Thank you to all of you guys for the well-wishes. I’m so overwhelmed by the kind messages left by readers and friends, so to show my appreciation I went through my inbox in search for long-forgotten foodwishes and decided that for every time I steal a chance at cooking, it would be to make up for them, even the ones made by anons.

This particular opportunity came on a Sunday afternoon. Check out the date this foodwish was sent in. This post is a long time coming.

I must have read this message once because I already made the salt & pepper chicken wings.

I made a tiny adjustment to a traditional melonpan recipe (which involves adding the essence of melon or melon flavoring) by adding ground up Oreo bits into the cookie batter to achieve a marbled look. In any case, this goes out to the anon and any curious souls who wants to know how to make them.

MELONPAN

Bread dough:
[ 8 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed + 1 tablespoon nonfat dried milk powder + 1 teaspoon instant yeast + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/3 cup warm water + 1 large egg, beaten + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar  + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature ]

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast, milk powder and salt.

Whisk the egg together with the warm water.

Using a dough hook, mix the egg-water in with the flour until its all mixed in. The mixture might look quite dry, with not all the flour being mixed in, but this is okay. Mix at low speed until a rough dough forms.  Increase the speed, and mix at medium speed for about 4 minutes.  The dough should have a rather stiff consistency.

Decrease the speed to low, and slowly add the sugar.  Mix until the sugar is fully incorporated.  The dough should soften a little at this point.  Increase the speed to medium, and knead for about 10 minutes.

Again decrease the speed to low, and add the softened butter.  Knead until mixed in, 2 or 3 minutes.  You may need to add a little additional flour to help it fully incorporate; do so by spoonfuls. 

Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a lightly oiled container and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.

While the dough is rising, make the cookie crust.

Cookie crust:
[ 6 ounces (about 1 1/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour + 3/4 teaspoon baking powder + a pinch of salt + 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 large egg + 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract ] OPTIONAL: 5-6 Oreos, frosting removed and ground pretty finely.

Place the butter and sugar in the KitchenAid fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix at high speed, scraping down the sides, until the butter and sugar are fully combined and turn to a pale yellow color.

Incorporate the egg at low speed. Add the flour and the baking powder and mix until just combined. If you’re using the Oreos, you can fold them into the mixture at this point to create a rippled/marbled effect.

Remove from the bowl, shape into a log, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm.

ASSEMBLY:

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Remove the dough from the bowl and cut into 8 equal pieces.

Roll each dough piece into a tight ball and set aside.

Remove cookie crust from refrigerator and cut into 8 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a circle and, with the back of a knife, make a cross-hatch pattern in the dough, being very careful not to cut through the dough.

Place cookie on top of roll, or roll on top of cookie and wrap the cookie crust around the roll. Repeat until all of the rolls are used up.

Sprinkle sugar over the cookie crust on each bun.

Bake in 350F oven for 20 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

MELONPAN

Bread dough:
[ 8 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed + 1 tablespoon nonfat dried milk powder + 1 teaspoon instant yeast + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/3 cup warm water + 1 large egg, beaten + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar  + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature ]

1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast, milk powder and salt.
2. Whisk the egg together with the warm water.
3. Using a dough hook, mix the egg-water in with the flour until its all mixed in. The mixture might look quite dry, with not all the flour being mixed in, but this is okay. Mix at low speed until a rough dough forms.  Increase the speed, and mix at medium speed for about 4 minutes.  The dough should have a rather stiff consistency.
4. Decrease the speed to low, and slowly add the sugar.  Mix until the sugar is fully incorporated.  The dough should soften a little at this point.  Increase the speed to medium, and knead for about 10 minutes.
5. Again decrease the speed to low, and add the softened butter.  Knead until mixed in, 2 or 3 minutes.  You may need to add a little additional flour to help it fully incorporate; do so by spoonfuls. 
6. Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a lightly oiled container and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.
7. While the dough is rising, make the cookie crust.

Cookie crust:
[ 6 ounces (about 1 1/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour + 3/4 teaspoon baking powder + a pinch of salt + 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 large egg + 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract ] OPTIONAL: 5-6 Oreos, frosting removed and ground pretty finely.

