Holiday Recipes

Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday break. Mine was very relaxing.

One of my favorite activities was cooking, paired with food photography -- which, you may think is obvious and easy but it's not! Something that looks inviting may turn out to be totally meh in a picture. Here are some of my best shots (with recipes), but I also threw away many shots that turned out very bad. I think the best for food photography is a good macro lens that enhances textures and good eyes for surroundings, like a nice table cloth and simple china/silverware, for example. The highlight needs to be the food itself, so avoid too much clutter in the picture. Enjoy!

Farfalle al Salmone

This is one of our favorite dishes for the holidays: Farfalle al Salmone. For this one, you'll need a package of smoked salmon, fresh chives, a box of bowtie pasta, creme freche or half and half, butter and 1 lemon.

Cut the smoked salmon in small pieces, sautee' it for a few minutes in a pan with melted butter, then add about half a cup of creme fraiche or 1/2 and 1/2. Simmer a few minutes until the cream is thick. For an even creamier texture, add two tablespoons of mascarpone. In the meantime, cook the farfalle al dente, drain them, then toss them in the pan with the salmon. Season to taste with pepper and salt (though usually the smoked salmon is already salty). Mix well, then serve with chopped chives and lemon zest on top.

Spinach-filled Baguette

I got the above recipe from a friend and modified it slightly: spinach-filled baguette. Makes a fantastic appetizer. You'll need one baguette, green onions, one bag of pre-washed spinach, cream cheese, shredded mozzarella, butter, parmesan cheese, olive oil, paprika flakes, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Melt some butter in a pan, sautee' two chopped green onions, then add the spinach and season with salt, pepper, paprika, and nutmeg. stir until the spinach are wilted, then reduce the heat to low. Add about 1/3 of a cream cheese tablet, cubed, and stir until melted. Remove the pan from the stove and add about 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella and 4 tablespoons of parmesan cheese. 

Prepare the baguette: cut it in fourths, hollow them, then slice them without separating the slices. This will make it easier to separate the slices when serving without squeezing out the filling. Spoon the filling inside, then sprinkle the top with olive oil and parmesan cheese. Wrap the baguette fourths in aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  

Penne alla Crema di Spinaci

Finally, I had some leftover of the spinach filling from the recipe above. It was a bit too thick, so I added some 1/2 and 1/2 and then tossed over some penne pasta. It was delicious !!!!

Hope you enjoy these recipes, if you end up making them let me know and send me some pictures too. :-) Happy New Year!