Featured Community Member: Enzie

Written Monday, November 30th, 2009 by Anne Coleman

Half Hour Meals community member Enzie isn't just a food blogger, she is also a portrait artist who does beautiful work which you can see at her World Market Portraits blog. That beauty carries over easily into her food blog, Sur la Table Cuisine. Her blog is filled with beautiful food photography and delicious and varied recipes.  Enzie shares more with us about her food blog and her photography.

Sur La Table is nearly a year old. You have several other blogs, as well
- what was the pull to blog about food?

When you love food as much as I do, you tend to collect just about every
cookbook and recipe you come across to eventually try it out. This has led
to a collection of books and huge binders filled with recipes. Frankly it
all got out of hand, making it almost impossible to remember where which
recipe was housed. I started Sur La Table Cuisine as a place to organize my
recipe collection. When my daughter and son moved away, I realized that I
can also share their favorite recipes through the blog. Little did I know
that friends where looking up my recipes as well, which in turn spurred me
to get really organized and put more effort into Sur La Table Cuisine.

Do you have a family? If so, how does it change the way you blog?

My husband and I are new empty nesters. My daughter resides in San Francisco
and my son attends the university there. My children like to look up their
favorite recipes on my blog now, which amuses me greatly, since they both
were rather fussy when it came to food. Because of them I took better care
to make the recipes easy to follow and have searched for a way to make the
recipes printable. Since I am a professional artist and very visual what I
prepare has to taste great and be presented even better. I really put some
time in thinking about how to present the food I serve. My husband loves
this, because he usually receives the signature plate (the one that is
nicely decorated and photographed). He now actually prefers to dine in
rather than out!

What is a usual day in your kitchen like?

My studio is at home, so I work until about 1PM before I take a lunch break
and stop work between 6-7PM. Then it is a mad dash to the kitchen and quick
thinking about what to prepare. I have a friend who jokingly says I am like
a mad scientist in the kitchen, pots and pans fly everywhere and food is
prepared at lightning speed. My recipes tend to be for the busy chef, who
loves great food, but needs it to get done in about 30 minutes or less. When
I entertain, I start cooking at 6am with a big cup of cappuccino at my side
and usually cook up a storm until about 3PM when the kitchen gets cleaned
up. It's called Marathon cooking ~ but I love it!

Name 3 ingredients that are always in your pantry.
Spices, vegetable stock, tomato paste.

Do you use cookbooks? If so, how many do you have and which is your
favorite?

Yes, I use cookbooks when I draw a blank or crave something to excite my
taste buds. I have way too many cookbooks and really no particular
favorite. Since I am so visual, the photo sells me first, a quick glance at
the ingredients gets me excited and if it was easy to make and tasted out of
this world, it is added to the favorite list.

Your Mediterranean Veggi Sandwich is something I'd make for myself. Do
you use a lot of Mediterranean ingredients? Are your recipes your own
creations or adaptations?

I come from a family that is a true melting pot. Being half Iranian and half
German, we also have other countries, such as Italy represented in our blood
line. Having lived in and travelled to the Middle East, Europe and Asia my
taste buds have been introduced to a variety of different cuisines and this
has taught me that there are so many ways similar ingredients can be paired
to prepare something entirely new. I like to use old time favorites and put
a new spin to them to suit my taste and cooking style. When I entertain
there are usually no less than 20 people present and the food served has to
be appealing to variety of age groups from different nationalities. Our
Christmas dinner for example is a pairing of German, Iranian and American
dishes that all have to make sense and taste well together. To avoid
repetition, this just calls for a creative new recipe by moi to keep
everyone smiling.

Help the rest of us with food photography; what is the best tip you can
share for taking great photos?

As a portrait artist, I had to learn how to proper light and photograph
models. This learning process is ongoing since taking photos of food has its
own challenges, like with cream melting before you have zoomed in. I found
preparation is the key and I try to stick to this game plan:

1. Make sure camera is fully charged and is set up on a tripod. (If you
don't have one, invest in it!)
2. Camera Model is not as important as proper lighting and a focused photo.
3. Decide on your color scheme, props and set up ahead of time.
a. Color scheme - use complimentary colors to enhance the colors of the food
b. Props create atmosphere. Props can be different dishes, beautiful
silverware, nice tablecloth, etc.
4. Lay everything out and do a quick dry run making sure the lighting is
good and the camera settings are in the right mode.
5. When the food is served, move quick and take several shots from different
angles.

Have you tried any others' recipes from HHM?

I just joined HHM and have bookmarked several recipes that have caught my
eye to try over the holidays.

How would you describe HHM to others?

Half hour meals is a well organized web site that offers food recipes for
the busy chef. I really like the idea that dishes have to be prepared under
30 minutes, because let's face it we are all super busy, but love to eat
well. HHM is definitely a place to explore!

Thank you so much for sharing a bit of your food life with us, Enzie! Please do go and visit her page here at Half Hour Meals as well as her beautiful blogs.

