Testing my new Softboxes with Caviar and Balik Salmon, what Luxury!
Balik Salmon and Chinese Caviar
Balik style home smoked salmon with Chinese Hybrid Kaluga-Schrenki Caviar (free of charge) which is of superb quality, much better then the farmed Italian or French Caviar nowadays. On the side you can see some condiments for the Caviar and some Bruschetta’s with different toppings. so yes dinner was a blast! Strobist: 1 softbox above and behind with 430EX 1 softbox slightly above left with 430EXII Would like to mention if you ever get to taste Caviar, try it the traditional way, on the soft part of a fist, lick it off and take about 1/2 a shot of Vodka, then let it all mingle in the mout for a few seconds before swallowing….oomph what an explosion of tastes.
I have to say my two small size softboxes give me pretty nice results, way better then using umbrellas for this kind of small table top things. Umbrellas spread light around the whole room so you dont get too much directionality…..this is solved now with these soft boxes. have to admit it was my first shoot with them and just did the “bath in light thingy” have to see how it works when i want to do black background darker type of shots, but I bet you for that I will need another flash and snoot at least to
add high lights. Also overdue are some mirrors, but hey you cant have everything and to be honest living in a Hong Kong shoebox, everything needs to be set up and cleaned away right afterwards again……this means that every shoot takes at least 2 hours, and its full of labor…..then again its a lot better then having a husband “couch Potato” I suppose, right Honey?
Salmon and Caviar
The Babies
Bruschetta
The best way to eat Caviar
Obituary– Hans Ruedi Nussbaumer
Hans Ruedi Nussbaumer
how he wanted to be seen no doubt!
Hans Ruedi if you hear me……have a good trip please!
Marco
enough said
Good equipment is half the job!
Its really true, good stuff makes half your work. So since yesterday I am the happy owner of two very small portable softboxes, bought from Ying Kee in Sham Shui Po at HK$ 250 each. Each comes with a bountifull ball head connector, a sliding mechanism to match up with the strobes and triggers….for portable and home style studio pretty good stuff I find, however I seem to have problems with white balance, so need to do some tests. The inner lining of the boxes is silver, and the cover is seemingly plain white, however if I dont manually adjust it seems everything comes out golden cast.
anyway here are the softboxes in actin:
Softboxes for Home Studios
Here a close up shot of the Soft box with the flash and triggers and ball head connected to a light stand:
Softbox close up
As you can see my flashwaves triggers get in the way, but as canon flashes dont come with pc sync or any other connections…..this way will have to do for now….next time i wil try and find a hot shoe which can link the two via cable, so my flash can be positioned better.
The whole connection thing apart from my troubles is pretty much well done and the softbox sits pretty tight on the connector ring. The Ball Head also performs pretty well considering the weight resting on it, it did not slip at all. Only one minus I would say is that everything is connected by big butterfly screws which quite often can get in the way of each other.
Time for setting up and breaking down 2 of these units, the camera, etc etc, is quite considerable……I was left with only 15 minutes to shoot today, time was not on my side. but count on 20 minutes at least to set up and same for breaking down and putting everything away.
I am really eager to do another drink or food shot with these, but will need to wait till I really have some free time for that, I can only imagine how my lamb shot, or bloody mary shot would look like with these softboxes.
I forgot to mention the softboxes with ball heads and slider connection systems cost only HK$ 250 so its worthwhile to try and experiment with these without breaking the bank.
Ok so here some test shots with this setup:
My clock
Some Corn
Royal Albert Tea Cups
and finally my wee boys favorites
Oh I forgot to mention I also got myself a spanking new tripod with ball head, finally one which i can put horizontal, or for that matter in just about any direction i ever wish to…..and well Alex will be happy to as he got my old one so at least hess got a bit of equipment to experiment about with:
Ballhead Tripod
Strobist shoot
Ok this is gonna be a quick one as its late, since this blog is also about photography I post now about our shoot tonight. Our means Malcolm, Anthony and myself. We met up at te carpark opposite the HSBC headquarters in Central, Hong Kong for a fun shoot, using strobes and available light at twilight and after dark.
I leave this with just a few shots now.
