Rigatoni Pasta with Aubergine Sauce

Can a dish of pasta be light and tasty at the same time?
Yes, if you use fresh, seasonal vegetables, prepared with other ingredients that enhance their flavor and makes the recipe tasty and surprising, but still quick and easy to prepare.

Ingredients for 4 servings
1 lb. rigatoni pasta (or similar)
2 aubergines
1 leek
1 garlic clove
½ cup pine nuts
5 oz. bacon
grated Pecorino cheese
½ cup meat stock
parsley
5 tablespoons olive oil
salt

Preparation
Wash and clean aubergines and leek and slice them. Slice the bacon into cubes. Toast the pine nuts.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic clove, crushed, and the leek. Fry for 5 minutes. Place into aubergines, bacon and stock and cook for about twenty minutes, then remove the garlic and keep warm.
Boil about four pints of water, add some pinches of salt and pour in the pasta. Cook until it is very "al dente" (about 2 minutes less than recommended). Drain and place it in pan where the sauce is, adding pine nuts. Cook for a couple of minutes, sprinkle with grated Pecorino cheese and garnish with a sprig of parsley.

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Andare Contro le Regole Going Against the Rules

How many times people said to you "shoot with the sun behind! or "stay in the sun so I can take a picture of you!"

It happened a lot to me, putting the subject under the light isn't exactly a rule. It sounds like a truism.

Yet for this picture that I was chasing for two years (these are the hills behind my home) I managed to finally take a photo I liked not caring about it at all: aperture f16, time 1/400, ND4 gradual neutral filter to darken the sky and I aimed the camera directly at the sun.

Technique is important, essential indeed. But the picture is in your eyes and in your mind. That is the one to chase.

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October 2009 Desktop Calendar

Also for the forthcoming month Food-o-grafia offers to its readers a desktop calendar, alas a wallpaper for your PC screen with a food photo and the calendar of the current month.
In the calendar for October I chose the photo of "Carabaccia, Tuscan Onion Soup" whose recipe you can found in this post.
To set the image as your desktop click on the link at the end of this post with the image dimensions that suit your PC screen and, after the image will load, right-click on it with your mouse (or press ctrl while clicking for some Mac users) and select "Set as Desktop Background..." (or something similar depending on the web browser you're using).

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Carabaccia Tuscan Onion Soup

Do you want to to eat like Leonardo da Vinci?
No, I'm not kidding.
This traditional Tuscan recipe really has very old origins and it seems that the Renaissance genius, who was vegetarian, appreciated it above all else.
Continuing to browse through historical sources that speak of Carabaccia, we found that its name derives from the greek "karabos", indicating a shell-shaped boat: the term over time also indicated the kitchen utensil, similar to a bowl, where this recipe was traditionally cooked.
Caterina de Medici, when she married Henry II of Orleans, brought the recipe to the French royal court, and from there, over the centuries, it entered in the French culinary tradition becoming the famous "soupe d'oignons".
I rarely exalt the recipes that I submit but this time I'll make an exception: it is fantastic.
You really have no excuse to not try it since it is also easy to prepare.

Ingredients for 4 servings
2¼ lb. red or golden onions
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup meat stock
4 tablespoons almonds (minced)
½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons honey
4 tablespoons grated Pecorino cheese
4 slices Tuscan bread
butter
pepper

Preparation
Cut the onions into thin slices. Put them to sauté with the olive oil in a covered earthenware pot on low heat for about 15 minutes. Add broth, cinnamon, honey and almonds and cook for other 20 minutes or until the broth is evaporated.
Meanwhile grease the bread with butter and toast it. When the soup is ready pour into four oven-proof bowls placing on each a slice of bread sprinkled with a tablespoon of grated Pecorino cheese. Grill in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese has melted, sprinkle with some pepper and serve.

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Autumn Vegetables

A little "divertissement" made to test an old lens that I just got.

