz simple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and serve perfectly chilled.

Every Night Dessert: Day 4

Dear Blog,
I've missed you. You will have to forgive me for being such a lazy food blogger and neglecting you. As to be expected, you've missed a lot of good eats. I'll fill you in as best as I can.

Yours,
C


What was that about dessert every night? Well it almost happened -- like this tasty bread pudding. I used this recipe from Bon Appétit for a bourbon glazed bread pudding with pecans.

Bourbon Glazed Bread Pudding
adapted from Bon Appétit

1/3 C plus 3 tblsp bourbon (I used Knobcreek)
12 ounces French bread, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 C milk
1 C sugar
3/4 C whipping cream
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 C toasted, chopped pecans
1/2 stick butter

Soak the pecans in 1/3 C of bourbon a little in advance.
Cut up the bread and toss them in a bowl with the milk, cream, 3/4 C sugar, eggs, 2 egg yolks, vanilla, and cinnamon. Add the drained pecans to the mix. Let it sit for a bit to absorb all the liquid then pour into a 9x9 dish, cover with foil, and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes (probably a little less). To make the sauce, in a double-boiler, melt the butter, stir in 1/4 C sugar, and add 1 egg yolk. Add the bourbon and whisk until the egg is cooked (when it coats the back of a spoon). Pour the glaze over the finished pudding and serve.

I liked this 'ok.' The next bread pudding I make will definitely have pumpkin! Maybe I didn't cook my glaze long enough, but I thought it was too alcoholic. To make it taste better we decided to pour a tad of espresso liqueur over the top.

Of course bread pudding traditionally has raisins and the recipe called for golden raisins steeped in bourbon, not nuts. My hatred for raisins goes way back to my pre-school days and I haven't been able to overcome it yet. It was just too much for my young tastebuds to have a little box of raisins every-single-day of pre-school at snack time. I don't remember if we were 'forced' to eat our boxes of raisins or if I was just embarrassed not to eat them like all the other kids. Needless to say, after my pre-school graduation, raisins were cast out of my diet permanently.