Eggplant is one of those vegetables.  I see it in the market, know I should be eating more of it, and yet, am usually stumped as to ideas of what to actually do with it.  It’s never a fast cooking vegetable, so I know I will need to put in some time and effort for whatever comes of it.  My favorite way to eat it is battered and pan-fried, but I can’t be enjoying that too regularly as I have no willpower for such deliciousness  Luckily, the beauty of eggplant is also its versatility.  I know I can do more with it and will enjoy it, if I just think a bit and dare to try something new.

But trying something new is easier said than done, no? Stepping into the unknown, not knowing where it will lead…  As a scientist, I live and find comfort in control.  When everything is kept the same except for that one part I want to investigate, I know exactly where the different results arise from.  In science, if you know the right questions to ask and can find a well controlled approach to solve those problems, you’re generally on track to gaining new insights.  And it all stems from being able to control everything else.  When too much is out of your control, you really have no idea where to begin to find those answers.

Being in control tells me I am in charge and can lead the direction.  When I cook, especially gluten free, I take that same mindset from the lab and apply that approach to the kitchen.  I have notebooks of ingredients and measurements that I’ve tried, and when something doesn’t work out perfectly, I systematically alter the ratios of ingredients to find the best combinations.  When I cook, I find comfort in knowing how certain ingredients play together – for example basil and tomatoes will always be a fantastic marriage, no matter what dish they are combined in.  There are rules to cooking because in the end, cooking is just an extension of chemistry.  Ingredients behave according to their relative amounts of each other, just like molecules in a chemical reaction (it really is all about ratios).  I like knowing that rules exist for the kitchen –  the more I learn what those rules are, the more I can use them to achieve what I want on our dinner plate.  To me, the process of discovery while cooking is really not all that different from the same process that I use in my day to day life at work.

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Forgive me for yet another soup recipe, but we are going on week two of not even coming close to escaping sub-freezing temps here, and soup just has that way of warming you  up – the wind is blustering outside, frost snowflakes are whipping at your face and you realize that you are doubting the efficacy of all that cold weather gear wrapped around you, wondering if you’ve accidentally misplaced yourself and suddenly ended up amidst an Antarctic expedition in a condition 1 blizzard.  Ok, clearly I am being overly dramatic. But it did dip to below -20º C (-4º F) in several parts of Switzerland last weekend, and in my book, that’s cold.  And that type of cold calls for soup.

As I sit here in my home, safely sheltered from the unforgiving chill outside, I remember that I love winter.  I love it for getting an excuse to cuddle up with my husband and a cup of tea, under a blanket together watching a movie.  I love the familiar comfort of wearing my grandmother’s woolen scarf and knowing that even though she was buried a long time ago and her body rests on the other side of the world, her spirit is always with me, and that scarf will always bring me the happiest memories of her.  And I love winter for the way my breath decorates the air with a miniature cloud upon every exhale, as if the very air were spinning a tale to tell us all by a warm fire.  And I love it for the snow, and the way it sparkles in the sunshine.

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Read the rest of Cream of Jerusalem Artichoke and Celeriac Soup

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Cauliflower – a vegetable I grew up with, and wasn’t often thrilled about. Mom you know I love you, but I do not love the way you like most of your veggies cooked.

However, on my quest to enjoy more fresh produce this Winter season, I’m giving it a try again.  Cauliflower seems to abound in the markets right now and as fortune would have it, my friend Simone chose a lovely cauliflower recipe for this month’s Donna Hay Styling and Photography Challenge (DHSPC).  I enjoy participating in these challenges because they always make me reach and do something new that I might not otherwise try.  In this case, that meant not only the photo but also the recipe featuring heads of cauliflower! In fact, in the near four years that this blog has been on the interwebs, today marks the first time cauliflower has ever even appeared on Jenn Cuisine, let alone received a spotlight feature.

This month, Simone challenged us all to make a creamy cauliflower soup, which appeared in Donna Hay issue #51 (June/July 2010) and was photographed by Ben Dearnley. The soup was wonderful – cauliflower and potatoes cooked together in broth and milk and puréed until velvety smooth.  A perfect Winter bowl, better than plain boiled veggies. And even naturally gluten free!

