My husband and I have been watching The Sopranos recently (yes, I’m apparently 10 years behind the curve here), and I can only listen to the characters talk about manicotti and baked ziti so many times before I get a serious craving for some Italian food. It got me thinking to a public television cooking show I saw a while ago, Lidia’s Italy. I remember she made a lasagna that used bread instead of noodles, and it struck me as brilliant.

I know making pasta isn’t hard, but there’s something about boiling lasagna noodles that is a huge pain in the ass. They’re huge, you must not over cook them, you have to prevent them from sticking to each other after draining… I don’t know, maybe I’m just lazy, but the idea of using bread really caught my attention. Of course, I couldn’t find Lydia’s recipe to go from, so this version is totally made up by me. But not only do I want to credit her for general inspiration, she also has an Italian cooking show, so she gives my crazy bread lasagna some legitimacy. Maybe. Shhh.

The easiest thing to use is a loaf of pre-sliced, crusty sourdough. I know I recommend sourdough for everything, but really, it’s awesome in this dish. You want the favor, of course, but you also want a sturdy “artisan” type bread that won’t fall apart in the oven. This isn’t a job for sliced sandwich bread. It’s best with bread that is even perhaps a little stale. Look for a quality sliced loaf in the day old section of your grocer and save a buck or two.

You can put absolutely anything in this lasagna. I picked eggplants because I had three of them. I think they are lovely in this, so I recommend them, but really, stuff this with whatever you like or whatever is handy.

Rustic Bread & Eggplant Lasagna
Serves 9-12

3 Tbs Olive Oil
4-6 Cloves Garlic, minced (optional)
2 28 oz Cans Organic Tomatoes, blended
2 tsp Salt
4 tsp Dried Italian Herbs
Olive Oil, for drizzling
2-3 Medium Eggplants, peeled
8-10 Large Slices of Sourdough Bread
1 Cup Breadcrumbs (or 2 more pieces of bread for toasting and food processing)
1-2 Large, Ripe Tomatoes, fresh, for garnish
Basil, for garnish

In a very large skillet with high sides, or a sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Sweat the garlic for 1-2 minutes, then add tomatoes, salt, and herbs. Cook for 30 minutes (bubbling), stirring occasionally. Invert a mesh strainer over the top of the pan to prevent splatter, if desired.

Preheat oven to 400º F.

Meanwhile, prep two baking sheets with parchment paper. Peel the eggplants by slicing off the top and bottom and using the cut edge to start your vegetable peeler. Holding the eggplant vertically, cut the eggplants into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange in one layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle liberally with olive oil.

Bake eggplant for 30-40 minutes at 400º, turning once, until very, very soft and browned in some places.

Spray both sides of each slice of bread with spray oil and “grill” in a hot skillet until browned on both sides. You can also simply toast the bread, but I think you get more flavor with grilling.

In a large baking dish (a lasagna dish), spread 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce. Line the bottom of the dish with bread, filling as many as the gaps as possible without overlapping.

Place half of the eggplant on top of the bread, followed by another 1 to 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce.

Add a second layer of bread.

Add the second half of the eggplant, and all of the remaining sauce. Make sure that the bread is completely covered by sauce. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top.

Place fresh tomato slices on the top of the lasagna, sprinkled with salt and pepper.

Bake for 40 minutes at 400º F. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before cutting.

Top with basil leaves and drizzle sweet and thick balsamic vinegar (or balsamic syrup) on the plate if desired. Enjoy!

I tend to get my fresh vegetables on Tuesday, so by the time Sunday rolls around, I’m down a lot of produce. I wanted to make something yummy for dinner, but the only fresh veggie I had was an eggplant. My husband has undertaken a massive pantry operation (we have synched eLists and everything now), so I knew I had lasagna noodles, canned tomatoes, and pine nuts in with our non-perishables.

I’ve been wanting to play around with the idea of rolled lasagna for a while. It’s fun, easy, and not as messy to serve. I’ve found that vegan lasagna falls apart even more readily than its dairy counterpart since it doesn’t have solidifying cheese to keep it together. Rolled lasagna holds its shape marvelously and it’s attractive. It’s also a great way to make smaller portions of lasagna, if you don’t want a huge casserole dish full of it.

I baked mine in gratin dishes (you know me and individually portioned food). You can just as easily bake this in one large dish; there shouldn’t be a difference. You can also fill them with whatever you like. I think sundried tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, roasted peppers… any of those would be a fabulous addition. I’ll add some possible variations to the recipe below.

Eggplant and Pine Nut Rolled Lasagna
Serves 4 (easily adapted)

8 Lasagna Noodles
1 Eggplant
Olive Oil
Salt
Black Pepper
2+ Cups Marinara Sauce (your favorite)
2 Slices Bread, toasted (or prepared breadcrumbs)

Pine Nut Spread
1 Cup Pine Nuts
1 Tbs Water
1/2 tsp White Wine Vinegar, or lemon juice
1 tsp Dried Italian Herbs
1/4 – 1/2 tsp Salt

Variation Ideas:
Add 1/3 Cup of Sun Dried tomatoes to pine nut spread
Add 1 Cup of sauteed spinach when filling
Add fresh baby spinach leaves when filling
Add 1 Cup of sauteed mushrooms when filling
Add strips of sauteed summer squash when filling

Boil noodles in salted water until al dente. Drain and lay out the noodles on a cookie sheet, lightly spraying with oil so that they do not stick. Set aside.

