Post Your Food Photos !

Think I got the hang of it. This is part of the backyard we see when we eat by the pool.

Think I got the hang of it. This is part of the backyard we see when we eat by the pool.

That's some funny lookin' food.

rwj

[Jenise]

I'm not much of a view person. For me, I believe all you need for a view is a window pointed in the direction of your choice. So, the way the rooms in my house are positioned, I have a view of my back yard. Personally, I believe that almost anywhere you drive in the Pacific Northwest you have a spectacular view.

Garden room3.jpg

This was 2007. My view is about 2 weeks away from looking like this again. We often eat here on nice days (just to make this a food related photo)!

Hidden Spa2.jpg

Your yard's gorgeous, Jo Ann. You obviously have a very green thumb. If my front courtyard, which is currently being relandscaped, ends up with half the charm of yours I'll be happy.

Say, someone I know up here grows bay leaves, but when I asked my landscaper to find such a plant, he balked--he's unaware of bay laurel being unable to grow here. Have you had any experience with it?

Say, someone I know up here grows bay leaves, but when I asked my landscaper to find such a plant, he balked--he's unaware of bay laurel being unable to grow here. Have you had any experience with it?

As a matter of fact, I have a culinary bay laurel tree in my back yard under my kitchen window. I picked it up from a local nursery and it seems to be readily available. It is the size of a mid-size rhodadendron. They grow very fast and will get to be 30' tall, so I have to keep it trimmed and I do a major pruning at least once a year. But, it is prone to mealy bug (they curl the leaves and lay eggs, then the offspring suck the sap out of the leave. Rather than spray, I will cut a limb and remove the infected leaves (about 1/3 of them). I will often hang about 5-8 branches in the kitchen and use from it both fresh and dried. There is a definite difference in the flavor -- depending. I love my laurel tree above all my other herbal plants. When I make a cutting of bay, rosemary and sage together, the aroma in the house in unimaginable!!! I use all of them in floral arrangements as well. Find one and have at it!

[Jenise]

Say, someone I know up here grows bay leaves, but when I asked my landscaper to find such a plant, he balked--he's unaware of bay laurel being unable to grow here. Have you had any experience with it?

As a matter of fact, I have a culinary bay laurel tree in my back yard under my kitchen window. I picked it up from a local nursery and it seems to be readily available. It is the size of a mid-size rhodadendron. They grow very fast and will get to be 30' tall, so I have to keep it trimmed and I do a major pruning at least once a year. But, it is prone to mealy bug (they curl the leaves and lay eggs, then the offspring suck the sap out of the leave. Rather than spray, I will cut a limb and remove the infected leaves (about 1/3 of them). I will often hang about 5-8 branches in the kitchen and use from it both fresh and dried. There is a definite difference in the flavor -- depending. I love my laurel tree above all my other herbal plants. When I make a cutting of bay, rosemary and sage together, the aroma in the house in unimaginable!!! I use all of them in floral arrangements as well. Find one and have at it!

Just what I hoped you say, Jo Ann. I'm on the hunt!

I have this tree in my backyard and it is about 20ft. tall. Have not bought a bay leaf in years. Very nice tree....no messes!

JoAnn and Karen, how beautiful ! You are so fortunate to be in a climate that supports your obvious love. Very lush but tranquil. Bravo !

...I taught Dan how to make bread, and she taught her three year old daughter. Here's her first bread roll. Can't tell you how proud we are of her - just look at that crumb !

[Jenise]

Today's breakfast from the sometimes-simpler-is-better school of home cookery, a dish we call Strawberry Short Toast. Smooshed berries, served with three thin slices of English Muffin Bread, toasted with the butter already applied--scant amounts of melted butter brushed on (a tablespoon sized pat will cover six slices) with a pastry brush--which turns nutty and extra-wonderful during it's second cooking. Conventional toast with the butter applied afterward is not an acceptable substitute. We'd rather have this than shortcake or biscuits!

[Jenise]

I have this tree in my backyard and it is about 20ft. tall. Have not bought a bay leaf in years. Very nice tree....no messes!

I look forward to saying that some day. Just scored my bay leaf tree yesterday!

Today's breakfast from the sometimes-simpler-is-better school of home cookery, a dish we call Strawberry Short Toast. Smooshed berries, served with three thin slices of English Muffin Bread, toasted with the butter already applied--scant amounts of melted butter brushed on (a tablespoon sized pat will cover six slices) with a pastry brush--which turns nutty and extra-wonderful during it's second cooking. Conventional toast with the butter applied afterward is not an acceptable substitute. We'd rather have this than shortcake or biscuits!

