Post Your Food Photos !

This week I'm very happy how the bread turned out. I'll find out later how it tastes.

Beautiful, Duane ! I like the cuts too - I'm so crap at cutting dough...

Just came across some of the photos of Carl Warner, who uses food to create art - very cool ! They're called "Foodscapes".



More here !

I know I'm biased but this was the best bread I have ever had in my life.

Celia I was getting bad cuts too. I finally broke down and bought a packet of razor blades, single sided. That is the first loaf of bread that I have scored with the razor blade. I was very happy how it turned out. Now I have to go write down the recipe for the bread before I forget it.

Duane, look at all those holes !!! Fantastic !

You know, Duane it would get here overnight if you mailed a loaf to New Mexico...... then I could back up your claim.

Yes, it's true, I am always thinking of others.

I made this quick dessert this weekend. I was surprised at how good it was -- and it tastes better as it sits. Came from relish magazine. The recipe is on their webpage under upside-down cakes. Look for

Lemon Ginger Almond Cake.jpg

Lemon Ginger Almond Upside-Down Cake

Our Dinner

Mine: Salmon with Curried Rice, Sautéed Dutch Creamers, Salad of Dandelion, Arugula, and Endive with a Blood Orange Vinaigrette.



Colin's: Salmon, Sautéed Dutch Creamers, "Lettuce Surprise" Salad (Surprise! There are carrots under the lettuce.)


rwj

All this bread talk made me want to make some too. So here's this afternoon's accomplishment - my first attempt at Focaccia.

Hooray ! We'll get everyone baking their own bread soon..

Beautiful focaccia, Linda ! My teenager eat that whole loaf, cut into slices, and dipped in a bowl of EVOO and balsamic vinegar..

Beautiful cake, Jo, I love the pattern on the top !

And Robert, your dinner looks delicious ! You're a bad influence, buddy, because look what arrived today - I found a new organic online store, and there's organic quinoa and agave syrup in the order, along with persian figs, dates, wholemeal and white spelt flour, kamut (any suggestions anyone?), poppyseeds, himalayan fine salt and raw cacao beans ! A box of promises !

santos.jpg

You know, Duane it would get here overnight if you mailed a loaf to New Mexico...... then I could back up your claim.

Yes, it's true, I am always thinking of others.

Wow there are tons of replies I could make to that request. I hope you like this one.

I'm sorry Cynthia but the Wheat Control Board of New Mexico will not allow me to direct ship bread to any one in New Mexico. Now you can help open up free trade between the states by signing the online petition at http://www.free-the-wheat.org You know one of these days I dream of opening my own bonded bakery and if there are any violations like this on my record my bond will be denied.

@celia I really think the holes turned out great. When I put the dough in the proofing basket it collapsed about an inch and never got it back. I really think the bread was over proofed so I going to try it again this weekend.

@Linda great start on your bread. How does it taste?

@Linda great start on your bread. How does it taste?

Tastes great! There's a little less than half left.

kamut (any suggestions anyone?)

Celia, seeing as how you like to bake so much you should make some kamut bread with Persian figs (rehydrated and chopped) and honey. Kamut has a much lower gluten content than regular wheat so you might want to add some wheat gluten to the mix or just cut in some bread flour.

rwj

It's been a big weekend ! Since it's school holidays here, I woke the kids at 6am on Saturday morning and told them we were going to have a "holiday adventure" visiting the markets. Picked up some real bargains, like a box of 40 huge Pink Lady apples for $12 and a box of super fresh skinny eggplants for $10 (there were 54 in the box). We made onion marmalade from the 10kg of spanish onions I bought for $5..

Some things we made over the weekend :

zopf.jpg

sambal.jpg

choc icecream.jpg

Of course, all that icecream making means lots of leftover eggwhites, so we made mini pavlovas :

mini pavs.jpg

mini pavs 2.jpg

Linda, that looks more like ciabatta than focaccia- not that there's anything wrong with that!

And Celia, you might CLAIM that that's Zopf, but any New Yorker would recognize a Challah when he sees it.

Yes, and any Italian would recognise focaccia when he sees it...



I wondered if the zopf and the challah were the same, but I wasn't sure ? The zopf was quite savoury - is challah ?

Celia the bread looks great and looks just like challah. I have only seen pictures of it in bread books so I don't know how it tastes.

[Jenise]

Celia, great thread. I'm so impressed with both the creativity and photography skills in everybody's posts. Ben's ready for the big time.

I've been away on a Hawaiian vacation, but here are two food related photos that came home with me:

DSC02718.JPG

This is the Kaka-Po Chip Factory in Hanapeppe, Kauai, which consists of one guy who has turned the living room of his old house into a series of wok fryers. Here, he's just put on a batch of taro chips. I bought a bag of the purple ones, made from purple (sometimes called 'Okinawan') sweet potatoes. They were wonderful, seasoned with just garlic salt.

Shrimp Station.JPG

This is my husband at a street side joint in Waimea, Kauai, called The Shrimp Station. It was one of the best and most fun lunches we had: cajun shrimp on rice, shrimp tacos and coconut fried shrimp. Way too much food but I just couldn't resist, and the coconut shrimp were an absolute revelation--I've become jaded by the frozen jobbies that are frequent bar food, and never had them made from both fresh shrimp and fresh, unsweetened coconut. I typically avoid fried food but my oh my, were those fabulous.

Linda, that looks more like ciabatta than focaccia- not that there's anything wrong with that!

And Celia, you might CLAIM that that's Zopf, but any New Yorker would recognize a Challah when he sees it.

Far be it for me to argue with the pros, but for what it's worth, here are some examples I found:

focaccia
ciabatta
zopf

Interesting! The focaccia I see in Italy (and I've spent most of my time in the Turin-Alba-Milano-Bergamo parts) are rectangular, not at all rounded on top, lots of finger depressions on top to keep it flat. The depressions are often filled with olives or other savories. They're cut into rectangles and sold with toppings at the street markets. Mmmmmmm.

Celia, challah looks like that loaf, but it really is quite different. It's like a very eggy brioche, yellow from the eggs. FABULOUS for French toast.

Interesting! The focaccia I see in Italy (and I've spent most of my time in the Turin-Alba-Milano-Bergamo parts) are rectangular, not at all rounded on top, lots of finger depressions on top to keep it flat. The depressions are often filled with olives or other savories. They're cut into rectangles and sold with toppings at the street markets. Mmmmmmm.

I was aiming for something more rectangular, and I did make depressions all over the top and coated with olive oil. I've seen them both round and rectangular.
Here is the recipe I used except I left out the sugar.

1 teaspoon white sugar
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a small bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with flour; stir well to combine. Stir in additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all of the flour is absorbed. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly for about 1 minute.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).

Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface; knead briefly. Pat or roll the dough into a sheet and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the dough with oil and sprinkle with salt.

Bake focaccia in preheated oven for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on desired crispness. If you like it moist and fluffy, then you'll have to wait just about 10 minutes. If you like it crunchier and darker in the outside, you may have to wait 20 minutes.

I baked it about 13 min.

Thanks, Linda!

I note that at focacciarias, they use VERY generous amounts of olive oil, not just brushing. It actually is pooled in the depressions. I was astonished at how much oil the dough could pick up.