Setting up the lights
Yup thats me, credit goes to my buddy Ekmai
Ekmai in action
David Beckham
For more pictures see my Flickr stream.
Mallosol Caviar
Guest: Chef do you have Mallosol Caviar?
Chef: Yes we do Sir, what would you like, Beluga, Oscietre or sevruga?
Guest: No Chef I just want the Mallosol, please.
Chef: Time to provide some insights in Caviar!
Caviar Training for Service Team
(and apparently we should supply copies to guests as well)
Selection of Farmed and Wild Caviar
What is Caviar?
What is this novelty that has such irresistible appeal to gourmets all over the world?
The classic definition is “the salted roe of a species of fish called Sturgeon”, although the roe of salmon or other species is also called Caviar.
Until industry and pollution came along, the sturgeon was found in rivers running into the Atlantic and Baltic, in the Rhine and in North American Lakes. Today most caviar comes from the Caspian Sea, caught by both Russia and Iran, or it is farmed.
Wild caviar is so rare nowadays that its cost prices are easily reaching HK$ 24.000 per half a kilogram. Of the varieties of Sturgeon producing Caviar, the Beluga is the largest, sometimes reaching 2,500 pounds and producing up to 130 pounds of Roe. The next size is the Oscietra, weighing around 400 pounds, producing roughly 40 pounds of Roe. The smallest of the Sturgeon family is the Sevruga, which weighs 60 pounds and from which only 8 pounds of Roe can be harvested.
Farmed Caviar as we sell now is only available Oscietra.
Preparation:
The Roe is taken from the fish, carefully sieved and all tissues and membranes are removed. Then it is washed in clean fresh water. Following this, the caviar master determines exactly how much salt to add and, by hand, blends the salt with the Roe. The amount of salt used depends on the grade of the sturgeon roe to be prepared, the weather, the condition of the roe, and the market for which it is destined. Only after the salt has been added to the Roe does it become Caviar. Therefore there is no such thing as unsalted Caviar. Top quality Caviar is known as Mallosol. This word does NOT denote a type of Caviar, it simply means “little salt”, and it is used in conjunction with the words Beluga, Oscietre or Sevruga.
The Caviar we sell in NOT Pasteurized, which means it cant be kept long, pasteurized caviar can be kept without refrigeration for up to 12 months.
Serving:
Mallosol Caviar should always be served with white toast and unsalted butter, however nowadays people usually get it served with many more condiments, such as Blinis, which are buckwheat pancakes, chopped egg, chopped onion, sour cream, Lemon and sometimes even parsley.
For the Caviar we sell all those condiments don’t do too much good to the Caviar, so you are advised to let customers know they should try it first in the way you are about to try now, straight from the back of the hand, which for some reason brings the Caviar most to its right, or try putting a nice scoop in a shot glass of Vodka (or Champagne), ice cold and when you drink, remember to let the roe and vodka stay in your mouth for a while……you will feel the salty of the Caviar and sharpness of the vodka go away and make place for a subtle sweetness. Now try with some condiments, and see how extremely difficult it becomes to taste the real flavor of the caviar!
Important note: Caviar is always sold with a bone China spoon, or a Mother of Pearl spoon which is cut and polished out of oyster and other shells. If Caviar comes in contact with metal, it will oxidize and produce an awful taste, please remind guests to use the small spoons supplied only and don’t use any metal under any circumstances.
The Caviar will be served as shown here, on a big ice display, with a teardrop holding the tin of caviar. The Tin is opened in the kitchen but on simple request can also be opened in front of the customer. For the bigger tins, we will simply serve them on the ice dish, as we can’t produce the Ice carvings that big.
My thoughts on Molecular gastronomy
Its now several years after names like Ferran Adria, Herve This and others became well established as the New Top Chefs of the world, and I have followed this development with great interest. However my opinion is still I want my food to look like food.
I shiver at the thoughts of Foam, I do not like to deconstruct, only to construct it right back again, be it in another way or not.
Adding powders like Xanthan, Lecithin, Citras, Algin, Kappa and others make me worried, but why, I think its merely an older generation, I have never learned about these ingredients in school, and whilst I have them all in my kitchen I am still reluctant to serve them to my guests. Some of them are purely natural chemicals, derived from Algea etc, and some are manufactured chemicals.