Food Photography: Video of a Shooting Set

Imagine yourself holding your camera and with the food you just cooked on the table. You did read my post on the 5 basic laws of food photography and you really want to put them at use.
But where to start? Is the window light good enough for the shooting? How I place the dish? At which height have I to place the camera?
These questions are the identical to the ones that every food photographer always ask to himself before shooting.
But since looking is more powerful than a thousand words I want to share with you a video by an US pro food photographer, Steve Buchanan, which will show you how he built his set inside a house, with just natural light at disposal, and all the preparatory work needed to take a good food shot.
I don't want to explain now what you'll watch in the video, just look carefully at it and notice the details: some of them are really important tricks you can use in your own shooting (not just food related).
Try to find them without my help, so they'll soon become your knowledge, and after this work ask me freely.


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Whiskey Cake with Butterscotch Sauce

Who amidst you, in these rainy autumn evenings, would say no to a cake that warms your heart just looking at it and that is also easy to prepare?
Before answering please have a look at this whiskey flavored recipe of the British tradition that is a delight for the taste and the eyes.
The idea of combining the classic Scottish whisky cake with the butterscotch sauce was from Steve Pearce, chef and food stylist of Donna Hay, and I found it in one of the latest issues of the magazine.
I made a single variant, using black treacle in the sauce, just to give a licorice flavor and avoid it to become too sweet.

Ingredients for 4 servings
¼ cup sultanas
⅛ cup whiskey
¾ cup brown sugar
1⅜ cup all purpose flour
1 coffee spoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
3¼ oz. butter
¼ cup sour cream

For the butterscotch sauce
1¾ oz. butter
½ cup double cream
¼ cup black treacle
¼ cup brown sugar

Preparation
Soak raisins in whiskey for about ten minutes. Place in a bowl the flour, sifted, sugar, baking soda and baking powder and mix well. Melt the butter and add it together with eggs, sour cream and raisins, stir and pour into the bowl. Mix well to combine in a smooth mixture and pour into a greased bundt tin of about 5-6 cup capacity. Heat the oven 320F and cook for about 1 hour or until the inside of the cake is well cooked. Turn the cake on a cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes before removing the bundt.
To prepare the sauce place the butter, treacle, sugar and cream in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until has thickened enough, continuing to stir to prevent sticking to the pan. Remove from heat and pour the sauce, still warm, over the cake before serving it.


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Food Photography: 5 Basic Laws

I already wrote in various posts (here, here and here) about food photography, particularly about lighting.
In this post I start with the basics, ie the things needed to produce a picture that, although not professional, is able to convey the goodness of the food that you prepared.

1. Use an SLR camera
Don't listen to ads, magazine reviews, shopkeepers, acquaintances, and so on. Even the most beautiful and expensive compact camera is not suitable for taking pictures of food. An expert photographer might be able to pull out something decent from it, understanding how to use it in manual mode, but you're not an expert otherwise you would not read this post. Do not throw away money.
You don't need to spend a fortune to buy a digital SLR camera. If you want to take some pictures to be displayed on internet you do not need the latest model with 16 megapixels and the new UltramegaIII microprocessor.
With new models coming out every few months is very likely to find good digital SLR cameras that were considered almost professional just a couple of years ago and at a price less than a new midrange compact camera. Make a search on eBay for used digital SLR cameras so to have a look at the prices but go also to visit the shops near to you.
Consider that any digital SLR is still a good camera and it is rare that the previous owner "exploited" it to death because of its quick obsolescence. But you do not care of obsolescence. You are interested in the outcome, not to show off your camera to photo enthusiastic friends or customers.

2. Use a fixed focal length lens
A lens with a fixed focal length (also called "prime" lens) means that you always shoot with the same angle of view.
But how can you shoot a subject to make it look closer or farther?
Use your feet!
You are in your kitchen and just one step closer or farther away is enough to get the shot you want.
Forget zooms, the ones included in the the reflex camera kits are usually of poor quality, while the good ones cost money, a lot, and you do not need them to shoot food. Get just a 50 mm f1.8 which costs about $100 used and you have everything you need to get started. And you can also take with it a lot of beautiful photos on other occasions: zooms were invented in the 70s and before that time hundreds of photographers became celebrated artists using only a 50mm. lens.

