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!
Competition via FoodFight.ie to win some Julie and Julia Cookbooks http://foodfight.ie/julie-and-julia-competition-win-some-books/#more-6851
Great aussie food blog, stunning food shots, and some great graphics! http://www.atablefortwo.com.au/
Some really lovely food pictures on this blog. http://immaculate-perceptions.blogspot.com/
Aoife Mc's pretty funny account of a recent meal at ukiyo restaurant in Dublin. http://icanhascook.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/taboo-foods-with-a-side-order-of-gonzo-anyone/
I cannot wait to try the lemon and poppyseed pancakes from this tasty blog! http://www.pickycook.com/
RTÉ's nationwide program about food, food styling, food production and a little piece on the Kitchen In the Castle in Howth. http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0914/nationwide.html
I'm going to be doing a bit of baking this weekend, so here's my baking playlist up on youtube! http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A72E677CE02752B0
What are you cooking this weekend? Have a great one! :)
As a nice way to finish off the Leila Lindholm week here on the blog, Lorraine from New Holland publishing organised a phone interview with the lady herself! I was very excited on Thursday morning to be able to call the lovely Leila, to have a quick chat about baking, the muffin mafia and of course her next book! Enjoy!
So you grew up in a family with a mix of cultures, tell me a little about the kind of food you had growing up, did you find you learned a lot about Morroccan cooking when you were growing up? I grew up with my mother and I only met my father when I was 24 so I didn't really grow up in a Morroccan culture at all, but my dad is from Morrocco.
From most of Swedes I talk to, they don't exactly rave about Swedish cuisine, but what you consider the most typical Swedish dish? It's pretty much like Swedish meatballs and we have a special kind of sausage called Falun sauasage that we eat and I think quite a lot of international food aswell as I remember we went to restauarants at least once a week to have dinner when I grew up.
I read you studied cooking, was that in Sweden? I studied a restaurant course in Stockholm and I started when I was 16 and finished when I was 19. When you finish the course you work in restaurants straight away.
I was very excited to read in your book about the muffin mafia, a baking group you started with your grandmother when you were younger, can you tell me a little about the members? It was great, it was actually something me and my grandma's neighbour made up, because I used to run over to her house and she taught me how to bake and we baked like cakes and cupcakes and muffins. Then she decided that we could become pen pals and send recipes to each other and it was me and Aunt Elsa, then her friends up in the north of Sweden, they were a bunch of old ladies in their 60's and we would send recipes to each other. But I was the boss, the mafia boss!
What were some of the first dishes you learned to cook? I think probably something simple like sausage and macoroni, or actually it was like grilled sandwiches! I used to with my best friend go to her place after to school and make all kinds of grilled sandwhiches with pineapple, really tacky sandwiches, with ketchup and pineapple and stuff on them and a lot of cheese!
You have an extremely successful career in Sweden, what would you consider your big break? Well actually I had two kind of big breaks, the first when I was 24, I was chosen Female Swedish Chef Of The Year and that was a big break because I started getting into the media and got attention from the media. I started doing interviews in the press and that was back in 1999. Then the second big break came in 2004 when I was chosen TV chef of the year and then also it was a milestone in a sense as it was my big break in the tv business, and I started getting more possibilities with my cooking shows. I started on one of the biggest morning shows here in Sweden and when I won the award I got asked to do my own cooking series and then after this it's been quite a successful story!
Well I can definitely see that! So who do you find you get the biggest reaction from your books, what kind of people? It's definitely women, but also mothers and kids, they love the baking show. I have heard from so many parents that their kids are watching the baking show on DVD's, they don't want to watch Disney movies, they just want to watch my baking show which is a little funny!
What are some of your favourite dishes to cook apart from baking? I love to do barbeques, so that's what I am really looking forward to this summer, we have a lot of snow right now, but I can't wait to start doing barbeques, that's what I really love! Doing meat like sirloin steak, lamb legs, whole salmon, I can't wait!
In every picture I have seen of you, you always look incredibly happy, are there any dishes that really frustrate you to make? I like to cook everything but sometimes there are dishes which are challenging when, of course, even for me, sometimes things don't work or like the Bearnaise sauce doesn't turn out, thats annoying. Also it's quite common, I'm sure you are familiar with this, when you have plan in your mind and it just doesn't work out when you cook it!
From what I have read you have a big interest in styling as well as cooking, how did that get started? Well I think for me I have always been interested in aesthetic stuff, interior designs, and beautiful things so I collect beautiful things and it came from there. I love to create beautiful things and it's a huge passion I have a craving, I have to do it!
When I was in Sweden I picked up your fantastic magazine Leila's Country Living but I heard it has stopped, will you be working on new issues of it in the future? Maybe in the future but right now I decided not to because I have just had a baby, and I decided to try two issues first in 2009, to make sure it went well because I have no experience in the magazine world. Then I realised that it is so hard to juggle the tv shows, and the book and the magazine.