True is that you when properly done can create some amazing results one example we saw on a demonstration was a modern way of presenting a classic onion soup, honestly it almost looks like a 1000 year old egg.
So how did he create this? Well first in a Roner, you cook eggs at 65 degrees Celsius for an hour or two, yes that is correct you read it right. An egg cooked at this temperature does not get well cooked, the whites simply stay a bit like soft jelly, more liquid then jelly though, however the yolk does become a bit solidified due to its membrane around it. So you open your egg, drop the shell, and drop the white, and you are left with a perfect soft egg yolk.
Onion Soup the Molecular Way
Break the membrane and you are left with Onion Soup
Next the broth will be dropped in a bath with a “food chemical” while the broth is still floating the top exposed part stays “open” through here you can drop in the egg yolk. Then with your fingers you pinch the top of the broth closed and dip it under. Carefully mold an egg shape out of it, and leave it to set for a while until the membrane ios thick enough to support.
Remove the “egg” from the bath and rinse with water. Now you can steam this egg to heat it, and plate it on a bed of sautéed onions and croutons, est voila you have Onion Soup, a very classical dish presented in a very modern way.
A Roner is a simple water bath but with a heating element that is computer controlled and exact to the degree, a small pump pumps the water around to ensure an even temperature all over the water bath.
One of the fun and quite easy to achieve things to make is Caviar, Caviar can be made out of almost any liquid, here we will make with melon.
Ingredients:
250 Grams Cantaloupe Juice
Syringe Dropper
2 grams Sodium Alginate
For the setting bath:
500 Grams Water
2.5 Grams Calcium Chloride
Method:
Mix Sodium Alginate with 1/3 of the Melon Juice and blend. Mix in remaining 2/3, strain and set aside. (If you have a vacuum machine, use it to get rid of any air bubbles in the juice or let it sit in the fridge overnight to do the same.)
Dissolve the Calcium Chloride in the water. Now fill a syringe or a specially made device for this (see picture) with the Melon Juice. Expel it drop by drop into the Calcium Chloride Solution.
Remove after 1 minute, strain and rinse in cold water.
My thoughts on Molecular Gastronomy, not good but also not bad, when used in the right way it can really be great, think of making a Pine Nut Oil Mayonnaise without the Eggs, now you can, think about salad Dressings in Supermarkets, how come the solid particles are perfectly suspended and why the vinegar and oil never separate…..now you know, because Molecular applications.
A retail set of ingredients to use
If you are interested in this kind of cuisine and would like to have a play, I suggest you start with downloading a few of the Hydrocolloid recipe Collections from this page http://khymos.org/recipe-collection.php at Khymos Website
Melting Chocolate Pudding
Melting Chocolate Pudding
Melting Chocolate PuddingOne of our best selling desserts is this delicious “melting” Chocolate Pudding, and whats so fun about it its so easy to make, and can even be kept frozen, just thaw, and bake and its just like it was freshly made.
Makes 8 portions
For the Pudding:
400 Grams Dark Chocolate
Close up
150 Grams Sugar
1 Pieces Egg
25 Grams Vanilla Oil
400 Grams Butter
150 Grams Flour
For the Vanilla Sauce:
250 Milliliter Milk
50 Grams Sugar
2 Pieces Egg Yolk
½ Pieces Vanilla Pod
Method:
Melt the Chocolate, and butter by covering it with cling film in a dry bowl. Place in the Microwave and melt in 20 seconds.
Royal Albert Tea Cup
Mix Egg with the Sugar and Vanilla oil, and beat air into it. Pour Chocolate Butter Mix into this bowl and sift flour on top. Fold all ingredients together until well mixed!
Now its time to butter and flour your pudding molds, once that is done, you can fill the Chocolate Pudding mix for ¾ in the molds. Top each mold with Clingfilm to prevent the pudding drying out. Keep refrigerated up to 4 days, or frozen up to a month.
When ready to bake, preheat oven at 188 degrees Celsius and bake Pudding for 10 minutes, you will see the Pudding has risen nicely and has a head on it.