Peel eggplant. I find the easiest way to do this is to cut off both ends and use the edge provided to get your vegetable peeler started. I’ve found it difficult to get the peeler to cut the skin otherwise.

Place the eggplant upright on the cutting board. Slice the eggplant in long, thin vertical slices. Then slice each of these in half again, also vertically. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a large non-stick or cast-iron skillet, begin browning the eggplant strips in olive oil, 2-3 Tbs a batch (or more). When strips are very tender and nicely browned on both sides, set aside.

In the hot skillet you cooked the eggplant in, add the pine nuts. Toast the pine nuts over medium-low heat until golden brown, being careful not to burn. Add the pine nuts to the work bowl of a food processor. Grind the nuts as well as you can, then add the remaining ingredients for the pine nut spread. Process until well combined.

Toast the bread and process into breadcrumbs.

Preheat oven to 400º F.

Assembly

Spread a little pine nut spread ontp each noodle. You don’t need a lot, it’s very rich! Add eggplant strips, as well as any other filling.

Roll up each noodle and place in your baking dish(es) seam-side down. Cover generously with sauce.

Top with breadcrumbs and bake for 20-25 minutes. Since everything is already cooked, they just need to heat up and slightly brown. If you’re baking them in individual gratin dishes as shown here, place all the dishes on a baking sheet for easier removal from the oven. Serve immediately!

Food bloggers wear a lot of hats. We have to be chefs, prep cooks, food stylists, photographers, photo editors, dish washers, and writers every time we post a something new.  I’ve been wanting to do a post on food photography for a while; everyone who has ever emailed me about my photos: this is for you.

Most food bloggers don’t have their own studios, or professional lighting equipment, or access to food stylists.  Here’s how you can make your own high-quality food photos at home no matter what equipment you have.

There is a lot that happens before and after I click the shutter that contributes to the final photo.  I’m not a professional photographer, and I’m figuring things out along the way with a lot of trial and error.  The only prior knowledge I have is some skills that I picked up in a high school photography class several years ago.  A lot of the tips online about food photography are for commercial shoots, and therefore don’t contain much specific information for the home food blogger.

Workflows and techniques are very personal, so I’m sure other food bloggers out there achieve fabulous results doing things differently than I do.  This is what works for me, and I hope you find it useful.

Dishes

Above is just one part of my dish collection, and it grows all the time.

The right dish really sets the overall look for the photo. Everytime I’m in a store that sells dishes, I pick up one or two of something I find interesting. You don’t need a full set.  Some general tips:

1. White will always, always work.
2. Square dishes always look classy.
3. Smaller is better — small dishes are easier to fill up with food, which prevents your plate from looking bare.

Also look online for fun dishes.  I have a friend who works at Beau-Coup Favors, a neat favors business, and he sent me these great little miniature martini glasses I use in a lot of photos in this post. Just goes to show you how the right presentation can make even a boring vegetable salad look gorgeous.

Plan Ahead

Do as much as you possibly can ahead of time.  Food should be photographed as soon as possible after preparing, which means you’ll need a space for photographing ready to go, an uncluttered kitchen, etc.  Here’s what I do before I start cooking:

1.  Clean up, do all the dishes, clear countertops
2.  Pick out dishes
3.  Set camera up on tripod, pick out background
4.  Clear your photography space
5.  Think about the dish: do you need a garnish? Special utensils? Placemat?

Mise en Place

Prepping all your ingredients neatly will keep your kitchen more organized, cut down on cooking time, and allow you to focus on the task at hand.  And mise en place photographs make for killer filler photos, as well!

Starting Out

When I first started doing my blog, I had a sony point-and-shoot digital camera, no tripod, and I got on just fine.

The image to the left was taken with a point-and-shoot (PnS) at night, with only my kitchen light on. Even better is taking your photos during the day with natural light. The colors will be much more true to real life, like this photo, which was also taken with a simple consumer camera.

But if you’re looking to improve not only your photos but also your equipment, here are some tips for you.

Moving Up

If you are interested in investing a little money in your photography, I’d highly recommend getting a “prosumer” digital SLR (single-lens reflex) camera and a trusty lens or two. There are a lot of cameras on the market, but most people find themselves deciding between Canon and Nikon. It’s really difficult to say which is better, and the reality is that they’re both great. I happen to shoot Canon, so my recommendations will be for Canon products, since that’s what I know.

Digital SLR Bodies

I started out with a Canon Rebel XTi, aka the EOS 450D. This is the perfect camera to start out with if you want a dSLR, but don’t want to spend too too much, and don’t want a super clunky camera. Granted, the XTi is much larger than a pocket-sized camera, but compared to other SLRs on the market, it’s downright tiny. You’ll be able to use different lenses, change your aperture and shutter speed, set your white balance, shoot RAW–pretty much everything you’ll want to do to take your photography to the next level.