I was in a book shop in Dublin yesterday and spotted your book "A Piece of Cake", I didn't realise it had been released here aswell as the UK, are you hoping to come over here and break this market? That would be fantastic to work more abroad, but this is my first cookbook to be released outside Sweden, it has been released in The Netherlands, USA, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and in Italy so it's quite exciting to see where it's going to take my work. It's been nine months since I had my baby so I am starting to get back into work mode and we are starting to record season 3 of my baking show in about two weeks. I was also asked by the Discovery channel to do a couple of shows but that was when I just had by baby and it was a food travel show and it wasn't possible to travel.
I'm guessing since the success of your books and tv shows in Sweden, and even with a new baby life has become a lot busier, how has your cooking habits changed? They haven't really, I kind of cook the same stuff I cook in my shows!
Have you had any major on-air or off-air disasters when cooking on tv? No but sometimes in the studio its very hot so in like the spring time sometimes when you work with cake and chocolate and ice cream they melt, so that can be a bit of a disaster!
I am a huge fan of cookbooks, have you got a big collection of books yourself, is there any you just couldn't live without? No I'm greedy I have to have them all! I have about over 100 books, but my favourites are from Martha Stewart and of course Jamie Oliver, his books are very fresh and beautiful!
You worked with Jamie's photographer, David Loftus on one of your books, what was he like to work with? He was fun, he is a fantastic photographer, and it was great, we had done a couple of jobs for Delicious magazine in the UK, and some Swedish magazines also.
Do you have some favourite cookbooks from Swedish food writers? There is a food writer called Anna Bergenstrom, she makes beautiful food, she is like the Swedish Julia Child, a legend!
What do you think the success of a good cook book relies on? Good recipes, and recipies that work, and also that they are easy and they work for normal people. Of course the photography and styling is very important but also when you work with the text to make all the corrections in a book is so important so they are well worked through and very exact, so you are guaranteed the recipe is good.
What are your plans for you next book, will you stick with baking or will you concentrate on any other specific aspects of food? It's actually going to be a follow up to "A Piece of Cake" and I made it with the intention of making two books and I wanted to do one book with sweet stuff and another with more savoury stuff, and it's called "One More Slice" and I bake pizza, pasta, and a lot of sour dough bread recipes, and also there is sweets too. There is a chapter called Cheesecake and another called brownies and blondies, and Ice cream too! So it's all the good stuff that didn't make it in the first book! I had so much material that I wanted to do two books!
After all this unhealthy food, do you ever really feel like a good healthy salad? Absolutely I have to eat quite healthy to make sure I don't kill myself and keep in shape! But sometimes it's nice, there is always room for birthday cakes, and there is always celebrations where you are supposed to bake, it's just tradition. Also bread is a matter of when you eat it, if you have it at breakfast it is not as dangerous as eating it in the evening time!
What do you think of food blogging, would you ever consider doing it yourself? Yes, it's most definitely in my future, but in my case I have been so busy with other stuff. I had a blog for 2 years and even though I wasn't active like the way you are, I wrote something at least once a week. But it is quite demanding if you want to write a good blog with a lot of content so it's hard work and for me write now it's difficult to find the time. But the food blogs are great and it's really fun to read them. So for me it's just a matter of time right now!
Ok one last question, and I'm sure you have been asked this question a million times, but what would be your death row meal? It's a little bit of a depressing question and I would say sweets, but I am very into shellfish and seafood and oysters and a glass Chablis wine!
Leila's book "A Piece Of Cake" is in Irish and UK bookshops now or you can order online here. www.leila.se
One of the first things to grab me when flicking through Leila's book was the fantastic food photography and styling. There are some super shots of table settings and food spreads scattered throughout the book. From what I have read Leila does most of her styling herself even more reason to be impressed! As you might know, one of my huge passions is food photography, so I am always on the lookout for inspiration when it comes to the style of shots. Leila also has a magazine in Sweden called "Leilas Country Living" which is packed with even more inpirational photo and style ideas, which has unfortunately stopped for some reason, but from the issues I have there is a great mix of styling and recipes. Check out todays Leila recipe, Butterscotch Pecan Pie.
Leila Lindholm's Butterscotch Pecan Pie This pie is good all year round, summer as well as Christmas! If you'd like to vary the flavouring you can add some ginger or cardamom. To check if the butterscotch is ready, drop a little of the mixture into a glass of really cold water. If it hardens a little so that you can form a soft, little ball it is ready and will set in the pie. I allow the pie to come to room temperature before serving, because keeping it in the fridge makes the filling a bit hard. Serve the pie accompanied by Raspberry Fool Cream.