To make the Custard Sauce, bring Milk with the Vanilla Pod to a boil, in a separate bowl mix Egg Yolks and Sugar. Once the Milk boils, turn of Fire and add hot Milk to the Egg Mix, stir, and pour the mix back into the pan. On a LOW fire you bring the temperature up to almost boiling, whilst constantly stirring to “set” the Egg Yolks.
When done, pour through a strainer into a storage box.
Place a spoon or two full of Custard Sauce on the plate and top with the Warm Pudding, which is filled with melting Chocolate Sauce!
Garnish as you like with Fresh Berries and Icing Sugar!
Oh and do drop me a note here if you liked the recipe J
Clam Chowder
Clam Chowder
Ingredients:
250 grams Frozen Thai Clam Meat
100 grams Chopped Onions
100 grams Celery Brunoise
300 grams Potato Brunoise
250 grams Corn Kernels
250 grams Bacon Strips
2 Liters Milk
1 Liter Tinned Clam Juice or Home Made Clam Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
20 grams Chopped parsley
Few slices of Bread
Method:
Bacon, Celery and Potatoes without adding color. Add Clams, Seasoning and Corn, and top with Clam Juice and Milk. Top with few slices bread.Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are soft.
Add Thyme and or Parsley and serve.
Garlic, thy mighty
At work we are doing a Garlic promotion currently, and one of my favorite dishes on that menu is a recipe I stumbled upon in a tiny simple old Garlic Cook Booklet. Its Called:
Soup Lloyd J. Harris
6 Cloves Garlic, Minced
6 Large Onions, Finely Chopped
½ Cup Butter
1 teaspoon Flour
pinch of Thyme
Salt and Black pepper
2 cups dry white wine
4 cups chicken stock
5 eggs
6 ounces Grated Swiss Cheese
¾ Cup Heavy Cream
Sautee garlic and onions in butter, until they begin to brown.
Add Flour and stir, add thyme, wine, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 minutes.
Add stock and bring to a boil.
Simmer for an hour.
When ordered, heat a bowl of soup, beat 1 egg in the soup, top with grated cheese and bake in an oven for 10 minutes.
To serve: place a dollop of whipped cream on top.
Smoked Garlic
Sesame Crusted Smoked Salmon (hiccup)
Ingredients:
1 side of fresh salmon
1 bottle Scotch Whiskey
A few Hands Full of Maldon Dea Salt
A hand full of Sugar
A few cracked Peppercorns
A Pinch of Cracked Fennel Seeds
2 Oranges, sliced
Few Hands full of Apple or Cherry Wood Chips
Enclosed chamber with minor ventilation (cause old smoke is no good)
Sesame seeds
Sesame Crusted Smoked salmon
Method:
Open Bottle of Whiskey and do a quality check, Pour one glass full and drink. If quality is ok proceed.
Make sure bones are removed from Salmon Fillet, rinse Fillet and pat dry. If not sure of Whiskey quality, take one more glass, it is of utmost importance to only use superior quality ingredients! Lay Slalmon on layer ov Plastic Vrap. Skin Side down…..Oops! Mix Zugarh with Zalt, Pepper Korns and Vennel Zeedz. Do one last quhuality check on the Whiskey, cause its getting all confusing.
Koat zhe Zalmon Villet with zhe Zalt mixtureh. Zlice zhe Oranges velyh caruhfullie, making zure not zo cut zhe fingurs! Now top Zhe Zalmon with zhe Ornage zlices. Now buhfore using zhe Whiskey, make duoble sure its zafe to esu, o best is take one more taste. Pour whiskey inzo guhlass……derop guhlass on floor, bent down zho pick up zhe piezes, cut fingures…….ouch….damn……zhis is so hard. Leave rubbish on zhe floor, try do get up from zhe floor. Zhprinkle whizkey over salmon generositily……and wrap up wih zhe kling fillum tight. marinate for zixs hours….. Zake a rhest.
Wake up with massive hangover, best is to start the day with what you ended so taste teast the whiskey one more time. Seems Fine, so proceed. Make small fire with zhe apple woot, zhen like on your birzhday, blow out zhe fire……remember zho catzh breath in bezween. place in enclosed space. Rinze zhe zalmon fihhlut under cold water, and patch duhry Place zahlmon fillut over zmoulder, and leave door azhjar a bizt. suhmoke zhe son ofuah betch vor 2 hourz…. Now very karefuhhuly remove zalmon from zmoke ofen, and coat zhe bitch with ze…ze…..ze…zezame zeheds.