1. Place the butter and sugar in the KitchenAid fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix at high speed, scraping down the sides, until the butter and sugar are fully combined and turn to a pale yellow color.
2. Incorporate the egg at low speed. Add the flour and the baking powder and mix until just combined. If you’re using the Oreos, you can fold them into the mixture at this point to create a rippled/marbled effect.
3. Remove from the bowl, shape into a log, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm.

ASSEMBLY:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Remove the dough from the bowl and cut into 8 equal pieces.
3. Roll each dough piece into a tight ball and set aside.
4. Remove cookie crust from refrigerator and cut into 8 equal pieces.
5. Roll each piece into a circle and, with the back of a knife, make a cross-hatch pattern in the dough, being very careful not to cut through the dough.
6. Place cookie on top of roll, or roll on top of cookie and wrap the cookie crust around the roll. Repeat until all of the rolls are used up.
7. Sprinkle sugar over the cookie crust on each bun.
8. Bake in 350F oven for 20 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Enjoy!

  5 months ago       218 notes
  food  melonpan  dessert  japanese food  food photography  food blog  

1. Amber

  5 months ago       501 notes
  food  food photography  photographers on tumblr  

Hi there! 

First of all, a teacher of mine once said that while it’s admirable to pass down your knowledge, it is also wise to save the aces up your sleeves just in case your pupil stabs you in the back. Keeping that in mind, I’ll spill almost all the beans out (the important ones anyway) about my post editing techniques and they are as follows:

1. Getting the “Pretty-grungy-bluey-darky photo”

That’s achieved by having a room that has no windows save for one in the corner, which I pushed my photography table next to. The lack of light creates great shadow cast on the ingredients, so I take no credit for that whatsoever.

2. Photo editing program

I actually don’t use Photoshop. I use a much cheaper, much easier to manouver post-editing program called Paint.Net. And to achieve the look that I want, I use two editing methods, one is in one of these choices:

and the next is in one of these choices:

I suppose I’ll let you guys experiment with the program to guess which ones they are.

No post-editing session is the same for me. Sometimes when I get lazy or when I’m rushing, it shows. It all depends on how well you can identify potential awesome few from a sea of photographs

and tinkering with the brightness, contrast, focus, sharpness and whatnots to get the most out of them.

I hope this helps. Thanks for asking and pick up that camera and keep practicing. You’ll find your niche, promise!

  7 months ago       44 notes
  post editing  food photography  food blog  

Anyone up for a round of guess the food?

  8 months ago       11,554 notes
  food  food photography  food blog  photographers on tumblr  

Hot Dips - Cheesy Corn Dip, Jalapeno Popper Dip, Creamy Spinach Dip & Sweet Potato and Tahini Dip.

  1 year ago       468 notes
  dips  food  food photography  recipe  photographers on tumblr  

Equipments:

 I know I’ll sound superficial when I say this, but I think investing in a good camera is (one of) the first step to taking good food photographs. Since a major part of it is about capturing the different details of a dish, you’d want a camera that will do it justice.

 - In terms of lenses, as far as general food photography is concerned, standard ones will suffice especially when paired with manual focus manipulation. 

 - Tripod and reflectors are handy, but not necessary if you have steady hands and live in a well-lit area.

My equipment: Canon EOS 400D. No other additional equipments.

My set-up:

Background: A wooden table

Light Source: Sunlight diffused by double plexiglass window panes.

Lighting is crucial:

-  Food photographers usually use diffuse light and this can either be natural or artificial and you can almost always tell by looking at the end photos. 

- In terms of light source for food photography, sunlight beats them all. There’s nothing quite like it because it just illuminates the food in all the right places, although beware of shooting outdoor as the sunlight can get too harsh and “flatten” an image or cast strong shadows (this is where reflectors - car window reflector, home-made reflector [see how to make one yourself below] or bought ones) are handy.

Props: Inexpensive plates, silverware and basic kitchen tools and equipments.