However, I started with the XTi, and quickly upgraded to the EOS 30D. A little too quickly. I should have spent a little more money up front and gone with the 30D to begin with. But it’s bigger, heavier, and more expensive. Think about what you want in a camera, and go to a store and hold different models before you decide what the right camera is for you.  The 40D is out now, and the 50D has been announced, so I bet you could get a pretty good deal on a 30D right now.

Lenses

Whatever camera you get, I suggest you skip over any camera package that includes what they call a “kit” lens.  The lenses the cameras are packaged with are usually semi-poor quality “all purpose” lenses that do a bit of everything, but don’t do anything well.  By getting the camera body only, and purchasing the lenses you want separately, you’ll not only save money, but also be getting exactly what you want.  But that’s another decision you need to make: what lenses are you going to buy?

There are a lot of lenses you can get that will work for food photography. Here are my recommendations, but keep in mind these are definitely not the only options. The lenses here are ones that I 1) own and use myself and 2) make great photos for things other an food photography.  If I’m going to spend a few hundred dollars on a lens, I want to use it for more than just food photography!

Canon 50mm 1.8  $80-90ish
If you’re on a budget and can only buy one lens, I’d recommend this one. It’s cheap compared to other lenses, and is a very “fast” lens. A fast lens is one that has a very wide aperture that creates nice depth of field and can be used in low-light situations (more on all that later). The downsides: slow, loud auto-focus, a cheaply built plastic body, and cannot focus very close to your subject. I owned it and it was great for three months. Then it broke. Still, very highly recommended.  It is also a great general lens that you’ll love to shoot portraits with as well.

Example Image from 50mm 1.8:

Canon 50mm 1.4  $325
This is the big brother to the 50mm 1.8. It has all the benefits the of the 1.8, but an even faster aperture, a much sturdier body, closer focusing range, quieter and faster auto-focus and a nicer “bokeh.” (More on bokeh later.) It’s much more expensive but will last you longer, and compared to Canon’s other lenses, this is still on the “affordable” side, believe it or not. I use this lens all sorts of photos. (You can spend even more and get the 50mm 1.2 L series lens, but that’s even more expensive than this one.)

Example Image from 50mm 1.4:

Canon 60mm 2.8 Macro, EF-S  $400
You might not think there would be a large difference between a 50mm and a 60mm, so why own both? I’ll tell you why–this lens is a macro lens. A macro lens allows you to really get in there and focus closely on your food (or whatever) and get details you’d be hard pressed to get with another lens.  It’s also  fast lens and doubles nicely as a portrait lens.  I’ve shot the majority of my food photos with this lens, and I’d say if you only were to buy one lens for food photography, this lens or another similar macro lens might be your best investment.  However, if you ever plan to upgrade your camera to something nicer than a 30/40/50D, be aware that this lens won’t mount onto the more professional Canon cameras like the 5D and 1D.  (But if you’re in the market for a 5D or a 1D, you definitely don’t need my advice!)

Example Image from 60mm 2.8, food is “actual size”:

As I said earlier, there are lots of lenses that can and do work great for food photography. If you’re a food photographer and have a different lens that you use and love, please leave it in the comments!

Simple Setups, Natural Light

You don’t need to invest in lots of studio equipment to get great images. The very best lighting you can get is free, and it’s coming through your windows every day. Here’s a shot of my “studio”:

A table, next to a window. Done! Well, almost. Since I shoot with natural light only, a lot of times it’s slightly too dark to hand-hold my camera and get a clear image. Use a tripod and you’ll be amazed at how much better your photos get, especially with PnS cameras. Even balancing your camera on a can of tomatoes or a pile of books can save a shot. Tripods very drastically in price, but I have a cheap $30 that has done the trick for well over a year now.

Make your own backgrounds

There are lots of ways you can make backgrounds for your food shots. My favorite backgrounds are just simple 20×30″ foam-core boards that I spray painted on my porch, a different color on each side.

I love these because they’re cheap, easy to make and customize, easy to store, and fairly durable. I once bought this kit that comes with colored paper, but soon realized the paper gets destroyed after a few uses: it tears, it gets ugly creases in it, and if you spill anything on it at all it’s ruined. The big foam-core boards, on the other hand, wipe clean and don’t bend, and if you do ruin them they’re easy to replace.

As you can see in the photo to the left, they’re easy to swap in and out during a shoot. You can try all different colors before picking the right one for the dish you’re photographing.

One tip: buy matte finish spray paint – glossy paint will cause unsightly glares in your photos.

Natural Lighting

I’ve already mentioned this, but I can’t stress it enough. It’s nearly impossible to reproduce the wonders of natural sunlight artificially. As far as I know, even big-wig professionals have trouble duplicating it. Yes, it means you’ll need to do your food photography during the day, but I promise you the results are worth it. Nothing looks as nice as sunlit food, and fortunately the sun is pretty easy to use (even if it’s unpredictable). Besides, learning how to shoot with natural, varying light will improve your photography across the board.

Using natural light is probably the number one thing you can do to improve your photos.  Turning off the flash, since you’re using lovely natural light, is the second best thing.

I find side-lighting to be the most dependable and easist to expose for. Back-lighting can be very nice, but is harder to manage the correct exposure. Full on front-lighting can work well, too, so experiment with everything.