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Croutons are one of those things that my gluten free husband usually has to deny himself.  And inevitably croutons cause him some of the most frequent problems for eating out, as they invariably end up on soups or salads when someone doesn’t understand that croutons are made of bread and thus fall into the “no bread, pasta, or flour because I am allergic to gluten” request that my husband is so well experienced in asking.  This also means asking the server “yes can you please give me another salad prepped in a clean bowl” and “no, it is not ok to just remove the croutons”.

This has always been more of a problem for my husband in the U.S. than in Europe it seems – in Europe, while there may not be many gluten free options depending on the country and their culture of cuisine, it seems everyone we’ve come across knows what gluten means.  In the U.S., explaining that he actually has a problem with gluten, isn’t doing it just for a diet, and yes gluten does include anything made with bread, pasta and flour (including to check the sauces) seems to be a more common occurrence.  It’s almost so laborious to make sure everything is ok dining out that it’s not even worth it.

And on top of that, in the U.S. gluten free is becoming so popular for reasons other than celiac or sensitivities (some even use the word “fad”, despite the fact that for many like my husband staying gluten free will be a necessity for the rest of their lives), that the seriousness of the issue often becomes diluted – it’s been more than once that my husband has dutifully explained his intolerance to gluten at a restaurant and his requests have been ignored or forgotten.  Sometimes I wonder if some restaurants think people use “gluten free” as an excuse to cover up being a picky eater, and thus don’t know to treat an allergy request as an actual health issue could affect the safety of their customers (really, should a restaurant be questioning the motives of the diner?).

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Read the rest of Homemade Garlic and Parmesan Croutons

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I have hit the ground running with my expedition into the land of root vegetables.  This week I have eaten celery root, parsnips, jerusalem artichokes, and there are even carrots sitting in my fridge.   My first foray of the year into root vegetables was to try them simply – I wanted to taste their flavor, with mere accents to the palate rather than covering them up by drowning them in butter or cheese (as tempting and always tasty as that may be).

I believe in understanding the true flavor of an ingredient before getting too inventive with it – after all, what is the point of a food that cannot be tasted?  How do you ever really know if you will like it or not if you cannot identify its inherent flavor?  I think roasting vegetables is a great way to try new ones, because it’s an easy cooking process and yet still preserves the texture unlike boiling something forever. I grew up with enough over-boiled veggies (well, at least I consider them over-boiled) in my day to know that boiling is not my preferred method for cooking vegetables – well except maybe beans.  So when I have no idea what I am going to do with something, oven-roasting is usually the route I tend to go.

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It’s Fall. And like a little kid on the first day of school, I have this renewed energy to seek and find myself, create new things, and explore the world.  Maybe it’s the way the yellow Autumnal light shines through the trees or sparkles inside dew drops not yet faded away.  Maybe it’s the newfound comfort in being able to brew a cup of tea and hold it warm against your hands while the cool brisk winds remind us that the Summer has faded.  Or maybe it’s the sudden urge to curl up with a good book in the ever darkening evenings, wrapped up in one’s favorite blanket.  It’s the time of fuzzy woolen sweaters, seeing one’s breath in the air, and stomping through rain puddles.  And then just when the clouds clear, that most amazing light comes through and reminds us of the beauty of this season.

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Read the rest of Maple Pumpkin Granola, Gluten Free

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What defines a photographic style? Is it the light one uses, the props, the angle, the composition, the settings? I kind of think all of the above.  It’s part of what makes style so hard to describe.  How does one look at a photograph and see the signature of the photographer within the image?  All of my favorite photographers have a distinct style, and I can look at any single image and instantly recognize it as theirs.  But as an amateur who is still learning, it’s hard to find a voice.  How do you figure out how to represent your vision to the world in a way that speaks only from you?  And determining of what that style comprises can become quite the soul searching process.

For me, I have always been in love with color.  Bright vibrant color.  Ha I remember when I was 5 I had this pair of shorts I loved, bright pink with bright green fishies (yeah I was stylin in the 80s, ha).  My mother for better or worse always let me choose my own clothes as a kid, and I was always a fan of bright colors – turquoise, pinks, greens, ha even my prom dress was a hot pink satin ball gown (and I totally rocked it lol).  So while I may not be the most fashion forward person, it doesn’t surprise me that as I’ve involved myself more and more into photography that I would still be in love with bright vibrant color.  Maybe too much.  I’ve been trying to tone myself down a bit (and even done some black & whites oh my!), but the truth is, I will always be a sucker for color and contrast.  And I think that’s definitely part of my style.  I also like to be close.  Really close.  I want to put you right there in front of the plate ready to dive in (well, that’s my goal!). I think I just see the world close up in technicolor, and so that’s how I express my vision of it.

