Post Your Food Photos !

Any food photos lately, people?

Here's my focaccia for the bake-off at sourdough.com

You know, Celia, when I see your name as the last post in the thread, I'm almost afraid to click. I know I'll get depressed, dispirited, and hungry.

You know, Celia, when I see your name as the last post in the thread, I'm almost afraid to click. I know I'll get depressed, dispirited, and hungry.

I'll drink to that. What'll you have?

It's 94 degrees out at the moment. I think I'll have a nice cold beer, my favorite, He Brew. Care to join me for a bottle or three?

You know, Celia, when I see your name as the last post in the thread, I'm almost afraid to click. I know I'll get depressed, dispirited, and hungry.

Oh come on, Stud, don't be like that! Get the camera out right now and take a picture of whatever vegetarian delight you have in the pan!

Any food photos lately, people?

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I'm working on Sourdough Pancakes for the bake-off at sourdough.com

The rest of you should see the other picture that celia took of her Focaccia for the bake-off. It is so beautiful.

Wow, thanks Duane...

Great look loaf - are you still baking your bread solely in the cooker?

are you still baking your bread solely in the cooker?

Yes I am why do you ask?

Duane,

I'm quite curious about the logistics of baking bread like that? If it's a cooker like BobH's, does that mean you need to fill it with fuel and light it hours and hours before? Or does it run off a gas mains, so you can turn it on and off easily?

I know that I bake so often, that I'm always turning the oven on and off, and I wondered whether you worked your bread baking in with other cooking, or whether, if heating the cooker was a big job, you did a really big batch in one go?

It must produce a great effect - probably very similar to a wood fired oven, I'd imagine. I know Bob's told me that his can get really hot - it's hard to reproduce temps like that in a conventional oven.

Thanks, Celia

Any food photos lately, people?

Last weekend's pizza with sausage and provoletta:

I have to post a food picture first.

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I'm quite curious about the logistics of baking bread like that? If it's a cooker like BobH's, does that mean you need to fill it with fuel and light it hours and hours before? Or does it run off a gas mains, so you can turn it on and off easily?

I know that I bake so often, that I'm always turning the oven on and off, and I wondered whether you worked your bread baking in with other cooking, or whether, if heating the cooker was a big job, you did a really big batch in one go?

It must produce a great effect - probably very similar to a wood fired oven, I'd imagine. I know Bob's told me that his can get really hot - it's hard to reproduce temps like that in a conventional oven.

It is a cooker that is like BobH's. It has a large basket that sit up off the floor of the cooker that I fill with charcoal. It doesn't seem like it takes very long for my cooker to come up to baking temperature. I have a computer controlled fan that blows air into the cooker until it gets to the temperature that I set the controller for. I light the fire turn the fan on put the lower grill screen in with my steaming pan. Then I put in the upper grill with my pizza stone and close the lid. The temperature can be monitored and controlled from any computer in the house. When it gets up to temp I put a cup of crushed ice in the steaming pan and the put the dough on the pizza stone. The temperature is very stable in a cooker like this it will stay within a few degrees of where it is set. When the bread is done I close all of the vents and turn the controller off. This removes all of the oxygen needed for the fire to burn and it goes out. Next time the cooker is opened up almost all of the charcoal from the previous cook is still there. I just add a little charcoal to get the fire started.

Sometimes I do BBQ and bake bread on the same day and it isn't hard to coordinate the two. The cooker is able to do big batches of food but I have never tried to do more than one grill full of food at a time. You can do three levels of food with cooker fully loaded. One of the reasons I got the cooker is because it is similar to a wood fired stove and you can do higher temps in it no problem. One more side benefit that I have is that I make and sell lump charcoal so I have cheap fuel.

It is a cooker that is like BobH's. It has a large basket that sit up off the floor of the cooker that I fill with charcoal. It doesn't seem like it takes very long for my cooker to come up to baking temperature. I have a computer controlled fan that blows air into the cooker until it gets to the temperature that I set the controller for. I light the fire turn the fan on put the lower grill screen in with my steaming pan. Then I put in the upper grill with my pizza stone and close the lid. The temperature can be monitored and controlled from any computer in the house. When it gets up to temp I put a cup of crushed ice in the steaming pan and the put the dough on the pizza stone. The temperature is very stable in a cooker like this it will stay within a few degrees of where it is set. When the bread is done I close all of the vents and turn the controller off. This removes all of the oxygen needed for the fire to burn and it goes out. Next time the cooker is opened up almost all of the charcoal from the previous cook is still there. I just add a little charcoal to get the fire started.

Sometimes I do BBQ and bake bread on the same day and it isn't hard to coordinate the two. The cooker is able to do big batches of food but I have never tried to do more than one grill full of food at a time. You can do three levels of food with cooker fully loaded. One of the reasons I got the cooker is because it is similar to a wood fired stove and you can do higher temps in it no problem. One more side benefit that I have is that I make and sell lump charcoal so I have cheap fuel.

Duane, that is seriously cool. I'm thinking you could probably make some wicked ciabatta in there. Have a look at this - Heston Blumenthal's quest for perfect pizza. One of his issues was getting the oven hot enough - I think your cooker might have it sorted.

Great looking pancakes! I'm going to have another go at flatbreads over the weekend...

Is the charcoal a byproduct of the wine making?