When using natural lighting, don’t place your food in a sunbeam. You want ambient, diffuse light. Things shot directly in the sun usually look too harsh, but again, it can sometimes work depending on the shot. In my opinion, the “safest” set up is diffuse side-lighting coming from nearby window.

For those of you who are interested in artificial lighting, I’m not the best person to turn to for advice, but I can suggest you look into Lowel Ego lights. I bought a set and have used them on one post only, but I managed to get a good result. This shot was lit with Ego lights at night:

For more information on Lowel Ego lights for food photography, check out Jaden of Steamy Kitchen’s fabulous and detailed review of them.

Take a LOT of Photos

I did a photoshoot for this entry to help illustrate the points I wanted to make. What you see above is every single photo from the shoot, all 93 of them. I think I average around 100 photos taken per recipe, and I whittle them down drastically to just a handful for each post.  Buy a large memory card for your camera to make sure you have enough space for all those photos!

I always find it funny how one shot can be “meh”, while another shot take from a slightly different angle, or with a slightly different focus, can suddenly become “WOW!” The best way to ensure you get “the shot” is to take lots and lots of them. Taking lots of photos allows you to be very, very picky when you’re editing, ensuring you never have to post a photo you dislike.

Anatomy of a Shoot

I start out photographing the process of the recipe–chopping, special techniques, assembly, etc.  Once the dish is done and plated, I’ll take some “basic” shots which help me establish the lighting, background, what props/garnishes are needed, positioning of the food, etc.

I gradually work my way towards a photograph that feels complete to me, making sure to get all different angles.  I try overhead, straight on, close up, environment shots, and many different angles.  My photographs start out boring and move towards interesting as I shoot.  It’s hard to explain how I plate or frame, but it involves a lot of photos and looking at each photo and saying, “Hmm, the image looks too bare” or “I need to figure out how to emphasize this particular quality of the dish.”  As I said before, the more photos you take, the better chance you have of getting that perfect shot.

Camera Settings

No matter what kind of camera you have, one thing always applies: turn OFF the flash. A flash will at best make your food look flat and at worst wash out all the details and create unappealing shadows.

If you have a PnS camera, look for a setting that is marked with a little flower. This is your macro setting, and it will help your lens use the best of its close-focusing and detail capabilities.

If you have a larger dSLR with more settings to choose from, here’s what I recommend:

ISO: Set to the lowest possible, probably 100. The lower the ISO, the “cleaner” your image will be. Photos shot at higher ISOs have a lot of digital “noise” in them that looks like colorful static. Higher ISOs are used to increase your camera’s sensitivity to light, allowing you to shoot in darker conditions and still maintain a shutter speed that is fast enough to prevent blurry images. But since you’re using a tripod (right?!), and your food isn’t moving (right?!), it’s best to keep this setting as low as possible for the best looking images.

Flash: Keep it off. Always.

RAW or JPG: If you have a choice, shoot RAW.   RAW files record lots and lots information about each photo, which allows you to bring the most out of the image in post-processing (editing color, contrast, white balance, etc.). Be aware that you may need special software to process RAW images, however, and there’s more on that below.  If RAW isn’t an option, make sure your camera is set to the highest resolution JPG option available.

Shutter Speed and Aperture: In my opinion, shutter speed doesn’t matter so much in food photography; it’s your aperture, or f-stop, that’s most important. So important, it gets its very own section.

When shutter speed would matter is for “freezing” action, or purposeful motion blur. For example, in the photo of the pancakes, I needed a fairly fast shutter speed to “freeze” the pouring syrup. And lets say you wanted a shot that showed the motion of you tossing greens or sauteing vegetables; a slow shutter speed would be required for that. But on the whole, you’ll be more interested in apertures than shutter speeds.

Know your F-Stops

If you’ve ever wondered how photographers get that nice, blurry background with only one thing in focus, now you know. F-stops! The aperture of the camera is the opening that lets the light in, and you can set it to very large (the photo on the left) or very small (the photo on the right).

Think of the aperture on your camera the same way as the pupil in your eye. When it’s dark out, your pupils expand to gather more light. If someone shines a light in your eye, they constrict and get very small to let less light in. Your camera’s aperture is the same. One of the side-effects is what’s called “depth of field.” When the aperture is very wide open, only a small amount of the image will be in focus, just like the photo on the left. If the aperture is very small, much more of the photo will be in focus.

Your eyes are actually the same. Ever squint to read a street sign in the distance? The smaller your pupils get, the more focus you get, so squinting to see a sign more clearly is just like “stopping down” to a smaller aperture to get more things in focus. If you’ve ever wanted to pick out a specific part of an image to draw the viewers eye, a small depth of field is one way to say, “Hey, look at THIS!”

There’s no right or wrong when it comes to apertures, it’s just a matter of taste. I prefer many images that have very large apertures because I really like the dramatic focus. If you’re looking for this in your photos, too, make sure to purchase lenses that have a an aperture of 2.8 or wider (like 1.4). All the lenses I recommended above can provide this effect.

By the way, the technical term for the pretty, smooth and silky blurry parts of an image like this is called “bokeh.”

