FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Archives for July 2012

The Hanz Is Here!

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“Could this place be any more you?”, Hansell said as we sat down at Elizabeth Street Cafe to order his first meal in Austin, ever.  “Even the waitress’ outfits are you”.  Flattered, I encouraged my old Tampa roommate to look at the menu, assuring him that the food was every bit as good as the atmosphere.

I didn’t give him much of an option as far as apps were concerned, we were going to order escargot.  Not only is their broiled escargot flawless, but the first time I ever tasted escargot was with Hansell and Lex at a crazy little place in Tampa called Front Porch Grill.  It was a sentimental order backed up by extreme goodness.  Hello, Thai basil curry butter, how does it feel to be perfect?

Hansell ordered the waitress’s suggestion of Singapore noodles.  There was a solid flow of yummy noises coming from his direction, so I made the safe assumption that he was happy with his selection.  I reached over with my chopsticks for one of my infamous bites and decided to see for myself what it was all about.  Elizabeth Street is spot on in every flavor department – wonderful balances of strong flavors with subtle flavor highlights.  Everything is bold without being the slightest bit heavy.

I ordered the poached shrimp and hard boiled egg banh mi and coated every inch of freshness with sriracha and the occasional dollop of hoisin.  This sandwich was so fresh and totally up my alley.  You could think of it as the Vietnamese version of a chicken salad sam – cool, filling and fulfilling.

Lastly, we ordered one of each of the daily macaron flavors, chocolate curry and peach cinnamon.  I’m not the hugest macaron fan, but there just so darn cute I can never resist.  Both of us agreed that the peach cinnamon was where it was at, which made think a homemade peach pie is in The Hanz’s Austin future.

We’re off to adventure!  Have a happy (early) weekend!!

FoodGawker

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As soon as I bought my first fancy lens, I thought for sure I was ready for FoodGawker.  I hand selected, what I thought, were my finest photos and clicked submit.  Seven rejections later, I gave up.

Fast forward to today, a year later, I randomly decided to face more rejection give it another shot.  I submitted a Wild Harvest quiche photo on Sunday morning and didn’t give it a second thought.  When I woke up on Monday morning, groggy from a full baking weekend, I checked my phone and sorted through emails.  The usual.  Spam, spam, boss, spam, FoodGawker?!  Wait, what?

Upon reading accepted and clicking over to my FoodGawker profile, I felt accomplished.  Perhaps more accomplished than my blogging self has ever felt.  I looked through my old rejections, nodding in agreement with their feedback.  Lighting issues were a biggie – I know how to combat that now.

I submitted six more photos, three of which were approved.  This is an approval percentage that I can live with, an approval percentage that keeps my ego in check.  I have a lot of learning, practice, patience, etc. etc., ahead of me before I feel comfortable writing a How to Get FoodGawker to Approve Every Photo post, but in the meantime…  Here’s what I’ve learned:

1.  Lighting.  Natural light is key.  Unless your kitchen has a gyrnom window, avoid taking pictures where you’re cooking.  Find a window in your home that lets in a good amount of soft light.  Avoid windows that let in too much light or you’ll find yourself with a ton of harsh shadows.

2.  Composition.  FoodGawker is not a fan of a tight photo.  Judging from the photos above, I’d say that the area of interest is about 50-75% of the frame.  The remaining 25-ish% is clean and doesn’t distract the viewer.  Also, cropping the photo before submitting will allow you to  have more control.

3.  Sharpness.  Other than the blurry lemon in the salmon cake photo, I haven’t had much luck with photos that have blurry backgrounds.  If you’re like me and you’re into the low aperture look, try snapping shots with a high aperture that you plan on using solely for FoodGawker.

I hope, hope, hope that in another year I can write that How To that a sarcastically mentioned above, but until then, I hope these mini pointers help!

Get Your Peach On

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I’ve never been more aware of peach season than over the past few weeks here in good ol’ Tejas.  Every grocer has every variety of peach in abundance and way on sale.  I can’t help but pick a few peaches off the pyramid each and every time.  What is that called?  The power of suggestion?  Whatever it is, it’s working.

Grilled fruit has been all the rage in the foodie world as of late, so I figured peach season was as good of a time as any to jump on the bandwagon.  I found this recipe for Grilled Peaches with Goat Cheese and Balsamic on Edible Austin and it couldn’t have been any more simple or any more tasty!

I used 1/4 teaspoon of olive oil per peach half and broiled on high for 5 minutes.  Other than the fact that grilling is impossible in stormy weather (it’s been Florida-style thunderstorming this week in Austin!), I prefer broiling over grilling.  It requires much less clean up and, well, me and pilot lights and gas…  It just doesn’t seem like a good unsupervised activity for this girl!

First thought, balsamic and goat cheese are made for one another.  Second thought, these would be oh so perfect served as a first course at a dinner party.  I mounged them all up, thinking about how much prettier these pictures would have been had I known how to prepare a balsamic reduction.  Next time!

Mexican Polenta Casserole

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Weekends are for baking, Mondays are for veggies.  I had to remind myself of this constantly tonight to resist the urge to reclaim the pie I left with the boys on Saturday.

I distracted myself by heading to the market and loading up on lots of produce to vegify an already vegiful dish.

FoodFash Mexican Polenta Casserole (yields 8 servings)

Adapted from this Eating Well recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 poblano peppers, chopped

1 zucchini, shredded

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups of frozen chopped spinach

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound ready made polenta

1-1/2  cups enchilada sauce

top with Greek yogurt, sour cream, or non-dairy sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and poblano peppers and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add shredded zucchini, tomatoes, beans, spinach, cumin, and salt.  Let cook over medium heat for another 5 minutes.  Slice polenta into 1/4″ thick slices (you’ll need about 24 slices).  Layer the bottom of 8×11-ish pan with 1/3 of the polenta slices.  Top with half of the veggies and 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce and repeat.  Top the casserole with the last 1/2 of the polenta slices and 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

I’d be lying if I said it didn’t take me a second to adjust my palate to eating a mostly dairy free meal again.  But by the time I was a few bites in (and I forgot about this weekend’s peanut butter pie and cheesy Mexican feasts) I began to appreciate my meal.  It reminded me of a hearty, polenta topped, stew – a perfect dinner for a thunderstormy eve!