This is an incredible gratin that takes full advantage of summertime vegetables. As I shared in the post, this dish tastes fresh. It must be the combination of vegetables. Think zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and basil, all melted together to make an outstandingly flavored medley. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs, shallots, and Parmesan cheese on top of it all and you’ve got something special. If you browse through the recipe, you’ll find that each vegetable was altered in some way before being added to the casserole. The squash and tomatoes were dehydrated, the onions were caramelized, and the garlic, olive oil, and thyme were all marinated together to form a wonderful topping that’s drizzled over everything else. While this dish may appear complex, it’s actually fairly straightforward. It’s worth the effort involved. Click through to take a look. Continue reading…
Orzo Salad with Everything Recipe by Cook’s Country
Orzo salads are fun and easy to prepare and I make them all summer long. In our house, we add this type of salad to our regular nightly garden salad. We use the garden salad as a bedding for this much more substantial companion. As I share in this post, these types of salads are quite simple to put together and really take no time at all. Basically, you’ll need to cook the orzo, which is basically cooking pasta, prep the vegetables, and then make the vinaigrette. There’s nothing challenging in any of the steps and the ingredients are readily available in any food market. In the case of this salad, the recipe calls for orzo, olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, red cabbage, Asiago cheese, pecans, and fresh basil. After reading that ingredient list, I’m sure you can imagine the flavors the ingredients create when combined. And that list didn’t even include the vinaigrette, which consists of balsamic vinegar, garlic, and extra-virgin olive oil. This is an incredible summer salad, so click through to take a look at some photos and to view the recipe. Continue reading…
Roasted Salmon with Mushroom, Cauliflower, & Currants Recipe by Curtis Stone
Pan frying salmon can sometimes be a delicate procedure. You may need to do it a few times to get it right. In the beginning, most people overcook the fish and that makes it dry. If you allow the salmon to cook in a skillet for five minutes, skin side down, and then flip the fish to cook it skin side up for only a few minutes, that should be fine. Usually, 90% of the cooking is done with the skin side down. People get nervous about that. On to the recipe – this is a good one. It’s got tons of flavor and that flavor stems primarily from the tasty and somewhat unique vinaigrette. The vinaigrette consists of red wine, currants, Vidalia onion, vinegar, brown sugar, olive oil, and seasonings. After this combination cooks down in a saucepan, it’s unbelievable to taste. The red wine vinegar adds a kick and the brown sugar smooths it all out. What a medley. And once the vinaigrette is spooned over the cauliflower, mushrooms, and salmon, the dish is complete and, I must say, rather elegant. This is something you could present to someone on a special occasion or a holiday. If you’re interested in preparing a dish like this, click through for the recipe. Continue reading…
Composition for Photography
Simply put, composition is what’s in your photo, where it is, and how it’s situated. Composition is an important element of what makes a photograph look good. Some people have a natural eye for pleasing composition while others need some help getting it right. In this post, I discuss the various parts of composition, such as the rule of thirds, guiding the viewer’s eye, foreground and background, as well as a summary of depth of field. I give example photos for some of these concepts. After that, I offer some basic rational for simplifying your photography and for why you might want to try different positions while photographing. While obtaining pleasing composition isn’t the most challenging of all aspects of photography, it’s one of those things people will see if it’s not right. One of the most effective methods for getting better as setting up a shot is to look at many other photographs that were taken by the pros and dissect what makes them so good. And then try to imitate those photos to the best of your ability. It’s a slow process, but if you keep at it, your photos should look very good in no time at all. Click through to learn about composition as it pertains to photography. Continue reading…
People Removal & Composites
As a photographer, you’re going to encounter cases where you’d like to do something, meaning, you won’t want to take a simple one-off photograph of a person, place, or thing. You’d like to take multiple photographs to later edit in post-processing. You’d like those images to not only represent one point in time, but rather multiple points, so the setting is better in your photo than it was in real life. Don’t concern yourself with being a photographic purist while reading this post. This one is all about manipulation and faking it in order to get a stellar final photo. In this post, I cover two topics. The first has to do with capturing a multitude of images at different times as to ultimately remove unwanted objects from those images. The second has to do with capturing a timed sequence of images of some action that’s taking place, in an effort to merge those images for a final composite. Photography needent be static. With a few tips and tricks, you can force your images to come alive to either remove action or add it. Both of the techniques I discuss in this post are straightforward and simple to pull off. Click through to read more. Continue reading…
Creamy Melted Leek Ziti Recipe by Southern Cast Iron