Learn Manual

Of course, none of this is much help if you don’t know how to set your f-stop, or how to get the proper exposure once you do.  The best thing do to is learn how to use your camera on the manual setting.  It takes a bit of time to get used to it, but once you do you’ll have complete control over your images.  This post is already long enough as it is so I won’t go into it here, but I’m sure there are some great resources online for learning how to use your camera on its manual setting.

One possible way around learning to shoot manually is “Aperture Priority” — a setting that is available on my camera and many dSLRs.  On a Canon camera, simply set the dial to Av and use the scroll wheel at the top to set your aperture, big or small.  The camera will figure out the corresponding shutter speed to give you the proper exposure.  Well, that’s the short of it, anyway.  If you need more help with that, feel free to email me.

Framing

Whatever subject you’re shooting, you’ll hear people talk endlessly about the Rule of Thirds, and for good reason.  It just works.  If you’ve never heard about it, definitely check out that link.  Like all rules of thumb, you can break it and still get a great photo, but it’s a reliable way to dramatically improve the images you make without much fuss.

For food photography, a lot of times people stand above the dish, take a photo, and call it a day. Overhead shots can work, but try taking photos from lower angles, even level with the food itself.

Also, get in close, but not too close! It’s always important to leave some frame of reference for the viewer so they know what they’re looking at, even if it’s just the edge of the plate, or a fork, or the rim of a glass. You tell me, which close-up photo is more appealing?

Post-Processing

I use, and highly recommend, a piece of software called Lightroom to edit and organize my photos. It’s not free, but it is fabulous. Since I shoot in RAW, the images that come directly out of the camera are usually pretty “flat” looking. RAW images require some sort of processing, and most people turn them into high-res JPG files, making edits to color, contrast, sharpening, exposure, and white balance along the way. I tend to boost contrast and color saturation, as well as add vignetting (darkened edges), but it really depends on what I’m trying to bring out in the photo. Here’s an example of two images before and after editing in Lightroom:

It’s hard to make such dramatic changes to a photo if it’s not a RAW file.  The information a RAW file keeps allows you to make many non-destructive enhancements.  RAW files give you lots of control over how your final image looks.

If you camera doesn’t have the option to shoot in RAW, set it to the highest resolution JPG setting available.  And if you’re using a mac, you can start with some basic editing in iPhoto.  I feel like Lightroom is a nice middle step between the ease of use of iPhoto and the powerful tools of Photoshop. I know a lot of people also like Aperture, but I’ve never used it myself.  If you’re on a PC, I have no idea what programs to recommend, but I’m sure other people do!

Whatever software you use to edit your images, check out the settings and make sure your photos are being edited in the sRGB colorspace (which is good for putting photos on the web) and use a calibrated monitor when editing. Both of these things will help ensure your photos look as good as they can on many different monitors.

Final Thoughts

The very best advice I can give you about food photography is simply do a lot of it. Like anything, the more you do it the better you’ll get. I’ve only been doing food photography for two years or so and I can see a huge difference in the quality of my shots. The more I learn about photography the more I realize how much more there is for me to learn.

I hope this was helpful for you. Happy shooting, and be thankful that no matter how your photos turn out, you can always eat your work after wards! But if you’re going to get really into food photography, be ready to eat a lot of your meals cold.

When I lay awake at night, trying to sleep, I try to create recipes in my head. I usually start with a single ingredient and turn it over and over in my mind until something clicks into place. A few days ago I was doing just this, contemplating two eggplants in my fridge. I was thinking about how difficult eggplants can be, and if I could create a recipe that would counteract some of the challenges they present.

Undercooked eggplants usually have a green taste and a tough texture that makes me sad. My favorite way of preparing them involves half a bottle of olive oil, a lot of salt, and a good stint in the oven, but that’s not always practical. When eggplant is good, it’s so damn good, and when it’s not, I personally find it gross. One of my memories from college is my geology professor turning to me and remarking that you can judge the quality of a restaurant by the quality of its eggplant dishes. (Yes, I managed to talk food even with a geology professor.) Whether or not that’s true, it does speak to what might be an essential truth:

Eggplant can be a real pain in the asparagus sometimes!

While laying in bed, it hit me. Eggplant mousse! Now, you’ll notice I’m not calling it “mousse” in the recipe. After talking about the idea with several friends and seeing them wince and make faces at the term “eggplant mousse”, I decided that it wasn’t testing well and I’d have to change the name for the blog. I don’t think eggplant creme is much better, to tell you the truth. Just imagine eggplant, cubed and stir-fried until soft and golden, the blended with cashews and herbs until a rich, creamy, yet light spread forms. It’s tasty! A lot tastier than “eggplant mousse” makes it sound.  Trust me?

I was also feeling the need to make something on the approachable side of fancy, and appetizers always fulfill that role for me.  Also, tiny food.  My ever-present obsession with teeny, tiny, itsy-bitsy food.  How tiny?  This tiny:

Like, really tiny.

I decided to have the size of the napoleons be determined by the size of the cremini mushroom (baby portobello) caps I was using.  Plum tomatoes and an average-sized zucchini baked down to about the same diameter as the mushrooms, just as I had hoped.  You can easily make these on a larger scale with full-sized portobello mushrooms, but the tinyness of the napoleons is a real draw for me.