Featured Community Member: MakeRoux

Written Monday, October 5th, 2009 by Anne Coleman

Community member MakeRoux is the owner of a blog that tugs at my culinary heartstrings; it's all about Cajun food! Even if you're not obsessed with Cajun cuisine, you'll want to stop by her blog and dig in to some of the most delicious recipes ever. Until then, read more about her and her blog here.

First, Make a Roux! is nearly two and a half years old, what advice do you have for new food bloggers?

My main advice is to keep at it. You may hit some rough spots where you feel like you've lost your cooking and/or blogging inspiration. Don't worry. You'll get it back.

What is the inspiration behind your blog?

The main inspiration behind my blog is my Cajun/French/German heritage and the food and customs of small town South Louisiana. I also like to entertain, which means mixing up cocktails and concocting new dishes for my friends to try when they come to visit.

Has food blogging changed the way you look at food?

It has. I can't say that I'd ever photographed food before becoming a food blogger. I think more about the way my dishes look now. From a sociological perspective, food blogging has made me very aware of food as a means of bringing complete strangers together to discuss what they're cooking and eating. It's thrilling to look at my blog stats and see that I've had visitors from Malaysia and Bulgaria!

You are a transplanted Cajun - has living in Southern California changed the way you see food? How often do you get 'back home'?

Living in Southern California and being away from some of my favorite ingredients, like andouille, crawfish, Gulf shrimp, and Steen's Cane Syrup, has been truly challenging. Cooking my favorite Cajun dishes while in SoCal requires advanced planning, paying for shipping, and/or lugging bags of food back from my two or three yearly visits home. The end results are always worth the wait, the extra money, and the sore shoulders!

One positive effect of the move on my cooking, is that I've learned to put a California twist on some of my favorite Cajun ingredients. I make some killer shrimp tacos with my Cajun BBQ shrimp recipe. A decade ago, if you'd asked me about eating seafood in tacos, I would have thought you were nuts. Now, I think it's delicious!

Is First, Make a Roux! your first blog? If not, what else have you written?

It's my first and only blog. I started it after I realized how curious my California friends were about Cajun food and culture. Lots of them also wanted access to some specific Cajun and non-Cajun recipes that I'd contributed to parties and potlucks over the years.

Are you married? Do you have a family? If so, in what ways does that change the way you blog?

I'm married to a wonderful man who loves to eat and who is also my biggest supporter. He is always game for trying anything I cook and, as a New Englander, he's been faced with lots of unusual dishes like riz au fevre and crawfish etouffee'. I have one stepdaughter, who is a bit of a picky eater. I blog fewer Cajun recipes than I'd like to because those dishes don't go over as well with her. I did, however, have a minor victory, which involved her eating some jambalaya.

Your recipe for Brown Butter Pumpkin Corn Muffins is next on my list of 'must-makes', what's the story behind the unusual blend of corn and pumpkin in these muffins?

I woke up a couple of Saturday mornings ago with a craving for some corn muffins. Even though it was 90 degrees out, I was thinking ahead to Fall, Halloween, changing leaves, and pumpkins. I figured some pumpkin would taste great in corn muffins and would keep them moist. Overall, I think the two flavors worked pretty well together.

Name a handful of ingredients that you couldn't live without.

First and foremost, I couldn't live without rice -- it's the basis of so many Cajun and Creole dishes. After that, I'd say that I couldn't live without beans, flour (Make a Roux) or crawfish!

Share with us a day in your kitchen - what is the daily food like in your home?

Weekdays are generally hectic. I may have a smoothie or some whole wheat toast and peanut butter for breakfast. Dinner can be anything from fish on the grill to red beans and rice. I usually go to my backyard and clip any herbs or pick any veggies right before I start cooking. After dinner, I pack lunches for the family. My lunch is typically salad from my garden, along with some cottage cheese or a poached egg with Creole seasoning. If needed, I'll start some beans soaking before going to bed.

Weekends are more involved. I might make some eggs, pain perdu, or muffins for breakfast. Lunch can be anything. For me, it is often a veggie sandwich or a cheese and fig preserve sandwich. I might cook a gumbo, which is too time-consuming to cook during the week. Sometimes, I'll keep it simple and have a small-scale, indoor shrimp boil, which we all really love.

At other times, I may raid the freezer for leftovers because I am busy baking cakes or cupcakes for friends.

When and Why did you join Half Hour Meals?

I joined Half Hour Meals on August 14th after recieving an invitation from blogcatalog. HHM looked like an interesting site, so I signed up.

What's your favorite thing about the site?

The rotating Meal of the Day recipes.

Have you tried others' recipes from Half Hour Meals?

So far, I've tried AngieAlaniz' Sangria recipe. It was delicious. There are several more recipes I'm hoping to try soon.

If others were to ask you about Half Hour Meals, how would you describe the site to them?

Half Hour Meals is a user-friendly and highly accessible collection of recipes, food blogs, and people who like talking about food. You must visit it!

I think I'd like to spend a day with MakeRoux, but for now I'll sit back and read some more of her blog. Don't forget to check it out for yourselves!