Methodology, Cheats & Secret Handshakes of Basic Food Photography:

This is simply to introduce the basics of food photography to fellow novice photographers, primarily those with the availability of low-moderate lighting from natural sources (a.k.a. windowze). There’s no talk about ISO, DOF or apertures in this and all the pictures here have not gone through post-editing just to illustrate the points made.

Now that that’s clear, let’s get down to the general rules and know-hows of basic food photography.

#1: Know your limitations - Lighting & Space.

Knowing what source of lighting and space dimensions are available to you is a key step in determining expectations on how your photos will look.

Let me show you my work space:

Light source: the blinding light is a glare - it’s not actually that bright. It’s from an almost floor-to-ceiling double plexiglass panes. It’s also the only light source in the room.

Space & Surface area available: my wood table is about 1 metre long and 40cm wide, give or take a few cm. There’s a 22cm space between my photography table and my actual desk, where I stand to take the photographs.

VERDICT: Relatively poor lighting, limited space.

The majority of home photographers who have no designated room for photography will encounter this problem, so here’s how to make do with this situation.

What should you aim for?

Knowing the available means to me, I know I won’t be aiming for a studio-like photography - where the white background looks solid due to the stronger light source and there are no shadows cast due to the reflectors.

If it’s possible, try to take your photographs with natural lighting, as it will give a significantly different result to indoor lighting (everyone has a window, right?)

When I take a picture with a white background in the available lighting, it will look something like this:

Not very pretty, is it?

If you have a low light source, I suggest backing it up with a dark surface, be it with wood panels or backdrops (avoid shiny surfaces!). It will hide the shadows cast by the object, and will provide the needed contrast.

If you still insist on achieving the studio look, then you can either:

• Buy a light source (this is a must, unless your natural light is bright enough)
• Buy a reflector, OR
• Make a reflector:

You’ll need a piece of cardboard. Just go out to the garage and cut up an old cardboard box. The size of your new reflector is only limited by the size of the box.

You’ll need some aluminum foil for a silver reflector, or some white paper for a white reflector (like the one I made below)

Get your piece of cardboard and spray an even coat of the adhesive over one side

Cut off a piece of foil or white paper larger than the cardboard, and lay it on top. Smooth it out with your hands to spread out the adhesive. If you chose a really big piece of cardboard, just use as many pieces of foil or paper as needed

Wrap the overlap around the cardboard and glue the flaps to the back of it. That’s it, you’ve got a reflector!

***

I made a 3 sided reflector so that it reflects all the lights to the center, where my object would be - this is to counteract the low level of light. Just make sure the “opening” of the reflector faces the light source.

Once you made the reflector, it will eliminate the shadows cast by the food, making it go from this:

to this:

You can see the differences more clearly here:

With the aid of post-editing, you can adjust the lighting and white-balance to achieve a much cleaner, sharper look.

It’s not perfect, but this is pretty much as good as it gets without the proper lighting and equipment.

Lighting aside, I also know that I won’t be aiming to photograph wide angles, or “situational” photographs - i.e. photographing scenes of a meal or a long table of preparations - because the small distance between me (or my camera lens) and my object won’t allow it.

If you’re looking to do wide angle shots, then I suggest doing it outdoors or in a wide spaced kitchen.

#2: Basic styling and angling:

a. Colour combination:

The general rule of colour combination can be achieved by looking at the colour wheel.

(Image source: Sugarcraft)

As you can see above, the colour combination is really up to you and the theme or look you are trying to achieve.

b. Plating & Set-ups:

These are almost as important as the actual dish. Do go the extra length of nicely piling up the food. From my own experience, I learnt that:

– Pasta dishes looks best when the pasta is tossed with some of the sauce and piled with a bit of height on a plate, then the actual sauce spooned on top and finished off with some sort of topping or garnish - nothing too pretentious.

- Desserts almost always never look good with an overhead shot. I recommend shooting at eye-level or at 45-50^{o (degrees)}.

- “Too tight” cropping or framing doesn’t work with food – though the food needs to be the centre of attention, it also needs a little negative space or subdued decorated background/surroundings to complement it.

- Get up close and personal: The biggest mistake most novice photographers make when shooting food is that they take pictures from too big of a distance. Get in there with your camera and catch all the details - food don’t have personal space, they won’t complain.