If you roast up more veggies than you need, you’ll have an easier time matching diameters, and you’ll have leftovers for a really tasty grilled veggie sandwich the next day.  Did I mention the eggplant stuff makes a great sandwich spread?  I’m also thinking about using it as the filling for ravioli.  But I digress.  To the recipe!

Miniature Napoleons with Eggplant Creme
Makes 12 Miniature Napoleons, with leftover creme

Roasted Vegetables
3-4 Plum Tomatoes, sliced thickly (at least 12 slices, between 1/4″ and 1/2″)
1 Zucchini, sliced thickly (at least 12 slices)
12 Cremini Mushroom Caps, de-stemmed and brushed clean
Tamari or Soy Sauce
Salt
Pepper
Dried Italian Herbs (your choice!)
Spray Oil

Eggplant Creme
2 Eggplants
2/3 Cup Raw, Unsalted Cashews
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Dried Italian Herbs (your choice)
2ish Tbs Oil
Garlic, to taste, if desired

Garnish
Basil
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar

A piping bag, like the type used for cake decorating, or a plastic bag

Preheat the oven to 300º F.

Slice the tomatoes and zucchini and place them on baking sheet; I used a baking mat, similar to a silpat, but foil or parchment will work.

Spray with oil to coat (or brush if you don’t have the spray stuff). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and herbs. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the veggies look dehydrated and smaller, like so:

Place the mushrooms on the same baking sheet, upside-down. Fill the centers with a little tamari, no more than 1/2 or 1 tsp (I eyeballed it). They’ll look like this:

Spray them thoroughly with spray-oil and bake for 30 minutes, or until tender, at 300º F. Remove and let cool with the over veggies.

While the vegetables are baking, cut the ends off the eggplants and remove the skin. Cube the eggplants and place them on a large dish on top of three paper towels. (You’ll probably need to do this in batches). Microwave the eggplant on high for about 8 minutes, until the eggplant is soft and the paper towels have absorbed a lot of the moisture. This is a tip I picked up from Cook’s Illustrated that will prevent the eggplant from absorbing so much oil while cooking.

Heat a seasoned wok or a non-stick pan with 2 tbs of olive oil. Add the eggplant and saute for 5-10 minutes over medium-high heat, until very soft and browned. Add the eggplant to the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the salt, cashews, herbs and garlic (if using) and process for several minutes until VERY smooth. Season to taste, if needed, then place the eggplant creme in a piping bag or a plastic baggie with one of the corners cut off.

Assembly
Start with a little dot of eggplant creme on the plate where you want the napoleon to be. This will act as an anchor, or the tastiest glue in the world:

Place a tomato on top of the anchor, and pipe more eggplant creme on the top. Not too much!

Add a slice of zucchini, then another layer of eggplant cream. Top with an upside-down mushroom cap, and place a dab of eggplant creme where the stem was:

For garnish, add a small piece of roasted tomato and a basil-leaf crown. Put a thin layer of olive oil in the bottom of the dish, surrounding the napoleons. Dribble balsamic vinegar into the oil, and you’ll get pretty little contrasting dots. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tapas party, anyone?

I’m starting to miss summer veggies. We’re in a food rut over here. Today my husband turned to me and said, “Judging from the blog, people would never guess that all we eat is pasta.”

Clearly something needed to be done.

When I’m feeling the food blues, I like to make fancy things. Scratch that–I like to make things that look fancy, but are actually pretty simple. When I think of an easy lunch, I usually don’t think risotto. All that stirring… it’s definitely only a once-in-a-while thing for me. But baked risotto! A little prep then 25 minutes in the oven and voila. It’s a little different in texture than standard risotto, which is creamier. This is closer to a pilaf than anything, but it’s still delicious. I’m going to try making it with more liquid next time to see if I can replicate the creaminess of stirred risotto.

But back to lunch. The risotto practically cooks itself, so with 25 minutes of downtime I could prep some veggies to accompany it. I wanted to make the end of December feel more like the middle of July. Canned artichokes, a red pepper, and an eggplant all volunteered. These are all veggies that are great cooked simply, roasted or grilled with wee bit of olive oil and salt. To jazz them up a touch, I made a very easy (and very tasty) balsamic reduction to drizzle over the plate before serving.

If you’ve never made a balsamic reduction before, you should really give it a shot. It only has one ingredient (I’ll give you three guesses, and the first two don’t count). It can be prepared ahead of time, and it goes with all sorts of foods (even fruit!). And it looks pretty. Drizzle some messily on your dinner plate and you go from a nice looking meal to a gourmet looking meal immediately. See?

Chefs love to drizzle stuff all over plates. I don’t blame them. If you can drizzle something tasty, go for it. Extra points for a bright or contrasting color. Just make sure your drizzle-stuff is sort of thick and syrupy so it sticks where you put it. If it’s too thin it will run all over.

Baked Risotto With Grilled Veggies and Balsamic Reduction
Serves two to three

Risotto
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1/2 Red Onion, finely chopped (or 3-4 shallots)
2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Cup Arborio Rice
1/3 Cup Oil Packed Sundried Tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp Dried Italian Herbs, your choice
1/2 Cup Cooking Sherry
2 Cups Hot Vegetable Stock, or water and veg bullion cube
1/2 tsp Salt (if needed)

Veggies
1 Small Eggplant*
4 Water Packed Artichoke Hearts
1 Bell Pepper (or jared, roasted red pepper)

Reduction
Balsamic Vinegar (at least 1/2 cup)

*I only used 2 slices of eggplant per person, so you won’t need an entire eggplant to make this dish.