- Sesame Crusted Smoked salmon
vrap zhe vhole damn zhing tight and leuve zhe damn zhing for when zhe hangover zuhubsides in zehe vridge. Wake up next morning, take hangover medication (forget last 2 shots in whiskey bottle) poach some eggs and slice salmon…..top on toast and you will feel as new again! apart from the drunkard writing the recipe is real, this is how i smoke salmon at work every 2 days (except for tasting zhe whiskey) Enjoy
Marriott Mai Khao Beach Resort review
MARRIOTT HOLIDAY RESORT, MAI KHAO BEACH, PHUKET, THAILAND
The Reflection Pool
If you are particular about where you SLEEP… look no further than this wonderful King sized bed and fantastic pillows…..I want that bed/pillows at home… The whole unit was tastefully furnished with a spacious layout.
One of 4 pools
The staff were all very friendly, happy and ready to please. We had a lovely maid (daily cleaning) who left the most amazing towel animals on our bed each day.
Bedroom
I would recommend hiring a car as the whole resort is out on a limb but if you want somewhere relaxing, beautiful and comfortable , you will not be disappointed with the mai khao. We rented a spanking new 6 seater toyota for HK$ 2200 per week only, and fuel is not a major cost factor here. They have a full schedule of kids and adult activities, (free DVD & book rental) but as the resort is so new , be sure to book ahead or the class will not take place as i found to my disappointment one 8am stretch class. DO try the adult bike ride, it was fun and gave us a good view of our immediate vicinity. Loved all the food we had especially the 24hr room service which was laid out upon delivery like I’v never seen before..real Thai hospitality….!! Prices were not over the top compared to Hong Kong rates, thought everything was expensive for being in Phuket, although the ‘Siam cafe’ at JW’s did have more of a choice/larger menu.
Thai Dance
There is still some noise from the construction across the road but the apts are so well sound proofed that there is absolutely no disturbance when inside the apt even during a heavy thunder storm..!! My one and only complaint would be the dangers of the beach there, Mai Khao beach is stunningly beautifull but also totally deserted, I love this but obvious reasons are the cause. the beach is very steep, too steep for children to play on, also the waves and especially the undercurrents are particularly dangerous for not experienced and fit swimmers. Lucky I have plenty of buoyancy, so no problem for me.
Beach Chairs
We found most bigger and famous beaches however a downturn in Phuket, beaches such as Pathong, are just way too crowded, and way commercial, instead we decided to drive along the coast up back to Mai Khao, to explore all beaches along the road, and found places like Surin Beach, a nice clean safe beach quite small, but with nice restaurants, very quiet, we occupied 3 beach beds, and the closest ones occupied to us were about 50 meters away. there were enough facilities and also rentals of jet ski’s etc a big plus was great service, and better much better prices!
Private Dining
Disturbing is that Jet ski rentals are not covered by insurance, which i find is weird for a tourist spot, but ok we survived it without any damages or injuries, even my 12 years old went alone for the last 20 minutes!
The kitchens come fully stocked with utensils and tools you need to prepare a feast, only the frying pans were no use for electric fires as the bottoms were bent, but its so complete it comes even with a blender, for making much necessary margaritas, a spice grinder, yes a serious spice grinder, a set of cutlery and china for 8 pax, and every day refills for coffee, milk, sugar etc for breakfast. as usual mini bar items and the shop at the resort are very expensive, so I was happy to have a car and go to Tesco etc to do some shoppings. 4000 Baht did us good for 3 days of food, booze etc…….mind you we ate lunch outdoors every day and dinner only outdoors on the last 3 days, its just so more convenient to stay at the room for dinner with 3 kids with all their own difficulties of table manners.
