Jenn Cuisine

Naturally GF Links Roundup – September

by Jenn on September 28, 2012

Fresh fig salad with raspberries, pistachio and goat cheese by Simone of Jungle Frog Cooking

Well hello Autumn!! If this month had a theme in the blogosphere, it’s potatoes and salads. So many fantastic potato dishes, a sure sign that Fall is fast upon us… Though I don’t think the world is ready to say goodbye to Summer yet, as evident by so many gorgeous salads this month. In fact, there were too many to choose from, so I’m going to link to a variety of lovely salads, several of which are still clinging on to the end of Summer. And there are also some good classic stand-bys this month, as well as some ever decadent desserts – cannot forget dessert!

For those of you new to my roundup series, at the end of each month I collect links from across the blogosphere that showcase naturally gluten free recipes – that is, recipes that don’t require any substitutions or weird ingredients to be gluten free, they already are! The particular bloggers featured may not necessarily be gluten free, but the recipes they have made that I linked to here are.

Why naturally gluten free? Because while it’s certainly fun to be able to recreate and eat some of our favorite conventional food without gluten, I find day to day GF living is often with naturally gluten free foods. One, I am not rich enough to afford to use fancy GF flours in everything I do, and two, sometimes I just want a recipe I don’t have to think so hard about. I noticed an interesting observation amongst the myriad comments on Shauna’s blog post asking about a book cover decision – that many people look to gluten free resources only for ways to replace conventional recipes they can no longer have. On the other hand, while I admire those that bake GF often and with finesse (I am not a great baker, as I’m sure you have noticed on this blog), I regard replacing conventional treats with GF ones and divining my own GF flour mix as an adventure for occasions (even if the occasion is sometimes as simple as “it’s Friday”).

For my husband and me to make GF work – and by that I mean for it to work for us every day 365 days of the year no exceptions, I like to have new and innovative ideas for dishes that are already gluten free. And I’m sure I can’t be the only one out there in the world who likes to know that there are tasty already GF recipes that require no extra effort. I’ve talked about this before, and a lot of it I am sure depends on what level of competence you have in the kitchen (some people don’t need help finding naturally GF ideas), but I always find it refreshing to come across a new dish to add to my kitchen repertoire that is already awesomely gluten free. And so I continue this series as much for me as for you – because it’s the delicious naturally gluten free recipes that are most likely to end up in my rotations of meal making

[click to continue…]

{ 16 comments }

Monthly Mingle “Americana” – Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

by Jenn on September 26, 2012

in Breakfast,Gluten Free

I’ve always associated American classics with my favorite childhood memories – and in my own personal life experience, nothing is more quintessentially Americana than New England in the Fall. That means maple sugar candy, walking along the rocky coastline of the Cape, apple cinnamon fritters at the local cider mill, watching the leaves change to bright vibrant oranges and reds, picking apples at the local orchard, and taking trips up into the Green and White Mountains with family. So this month, when I have the wonderful pleasure of hosting Monthly Mingle, a themed blog hop invented by the lovely Meeta of What’s for Lunch Honey, I chose the theme of Americana, for celebrating all of the great American classics of cuisine.

[click to continue…]

{ 10 comments }

Prosciutto Wrapped Scallop and Fig Salad

by Jenn on September 24, 2012

in Gluten Free,Meats,Salads,Seafood

I think we are finally figuring out how to do the guessing game that is parenting a baby. After three months, it still is totally a guessing game – diaper? check. hungry? check. tired? check. bored with toys? check. just want to hang out and get a change of scenery? ok, maybe that’s it. But this weekend, she rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time, which was really cool to see – it’s been so interesting watching her try something, get frustrated that she can’t figure out how to do what she wants, but then eventually triumph and find a way – even if she did look at us like we are all crazy folk as we were enthusiastically cheering and congratulating her upon her success… I think we were more excited for her than she was, ha. I’m sure I sound like every other sappy first time mom out there, but man does she just melt my heart every time she smiles, does something new, heck even when she cries.

Part of getting life into a little more of a rhythm – I hesitate to use the word routine, because a schedule is probably one of the most inaccurate words to describe our days, but there are patterns and rhythms that we have fallen into as we’ve become more in tune with each other – but part of finding this rhythm is a bit more freedom during the days and weekends to go out exploring and socializing. We’ve successfully had people over to our home as we watch her enjoy meeting new people (and other babies!), and we try to have more outings. I think she would be completely satisfied if I could hold her and let her watch the leaves flutter in the breeze under a big blue sky forever.

This weekend we went out with some new friends by the lake, photographing, walking around and enjoying each other’s company. Funny how many times I’ve been on the coast of this lake, I still see its beauty in new ways…

[click to continue…]

{ 16 comments }

Amateur’s Food Photography – Choosing a Focal Length

by Jenn on September 14, 2012

in Photography

What’s the best lens for food photography?

I often get this question, and I’m always hesitant to give anyone a concrete answer. I usually reply with something vague that probably is not what the person wanted to hear, such as “it depends”, simply because going into all the considerations of choosing lenses could take up far more time than one might initially expect. Heck I’m just an amateur, I’m sure I don’t even know all the ins and outs of lens choices myself.