Preheat your oven to 450º F.

Begin by sauteing the garlic and onion in olive oil in an oven safe sauté pan that has high sides and a tight fitting lid. While the onion is cooking over medium heat, begin roasting the pepper if you are using a fresh one. Instructions can be found here.

Once the onion has softened and browned, add the rice and stir to coat with the oil. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and herbs. Add the cooking sherry and stir until absorbed by the rice. Add the stock/water, stir, cover and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a cast-iron grill pan with some olive oil. When the pan is very hot, add slices of eggplant and drizzle with olive oil. Grill until tender, remove from the pan. Slice the artichoke hearts in quarters and grill for a few minutes, set aside when completed. Sprinkle both lightly with salt.

To make the reduction, heat balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan, reducing by half until the vinegar is syrupy. The more vinegar you use, the easier it is to make, but the longer it takes. If you only use a small amount of vinegar, you can overcook it easily; keep a close eye on it. While the vinegar is reducing, check for consistency by drizzling some on a plate. If it is thick and syrupy, and tastes sweet and tangy, you’re ready to go. Try not to burn or completely caramelize the vinegar.

One the risotto comes out of the oven, remove the cover and fluff it with a fork. BE CAREFUL. While I was plating the dish, I had forgotten that the pan had just come out of a 450º oven and tried to move it out of the way. I plated, photographed, and wrote about this dish one hand because of that. Ouch.

Plate the dish. I used a cooking ring to form the risotto, put the artichokes on top, and the eggplant and pepper next to the risotto. Drizzle with the reduction and serve.

Happy New Year!

This recipe has a few surprises. My requirements for dinner included using an eggplant, a red pepper, a stalk of broccoli, and some leftover tofu. This turned out to be really fun and easy, despite the copious amounts of dishes it seemed to leave me with. I’m sure I could have made it in a more organized fashion had I not been making it up as I went along.

The sauce you see is not tomato, it’s simply a single red bell pepper, pureed raw, with a pinch of salt. I need to remind myself every once in a while that it’s not necessary to cook every single vegetable I want to eat. It added a nice sweetness to balance out the salty roasted eggplant and sun-dried tomatoes in the couscous. Yup! That’s couscous in there, too!

Can you guess what the green bit on the top is? Pureed, steamed broccoli! This was such a fun way to eat broccoli, I want to buy more immediately so I can blend it up again and use it in odd places. Forgive my enthusiasm, but there’s something about this light, bright green broccoli fluff that makes be a bit giddy.

Eggplant Napoleon
Serves four

Roasted Eggplant
1 Eggplant, sliced into 3/8″ thick rounds
1/2 Cup Olive oil (I know! It’s a lot! Use less if you want!)
1 tsp Salt

Sun-dried Tomato Couscous
1/2 cup Couscous (french – the very tiny kind thats roughly shaped)
1/4 Cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes, sliced in strips
1 Cup Water, boiling

Sauce
1 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and veined
1 pinch to 1/4 tsp salt

Broccoli Fluff
2 Cups Broccoli, rough chopped, steamed
Pepper to taste

1/2 Recipe Tofu Ricotta
1/2 Cup Toasted Pine Nuts

Preheat oven to 425º F.

Rub eggplant slices in salt and oil, place in one layer on a cookie sheet, and bake for 20 minutes. Flip, bake for 10 more minutes, remove from oven.

Meanwhile, place couscous and tomatoes in a small pot with a dribble of vegetable oil. Toast over medium heat until fragrant, add boiling water, cover, reduce heat to low. After 10 minutes, turn off heat. Puree your pepper in a food processor until very smooth. Add salt to taste, set aside. Steam broccoli, puree, add pepper to taste, set aside. Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet. Mix together tofu ricotta, heat in mircowave until hot, set aside.

To assemble

Place a bit of the pepper sauce in the middle of the plate. Add a slice of eggplant on top of that. Add a layer of tofu ricotta and a layer of broccoli fluff. Add another slice of eggplant. Add couscous and broccoli. Add the last slice of eggplant and top with tofu and broccoli. Garnish with toasted pine nuts.

This is another test recipe for the Post Punk Kitchen’s forthcoming cookbook, Veganomicon. Her first book, Vegan with a Vengeance, is my all-time favorite cookbook. I can tell you honestly that this one will be every bit as useful, dependable, and amazing as the first. I swear they’re not paying me to promote the books. They’re just all so great!

This recipe, man, I can’t even tell you how much I liked it. It’s basically breaded, fried eggplant, stuffed with tastiness and tofu ricotta, then smothered with a delicious marinara sauce. I’d buy the cookbook for this recipe alone.

I know there are a lot of people who dislike eggplant, but I wonder how many of them have tried it fried or baked with olive oil. Eggplant really takse on a different character when cooked this way – it’s really quite divine. It’s buttery, soft, almost creamy, but it does take a lot of oil to get it that way. I think it’s worth it.

