Featured Community Member:Debbie (Gourmet Traveler)

Written Friday, November 20th, 2009 by Penny Hawkins

Half Hour Meals Member Debbie lives in London and authors a fabulous blog that combines her love of travel, food and wine. A true adventurer in the kitchen, Debbie tackles recipes from every corner of the globe. She creates sushi from Japan, eggs en cocotte from France, or Portobello mushroom and gorgonzola spaghetti from Italy, and takes her readers with her through her recipes and beautiful photos. Read on to learn more about Debbie and go along with her on her culinary journeys:

Your blog, Gourmet Traveller, takes us along on your culinary journeys with “tasty morsels from both home and abroad”. What is the inspiration behind your blog? I have been lucky enough to travel to many countries and sample various cuisines – these travels, as well as my love of food inspire my cooking at home. My blog is where I document all my culinary adventures, be it in a faraway exotic location, or just at home in my humble kitchen.

Do you take the photos yourself? Any tips for making our blog photos look as great as yours? Yes, I do take them all with my trusty little Leica C-Lux 2. I think the best tip really is good, and natural lighting - take photos of your food in daylight where possible. Make sure your food looks presentable – use your best crockery and wipe your plates clean and try to take photos from an angle – that normally comes out better than a direct overhead shot. Also take lots of photos so you have a higher chance of getting that perfect shot!

What is your earliest food memory and how did it spark your lifelong love affair with food? It would be watching my grandmother making  “dan-san” – a delicious sweet deep-fried fritter/pastry dusted with icing sugar. I have a very large extended family and we would often meet at our grandmother’s for dinner or dim sum lunch at a restaurant (we would take up 2-3 tables of 12!) – food was always the center of family gatherings. My husband’s family is in the food and wine business, so we have a very happy marriage of food and wine in our household!

The recipes on your blog are simple yet elegant at the same time. How do you find such a great balance of sophistication and simplicity in your cooking? Thank you! To be honest I don’t make a conscious effort to, I just cook what I enjoy eating at home – food with clean, simple flavours using seasonal organic (where possible) produce. Although we do attempt more complicated dishes especially when entertaining, we tend to leave the really intricate stuff to the professionals and just eat out!

What is your favorite restaurant in the world and what do you eat there? That is a difficult question – there are so many! But one restaurant that does stand out is French Laundry – we had an amazing meal there earlier this year and what amazed me was how they manage to bring out the best in the ingredients without over-complicating things. Their vegetable dishes are stellar.

How long have you been blogging and how has blogging changed your daily life? I’m quite new to blogging, having only started about 4 months ago. It has made food an even bigger focus in my life than before – I’m constantly looking for recipes to try and cooking up my own creations so I can share them with my readers (I update my blog almost daily). My husband is always looking forward to coming home to see what new treat awaits him!

If you could choose the cuisine of only one country to cook and eat from this day forward, what country would it be and why? No question, it would be Japan. I love the clean flavours and impeccable ingredients. Also there is such diversity in the cuisine, from healthy raw fish and clear broths, to fantastic noodle and rice dishes, and also more sinful deep-fried delicacies. I definitely would not tire of it!

Do you see yourself still blogging several years from now? Definitely – I’m hooked!

Your recipe for oeufs en meurette adapted from Rick Stein, made my mouth water! Do you have any other favorite egg recipes you want to share? Thanks! Oeufs en Meurette really is such a wonderful dish. I have a couple of other egg recipes such as Eggs en Cocotte (an easy but sophisticated breakfast option) as well as my take on Huevos Rancheros on my blog. I’m sure many more will feature in the near future as I adore eggs…I am currently trying to perfect the soufflé, so maybe that will be next!  
 
Why did you join Half Hour Meals? Although I love spending hours in the kitchen on the occasional weekend, for weekday meals you want something that is easy and no-fuss but still tastes great. Half Hour Meals is full of recipes that offer just that!

When did you join Half Hour Meals? Just over a month ago.

What's your favorite thing about the site? The recipes of course, and also the easy navigation and community feel of the site.

Have you tried others' recipes from Half Hour Meals? No, but I have earmarked a few that I’m wanting to try real soon!

If others were to ask you about Half Hour Meals, how would you describe the site to them? It’s a one-stop site full of recipes for people who love to cook and eat well, but don’t want to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen. It’s also a place for you to exchange recipes and ideas with the rest of the foodie community.

Thank you so much for sharing with us, Debbie! I hope you all will stop by and visit Debbie’s page at Half Hour Meals, and be sure to check out her wonderful blog as well!

Tags: community member, food blogging

This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 08:39 am and is filed under Featured Member. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.