King on Mai Khao Beach
Our flat had 2 bedrooms, each the size of my small appartment in Hk, the 2nd bedroom had 2 comfy double beds of very high quality, an ensuite bathroom, and park view.
the master bedroom had 1 king sized bed, with 12 pillows on it when we arrived, a pull out double sofa bed, 2 chairs and a table, plenty cabinet spaces, and a bathroom to die for…..after knowing HK bath tubs you will feel you are in a swimming pool in their tub! had many nice moments there with the wife….oops i shouldnt mention that.
a spacious balcony, with seaview, however the palm trees are not grown enough to allow you to view it now….probably only after a few more years. The living room is spacious, has a large sofa, 3 chairs, a coffee table and a comfy desk with free internet connection. a Nice glass dining table with seats for 8, and the open kitchen. there is a tp notch washing and drying machine, which comes with free detergent etc again.
daily 3 big bottles of water are supplied free of charge, along with the coffee and tea making stuff.
Room make up is a brisk 5 person activity, and they are in and out in 20 minutes, this includes a daily window wash which i found was excessive, but when asked they pointed out quickly that there are fat fingerprints from the kids all over te windows…….so ok.
staff were extremely friendly and courteous and golf carts whisked us away from one place to another on the property at any time we liked, which was to the joys of the kids who loved to ride them. Overall a great place, only con are the tv’s and the television signals, very old fashioned tv’s and very bad quality sound.
The Chef worked in Marriott HK for a year 2 years ago……so that provided for some interesting talking for me as well.
What I liked most in Phuket? the dirty, messy, non english speaking local wet/dirt markets for the locals…..loved seeing their normal ways and habits and foods..although I was very concerned for my kiddos with food hygiene.
definitely a place to go.
Large parts of this review are copied from Grandville on tripadvisor
As our stay was free, we were invited by a friend I cannot comment on the cost, however its a time share property and the minimum is about a weeks value, which comes down to about US$ 15.000 for a +- 50 years period i believe, off course time share is not bound to only this location, it gives you possibilities in many marriott properties and also in partner properties. anyhow……time share is not my thing, mainly because its nearly impossible to resell again with any value.
Breakfast
Breakfast is the first meal of the day. The word came about because it means breaking the fast after one has not eaten (fasted) since the night before.
Breakfast
The things I do at night huh……when your husband gets out of the chair, start to make tea, covers the table with table cloth, tea cups, tea pot, brings out the toaster etc at 11 pm at night, you must think he is going crazy….well he is, crazy about this hobby of his!
Here I have used 2 strobes, 1 from right behind through a shoot through umbrella and one from left behind shot bare!
About European breakfasts:
(source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast )
As a general rule, traditional breakfasts are less substantial and less elaborate in the warmer, more southern countries bordering the Mediterranean, while breakfasts are traditionally larger, with a greater variety of dishes and greater prevalence of hot dishes in the cooler northern- and central-European countries.
Hotels and other types of lodging in Europe typically include breakfast in their rates, and in many cases, especially in larger hotels, it is served as a buffet. Specific items will vary from country to country, depending on local breakfast tastes and habits. In Switzerland, for example, cold cuts (luncheon meats), cheese, yoghurt, prepared fruit, butter, croissants, breads, and rolls are served. Sometimes foods belonging to the British breakfast (eggs, sausages, tomatoes (fresh, grilled or canned), bacon) can occasionally be found as part of the buffet.
Breakfast
Bloody Mary
So yesterday I ended up being Thirsty and Hungry for a Nibble, I threw some Prawns on Sticks, added some Gazpacho based Sauce, and then thought what’s better to go with this then some Bloody Mary Shooters!
Bloody Mary
Here is my favorite Recipe and some variation ideas:
My Favorite Bloody Mary Recipe
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Grey Goose vodka
2 oz tomato juice
1 oz V8 juice
0.5 oz lemon juice
7 drops Worcestershire sauce
3 drops Tabasco sauce
freshly ground Black pepper
few grates of fresh horseradish on top, for that kick!
1 dash celery salt, freshly grated
Other variations I would suggest:
Virgin Mary (alcohol Free)
Bloody Maria (tequila)
Bloody Geisha (Sake)
Michelada (Mexican Beer)
Caesar (Clamato Juice)
Bloody Eight (V8 only, no tomato juice)
Bloody Mary Prawns
Cinnamon Smoked Lamb
I am still not sure whether this will become a blog about Food, or about Photography or maybe just a marriage of the two! Anyhow this is one of the dishes I created at work, I took home the ingredients and assembled it so I have a chance to shoot it properly.