3. Use the camera in manual mode
When you have a SRL camera in your hands do not be intimidated by all the buttons you see. Read the instruction manual, but above all learn to use the camera in manual mode. Do not allow the camera thinking for you.
Modern cameras are programmed to take decent pictures in standard situations. Food photography is not a standard situation!
Learn the four basic principles of photography: shutter speed (also called exposure time), aperture, sensitivity of the sensor (or film) and focus. There is a huge quantity of information here on the internet about them without buying expensive books, make a search with "aperture shutter speeds" and you'll soon have dozens of links to browse, most of which are of excellent quality.
In short the logic is the following: the longer is the exposure time the more light enters in the camera and the more the picture will be brighter. The more the aperture is closed the more part of the image will be in focus but the less light will enter the camera and then the picture will be darker and darker. The more the sensor (or film) is sensitive (sensitivity is a value expressed in exponential ISO speeds: 100-200-400-800, and so on) the more it captures the light that enters the camera at expense of image quality.
You have a subject, namely the food, which has a big advantage: it doesn't move! So the procedure is as follows: set the lowest sensitivity that your camera allows (usually ISO 100), set the aperture wide open, focus the point of the image that you want to be the sharpest, close the aperture depending on how much you want the image sharp around the focus point, choose the time that allows you to take a photo with a proper exposure, alas that is well lit. Do not blindly trust the light meter, experiment and compare the results. In no time you'll be able to judge the correct exposure.
Using a tripod is a must. It's another little expense but it will allow you to use long exposure times without shaking the camera.
At the very end don't care about the 100 buttons of the camera and care only about these four things: exposure time, aperture, sensitivity, focus. Repeat it like a mantra.

4. Use window light
Sometimes I browse some blogs or even some professional sites where I have the suspect that those who took the pictures live in catacombs or in some dark cellars.
You do not need to have a lighting system like the ones used by professional photographers to take good pictures of food. All you need to have is just some bright window light.
Forget to take pictures at night, with light bulbs or worse. Rather wait to have a little time when there's daylight available, put your plate next to a window, usually just before it or at the side, pull a white tent if the light is too direct so that it becomes softer and more spread and you already have excellent lighting.

5. An ugly photo ruins a tasty recipe
You have to remember that you are on the internet, not in your kitchen. In a written page there's no flavor or taste. People can read you recipe but most of the time they look at the pictures first.
So you spend hours preparing some great recipe, with all your love and passion, and then you settle for a terrible picture that makes look the food inedible? Please, don't tell me that just the culinary content is really important, why did you not just write the recipe then without ruining it with a photo that is not up to it?
Talking as a food enthusiast I can assure you that it is better not having pictures than using ugly ones: some of my favorite cookbooks do not display any picture.
If you instead want to show the goodness of your culinary dishes, capturing the attention of the viewer, you have to realize that pictures are of fundamental importance: they depict you!
The culinary creations that represent you and your passion have to look good and tasty. So you have to spend time and a little money to try to show them the best you can. I will write more posts on this blog that will teach you how to succeed in producing pictures of food better and better. But time, passion and persistence to achieve results are up to you, there are no shortcuts.
I understand of course that not everyone has lot of free time to learn how to properly take food pictures but what is excusable for amateurs bloggers (but the logic is always better nothing than ugly) it is not for those who intend to be professionals.
Ugly photos of your culinary dishes give the impression of a lack of care in your work: would you serve food to your customers in chipped dishes in a spoiled room, maybe using a waiter with dirty clothes? If the answer is no, call a professional food photographer to help you. We do not cost that much.


