I recently teamed up with my pal Secia from Petite Insanities for an extra special sweet treat. It’s always fun to explore the ethnic backgrounds of friends but even more fun to explore the foods of different cultures. I first had Loukoumades a couple years ago when Secia took me to my first greek festival…
Cabernet Glazed Steaks with Zesty Herb Salad
I am an absolute meat eater. I eat veggies by the handful, but I could not imagine my life without meat. For health’s sake I like to get leaner cuts of steak and dress them up a bit which is exactly what we’re doing with this glaze. It is a beautiful way to serve a…
Fashionably Raw Oysters
I recently shot a fine art type series with Pacific raw oysters, which are much more interesting looking that the east coast varieties I was accustomed to seeing. Like octopus, oysters are considered an aphrodisiac. I suppose there is some food sexiness in the strange shapes and glistening texture beneath that ruffled, harsh shell. My…
Dark Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Raw Pistachios
This one is a total death by chocolate, but at least it’s a rich, decadent death;) The cake itself is such a pure, unadulterated chocolate indulgence that is only made richer by the lusciousness of bittersweet ganache and the earthiness of raw pistachios. Bright green pistachio hues play nicely against the glistening dark chocolate for…
Lemon garlic herb whipped butter
REFRESHING and TANGY! As stoners and chefs (and now this food photographer) have known for ages, butter fat is an amazing tool for capturing the flavors of herbs, spices, and foods. Compound butters are so much more complex than the sum of their parts. Give it a try! It’s super easy and makes all kinds…
Acorn Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce
Let’s start this one off with a graphic image of a food we see time and again with little visual impact. I passed this little gem at the farmers’ market and was reminded of one of the first recipes I ever really made, ya know, back when I was too cool to cook. So glad…
Fresh Cranberry Preserves with No-knead Crusty Bread
We hosted the holidays this year and, with all the craziness surrounding the first holiday at our house, we totally forgot about the beautiful fresh cranberries hanging out in the fridge. Oooops! No problem, this recipe is a great use of a simply wonderful fruit that gets the cold shoulder for most of the year….
The Geometry of Nature: The Honeycomb
Bees are incredible, industrious little female soldiers working for the good of the group. If only we could take a page from their book and help each other out a bit more. I do my part to keep the bees happy in the garden and they do their part pollinating and supplying us with fresh,…
Bird Seed Pancakes!!
There was this show “The Sunshine Factory” that my sisters and I used to watch as kids which had this crazy bird who used to squawk and screech “Penelope! You SQUASHED my bird seed pancakes!”. My sister can mimic this bird almost exactly and it still cracks me up to this day! So in honor…
Roasted Red Pepper Bruschetta
I don’t know about you, but the holiday season has come and gone and left me with a nice little food baby belly to remember it by. Yikes! It’s time to cut back a bit on the uber savory and sweet at casa de Cartier. Something easy breezy with a healthy base sounds like just…