- Stay with one axis: Don’t be tempted to take pictures at a slant. What I mean by this is make sure the bottom of your food follows one axis (preferrably horizontal) on the camera viewfinder. You don’t want viewers to get a crick on their neck while trying to move their head to follow the orientation of (extremely) slanted pictures.

c. Auto Vs. Manual Focus:

By principle, I only use Auto focus when I’m shooting from overhead (above the dish to get a bird’s eye view). This is because auto focus will give a wide distribution of focus on all the details of the dish. 

There is a downside to this though:

When you’re shooting from above and you’re shooting a number of things as opposed to only one thing, then you have to make sure that they’re of the same height, or at least make sure the primary object is the one that is placed the highest.

This is because when shooting from above, Auto focus will primarily capture and focus on the object with the higher topography - so prop that plate of pasta or pot of roast with a piece of wood if you’re taking a picture of it being surrounded by side dishes or whatnots.

Auto focus also puts you in a disadvantage when trying to take a picture of something inside a container with a relatively small opening. The principle is the same - the rim of the container is at a higher position and easier to capture with Auto focus.

So take that Auto focus training wheel off and practice manipulating your lens so that your pictures will go from this:

To this:

#3. Props:

a. Plates:

Forget fancy Chinas or whatever, get yourself a set of inexpensive white plates and bowls. This is one of the fundamental props for food photography because they’re so versatile and fits with the colours in the majority of food (be it sweet or savoury) and backdrops.

Once you get your hands on those and are comfortable shooting with them, start branching out and experimenting with combining plates of other colours and patterns to create the effect you want.

b. Cooking Equipments & Utensils:

If you’re looking to photograph the actual process of making food instead of just the finished product, then I suggest buying neutral handled utensils - preferrably ones that are made of wood or metals. Avoid those with cute cartoons or drawings as they tend to look unprofessional and are harder to incorporate into a shoot.

c. Cups and crystals:

Unless you’re planning to do an editorial on wine or spirits, I suggest you skip this entirely except for maybe a nice set of wine glass, some porcelain mugs and a plain glass pitcher (for lemonades etc).

Again, once you feel comfortable shooting with these, branch out to flea-market glass bottles and whatnots just to make the picture more interesting.

d. “Accessories”:

I personally don’t use additional props like flowers, ribbons or wrapping papers because I think the food is able to stand on its own with its intricacy, but this depends on the theme and preferences of each photographer. 

That’s really as much tricks I can give out since I’m also looking to learn more about food photography. Play around and get to know your camera settings and what works best for you by taking pictures of anything and everything.

Snap away!

  1 year ago       75 notes
  photography  food photography  

Grilled Chicken Banh Mi

  1 year ago       18,810 notes
  food  banh mi  food photography  chicken banh mi  photographers on tumblr  

I can already see you wrinkling your nose and raising one eyebrow (or two) in disgust, because that would be my initial reaction too. It all started a few years back when The Brown Boy  told me that his mom usually puts milk into juices - apple and mango, for example. He also told me that 7UP and milk makes a kickass combo (he was right, I tried it). And so it caught on, and one day I found myself with a half round of Muskmelon (a.k.a cantaloupe) and wondering what to do with it when I remembered our conversation, so I start to blend it with some milk, ice and honey. The result was amazing. It’s slightly sweet, unexpectedly creamy and just magnifficent. Nowadays I make it with the lowest fat milk available in the house to drink [read: eat] whenever I’ve had something big and hefty for the previous night or day (the toad in the hole, in this case), I guess it’s kinda like penance or something.

Oh, and don’t worry about the notion of it being dangerous to eat melon and then to drink milk (or drink milk at the same time)…adverse reactions rarely happen, it’s just another one of those dogmas.

MELON MILK:

[ 1 cup milk + 3/4 cup cantaloupe pieces + 1-2 tablespoons of sugar or honey (or to your taste) + 1/2 cup ice ]

Put everything in the blender and blitz until smooth.

You can strain it, but I never do - the pulps are good for you!

Adjust the amount of sugar or honey to your taste and serve cold.