And that’s really what style is about, isn’t it? How one expresses their vision of the world?  I remember a couple years ago while I was still floundering and guessing as to how to create an image, desperately seeking out my style.  But really, a style is something that evolves and happens naturally.  And it wasn’t until I got a better grasp on the technicals of what I was doing that I was able to sit back a bit and watch mine evolve.  I love experimenting with different ideas and techniques and finding out what is or isn’t me.  I’m not quite sure where I am headed but I see it developing and forming, and hopefully turning into a unique way to present the world with a vision of food and nature.

One thing I love about photographic styles is how individual they are.   No style is defined by a single aspect – it’s not about the angle of the camera, the color of the background, the softness of the light, the editing on the computer.  It’s about all the aspects of photography all combined together.  And that’s why a style is so personal – every style reveals a bit about the photographer’s soul, because it is part of how they perceive the world around them.  And it’s why at first I was hesitant to participate in this new photo challenge.

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The end of Summer is upon us – some people I’m sure will be reminiscing about times at the beach or picnics and bbqs in the sun with friends, fruits and vegetables from their gardens and holidays.    I am reminiscing about my travels to Germany, Spain, France, and great hikes in the Alps, along with some gorgeous produce in our local markets. This was for sure the year of apricots and berries en Suisse, and we enjoyed all of it that we could.  But I’m not thinking back on Summer with too much sadness, for there is so much to look forward to in the coming Fall – the produce is far from done yet, instead there is just a new set of gorgeous food to enjoy – pruneaux, grapes and mushrooms, chestnuts, squash – I love seeing how all the foods cycle throughout the seasons.  The markets provide endless fascination of inspiration and flavor.

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Back in May at Plate to Page in Weimar, Germany I met an amazing food blogger from Cape Town  – Ishay of Food and the Fabulous.  We had a lot of fun creating a picnic photoshoot together, and her infectious enthusiasm shined through the entire weekend.  Her passion is truly inspirational, and when she suggested that we Plate to Page attendees do a little something for the project We Feed Back, I was more than happy to participate.

I have never known hunger.  I was lucky enough to grow up in a small town in the rural countryside of New England and while money didn’t exactly grow on trees for us, in the grand scheme of things we lived a fairly comfortable lifestyle.  But there are millions who do know hunger, and know it every day.  In the midst of all the craziness of our own lives, it is so easy to caught get up in our day to day concerns – what to buy at the market? should we go out with friends for dinner and drinks this evening? where shall we go hiking this weekend? and we don’t stop to think about the preciousness of the fortunes that we do have, not even giving basic needs like hunger a second thought.  But for nearly one in seven around the globe, that is not the case.  So what if when we went out to enjoy food at a restaurant or have dinner with friends we could give back some of our pleasures to help those in need?

We Feed Back is an initiative of the UN’s World Food Program in which users utilize social networking tools in order to raise awareness and fund raise in order to fight hunger around the world.  Through We Feed Back, one can in essence give back any food or meal that was enjoyed by going to the calculator, entering the dish you ate and its cost per serving, and then donate the number of servings that you wish.  All the revenue goes towards WFP’s school feeding programs to help give meals to hungry children.

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Read the rest of Herbed Tabbouleh for We Feed Back

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I’ve always dreamed of having a garden.  When I was very little, my mom used to have a vegetable garden in the backyard – I remember sunkissed days with tomatoes coming out our ears, along with peas, lots of peppers, even once we tried growing corn (that didn’t work so well)…  But one of the sacrifices of apartment life is giving up the chance for a garden.  A meager balcony with all the wrong sunshine is not an ideal setup for an urban oasis of greenery.

So instead of being outside amongst the bounty of nature taking care of the plants and growing our own dinner, we venture up to the trails, to see the mountains and landscapes before us.  We eagerly set off to get away from all the concrete.

And ironically, there is my husband, admiring the beauty of nature standing next to a large wall, ha!

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Read the rest of Creamy Zucchini Soup

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