I’ve been making some other test recipes that I haven’t told you about yet. Here is a dessert and a quick bread:

Tea Poached Pears

Whole Wheat Soda Bread with Millet and Currants

The more I learn about cooking, the more I discover how everyone has the “right” way to do something, from cooking pasta (oil in the water? do you rinse it after draining?) to prepping eggplants (peel them? salt and drain them?). Some of the techniques are actually useful, and some are just kitchen voodoo that doesn’t improve anything, but doesn’t hurt either (e.g. cold water boils faster. In what universe is that true?!).

It doesn’t surprise me, then, that everyone has their own opinion on how to clean a mushroom. Do you wash them? Soak them? Brush them or pat them or blow on them? I was always told to never soak or rinse fresh mushrooms, since they’ll suck up the water like little sponges and you’ll be left with soggy fungus. Soggy fungus? That phrase was enough to prevent me from ever letting a drop of water to touch my mushrooms

With washing out of the question, I had a hard time deciding how to clean them. I’ve tried wiping them with cloths, rubbing them with damp paper towels, and I even once bought a mushroom brush to flick away the dirt. Brushing seems to be more effective than wiping, but it’s all a pain in the rear.

One day I was in my sister’s kitchen and she did something I had never seen before.

“What are you doing?”
“I’m peeling mushrooms.”
“You’re… what?”
“I’m peeling mushrooms. I always peel them.”

I had never heard of peeling mushrooms! She showed me how to do it, and not only was it easy, but it also removed ever bit of dirt-ridden flesh from each and every one. It’s still a little bit time consuming, but it really gets them clean Here’s how:

First you’ll need to remove the stem from your mushroom. This is my favorite part; it has the same appeal as popping bubble wrap. Simply press on one side of the stem with your thumb. You might need to press again on the opposite side to get a clean break.

This is a picture of a mushroom that’s already half-way peeled. On the right, you can see the part of the peel that hasn’t yet been removed. It almost looks like the hem of a skirt. Simply grasp the edge of the skirt and pull to peel your mushroom, it will come off in strips.

Here’s what it looks like from the top. The strip that comes off is very thin, thinner than it looks like it is in this picture. This also works on larger mushrooms like portobellos.

So, is peeling mushrooms worth it? Probably not. Doing some research for this post, I stumbled upon more than one person insisting that it’s okay to wash mushrooms! Gasp! This page says:

According to the USDA Nutrient Database, mushrooms are already 92.5% water by weight, so even if they absorbed 1/3 of their weight more, they would still be less than 95% water. In his book “The Curious Cook: More Kitchen Science and Lore”, Harold McGee describes an experiment in which he soaked 252 grams of mushrooms for 5 minutes, blotted the moisture of the surface and re-weighed them. In total, they had soaked up only 6 grams of water. Their moisture content had increased by only 1/5 of 1%!

This probably depends on how dry the mushrooms were before they were soaked. I imagine a fresh mushroom has a higher water content than one that has been cut, packaged and shipped across the country to sit in a refrigerated case for a few days before you or I purchase it. Still, there is a certain amount of logic to this. After all, don’t mushrooms grow outside? In the rain? This site says that it’s not only okay to soak them, but some varieties actually taste better after a brief salt water bath before cooking.

My new mushroom mantra is this: it’s okay to wash them. Or peel them. Or brush them. Or simply wish them clean. They’re your mushrooms, and I’m sure dinner will come out just fine no matter what technique you choose. Personally, I think I’ll be peeling when I have the time (because it’s kind of fun), but a short dip in bowl of water is most definitely acceptable.  Thank god.

I promise you, this is the last time I’ll subject you to risotto for a while. Baked risotto is just such a revelation. I had to try it again with a tomato base. I also had an eggplant and some mushrooms to use, and didn’t feel like being all that creative. Stewart and I were hungry and it wasn’t time for me to start playing around in the kitchen without a plan. Risotto? In a half hour? Done.

I love this sandwich. I could eat this everyday. It’s not the fastest sandwich to make because it involves roasting, but that’s all downtime, so who cares, right?

Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Panino
Serves 2

1 Loaf French Bread
1 Pint Sweet Cherry Tomatoes
1 Medium Eggplant
1 Bunch Fresh Basil, chiffonade
2 Slices Tofutti Cheese (optional)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350º.

Slice the tomatoes in half and place them cut-side up in a baking dish. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt and 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Roast for 70-80 minutes.

Once the tomatoes are in, prepare the eggplant. Slice the ends off the eggplant and peel off the skin with a vegetable peeler. Slice widthwise into quarter inch thick circles and place on a baking sheet in one layer. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt. Drizzle about 1/2 cup of olive oil (or more. for serious) over the slices. Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes depending on how thick your slices are. The eggplant should be soft and browned.

Let the eggplant and tomatoes cool. Slice the loaf of bread into two equal portions. Slice each portion in half lengthwise without cutting all the way through. Rub the bread with olive oil and add the fillings:

Place sandwiches, open faced, into a 400º oven for 5 minutes, until bread is crispy and “cheese” is melted. When they come out of the oven, fold the top over and press down – the olive oil will soak into the bread and form a natural “dressing” for the sandwich.

Serve warm.