Enjoy!

  1 year ago       273 notes
  melon milk  food  drink  food blog  food photography  

Someone should really explain to me why this dish is named the way it is, because I really don’t see how sausages could ever be thought of as toads. Am I missing something here? or is there a baffling history to its name? Either way, I’m curious. I’ve always thought that toad in the hole is the same as frog in the hole, but apparently frog in the hole is synonym to eggs in the basket. It’s all very mindboggling, I tell you. There should be a food nomenclature where people must abide by a rule to stick with naming a dish with the actual components of it, and in this case, of browned sausages submerged in a Yorkshire pudding batter and then baked into puffy perfection in a very hot oven. Here’s a recipe for it, with minor adjustments to the method just to make sure the batter actually rises (I’ve had a couple of hits and misses when it comes to Yorkshire pudding (or popovers, whichever you call it), so here’s putting those lessons learned to good use). Run with it to the table and serve, because the puffiness does not hang around for long.

TOAD IN THE HOLE (recipe from Simply Recipes):

[ 1 cup of all purpose flour + 2 eggs, beaten + 3/4 - 1 cup milk + 1 1/2 tablespoon melted butter + 2 tablespoon vegetable oil + 1 lb sausages, or 2 sausages per person ] OPTIONAL: a handful of cherry tomatoes + smoked beef slices or bacon + dried herbs.

***

A traditional way of making the batter is to make a well inside the flour and cracking the eggs into them before incorporating the milk in to make a smooth batter.

We’re going to do the reverse, since we’re such wicked free thinkers…and because it also makes a lighter batter and a much more foolproof Yorkshire pudding. So, we are going to:

Whisk the egg and milk in a large bowl until a bit frothy

Add in the flour a bit at a time and keep whisking until a smooth batter is formed (add more milk if the batter looks too thick).

Let the batter sit for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, coat the bottom and sides of an 8x12 or 9x9 casserole dish (or any other vessel for your toad in the hole) with vegetable oil.

Place a rack in the bottom third of the oven. Put the empty dish on the rack. Preheat the oven with the dish in it to 425°F.

While the oven is coming to temperature, heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a skillet on medium high.

Add the sausages (I wrapped mine in smoked beef slices, go for bacon if you wish) and brown them in the skiller. Add in the cherry tomatoes, if using.

When the sausages have browned and the dish in the oven is hot, pull the oven rack out a bit.

Put the sausages (and tomatoes) in the casserole dish (I just used the skillet and pour the batter right in before putting it in the oven) and pour the batter over the sausages. Scatter the herbs on top, if using.

Cook for about 20-30 minutes or until the batter is risen and golden.

Serve on its own or with some quick stovetop caramelized shallot gravy, like the one below:

CARAMELIZED SHALLOT GRAVY:

[ 3 tablespoons butter + 1 1/2 cups freshly peeled, sliced shallots + 1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce + 1 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour + 1 cup stock (beef, chicken etc) + salt and freshly ground pepper to taste ] OPTIONAL: Cubed bacon or smoked meat.

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy skillet over a medium burner. When the butter is foamy, add the sliced shallots, and stir to coat well.

Cook for approximately 20 minutes, stirring often.

When the shallots begin to brown at the edges, stir carefully and often against the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release the caramelized juices.

If the shallots begin to stick, add a tablespoon of water as necessary to dissolve the caramel.

When the shallots are deep honey brown color, transfer to a bowl to cool.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoon of butter and add the bacon or smoked meat if using. When the fat is hot, sprinkle the flour over, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon for about one minute.

Turn off the burner, add the worchestershire sauce and stock, then stir carefully with a wire whisk until the mixture is smooth.

Return the pan to a medium burner. Continue to whisk, and stir until thickened.

Stir in the caramelized shallots with a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper, and bring the pan back to a simmer over medium heat. Skim away any fat or foam that comes to the surface. Adjust the heat as necessary to keep the pot bubbling gently for 10 minutes.

Serve the toad in the hole with the gravy and the requisite roasted vegetables.

Enjoy!

  1 year ago       35 notes
  food  toad in the hole  food blog  food photography