i love curry

here's a recipe i picked up on a shoot with curtis stone, that tall blonde aussie chef. it's one of my favorite curries because it's so easy and you can add whatever you like or happen to have in the fridge. we usually make it with chicken but tofu or lobster would be great too. the sweetness of the fresh pineapple is a perfect compliment to the heat from the red curry paste. you might need to make a trip to a specialty grocery store but everyone should know where their local asian market is and have fun wandering the isles for new goodies!

Quick Curry

14 oz coconut milk

2 tbs red curry paste

1 1/2 tbs fish sauce

1 small knob ginger, peeled & sliced

8 oz chinese long beans

1 1/2 tsp tamarind paste

1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple chunks

2 kaffir lime leaves

2 chicken breasts, chopped

1/2 cup thai basil

In a saucepan, bring coconut milk to a simmer and stir in curry paste, fish sauce and ginger. Add beans, tamarind, pineapple and lime leaves and bring back to a simmer. Add chicken and simmer until chicken is cooked through and beans are tender. Stir in chopped basil and season with salt to taste.

vegas foodie travels

here are a few pics from our recent travels to vegas.  i feel like we tried to eat as much as we could.  the pics above are a coaster from cut las vegas, a business card from the sous chef at bouchon las vegas, a toothpick from a burger at blt burger las vegas, and lastly a some poker chips from the wynn from some fun we had while we wern't eating.  

i could talk about the trip forever, but i will not bore you.  I will say however, the kind people at bouchon gave us a tour of the kitchen, and for all you who know, thomas keller is crazy about his kitchens.  It was a beautiful show of what a major kitchen should be.  and the amount of workers was absolute madness.  what a treat...

and i have to mention my american kobe ribeye from cut was out of this world.  a little on the pricey side, but wolfgang puck has outdone himself.  and maybe the best side dishes of all time.  we will need to check out the l.a. one soon.  

viva las vegas...

b-a-n-a-n-a-s

it seems like our bananas get brown faster than most bananas. maybe it's all the other fruits and vegetables we put them next too but either way it means more banana bread for us! there are about a million recipes out there but this is my own adaptation of one i really like at the moment. don't worry, not all our recipes will be this healthy.

Banana Mini Loaves

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp salt

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 eggs

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix the wet & dry ingredients separately and then combine and mix well. Pour into a well greased mini-loaf pan and back for 25 minutes. You can bake these for the same amount of time in a muffin tin or bake a whole loaf for 38-40 minutes.

simple simple syrup

this mid-week drink is a twist on one of our old favorites, the greyhound proper. we've been experimenting with infusing lately, from cheap tequila to simple syrup. here's a cocktail we created to highlight our favorite infused simple syrup so far - rosemary!

the syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 2-inch sprigs rosemary

combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. remove the pan from the heat, cover and let steep 20 minutes. strain through a fine sieve and store in a jar in the refrigerator for up to a month.

the drink

1 part gin (please use a decent gin, it does make a difference)

1 part rosemary simple syrup

2 parts fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

juice from 1/2 lime

place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake.  pour over ice in a highball glass and add a lime wedge for garnish.  add some salt to the rim of your glass if you so desire.

recycled and organic

here are a few pictures from a catalog i shot this week for a new eco conscious clothing line ecozuzu.  our friends at ecozuzu are relaunching their look and asked us to come along for the ride.  ecozuzu clothing is made of recycled and organic materials and are printed in a earth friendly way!  here are a few of our favorite polaroids from the shoot.  we'll let you know when the new ecozuzu site is up and running.

fall...

it's not technically fall for another week or so but we're getting excited for our favorite season. these are from a shoot we did this week and i developed the recipes for the article on holiday side dishes. here's the pumpkin tart recipe and i'll share the beet & orange salad recipe soon. hope it gets you in the mood.

Pumpkin Tart with Toasted Nut Crust

crust:

1/4 cup each almonds, walnuts & hazelnuts (toasted & cooled)

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbs flax seeds

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

6 tbs chilled unsalted butter, diced

1 egg yolk

grease a 9-inch tart pan. grind nuts, flour, flax seeds, sugar and salt in a food processor. add butter and pulse until a coarse meal forms. add egg yolk and pulse until moist clumps form. press dough into bottom and sides of pan about 1/4-inch thick and pierce the bottom with a fork. freeze for 30 minutes. preheat oven to 400 degrees F. bake 12-14 minutes until golden and let cool for 20 minutes.

filling:

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tbs molasses

1 tbs vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 15oz can pumpkin puree

2/3 cup plain yogurt

preheat oven to 375 degrees F. whisk together brown sugar, eggs, molasses, vanilla, salt, and spices. whisk in pumpkin and yogurt until combined. pour filling into cooled shell and spread evenly. bake until set, 35-40 minutes. cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

fresh starts...

photographer meets food stylist, marries last october, trying to live the dream.  based in los angeles, sharing time in lovely santa barbara, we needed a creative outlet to explore all things we love.  an obvious choice was to mix photography and food and sprinkle in a little of what inspires us day to day, week to week.  this blog will be our way of showing you our own recipes and our vision of how they should look through our eyes.  this is our outlet, our fresh start...pictures and pancakes...