Makes 1 Pie Serves 8 1 batch of classic shortcrust pastry dough (see below) 2 handfuls of pecan nuts
For the filling: 1 vanilla pod 500ml whipping cream 270g caster sugar 40g brown sugar 2 tablespoons honey 150ml golden syrup 1 tablespoon good quality cocoa powder 50g unsalted butter, softened
Prepare the dough according to the basic recipe. Preheat the oven to 175oC/350oF/Gas Mark 4. Roll out the pastry on lightly floured surface to a circle and use it to line a loose-bottomed pie tin. Prick the base with a fork. Fill the case with foil or beans and bake blind for about 10 minutes. Split the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Put all ingredients except the butter in a saucepan. Heat, then simmer for about an hour. Use the cold water test described above. When the butterscotch is ready, stir in the butter in knobs. Fill the pie case with butterscotch, sprinkle whole pecans on top and put in the fridge to set.
Leila Lindholm's Classic Shortcrust Pastry Dough When you make shortcrust pastry dough don't knead it too much or it will turn dense and lose its crustiness. You can easily make a chocolate shortcrust pastry dough by adding 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.
Makes enough for 2 tarts 150g cold unsalted butter, diced 240g plain flour 30g icing sugar 1 organic egg 1/2 tablespoon cold water
Put the butter, flour and sugar in a bowl and mix with your fingertips to make breadcrumbs. Add the egg and the water and gently work the dough to bind the ingredients together. Don't knead. Cover the clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
I very excited to tell you I am in London!!! For the next two weeks we are shooting the photos of the recipes for my new book which is going to out in March 2011. To say I am excited is probably a total understatement because for me this is the most interesting part of producing a cook book. The first time around for Good Mood Food I was a totally unorganised mess, when it came to planning the photography, I was coaxed along the way by my lovely Aunt Erica who did the majority of food styling, but this time around it's all rolled nicely into two weeks. It also helps that this time I have a far better idea of what I'm doing! My kit has been upgraded and I have a set work pattern which hopefully by this time two weeks will have held up long enough to have provided me with all the photos required! I'll try and stick up a few posts about the whole process if I can- for now enjoy these very cute whoopie pies which look very pretty indeed! :)
Go Nuts Nutella Whoopie Pies! By dropping the cocoa powder from the original whoopie recipe and substituting flour you get left with really beautiful plain whoopie discs. As a filling I use a combination of nutella and smooth peanut butter but you could also use the chocolate frosting from the cupcake recipe.
Makes 16 whoopie pies 120g/4oz butter 190g/6 ½ oz caster sugar 2 eggs, lightly beaten 345g/12oz of plain flour 5g/1 tsp of baking powder 5ml/1 tsp of vanilla extract 250ml/8 ½ fl oz of buttermilk
For the filling: 80g of smooth peanut butter 80g of nutella
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350oF/Gas Mark 4 and line two baking sheets. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, using an electric whisk, cream the sugar and the butter until pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs gradually, mixing well to combine. Add the vanilla extract to the buttermilk and, alternating with the dry ingredients, add to the bowl, mixing until everything is combined and you are left with a thick batter. Spoon rounded teaspoons of the batter onto lined baking sheets, allowing space for them to spread while cooking. Place in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the tops have puffed up and spring back when lightly pressed. When they are cooked, remove the mini pie halves from the baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on wire rack to cool. Once cooled, spread a teaspoon of the nutella on the flat side of 16 of the pie halves. Spread a teaspoon of peanut butter on the remaining 16 pie halves and sandwich together with the nutella pies. These little pies are heavy going so make sure to serve with a glass of cold milk.
There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of interest in the food styling demonstration, but I'll be working with Erica for the photo's in the book, so maybe I can film a few bits and stick them up here.
Is it me or is the weather at the moment causing extreme drowsiness? Maybe not, maybe it's having to work when it feels like everyone else is on holidays- maybe it's a mix. Well I'll just have to put up with it, after all it's only a few more weeks and were heading back over to Sweden again. Sofie's dad arrived last night and is staying with us for the week, so we'll be doing some sight seeing this weekend and driving cross country to Galway. If you have any suggestions on where to bring a tourist in Galway please let me know!
I have been trawling the world wide web for international food blogs, and I wanted to share just a few of the ones that caught my eye:
Bitchin Camero- Mel is from Miami, and has some really great pictures, and the recipe's to match.
Kitchen Confit- Is written by three bloggers from Nashville, Tennassee, I love their post about "Fire Pit Roasted Oysters".
A Cat In The Kitchen- A great little Swedish blog- check out the cake buffet!
Dinner's For A Year- I love the idea of a BBQ turkey.
And via Mulley.net, Lidl Treats- How to get the best out of shopping at Lidl!
Inspired by my recent trip to the Chinese Supermarket, this is another one of the snacks I made for the party last weekend. It's kind of a mix between BBQ and sweet and sour sauce, but top it with finely sliced spring onions and sesame seeds, and you'll make your intentions clear!