I’ve eaten a lot of ziti in my day and I can tell you that, while regular ziti and tomato sauce is good, baked ziti with vegetables and a cream sauce is better. Yes, the latter may seem less Italian and it probably is, but to me, it’s just a more comprehensive and satisfying dish. The ingredients for this recipe are baked in a cast iron skillet and include some good one you might recognize; leeks, garlic, thyme, cheddar cheese, ziti, nutmeg, and parsley. The cream sauce is prepared beforehand and consists of flour, milk, and cheese. After all the ingredients are prepped and added to the skillet, everything is covered with more cheese and then the entire ensemble is baked in the oven for a half hour. It’s not a terribly challenging dish to prepare, but it’s got a fair amount of depth and it’s sure to satisfy. I liked it a lot. There’s nothing like filling a bowl with something like it. Click through for the recipe and to take a look at some photos of the dish and its preparation. Continue reading…
Chocolate Snockers Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream & Pecans Recipe by Southern Cast Iron
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t enjoy a nice dessert. I remember going to Ruby Tuesday for dinner in the Danbury Fair Mall when I was a teenager. I’d also go to The Cheesecake Factory at Blue Back Square in West Hartford. Both of those restaurants were a lot of fun and they both offered exciting desserts. In Ruby’s, I used to order a huge strawberry and vanilla ice cream dessert and in The Cheesecake Factory, it was warm brownies and vanilla ice cream. I like big desserts, so it was with this in mind that I decided to prepare something as similar as I could find. As you’ll see after clicking through to this post, within a few short minutes, you too can easily prepare a cast iron skillet brownie with vanilla ice cream and chopped pecans as a topping. The brownie is simple to bake. Just mix up a few classic ingredients and the place the skillet in the oven for around 30 minutes. When it’s ready, you’ll have a restaurant quality dessert to add some ice cream and pecans to. Click through for the recipe. This one’s a good one. Continue reading…
Camera Lens Filters
For around $35, you can immediately begin taking much better looking photographs. Interested in learning how to do that? I’ll give you a hint: it has to do with something you attach to the end of your camera’s lens. It’s called a lens filter. Not any lens filter, a filter that’s specific for the job at hand. The $35 I referenced above is for a beginner filter kit that’s available many places online. I actually purchased this kit and it’s worked wonders through the years. It contains a handful of different filters that do different things, such as magnify a scene, block UV rays, reduce the amount of light traveling through the lens, and alter the look of the scene entirely. For a tiny investment, you can really change how your photos look, for the better. Yes, you can do some of these things during post-processing in Adobe Lightroom, Camera Raw, or Photoshop, but you may need to trade some of the image’s quality for that. Why not enhance the photo right at the beginning? In this post, I discuss the common lens filters that are available as well as what each one accomplishes. I show photos of the filters themselves and even offer a brand name that will quicken your search. Click through to learn more. Continue reading…
Lighting for Photography
Have you ever taken an outdoor photograph at high noon on a sunny day and found that it just didn’t have the pizzazz you were looking for? That it felt flat? Have you taken a similar photo during the golden hour and found that it was actually very pleasing? And that you hardly even had to try? The difference between the two photos most likely had to do with lighting. For beginner photographers, after they’ve learned how their camera works and what exposure is, a common topic that creeps into the scene is lighting. This is one of those things that more advanced photographers focus on intently. They chase it down and kick and complain when they find some that’s beautiful, but don’t happen to have their cameras on hand. Light can make or break an image. It can add drama. It can add feeling to a photo. Nostalgia. Intensity. Romance. In this post, I discuss a few different types of light that a photographer might encounter under varying circumstances. I discuss portrait lighting, outdoor lighting, various gear photographers use to manipulate their lighting, and more. I even offer example photos to help drive the points home. If you’re interested in learning more about lighting and how it pertains to photography, click on through. Continue reading…
Garlic Spaghetti with Kale, Lemon, & Romano Cheese Recipe by Curtis Stone
In Maine, gardening season begins June first. It’s a short season, so we’ve got to pack as much in as possible, in the shortest time. Luckily, many sellers in my area begin planting indoors in March/April, so the general public can easily purchase pre-grown plants to place in their gardens. One vegetable that does especially well in the cooler climate of Maine is kale. Swiss chard does just as well, but kale is the veggie of the day. For this recipe, I use fresh kale from my very own backyard garden to add to a lovely garlic spaghetti dish. It’s an easy dish to prepare and the recipe doesn’t call for many ingredients at all. I enjoy preparing spaghetti dishes because most of them are so straightforward. For this one, all I used was kale, spaghetti, olive oil, garlic, lemon, Romano cheese, and seasonings. It went together fast and had a nice fresh taste. If you’re into garlic and lemon (and kale), click through to take a look at this recipe. Continue reading…