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Coffee Crémets with Cocoa Glaze

In this post we travel over the Alps with a parfait that I found in a French cookbook but that uses another Italian symbol: espresso coffee.
You know me, I'm lazy and messy, so the preparation is very simple as usual but it uses another little trick.
How many times did you grumble (using a euphemism) because the parfait, that you put into a metal mold to get frozen, didn't want to come out when it's time to serve it?
So you heat it in warm water, or use other similar methods, with the result that, once upside down on the serving plate, half of it is completely melted and the other half still icy. Let's face it, this is not a nice way to present it to guests.
If instead we line the inside of the molds with thin muslin or gauze and we wrap with it completely the parfait, when it'll be ready you just have to keep it a few moments out of the freezer and you'll be able to extract it easily from the mold retaining a perfect shape.

Ingredients for 4 servings

9 oz. cream cheese
1 cup double cream
4 tablespoons of espresso coffee (or other very strong coffee)
½ cup superfine sugar
3½ oz. powdered cocoa
1¾ oz. butter
milk

Preparation
Prepare four molds lining the inside with thin muslin, leave enough fabric to wrap the bottom.
Put the cream cheese in a bowl and beat with a bit of milk to make smooth, pour the cream continuing to beat so to have a mixture quite hard but creamy.
Add the coffee and sugar and mix well together. Pour into the molds and seal completely with the fabric.
Put in the freezer for at least 2 hours, after that time prepare the glaze by melting the butter at low heat and gradually adding cocoa until you got a cream.
While the glaze cools a bit, remove the crémets from the freezer, remove them from the molds and peel out the fabric. Put each one on its plate and pour over the cocoa glaze just before you serve.

Spaghetti with Italian Tomato Sauce

Every person in Italy probably has his recipe for the tomato sauce used to dress pasta: some people still remember what they learned from their mother when they were children; other use those promoted by some more or less famous chef; others tell tall stories about the famous and most secret one handed down by  grandmother Gertrude at her time of dying.
Mine is simply a refinement of the sauce that I had to learn to prepare when I started living alone because I had to eat something. Over the time it has been varied due to numerous additions from experience and suggestions from friends, for example I use thyme since I tasted it for the first time in the sauce prepared by a friend's wife in place of the more common oregano.
In short it is a unpretentious recipe and quite easy to prepare, the addition of cherry tomatoes at the end is optional and recommended only if you can find some fresh and tasty.

Ingredients for two servings

½lb. spaghetti
1¾ lbs. tomatoes (preferably San Marzano kind)
½lb. cherry tomatoes
1 onion
2 basil leaves
1 sprig of thyme
3 cloves of garlic
olive oil
salt
grated pecorine cheese

Preparation
Peel the tomatoes and let drain for an hour at least so to remove some of their water, or, if canned, drain well. Heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil over low heat in a earthenware pan.
When the oil is hot put into the cloves of crushed garlic and let wither until browned, take off after being careful not to burn. Pour in coarsely chopped onion and brown for a couple of minutes, add then tomatoes with basil and thyme.
Cook over low heat, adding a little salt (I hate "sweet" sauces), until all the moisture of the tomatoes will be evaporated.
If you want to add the cherry tomatoes, cut them in half and cook in a bit of salted water avoiding to crush if you, like me, prefer them still whole. When ready, drain and add to the sauce.
Cook the spaghetti in salted water. When the water boils, add a tablespoon of oil and pour pasta inside, lowering the heat a bit. Cook pasta "al dente", drain and pour into a large non stick frying pan together with sauce for a minute or two.
Serve pasta sprinkled with grated pecorino cheese.

I like it... at last!

Do you remember when I talked about photography and how you need to know the technique inside and out, hear the experts' opinion and study other photographers' shots, but at the very end you must throw this all behind your back and just shoot as you like, because otherwise the result is "soulless"?
For the restyling of this blog, out of inexperience and ignorance, I forgot to follow the logic above and the result was decent indeed, but the more I looked at it, the more it didn't grow on me.
Well, I did not like it at all actually.
I then spent another week to remade it from scratch, not caring if it wouldn't be nice, trendy or "ergonomic," but just following my taste.
Maybe the new "theme" of this blog is just a huge crap, but a crap I can call mine.
Please, put up with it ;)

P.S.: and now finally I can go back to cook and shoot!