I used bare flashes to create strong shadows and bring out earthy tones, which worked partly, had I just added a small mirror to the right to illuminate the 2 stacked slices of Lamb a bit.
So 1 strobe Top Left behidn subject, and 1 strobe right laying on the table pointed up towards the smoke.
I really need to get a course on photoshop now!
So I moved my arse today and cooked Some Cinnamon Smoked Lamb which is blowtorched after marinating, then quickly cooled, cold smoked en subsequently vacuum packed with an array of herbs, seasonings and spices. it is then slow cooked in a water bath at 65 degrees celsius for 2 hours, to create a fully cooked, beautiful pink supertender piece of lamb. it is presented here with Baby Beets and Turnip, Grilled Cepe Mushroom, Red Silver Onion and Cherries. yes indeed the large tree barks is indeed Cinnamon.
Strobist info, 1 flash right, flagged and fired up into smoke, 1 flash on stand left behind subject, both fired at 1/8 power i think if i am not wrong.
Cinnamon Smoked Lamb
Cinnamon Smoked Lamb
Party time
I am 2 days off and get a bunch of friends over tonight so I thought lets make it a good night, and use the drinks I shot last week for tonight, so tonight it will be shooter night!
I will make Home Made Orange Liqueur, somewhat like Cointreau with Vanilla Sticks, Kahlua shots with Chocolate Cigars, Pear Liqeue Shots with Compressed pear as Garnish, Mulled with with Soaked Orange, Bloody Mary’s with Celery and finally Mojito Shooters.
I will serve them one by one so no one has a chance to cheat!
Shooters
Glassware was bouth in Horizon Plaza at Shambala for I think about HK$ 100 per set.
Off course there has to be some food, what better then these lovely babies, buy them frozen, defrost when needed and serve with Cocktail Sauce, a simple one is made by taking mayonaise, adding a dash of Tomato Ketchup, a dash of Brandy or Sherry, a bit of thinly whipped Cream, and dont forget a tiny bit of Cayenne Pepper to give it some oomph!
Prawns
About Smoke Photography
You will be thinking to you self…huh about what? Smoke Photography? Right this guy needs pills!
Smoke
But no really Smoke Photography can produce very artistic and beautiful results, such as these here which were my first quick try at it:
The set up for this type of photography is surprisingly simple, 1 incense stick, 1 teaspoon and 2 flashes left and right behind the incense, pointed upwards firing into the smoke. a black background, and your ready to go. Hold the teaspoon over the burning incense stick so the smoke will separate and produce nice curling patterns. add color gels to your flashes and the colors of the smoke are only limited by your imagination.
This was my table set up for this, I shot some drinks first and after used this same set up for the smoke shots!
I intend to retake some of these shots on my next day off and hope to frame one or two of the master pieces to hang on the wall!
Come to think of it this could be great on the walls of bars where smoking is still allowed!
Until next time!
Here follow some links to some good tutorial sites for this kind of Photography:
http://photocritic.org/artsmoke-photographing-smoke/
http://www.sensitivelight.com/smoke2/
Smoke Jelly Fish
Chili con Carne
New Orleans Style Chili Con Carne
Ingredients
½ cup olive oil
½ cup minced onion
2 minced jalapeno pepper
½ cup minced garlic
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 LBs minced beef, 1 lbs minced pork and 1 lbs minced veal
2 cups plum tomatoes (chopped)
½ cup tomato juice
1 table spoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leave
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
5 dashes Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 teaspoon sage leaves
1 tin of Kidney Beans
1 tin assorted beans
1 tin chick peas
Dark Chocolate to taste
Instructions
You dont really need instructions for a chili do you? ……ok ok……Brown Meat, with 1st 7 ingredients, add the remaining ingredients except for the chocolate.
Simmer until you have the right consistency and occasionally scoop of any scum that comes to the top.
Check the Seasoning and last but not least grate a bit of chocolate in the chili.
Pour the Chili in the pan, top with cheese, gratinate, then top with a dollop of Sour Cream and Some Guacamole.
