Hi all, I've been watching this community for a long time, and finally decided to get off my backside and post some of my pics. 

This particular shoot is not the most brilliant food photography I've done before, but as my lightbulb above the stove exploded, and as I was also cooking (as opposed to someone else) I didn't put a brilliant amount of presentation into the setup.   I suffer from RSI so most repetative things are definitely not fun for my wrists, and by the end of it I was thoroughly sick to death of twisting and sealing wanton wrappers!

Inspiration was from Christine Mansfield's book, Spice, as well as the huge bag of Limes I bought for AUD$3 last week.  (that's really cheap for those of you who aren't Aussies). 


( The journey lies just a click away! ) One of the finished products:


</center>I steamed half the wantons, and cooked the other half in the leftover juices from the wanton marinade. 

So, all in all, a profitable and tasty evening.  I Swear though... no more nitty gritty fiddley looking foods to photograph no matter how good they look in pics, unless I have an hour beforehand to prepare food. 
The meal itself was Coriander, Chilli and Scallop filled wantons, and a Thai style soup with Jicama (and steamed wantons in that too).
Didn't get any interesting pics of the soup, but if anyone wants the recipe or the recipes that Inspired me I'm more than happy to provide.
If you click on the thumbs you can see bigger versions of the pics. 

I thought someone posted a recipe here for colcannon the other day, but I can't seem to find it. Does anyone know where it was? Thanks!

Well, here's our crazy-assed retro-casserole.
( recipe and pics of domestic magic )

In retrospect, saltines would be good to replace pretzels. And, it is rich but delicious!

Next installment will be after St. Patricks when I make soda bread and shepherd's pie! I made Colcannon on New Year's.

I can make a killer tomatillo enchilada sauce (green), but I've been using a pre-packaged kind for the red enchilada sauce and the taco seasonings, one that my hubby just loves.

Now I've been a good little food pornista and I've done a bit of reasearch and found several different red enchilada and taco seasoning recipes, but I'm looking for _your_ tried and true one.

My only other request is that it tastes as close to the packaged-store-bought products (or better!), either that or there may be a mutiny at the lovemonster household!

Thanks everyone... appreciate any and all feedback!
x-posted

xposted to healthfood_porn


A recent conversation with a friend inspired me to start trying to cook with different kinds of whole grains. Toward this end, I picked up some barley at the grocery store. I was delighted to see that it's incredibly nutritious (low calorie, high fiber, high protein, low fat), and even more delighted with the taste: mild, with a texture that can be called almost, but not exactly, crunchy.

glicky's post from yesterday gave me the basis for a variation on the chickpea curry that's a favorite in our house. There aren't any pics, though, because it went too fast!

Barley:

1/2 C dry barley provided a large serving for two. It would probably provide a modest serving for four, but we were hungry.

Bring 6 cups of water to boil. Add barley. Simmer, covered, for 1/2 an hour, or until tender.

Curry:

1 teaspoon each: cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, curry, chopped garlic
2 pinky-finger sized jalapeno chiles, diced
1/2 C nonfat plain yogurt
1 can garbanzo beans, with water
2 T olive oil

Heat spices, garlic, chiles, and olive oil in a large frying pan. Add garbanzo beans, with water, and cook for 5 minutes or so. Add yogurt.

The cooking time varies, depending on how long it takes us to get the kids to bed so we can enjoy it =) but usually isn't longer than 10 minutes or so.

Serve over barley.

What kind of icons could I possibly be posting at eight in the morning?

23 COFFEE icons, that's what!

                 Examples 
                    

Under the cut!

Guinness Brownies


Preheat oven to 375*F

Butter an 8X8 pan

Mix 4 eggs with ¾ cup sugar

Melt 6 tablespoons of butter with 4 ounces of milk chocolate & 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate

Add the above to the butter & sugar mixture

Add ¾ cup flour & ¾ cup cocoa

Add 1 bottle Guinness

Bake 25-30 minutes (center will be fudgey)

In celebration of yesterday's Steak & a BJ Day, I give you steak porn:

Grillin' steaks...


Which transformed into steak fajitas on sun-dried tomato tortillas with low fat shredded cheese, peppers, onions, and a side of mexican rice!

I am a colossal geek. :D




( one more )
(well, what else was I going to bake on 3/14?)

My camera died so the only thing I had on hand to capture the meal was the webcam in my macbook :(   Dinner was:

Scallops wrapped in pancetta and deglazed with blood orange juice on a bed of spring mix with fried leeks served with a shallot thyme and champagne vinegar dressing

Blacker Pepper & 5 Spice crusted tenderloin with Shallot Ginger Port Reduction

Asparagus with ginger soy and rice Wine vinegar glaze

Roasted fingerling potatoes with tandori spices

Delish red wine

:)

Today someone asked for a red enchilada sauce and I just found one that is as close to authentic as one can get. Keep in mind that traditional red enchiladas are made without any kind of meat and the sauce is made from a puree of only red chilies. In fact, most Mexicans will tell you that the only meat that should be used in enchiladas is chicken and that is usually done when using green chile sauce. No tomatoes are to be put in the sauce either since that would make them entomatadas (in tomato) rather than enchiladas (in chile). Also we never use any kinds of whole, chunky veggies in our enchiladas since enchiladas are a very simplistic kind of food that are essentially prepared using the dip roll and eat method. On the street in Mexico, you will find them dipped in sauce first, then fried briefly on a griddle and then plated with a sprinkling of queso fresco. Very simple, easy street fare. If you do plan to make the sauce from scratch I would suggest making extra because it freezes quite well and improves in flavor over time.


( recipe under the cut )

I have nine small Meyer lemons from the Farmer’s Market. Suggestions on what to do with them? Is this enough for making something I can preserve for a while, like say, a lemon curd?

This was supposed to be layered, but wow, did that ever not happen. (Surprisingly, when you divide your cheesecake batter and mix in melted chocolate in one part, that batter is denser than the plain batter and won't stay on top. Whould'a thunk?) Still, it was yummy, so.



Recipe and more pictures over here.

with sunflower seeds, linseed and rosemary.



Recipe over here.