Jenise, I'm fascinated by the "English Muffin Bread". How is it different from normal sliced white ? Over here we have English Muffins, but not EMB...(I LOVE English Muffins)

[Jenise]

Jenise, I'm fascinated by the "English Muffin Bread". How is it different from normal sliced white ? Over here we have English Muffins, but not EMB...(I LOVE English Muffins)

English Muffin bread is pretty much a phenomena of the last ten years. I don't remember seeing it before that. It has a lightly sour taste, is exceptionally light and airy, and it toasts very crisp and stays that way. Three slices is not the huge portion that it would be of a denser bread. It's not quite an American bread staple the way the muffins are, but where I used to have to search for it I no longer have trouble finding it. We love a local version from Samish Island Bakery that finds it's way into some supermarkets.

Grilled pork tenderloin with carrots, potatoes, truffled leeks and a Riesling Demi:



Quenelles of Almond Ganache with Cherries:



rwj

Robert, that looks fantastic!

A little variation on a theme. I added walnuts and blueberries to my sourdough recipe.



The walnuts give the bread the purplish color. Taste test tomorrow at work to see if anyone likes it.

[Jenise]

Grilled pork tenderloin with carrots, potatoes, truffled leeks and a Riesling Demi:



Quenelles of Almond Ganache with Cherries:



rwj

Robert, your food's always beautiful, but given my savory bent it's the pork tenderloin that truly moves me. Looks wonderful--pork tenderlolin is a great cut, and one that's underused in my kitchen. It's probably been a year since I bought one, in fact. How did you make the reisling demi?

Jenise, I sautéed the shrooms in a pan with some EVOO and then deglazed with Dr. Pauly Riesling. I then added the demi and reduced. I usually use red wine in this kind of production but I wanted the demi to be a little lighter. We just happened to have a bottle of Dr. P lying around so I thought, "What the hell?" I felt that it worked really well as the demi came out just a little bit softer than a red wine would have made. It really helped the pork to shine a little brighter.

We were doing a dinner in conjunction with Austin Lyric Opera. They sent some singers over to perform some arias that mention wine. We paired the food and wine with the arias. It was great fun. The menu was predominately French inspired but I tried to include ingredients and ideas from all of the major opera-producing countries (Germany, Italy, and France).

The menu also included an amuse bouche of Marcona Almonds, Membrillo, and Texturized EVOO; Salade Lyonnaise; Cheese Plate of marinated buffalo mozzarella and saffron pecorino.

Thanks for the comments Doug and Jenise. I really appreciate it.

Here is the Amuse Bouche:


rwj

Doug - your bread looks great!...how did it taste?

Robert - oh my you have really made me hungry!! It looks absolutely delicious! I actually make pork tenderloin every 2 weeks, I would love to try this. I don't think I could make it look as pretty though. Desserts look yummy too! TFS!

Key limes and key lime/coconut pie from Dorie Greenspan's book, From My Kitchen to Yours...read more (shameless plug) at babettefeasts.com

Doug - your bread looks great!...how did it taste?

Doug or Duane? The bread tastes great. This is the first time I have tried putting nuts and fruit in bread so I was very pleased with how it turned out.

Sorry Duane...I thought Doug posted that pic . He posted above you and I got confused (doesn't take much these days...LOL). I apologize. Your bread looks wonderful DUANE! I should know by now that you Celia are the breadmasters here.

So what did you think of the blueberries? Did it make the bread sweet? It looks like a really interesting combination. I bet it would make a delicious bread pudding.

Maria I understand the mistake. I on the other hand am still wondering how I made a post to the completely wrong thread here in this forum.

The formula hinted that I could add walnuts and raisins. I didn't want to use raisins but I had some dried blueberries. The blueberries were soaked an hour in hot water and added with the walnuts in the final minute of mixing. The bread didn't taste any sweeter and that is most likely do to what I do to the flour before I add the sourdough preferment. I mix the flour with the water into a shaggy mess and let it stand for an hour or more. This is claimed to help the flour release its sugars. The bread was very moist and just seemed to say to me that it needed to be toasted. There was something very crisp and crunchy about the bread, I'm thinking maybe it was the walnuts in the crust. The walnuts in the crumb were every now and then so I would get that taste once in a while. I wanted to do walnuts and dried cranberries but I'm out of dried cranberries.

Last evening was, of course, Pizza Night, since it was Saturday. This time the dough was prepared using Stuart's method (except there was no semolina in the house). It was not even close to as wet as he's always made it sound. But then, that could just be the inexperienced baker in him talking.

It did rock, however. I believe we'll give this another try or two.

I could eat that!