I’m not going to get into a heavy gear discussion on which brands, models, are better yada yada yada. Everyone has their favorites for various emotional and technical reasons, and I’ll leave it at that.

What I am going to talk about, however, are just a couple things to consider when choosing a lens length. On a point & shoot camera, there is no lens length to choose, other than pushing the zoom button in or out to alter our field of view. On an SLR, different lenses come in different lengths – longer lengths offer a more zoomed in view, and shorter lengths offer a more zoomed out view.

Let’s start with 50 mm. A 50 mm lens is just that – 50mm long. This is a length that lets the camera pretty much see what the eye sees – there is no “zoomed in” or “zoomed out” when you look through the camera, and because of that it is often suggested as a great length for beginners. What you see with your eye is what the camera sees too. That and most major brands make an extremely affordable 50mm lens, and I like to use its popular nickname, the “thrifty fifty”.

So if we are using a 50mm lens, how do we zoom in or zoom out to get more or less of the scene in our image? We “zoom with our feet” – by moving closer or farther from the subject we can adjust how much of the scene ends up in the frame.

But what if you can’t move forwards or backwards so much? Then we have to use other focal lengths in order to change what fits into our field of vision. Shorter lens lengths are called “wide” lenses because they do just that – they let the camera see a wider range of view. And longer lenses do the opposite, giving a narrower range of view. Zoom lenses allow you to set a variety of different focal lengths all in the same lens. When we “zoom in”, we are using a longer focal length and when we “zoom out” we are using a shorter focal length.

I know what you’re thinking, “Yeah yeah, I know how to push the zoom button on my camera or turn my lens on my SLR to zoom in/out, how does this help with food photography?”

[click to continue…]

{ 26 comments }

Inspired

by Jenn on September 11, 2012

in Uncategorized

For a while now I haven’t been very inspired to cook. Always resorting to the same 4-5 dishes, I have felt like cooking nothing and anything all at once. My husband will run to the store on his way home from work, and more than once when he asks what we need, all I’ve been able to come up with is “I don’t care, just get some meat veggies and fruit, whatever looks good,” without any sort of plan or idea in my head. Then, hungry but not really interested in cooking, I just fall back on the same staple one-pot meals that I know we like, ones that can be adapted to whatever we have on hand. I can’t remember a time in my life when I have been so ambivalent about cooking – maybe back when I was a grad student, before I had ever tried to learn how to cook? Honestly for most of this Summer I could probably eat a sandwich and fresh fruit 3 meals a day and not get bored of it. Maybe it’s just because I’ve had so much on my mind lately, various stresses and pressures from several directions, or maybe the heat of the Summer just wore on me. But now, I am happy to say, it’s coming back. I feel the need to cook again. To see out new methods and learn new techniques in the kitchen, and give myself new and interesting flavor combinations, and I can’t be more excited.

I want to learn more about cooking fish and seafood (yes, I realize I live in a landlocked country) – and light fresh dishes that aren’t so heavy. Things that are fast and flavorful that don’t need to be complicated. It takes overcoming a few barriers – namely the language barrier so I know how to go up to the butcher and fresh meat counters and ask for certain fish or cuts rather than resorting to what is already sitting out on the shelves. It means actually getting up early on Sat. mornings and bringing baby girl to the market more, which should be more fun for her as she is becoming more aware and fascinated when we take her out places now. I took her to the grocery store last weekend, and I think it was her first time being awake as my husband and I went through the store getting everything we needed, and she just stared amazed in wonder at everything. I laughed at her and said “ha, you look like you’ve never seen a grocery store before!” and then realized that she probably hadn’t because all the other times she had been asleep.

We’ll see what happens, but for now, I am happy to say that I am inspired, and it’s a wonderful feeling

What do you feel like making lately?

{ 14 comments }

Monthly Mingle September – Americana

by Jenn on September 6, 2012

in Uncategorized

Happy September! This month I have the pleasure of hosting this month’s Monthly Mingle. Monthly Mingle is a blogging event created by Meeta of What’s for Lunch Honey, and for this month’s theme, I chose Americana. To me, Americana food is more than just apple pie and thanksgiving turkey – it can be sliders, barbecue, and popular regional dishes – be it the Southern cuisine, New England seafood, Midwestern comforts, Cajun spices, or any other region of the US.

Summer has flown by so quickly it seems, and while it was a memorable season of firsts, I am anxiously awaiting sweatshirt weather and sipping mugs of piping hot tea in the mornings. While we’ve had a great time living here in Switzerland, I miss being home in the States most at this time of year too - I miss being out camping in the mountains, fresh clam chowder, seeing friends at homecoming, watching football games, family BBQs, and the cool autumn days with the trees full of color. Which is why I chose an Americana theme for the Monthly Mingle, to enjoy tasty American classics

I can’t wait to see what everyone makes!

[click to continue…]

{ 19 comments }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →