fennel

Smoked Salmon, Fennel, Grape, Blue Cheese and Pecan Salad

24.10.2011 39 Comments

Been away from home for the past ten days and although I have had a wonderful time getting work done, seeing friends and meeting new people, I am always very much itching to get back home to my family. Both workshops in Kansas City went very well and this past week spent in Seattle for a shoot was just dreamy.

There is nothing more rewarding than knowing that you helped someone get more comfortable telling a story around food with their camera, light or that you contributed to making pretty images for someone’s cookbook. Photography is always the sum of many things that are equally important to me. Practice, creativity, partnerships and opening one’s mind to the unknown. The possibilities. I love seeing people let loose of their fear they can’t this or that.

Flying to Seattle was like a mini vacation. A grueling mini vacation of sixteen hour days but a time off nonetheless. One of the things that I love about Seattle is how comfortable it is to me. Great friends such as Clare and Jeanne do that. Those two have a knack for creating a homey environment everytime I come visit. Good food, great conversations and a serious amount of wine every night do keep me going for hours…

When traveling, even if I stay with friends, I make sure to eat good nutritious food as a send off and as a re-entry. Friends feed me. Restaurants too. I even bring food on location shoots. It’s me. I have a bad habit to go for a cup of strong coffee in the morning and pretty much nothing until 4pm rolls around. By then, my stomach sounds like a little green alien is forming battalion.

I am a big fan of salads and soups as means to set my internal clock right. They are food for the bones, body and soul. Just with like a photo you create, a simple bowl of salad you assemble can take on a gorgeous palette and tell the story of what your body is craving. Even in a hurry. Colors, textures, flavor combinations. It’s very much like assembling a picture to me. I always think of what I do as I put meals together the same way I do when I compose a shot.

The act of seating down and re-visiting my dish, now complete is very much like seeing the picture as I edit it. Sometimes, there is a bit too much salt, too many colors, flavors or the vinaigrette is off. Sometimes I like the salad so much, I want to keep it my immediate memory bank. Sometimes, I cringe when a shot I thought would work ends up being not seasoned the right way, so to speak. Sometimes I know I’ll revisit that set up many months later in a slightly different way because it worked great the first time.

Thing is, I do that photography-story telling bit with almost every food. Salads or not. Good thing I do this for a living, eh?! It’d be easy to get in a rut unless you shop for seasonal ingredients. Again, same goes with every foods.

Right before I left, you could tell a real transition up in the air and at the market. It was a bit touch and go but the arugula was still doing well. Grapes of all sorts were having a good times. White and purple scuppernongs, Champagne, big fat juicy seedless reds. The fennels had fronds longer than my arms. It was all starting to shape up in my head.

The couple of days before I left for my trip West, I loaded up on a salad comprised of arugula, raw fennel, grapes, blue cheese, smoked Coho salmon, pecans from our tree and a white balsamic vinaigrette. Easy. Nutritious. Good for the soul too.

This week that Fall produce is slowly making an appearance, my salad making days might change. And I am looking forward to them.

Smoked Salmon, Fennel, Grape, Blue Cheese and Pecan Salad:

For 2:

In a large mixing bowl, mix the following ingredients:
– 4 oz smoked salmon (we like the thick slabs of Coho salmon)
– 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
– small handful of grapes, halved
– as much crumbled blue cheese as you would like or think reasonable (we do about one 2-inch piece per person)
– 1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped pecans (or other nuts)
– 1 to 2 big handfuls of arugula
– as much or as little vinaigrette as desired

Dressing:
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 shallot, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon cracked pepper
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the Dijon mustard and shallot. Add the salt and pepper then the sherry. Drizzle in the olive oil and whisk until emulsified. Drizzle on top of the salad.

Cooking My Way Through Super Natural Everyday By Heidi Swanson: Macaroon Tart and Shaved Fennel Salad & A Giveaway

11.04.2011 498 Comments

Macaroon Tart.
*******************GIVEAWAY ENDED APRIL 14TH************************************
Last night, as I was waiting for my flight in Orlando for my flight back home, all I could think about was the serving of Heidi’s Macaroon Tart awaiting me back in Charleston.

I have had a great time teaching at Food Blog Forum on Friday and I can’t wait to share pictures and information of what was shared a little later next week. My head is still full and my heart is bursting at the seam. I knew it already, but let me say it again, Food Bloggers Rock! Thanks to Julie who helped plan the whole weekend, I was able to teach a photography and styling workshop today before my flight. Awesomeness again…

Wild Rice Casserole.
Today, I really want to talk about Heidi Swanson's book Super Natural Everyday except everything I want to say never seems enough. Everytime I get a book for review, I make sure to devote a chunk of the week to cook from it. It helps see the thread use by the author to build the book. the stories, the photography. All the dishes I cooked this past week from her book led me down the same path: practical, satisfying, energizing, good and good for the soul.

Black Bean Salad.
In one word. I can’t wait to cook from it even more. The food is tasty, fresh and Heidi’s personality and wonderful soul shows at every turn of the page. A beautiful soul with a wonderful message to share. Good food, made with wholesome ingredients does not have to come in gargantuan portions nor is it difficult or time consuming to make. The flavors in all of Heidi’s dishes are a burst of everything that is good with eating and cooking in this world.

And the photography…always loved how Heidi’s lets her readers eat with their eyes first. Her photography is authentic and hers. Just as she is. Just as her food.

Millet Muffins & homemade strawberry jam.
I emailed her publicist a few days ago and asked if I could hold a giveaway of a copy of Heidi’s book for you guys. To my delight, I am happy to be able to share two copies with you guys! If you need a little enticing, check out the recipes for her Shaved Fennel Salad and Macaroon Tart after the jump!

Millet Muffins and Frittata.

To enter the giveaway:
– leave a comment on this post starting today until Thursday April 14th midnight Eastern time.
– one comment per person
– no anonymous comment please
– two winners will be picked randomly by the hand of the wise, my husband
Note: it may take up to 24 hrs for your comment to appear on the page.

Heidi has this fabulous Buttermilk Cake recipe that she makes with plums but I used Pixie tangerines since they were in season.

Buttermilk Cake.
I had such a blast cooking, eating and photographing her recipes. I take immense pleasure at shooting other people’s recipes and Heidi’s was not exception. When it comes from the heart, the photography part becomes a source of intense joy. I hope the next few shots entice you to get her book and start cooking from her book soon.

Shaved Fennel Salad.

Shaved Fennel Salad, with permission of Ten Speed Press:

Serves 4 to 6

1 medium large zucchini, sliced into paper thin coins
2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed and shaved paper-thin
2/3 cup/.5oz/15g loosely chopped fresh dill
1/3 cup/80ml fresh lemon juice, plus more if needed
1/3 cup/80ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
fine grain sea salt
4 or 5 generous handfuls arugula
honey, if needed
1/2 cup/2 oz/ 60g pine nuts, toasted (I used walnuts)
1/3 cup/2 oz/ 60g/ feta cheese, crumbled

Combine the zucchini, fennel and dill in a bowl and toss with the lemon juice, olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon slat. Set aside and marinate for 20 minutes, or up to an hour.
When you are ready to serve the salad, put the arugula in a large bowl. Scoop all of the zucchini and fennel onto the arugula, and our most of the lemon juice dressing on top of that. Toss gently but thoroughly. Taste and adjust with more of the dressing, olive oil, lemon juice, or salt if needed. If the lemons were particularly tart, you may need to counter the pucker-factor by adding a tiny drizzle of honey into the salad at this point. Let your taste buds guide you. Serve topped with pine nuts and feta.