Cheers, and thanks for enlightening me on the cooker.

Celia

Duane, that is seriously cool. I'm thinking you could probably make some wicked ciabatta in there. Have a look at this - Heston Blumenthal's quest for perfect pizza. One of his issues was getting the oven hot enough - I think your cooker might have it sorted.

Great looking pancakes! I'm going to have another go at flatbreads over the weekend...

Is the charcoal a byproduct of the wine making?

Ciabatta is on my to do list. Why do you think I could make some wicked ciabatta? Does it need high heat? I know I can do high heat with my cooker but figured 500°F is my upper limit unless I found a reason to go higher.

Yes the charcoal is an indirect byproduct of winemaking. Paso Robles used to be the Almond capital of the world. There were 45,000 acres of Almonds planted here at the height of that industry. Grapes are now being planted where all the Almond trees were growing. We sell Almond firewood and make charcoal out of the stumps. There still isn't 45,000 acres of grapes here yet so expect more wine to flow from Paso Robles.

Duane,I'm quite curious about the logistics of baking bread like that? If it's a cooker like BobH's, does that mean you need to fill it with fuel and light it hours and hours before? Or does it run off a gas mains, so you can turn it on and off easily?

Thanks, Celia

"C", my Kamado can be taken from ambient temperature to 600F in less than 10 minutes. It does of course take longer for the walls of the cooking chamber to become completely heat sunk to where they really hold the heat in. I rarely cook at 600F but often use it at 400F to do roast beef, pork, fowl, and lamb. And, using the Guru (computer controlled device) I can adjust the amount of oxygen fed to the coals to maintain just the heat/temperature I desire. from start to finish an 8 lb roast chicken done to a golden brown takes maybe 90 minutes.

Celia I checked out Heston Blumenthal's video. One of these days I'll be able to do that for right now I have this to show for my effort.

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Weekend in the pizza oven. An almond peach tart and a loaf of sourdough bread.

Weekend in the pizza oven. An almond peach tart and a loaf of sourdough bread.

Whoa! There's a new sherriff in town.

rwj

Yeeah! More bread bakers! Beautiful photos Christina, I envy you your pizza oven!

Duane, as I said elsewhere, that is a stunning looking pizza. Ciabatta is usually baked in a woodfired oven, which is why I thought it might be good in your cooker. Bobby, we need to get you baking bread in Hot Mama!

Christina great looking sourdough bread. Has Celia invited you to look over Sourdough.com yet? The almond peach tart looks yummy too.

Celia that was the best tasting pizza of the bunch and it was really good. I liked the picture too, kind has an artistic look to it even though I'm not very artistic. I think I'm ready for Ciabatta but I just have to find the time. I saw a whole bunch of flat breads that you made that looks like they would be wonderful to try.

I have made a few delicious things:


Tourte de Blettes


Spicy Chicken with Cashews


Raspberry Crumb Breakfast Bars

All of the recipes are on my blog.

Great photos, Michelle! The tourte (pie?) looks particularly delish - is it spinach and onion?

Yesterday I made a berber tagine omelette (in my tagine!), and served it with organic spelt sourdough bread.

tagine omelette 002.jpg

I'd sure like some details on that torte!

Celia, that looks like a fritatta. How different is it?

Great photos, Michelle! The tourte (pie?) looks particularly delish - is it spinach and onion?

Yesterday I made a berber tagine omelette (in my tagine!), and served it with organic spelt sourdough bread.

tagine omelette 002.jpg

Celia

Looks delish!!!


I have a queston about cooking with tagines. I have a couple of them at home which I have never used. They are the clay ones with the relatively shallow and wider bottoms and then the taller, conical clay tops. I was all excited when I got them, soaked them in water per the instructions and then have never used them! I've always been afraid to cook with them on a gas stovetop - seems lke they would break.

Any advice?

Thanks

I'd sure like some details on that torte!

Celia, that looks like a fritatta. How different is it?

Stuart, I'm not sure. It is made in an interesting way - recipe and video instructions are here. Basically you cook up tomatoes and onions, then pour the eggs over and cook them until just set. It's spiced with tumeric, cumin and paprika, and I add Kashmiri chilli powder as well. It's an absolutely gorgeous dish. I don't cook mine on the oven, I let mine set over the stovetop, which always results in a little burning, but I like the eggs to be just that little bit runny. Oh, and my dish (made from the video instructions before I found the recipe, so quantities were made up) only used 3 eggs - perfect for lunch for the two of us.

John, the tagines I have are especially made for use on a cook top, which is why I bought them. I've had limited success with claypots over direct heat otherwise, although I have read that if you soak the tagine overnight first, it should be fine. I think if you don't use them all that often, you need to soak them each time you want to use them. This is mine (I have both sizes and find them just wonderful):



Google turned up some tips which you might find useful : http://www.spicebazaar.com.au/Cooking%2 ... 20info.htm

In the same way that claypot cooking gives a certain flavour to Chinese fare, I find the tagine cooks differently to say my cast iron pot. The one I have spits a bit, so I always prop the lid up a bit with a toothpick - I know some traditional tagines have holes in the lids to prevent this. Plus, it's just so aesthetically appealing when you bring it to the table! I'm often tempted by the smaller decorative tagines - just to use them as tableware rather than cookware.

Cheers, Celia

PS. I have a gas cooktop too!