Serve hot with Steamed Rice and Corn Chips
Lovely for on these chilly winter days
Raspberry Martini (dessert)
Raspberry Martini
Serves 8
Ingredients:
Shortbread Cookies:
½ cup unsalted butter
5 tablespoons sugar
zest of 1 orange
1/8 vanilla bean
¼ cup all purpose flour
Lady Finger Sponge:
6 tablespoons Cornstarch
6 Tablespoons Bread Flour
1 cup egg whites
10 tablespoons sugar
½ cup egg yolks, lightly beaten
Raspberry Mousse:
¾ teaspoon powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1 cup raspberry puree
6 tablespoons sugar
2 cups heavy cream
Raspberry Sauce:
4 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup Raspberry Puree
2 tablespoons sugar
Make the shortbread cookies:
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar, beat in zest, scrape seeds from vanilla bean and beat them in. stir in flour. Form desired shapes, bake in oven. Remove from oven, sprinkle with sugar.
Lady Finger Sponge:
Sift cornstarch and flour together and set aside. Whip egg whites until peaks form. Whip in sugar, fold in the egg yolks and then the flour mix.
Preheat oven to 390 degrees and pour contents in baking pan.
Bake +- 10 minutes. . cool briefly and turn out on wire rack.
Raspberry Mousse:
Combine gelatin and water allow to soften.
Heat puree to a soft bubble, remove from heat and stir in the gelatin. Mix well and strain, allow to cool to room temp. whip cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Fold in puree.
Raspberry Sauce:
Place cornstarch in a small sauce pan and stir in the puree, forming a smooth paste. Bring to a slow simmer and add sugar. Allow to cool down. Adjust thickness by adding water.
Making Flavored Vodka
Makes 6 Bottles
Ingredients
6 Bottles of good Vodka (Smirnoff, Stolichnaya) 12 Thai Spicy Chili’s
200 Grams Grated Chocolate (not melted, just grated)
2 Punnets Blueberries
2 Punnets Raspberries
6 Whole Limes
2 Whole Apples
Oh the Joys of Flavored Vodka’s, especially if they are home made! Just be careful for any headaches and I am NOT the one responsible!
Instructions
Open all 6 Bottles of Vodka and Drink at least 3 shots from each bottle to allow space for infusion ingredients! Or be more sensible and pour the Vodka into another bottle for later use.
Be careful with the Chili one
Flavopred Vodka Home Made
Beef Steak Tomato with Grey Shrimps
Beef Tomato with Grey Shrimps
Serving Size: 4
Ingredients:
- Beef Steak Tomatoes 4 pieces
- Dutch Grey Shrimps 400 grams
- European Style Cocktail sauce 100 grams
- 4 sprigs of Chervil
- Lettuce to Garnish
Intsructions:
Bring a Large pot of Water to the boil, meanwhile cross with a Knife the bottom of the Tomato, and dunk in the boiling water for 8 seconds. Dunk in Ice water to cool immediately.
Peel the skin of the Tomatoes and discard, dry the tomatoes on paper towels, and cut the top off whilst leaving the green intact. Remove seeds from the Tomato and inner Flesh, Chop Flesh and return to Tomato.
Mix Grey Shrimps with the Cocktail Sauce.
Fill Tomatoes with Shrimp Mix until full. Garnish with Chervil, and Lettuce Leaves on the side.
Place cap against Tomatoes and a festive but simple Lunch is born.
Enjoy
Oh and don’t forget the Sauvignon Blanc
Cosmopolitan
The drink this blog was named after, one of my wife’s favorites:
A Cosmo with a Sugar Rim
For 1 Cosmo you will need:
- Vodka 1 Oz
- Triple Sec 1/2 Oz
- Fresh Lime Juice 1/2 Oz
- Cranberry Juice 1/1 Oz
Shake Vodka, Triple Sec, Lime and Cranberry Juice vigourously in shaker with Ice. Strain into a Martini Glass, garnish with a Lime wedge or slice, and serve.
I prefer to rim the glass with some sugar, simply cut a wedge of Lime, make the rim of the glass wet with the lime wedge and place the glass upside down in a bed of sugar.
Image is shot with a Canon 350D, 50 MM F1.4 and 2 strobes.
Cosmopolitan with Shaker
Cosmopolitan's Blog 
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