Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Hotness

A few more scenes from last week's photo shoot. Here I am pulling a sweet potato souffle from the oven. It puffed up gloriously and went down the hatch scrumptiously! 
The edges browned just the way I'd hoped they would and, having NOT folded the egg whites in as fastidiously as I had the previous evening when prepping for the shoot, the souffle baked up perfectly. Hot perfection in a bowl, folks. 
Behind the scenes. I've always been intrigued by food photography and food styling and it was a real treat to see what the process of making food pretty for picture-taking involves. 
The strange thing sneaking into the frame at the top left is a blowtorch, used to sizzle up these pumpkin creme brûlées. While I can't share with you the final pictures (have to wait until publication next April), I can assure you that they are grand. You'll be licking the page, without shame or remorse. 

*Small Measure: Use cloth napkins. They're inherently more absorbent than their paper cousins, definitely more attractive, and don't need to be tossed in the garbage at the end of every feeding session. We keep a large range and use them at every meal. Once they become oil-stained, or have one too many enduring marinara streaks to be guest-worthy, I transition them to the kitchen cloth stash, which, in a similar fashion, I use instead of paper towels. Plus, they give you a polished edge, even if you're slurping up pizza in your jammies. 

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This has meade me really hungry.

Anonymous said...

i really like your "small measure" tips. i take my lunch to work wrapped up in a large cloth napkin ala hobo sack. i also keep a set of real utensils there...i end up feeling much more civilized. keep 'em coming!

NATASHA SHEALY-natasha@thenoise.us said...

GEEZ you are amazing!

Anonymous said...

Looks amazing!! Can't wait for the book.

Josephine said...

the souffle looks sooo good! can yams be substituted in lieu of sweet potatoes? looking forward to your book. and thank you for the comment on my blog.

ashley english said...

Thanks for your comment Hallie! What I love most about blogging is the ability to connect and share information with folks in far-flung locales, whom I've never met!
And yes, Josephine, yams will work just as well as sweet potatoes. The recipe will be included in my book on "Raising Chickens," part of a larger series on "Homemade Living," which will be released in April 2010.

Anonymous said...

The Brulee look's sooooo good and also the sweet potatoes hmmmmmmmm good!!! I, as you know, also love to use cloth napkins'it's a southern thing sorta kinda!!!! MOM

Anonymous said...

Yea book release. Coming sooooooon!!!!!! Can hardly wait to read them and see all the pictures! Are you going to have book signing,s? MOM

Sarah Ryhanen said...

here here to cloth napkins! sometimes i even iron em! what fun! and everyone knows you can't iron a paper napkin

Unknown said...

hi ashley -

i tried, unsuccessfully, to reply to your sweet comment on my blog (i kept getting failure messages at your amadam26@hotmail.com address).

i had a sec to peek at your blog and look forward to delving into the past posts. i'm glad you're getting some tips on eats in sf...i'm with you on sitting outside at rose's on a nice day. i was in ny a couple weeks ago, so i've posted some latest scoop from there-- in case you ever make it up.

thanks for this post--you've inspired me to make a savory souffle with the remnants in my fridge & pantry. thanks!

take care-
katie

take care-
katie