Work in SLOW progress

Starting from today this blog has a renewed graphic layout and its own personalized URL but, even if it continues to be hosted on the Blogger platform, it suffers from the "very little" problem concerning Picasa and its refusal to let it access its images. I avoid to report the various @#!@#! I'm shouting while I'm working to migrate all the images needed on a more reliable server and rewriting all the related links.
Please be patient and forgive me.

Work in Progress

I already have a recipe in the refrigerator ready to be photographed, but I'm spending these latest days, in an unhappy mood, reorganizing this blog.
So please apologize me but be ready for some cool news ;)

Croutones with Chicken Livers Pâté and Sage

A few days ago I did read a quote from Julia Child, the famous chef who made the French cuisine popular in the U.S.: "You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces, just good food from fresh ingredients." I couldn't agree more. But with all the due respect to Mrs. Child, also Pellegrino Artusi followed this principle in his famous cookbook: genuine ingredients and quick and easy recipes, with the goal to satisfy the taste, not to amaze the viewer.
This is the reason why for this weekend I am proposing this recipe that comes, with some modifications, from the Artusi's cookbook. Its main characteristic is the cheapness: the cost of all the ingredients should be less than 5 euro, and probably the same in dollars in the U.S. and, despite of this, it is one of my favorites. I proposed it both as a starter or a second course (especially at dinner), always appreciated by my guests.

Ingredients for 2 people: 2/3 lb. of Tuscan bread (or other suitable white bread), 9/10 oz. of chicken livers, 1 slice of Parma ham, 1 medium sized onion, 2 sprigs of sage, Parmesan cheese, all-purpose flour, 1 egg, butter, pepper, salt, red wine, milk.

Preparation: a little trick to get started. Many people do not like chicken livers because sometimes they are bitter. Soak them in milk the night before cooking and their taste will be a lot sweeter. Finely chop the onion and the ham and put to fry in a pan with some butter over low heat. When the onion begins to brown add the chicken livers, drained from milk, crushed together with 5-6 leaves of sage. Add salt and pepper to your taste. When the pâté begins to thicken, add one tablespoon of butter and one of flour, pouring some red wine to moisten if needed. Cut the bread into slices and divide into croûtons. Spread the croûtons with the freshly prepared pâté and place a sage leaf on top of each. Refrigerate until it's time to serve. Then beat an egg, brush with it the top of the croûtons, dust with a little flour and fry them upside down in hot butter for about a minute. Serve them hot (even if I also like them cold the next day).

Figs with Honey, Almonds and Spices

Today I follow the series of quick but tasty recipes. This one also uses fruits that you can easily find fresh in these September days: figs. The recipe is of Middle Eastern origin but, with some minor variations, it is traditional in all the regions around the Mediterranean Sea. Its strength is that it can be served in virtually any occasion: as fruits, as a dessert or even as a snack at mid afternoon. For people following a diet like me it was an excellent dinner (yuck!).

Ingredients for 2 servings: 8 fresh purple skinned figs, 1/4 cup of almonds, 3 teaspoons of rose water, 2 tablespoons of honey, ground ginger, ground cinnamon and butter.

Preparation: cut the figs into quarters almost reaching the base, open gently and put in the refrigerator for about an hour. Meanwhile chopped roughly the almonds and toast on low heat with a bit of butter. Take out the figs, arrange on a serving platter and dribble with rose water. Sprinkle the inside of each fig with a little of ginger and cinnamon, then pour in the center the ground almonds and drizzle them with honey before serving.

P.S. I shot the photo above with a lens I searched for about a year: a Topcon Topcor 100/2.8.