Asian Chicken Wings
12 Chicken Wings.
1 Cup of Chinese Sweet Chili Sauce (looks like tomato paste)
The Juice Of One Lemon.
1 Tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce.
2 Cloves of Garlic Minced.
1 Thumb of Ginger Minced.
2 Tablespoons of Honey
1 Tsp of Chinese 5 Spice powder.
1 Tsp of Sesame Oil.
1 Tsp of Cornflour.
Spring Onions and Sesame Seeds.
In a large roasting tray combine the ingredients with the chicken wings. Cover with cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200 oC/ 390 oF/ Gas Mark 6.
Bang the Chicken Wings into the oven on the top rack and cook for approx 45-60 mins, turning them halfway through. Serve straight away topped with sliced spring onions and toasted sesame seeds.
After all the excitment over the weekend and the last few days on tour with JLS, I am just about back in the land of the living! It's these days, after the big highs, which are always the hardest, it becomes really important to pick yourself straight up and keep going, otherwise you don't know what to be doing with yourself! I can see the addictive side to performing in front of crowds that size, and with 10,000 people screaming for you it is extremely easy to see why, the problem then becomes that you expect that sort of addulation when you leave your house to go to the car, but unfotrunately nothing really comes close. While my band is not quite on the scale of JLS we have had an amazing journey so far which has provided us with more than a bit of a taster. But I am very glad I have another passion in my life, which of course is cooking, it keeps me distracted and after the big high, there is nothing better than getting back into the kitchen to refocus! In my case the answer is cupcakes!
Mega Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes (Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food and food styling by Erica Ryan) This batter makes really delicious and moist cupcakes which will give you more reason to have just one more! The batter is a lot more runny than normal cupcakes batters, but will rise so just make sure not to overfill the cases, halfway up is just perfect.
Makes about 16 175g Self raising flour 2 tablespoon of cocoa powder 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda 150g caster sugar 2 eggs beaten 150 ml (1/4 pint) sunflower oil 150 ml (1/4 pint) semi skimmed milk 2 tablespoon of golden syrup
For the frosting 75g unsalted butter 175g icing Sugar 3 tablespoon cocoa powder Drop of Milk
Pre-heat oven to 180ºC/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line a muffin tray with cupcake cases. Sieve the flour, cocoa and Bicarbonate of Soda into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix well. Make a well in the centre and add the syrup, eggs, oil and milk. Beat well with electric whisk until smooth. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases about halfway up and bake for about 20 minutes or until they have risen and are firm to the touch. Remove from oven, leave to cool before turning out onto a cooling rack. To make your butter icing, place the butter in a bowl and beat until soft. Gradually sift and beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder then add enough milk to make the icing fluffy and spreadable. Top the cooled cupcakes with delicious frosting and enjoy!
Most of the time I love and thrive on times when life is a little hectic and there are almost too many things to do in one day. It makes taking a little break all that more enjoyable, knowing that you have been getting things done at a fast pace!
After the business of launching the book was taken care of at the end of October I managed to slip out of the country for 5 precious days to visit Sofie in Sweden. She is spending a little quality time back in the motherland for a few months and is loving it. As hard as it is to be apart we seriously appreciate the time we have together so that is a positive!
Unfortunately Ryanair have stopped the direct flight from Dublin to Gothenburg, which makes life a little difficult as there are no other direct options. However this gave me a chance to catch up my friend Ubbe in Oslo, he's a dancer in the Norwegian production of Mamma Mia. It was my first time in Oslo and although I only saw it briefly it's really a lovely city.
The next day it was on to Gothenburg, I really love this city! I think size wise and familiarity wise, my mind compares it to Dublin, but I'm sure factually I'm wrong. We spent the first day shopping which I love over there, because for me the shops are brimming with new ideas and inspiration. The scandinavian design is really simplistic and stripped back. I have been wanting to include a bit more styling and emphasis on table setting in my food photos so that's what my eye was looking out for!
The shops didn't let me down and were filled with amazing flower displays, fabrics, cutlery and sleek, simple tableware. I always find that the Swedes are very conscious of the changing seasons when it comes to design and at the moment shops are gearing up for Christmas with lots of tasteful ribbons, interesting looking dried twigs, and bold seasonal greens and reds.
We went for a walk in the grounds of a beautiful old Swedish house and it was really apparent where the shops were getting their inspiration. The colours in the forest of berries, bushes, and crisp leaves left no doubt in mind that nature was their source!
I've come home with lots of idea's and even more motivation, so hopefully I'll be able to inject a little more design into the food shots. I forgot to mention, that I finally upgraded camera's from the Canon 400D to the Canon 5D MII so am still getting to grips with it as it's a little more serious than what I was used to. But the photos are getting there so bear with me!
