Things are a bit hectic here in the kitchen, as I'm doing a lot of photographs for the book myself. I'm trying to juggle the writing, the cooking, the shooting and my day work all at once. It's a lot of work but it's finally paying off and there's nothing better than seeing the finished pictures up on my wall! The whole project is such a learning process, and I've really learned so much when it comes to the photography side of things. Apart from all that, we have sooooo much food in the fridge, even Sofie can't eat her way through it!
I'm still getting through all the photo's from Turkey, I have to get out of this snap happy habit I've fallen into! But until then you can check out my Flickr photostream, I've just added a link on the right hand side of the page, check it out!
Also I've joined the world of Twitter, but I'm things are looking a little bit lonely over there at the moment, partly because I'm not fully sure how to use it, so if you're a member drop me a line and hopefully I can figure out what to do!
I have just got home from one of the most fascinating days of my life! There was so much to take in, all the tricks of the trade- like did you know that dead looking mint, can be revived in a bowl of soapy water? Not that it was used to today, but were you aware that the steam coming from so many mouth watering food pictures is actually the result of a water laden tampon, heated in the microwave! I'm not sure about the last one, I think they may have been joking, but you never know!
We worked on a lot of the breakfast items and soups today, tomorrow we'll be moving onto salads and main meals, it's all very exciting! It's really great to be able to see the finished product so quickly, and after months of having them down on paper, the recipe's to finally come alive.
I'll keep you posted on how tomorrow goes, until then... Goodnight!
It's a bit of a slow week this week- after our trip to Sweden, we're gently easing ourselves back into normality. The weather in Gothenberg was great when we arrived on Friday at 27oC and sunny, however the rest of the weekend was interrupted, regularly by big filthy rain clouds! But the weather didn't dampen spirits and a full schedule of activities were plowed through, rain or no rain!
We ate out twice in two really spectacular restaurants, they were very pricey but offered really amazing food and stunning seaside views. Sjömagasinet specialises in Fish and is located in Gothenberg harbour. To start I had a really elegant, "Classic lobster soup with carpaccio of scallops, served with crème of green peas and deep fried belly of pork" and for mains, "Fricassee of halibut, North Atlantic cod and flounder served with roasted shallot sauce, pan fried scallop and prawns" however this came served in what seemed like a pretty pointless dish, with the fish dotted around the sides, and a soup bowl center which the shallot sauce was poured in.
My favourite of the two was, Nya Langedrag Vardhus, which is part of the main Yacht Club in Goteberg. I had an amazing Tuna Carpaccio with Pea Shoot salad to start, and Lamb fillet with terrine of portabella mushroom and celeriac, browned red wine sauce and tomato roasted potato roll for the main course. So delicious! I seriously recommend both if your visiting Sweden!
I don't have any foodie pics but here's a bit of the Swedish scenery:
I'm basically just going to throw this out there, just see what sort of interest it gets, but would any of the Irish food bloggers and foodies be interested in attending a Food Styling Demonstration from someone in the industry?
Erica Ryan is a professional food stylist and works with food across all forms of the media. If you've shopped in a supermarket here, you have probably seen her work, as it appears on many of the Irish produced packages! Apart from working closely with some of the industry's finest food photographers, bronzing chickens and beefing up beef burgers are just some of the fascinating things she does on a daily basis.
I have spoken to Erica about the amount of Irish food bloggers out there, and the fact that we all take our own pictures and style the food ourselves. She would love to give an insight into the world of food styling, if not just to reveal some of the special techniques she uses, but to maybe give us food bloggers, a chance to spruce up our own pictures! Potentially the demonstration would include a talk about food photography, composition, and then a demonstration of some of the interesting methods used.
Although I have no dates set, I would imagine sometime in August would work and it will rely totally on numbers, so if you would be in anyway interested please leave a comment below or email me. You don't even have to have a blog, if you have any sort of interest in food, this is really exciting stuff!
Although the Irish summer hasn't really been good to us so far- it does provide the odd worthwhile day of sunshine, when untanned arms and legs get out for the day and prove, they too can work a pair of shorts and a t-shirt! Yesterday was one of those days, and instead of missing the opportunity we jumped in head first to summer. We even kidnapped a dog!
Well almost, James, his owner was down at the Oxegen festival so we took pity on him and brought him with us. Sofie and I were joined by Michael and Senan on our little road trip which ended up at the hill of Tara. Now being the Swedish viking, my girlfriend is, she was highly unimpressed when we showed her the magic of one of Ireland's premier tourist attractions, a hill of mud. But she did set herself up for disappointment as we walked towards the hill, when she claimed she hadn't been that impressed with the Colosseum in Rome! I'm sorry to say that there is something fairly reminiscent to the hill of Tara and an episode of "Father Ted" when they all go to a funfair in "The Field" the whole place is even watched over by a flock of sheep...
For the picnic itself, I finally got to use my handy dandy food picnic carrying thing, which was one of the presents I got for my birthday. It was my mom's interpretation of the bento box I posted about back in Febuary, but the containers are way too big for just one person, so it's ideal for feeding about 4 people.
And after all that food what better activity to enjoy on a picnic than a spot of Kite Flying. Well the enjoyment only came after a long process of trying to get the bloody thing in the air, but when we finally got it up, it was great craic.
As for the food, I made some really quick and easy Mexican Quesadilla's (recipe below), tagliatelle with homemade tomato and basil sauce and the one desert recipe I can always put my faith in, Goeey Chocolate Puddings.
These Mexican Quesadilla's are not that healthy but they are a perfect party or snack food and even a simple little starter. You can spruce them up with whatever you like, a bit of chicken, sliced peppers but this is just the straight forward way of making them:
Mexican Quesidilla's
6 Wholemeal Flour Tortilla Wraps.
130g of Red Cheddar Cheese (Or enough to cover).
6 Tbsp of Homemade Spicy Salsa Sauce (Store bought works just fine here too).
1 Red Onion Sliced thinly.
This recipe is basically all preperation. Spread 3 of the tortilla wrap's with the salsa sauce, scatter the red onions and sprinkle the cheese. Cover them up with the other 3 tortilla wraps and heat a large frying pan. If you have a non stick pan you don't even need oil, if not add a drop of vegetable oil. Each Quesidilla will take about 2-3 minutes either side on a medium to high heat.
Serve straight away or save for later, either way they still taste great!
