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Focus on Green Garlic

Beth – Our blog is a labor of love done around our work schedule and responsibilities to our families and friends. Bette was crazy busy so we decided to invite Kira Corbin to our shoot to style the next two blog postings. Below she writes about her passion for props and what she considers and thinks about when styling for a photograph. We loved her point of view and collaborating on all these images. If you want to see more of her work go to http://kiracorbin.com/

ingredients muscles

Kira – For this story, and all of the lovely work the ladies are doing here on OST, the focus is on the ingredients, so that was my starting point for propping. On the one hand I consider how to represent them well graphically, in terms of shape and color, and on the other in mood and spirit. Green garlic is a spring time treat, the newly born garlic plant shooting up, and the mussels are briny, tender and highly perishable. Freshness and the fleeting feeling of spring are themes here.

To use only white, for the clean, fresh aspect of spring, was an option. But I found some inspiration in the idea that sometimes introducing an opposing color, some sharp contrast, is what will help the eye see the difference, and see each color more clearly. If all of the props in this shot had been white, the food would still certainly pop, but you might loose the impact of the white. That fresh feeling of the white. It might have just all melt away, too neutral. And though food is the star, the props are there to create connotation, environment, mood. Additionally, the introduction of some black and green props merges all of the ingredients together, bridging their aesthetic differences and creating visual cohesiveness, very much how the recipe melds each individual flavor into a unified (delicious!) expression.

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Cornmeal Pancakes with Smoked Pollock and Crème Fraiche Sauce

A.J. – I love using pancakes for savory preparations. This recipe works well with any smoked fish…….trout, salmon, etc. I was very excited to use the smoked pollock that I found at the Union Square Greenmarket. Occasionally I’ll hot-smoke a piece of salmon using my stove-top smoker. Serve these pancakes as an appetizer but they also work well for lunch or as a light dinner. 

Smoked Pollock

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Cornmeal Pancakes with Smoked Pollock and Crème Fraiche Sauce
Serves: 4-6
 

Ingredients
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • Sea salt
  • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1¾ cups buttermilk
  • 4 tablespoons melted butter, plus additional for coating griddle
  • 8 ounces crème fraiche
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 3 teaspoons freshly grated horseradish
  • 1 heaping teaspoon grainy mustard
  • 1 Granny Smith apple
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 8 ounces hot-smoked pollock
  • Micro greens, for garnish
  • Watercress, for garnish
  • Merlot sea salt, to taste

Instructions
  1. To make cornmeal pancakes combine flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk and melted butter. Stir with a whisk until blended. Heat a large griddle or non-stick skillet over medium heat. Lightly coat hot griddle with butter. Add one heaping tablespoon of cornmeal batter at a time and brown pancakes on both sides. (Pancakes can be kept warm in a 200-degree oven while preparing rest of the recipe.)
  2. Combine crème fraiche, lemon zest, horseradish, mustard and sea salt to taste.
  3. Core, quarter and thinly slice the apple; toss with lemon juice. Flake smoked pollock and divide equal amounts over each pancake. Top with sliced apples, garnish with micro greens and watercress. Drizzle with crème fraiche sauce and sprinkle each pancake with merlot sea salt. Serve immediately.

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Amagansett Sea Salt

salt rows

Beth – Last summer I had the luck of meeting the owners Natalie and Steven Judelson of the Amagansett Sea Salt Co. amagansettseasalt.com.  We were renting a house in Amagansett for a week and friends who were visiting suggested we take a look at their operation. Little did I know that we would drive down a dirt road next to a cornfield, to find row after row of wooden structures with black plastic buckets covered with plastic domes set up in a field.  Of course I came prepared with a camera albeit a point and shoot and took these photos while we were there.

Natalie and Steven graciously poured us glasses of Prosecco and explained the process of making salt from the Atlantic Ocean just down the block. Natalie provided us with snacks so we could taste the different salts and explained her process for making the merlot salt used in our posting. I highly suggest that to learn about how they make their salt you watch this video where Natalie and Steven explain the process. Amagansettseasalt_vimeo

salt in bins

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Vintage White

Bette – These white porcelain dishes are vintage lab pieces by Coors. They are collectible and I love them. I have been collecting them for years and have found them in the most unexpected places. They are not difficult to find at flea markets, and antique stores throughout the country. I love them for their simplicity.

We have carried them in my store ARCHIVE HOME in Nyack. Please visit us at the store or find us on ETSY - archivehome

Smoked Pollock
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Cast Iron Griddle

A.J. – I was enamored with this round cast iron griddle when I saw it at Beth’s studio.  It was another great find by Bette.  She was about to wrap it up and return it to her studio when I suggested we use it for an OST shoot.  I have a small well-used collection of cast iron skillets, griddles, muffin pans, baking pans and covered casseroles.  I use them often and for all sorts of frying, braising, bread baking and I occasionally place one directly on a rack over the hot coals of my Weber grill.  They are favored by many cooks for their ability to conduct heat evenly. Cast iron is basically indestructible but it’s important to always keep it well seasoned.  Keep your eyes open for cast iron pans when browsing through antique shops and fairs.  They are usually affordably priced and will last a lifetime. 

Pancakes

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Focus on Smoked Pollock

Bette - My sister, Patti Blau, is a wonderful illustrator, painter, and designer. When we were shooting the recipes with our “focus on fish” entry, the smoked fish was not very pretty no matter how we looked at it. We called Patti and asked her to illustrate something for us. I sent her the images that we shot for this recipe, and she sent me back these whimsical and wonderful illustrations of fish. I love her drawings. She paints interiors, vintage objects, tropical seascapes, portraits, fashion still life, beauty and food. We hope you enjoy her drawings as much as we do. She has a card line writeables.com if you’d like to contact her or see some of her vintage designed cards and or her fine art paintings. 

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Sweet Potato Hash

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Sweet Potato Hash
Serves: 4
 

This Sweet Potato Hash is a perfect side dish with chicken or pork, but I enjoy it most with a fried or poached egg for Sunday brunch. The sweet potatoes can be boiled, peeled and diced the night before. It then takes only minutes to finish it off in the morning.
Ingredients
  • 1¾ pounds sweet potatoes (3 medium)
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 ounces pancetta, diced
  • 1½ teaspoons fresh thyme leaves chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 scallions, chopped

Instructions
  1. Scrub sweet potatoes and place them in a large pot. Add water to cover by 2 inches. Boil until sweet potatoes are tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and let cool. When cool enough to handle, peel and dice.
  2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until tender. Add pancetta and thyme. Cook until pancetta is golden. Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the sweet potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté, stirring frequently, until potatoes are heated through and lightly browned. Add parsley and cook 2 minutes more. Serve hot sprinkled with chopped scallions.

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A Simple Skillet

Bette - This pan looks like a simple skillet, but we actually planned the whole shoot around it. It is a worn cast iron pan with great patina and a great  handle that I found while I was propping in Texas. We thought the egg was beautiful on the surface of this pan. 

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Sweet Potato

Beth – When I first started out in my career, I had the luck to work with Elizabeth Alston, Food Editor at Redbook Magazine. She taught me a lot about photographing food both in the studio and on location.  It was from her that I learned the technique of shooting food close-up when it was not particularly interesting or appetizing.  From afar, these sweet potato cubes were not very interesting but up close, utilizing the shallow depth of field of the lens, they take on a totally different and interesting dynamic.

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Focus on Sweet Potatoes

Beth –

Clean-white-simple

We wanted this image to be representational of the ingredients in this dish in a simple and graphic way. 

We thought a white surface, light wood cutting board and each ingredient represented simply would accomplish this.