Posted by Billie-Jean | Jan 5th, 2010

Playing With My Camera

I have spent part of the day learning more about lighting and composition in food photography.  There is so much to learn and know that it is overwhelming.  Today as I sat reading 1/10000000000000  of the tips and tricks to photography, I was tempted to think small with a ‘I’ll never be able to do this well’.  Then another thought came to mind.  Why don’t I just play around with lighting...

Posted by Billie-Jean | Jan 4th, 2010

One duck.Three Meals.One Night.

I can’t even begin to describe how fabulous our Christmas Eve dinner was.  My friend Cindy taught me how to make a 3 course Peking duck dinner that was not only simple to make but each dish flowed perfectly into the next allowing us time to sit and chat between meals.  Find a list of all the ingredients we used here.  There are no precise measurements here, just taste everything as you go. The first thing...

Posted by Billie-Jean | Dec 28th, 2009

Beef Wellington

How to make beef wellington: (print recipe) Begin by buying a nice cut of beef tenderloin, about 400 grams for 4 people.  Then buy the following: 400g mushrooms 4 slices proscuitto Dijon mustard for brushing meat or if you can find English mustard, even better. 200g puff pastry 2 Egg yolks Salt and pepper Olive oil 1. Pre-heat the oven to 200c. 2. Heat some oil in a large pan and quickly fry the...

Posted by Billie-Jean | Dec 25th, 2009

White Cake with Pear Compote

Okay, I tried this cake at a restaurant and it was seriously the most delicious cake I have ever eaten.  When I asked for the recipe all I got was “the white cake came from a mix”.  I was shocked and elated at the same time.  I am not the best baker to say the least and I felt one step closer to a dessert I could make.  I needed to think and absorb every flavor that came in contact with my happy...

Posted by Billie-Jean | Dec 21st, 2009

A Photo Journey of Gordon Ramsay’s Cook Along

This is a fun way to get together with friends.  We taped the live broadcast and took a long evening to prepare each of the dishes, enjoy each one before we continued onto the  next.  The recipes are very easy and the adventure is keeping up with him.  See the video here to give the cook along a try. I will post the recipes for each dish at the bottom of these photos. Gordon Ramsay also provides a shopping list...

Posted by Billie-Jean | Dec 20th, 2009

How to cook roast beef.

Choosing the Beef The best joints for roast beef is a Rib of Beef, Sirloin or Fillet. Rib works well as usually it will be cooked on the bone. Keeping the bone in makes for a tastier piece of beef when cooked but both Sirloin and Fillet are very good. The beef should be Dark in colour – meaning it has been hung well and mature. A thick covering of fat which adds flavor and prevents the joint from...