*******************************************************************************
Macaroon Tart, with permission of Ten Speed Press

Makes 24 bite size servings (I made 2 rectangular tarts with one recipe)

Crust:
1 1/2 cups/6oz/ 170g white whole wheat flour (I used 1 cup brown rice flour and 1/2 cup millet flour)
3/4 cup/ 2 0z/ 60g unsweetened finely shredded coconut
3/4 cup/ 3.75oz/ 106 g sifted and lightly packed natural cane sugar
Scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
10 tablespoons/5oz/140g unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
2 cups/50z/140g unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1/2 cup/2.5oz/70g sifted and lightly packed natural cane sugar
4 large egg whites
8 ounces/225g fresh blackberries, halved
1/3 cup/1.5oz/45g pistachios, crushed

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C with a rack in the middle of the oven. Butter an 8×11-inch tart pan (I used two 14×5 ones) and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.
To make the crust, in a large bowl, combine the flour, coconut, sugar and salt. Stir in the melted butter and mix until dough is crumbly but no longer dusty looking. Firmly press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan (it should form a solid, flat layer). Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove and set aside to cool for a few minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the coconut macaroon filling by combining the coconut, sugar, and egg whites. Mix until well combined.
Evenly distribute the blackberries across the tart base. Now drop little dollops of the macaroon filling over the tops of them (dirty up your hands for this part), and mush and press the coconut topping around into the spaces behind the berries. Be sure to let at least some of the colorful berries pop through for visual flair.
bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the peaks of the macaroon filling are deeply golden brown. Let the tart cool, then garnish with the crusted pistachios before slicing into small squares.

Orange & Pastis Braised Baby Fennel

18.11.2010 30 Comments

Instead of worrying if I’d have time or where I’d find time to come update with posts and recipe, I thought I’d start a mini series of posts instead. Shorter posts with recipes geared toward the upcoming holidays or inspired by the plethora of produce and items I find every weekend at the farmers market.

Depending on the time and subject at hand, some post might be shorter than others but this blog is a place of stress relief and comfort first and foremost. For you and for me. For my mom too so that she can see I don’t "forget to eat". Seriously. Forgetting to eat? She had to be thinking about someone else.

In the spirit of making it count and making something good, I want to share a side dish we have been eating twice already this week: Orange & Pastis Braised Baby Fennel. Sweet, a little tart and full of the wonderful aroma of anise and citrus. B. said it was like eating candied vegetables and I am so glad I put 2 bunches of baby fennel in my basket at the farmers marker last weekend. He frowned. Now he’s rubbing his belly in approval. Ahah!

I am keeping this as my secret weapon depending on our final menu for Thanksgiving. I must confess that I *can’t* wait for Thanksgiving this year as Tami from Running With Tweezers, her boyfriend Mike, Broderick from Savory Exposure and Chris from Mele Cotte are making the drive from Atlanta to Charleston to spend a few days and celebrate Thanksgiving at our house. Food! Slumber Party! Happy Hour! Farmers Market! Walks!

We have been talking about the food for a few weeks now and there are some wonderful dishes in the works! Be prepared for some sneak peeks and posts about our dinners. That’s what you get when bloggers, bakers, food stylists, food photographers, food enthusiasts gather together around the table!

I am thankful for their gift of friendship and love to us. These folks are like my second family and I am a lucky to have these few days with them in our gorgeous city.

** You still have until Sunday to enter the giveaway for Gluten Free Girl and The Chef Cookbook! Just head over there and put your name in the virtual hat! **

Orange and Pastis Braised Baby Fennel

Notes: It’s one of those dishes that require little in the form of active hands on preparation and that cooks on its own while you can tend to more pressing issues. You can definitely use regular sized fennel for this recipe and do without the pastis by using a couple of anise seeds and broth or water instead. The anise should be subtle enough to play up the natural aroma of the fennel while the orange gives it a nice floral and sweet note.

Serves 4

2 bunches baby fennel or 2 medium bulbs fennel (fronds discarded – keep them for salads!)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (clementines right now are perfect for this in the South East)
zest of one orange
1/4 to 1/3 cup Pastis (or equivalent in water + 2 star anise)
1/3 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the baby fennels in half lengthwise. Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan (I like to use cast iron as much as possible) set over medium high heat and sautee the baby fennels until they start to get golden. Add the orange juice, orange zest, Pastis and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the baby fennel is fork tender, 40 minutes to an hour. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the liquids reduce to a syrup and coat the fennel completely. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
Serve hot.