Blogging suspended

I thought I should put up one post to let everyone know – I’m suspending blogging on StartingtoCook.

Simply put, I love blogging here but don’t have time to run all of my businesses, get myself moved to Australia, blog here as well as I’d like and the feedback, commenting and ad return so far don’t justify the time I’m putting into the work.  So I’m closing the blog for now.  I don’t know if or when it will return.  It’s been fun food blogging but I need to focus on food shooting and getting moved, visa approved, and my new wedding & portrait business started in Melbourne.

Thanks for reading!

 

9 Great Recipe Sites

Inspiration comes from many places for me.  As a new cook I tend to stick to the basics (ingredients, techniques, etc.) and learn as I go.

For recipe tracking I use LivingCookbook because it’s *perfection* in recipe form.  I have about 52,000 recipes in my LivingCookbook from all sorts of places.  You can import (and export) Mealmaster format, a LivingCookbook format, plaintext and more.  I use the RecipeFox plugin for Firefox to grab and save recipes off the major sites.  It comes with a list of 100s of recipe sites.  These are some of my favorites, many of which use RecipeFox.

Usual Suspects

1) Food Network

Great for finding recipes from your favorite FN stars (such as the ever-hot Giada).  A dedicated Healthy Eating section, full episodes of your favorite shows and recipes that easily export to MealMaster, LivingCookbook or plain text format.  A large database of great recipes makes this a no-brainer at #1.

2) AllRecipes

A HUGE database of fantastic recipes along with the best ingredient search tool makes this my go-to site.  Easily export any recipe to MealMaster, LivingCookbook or plain text with RecipeFox.

3) Saveur

A little higher-end fare (read: fancy) makes Saveur a keeper.  While not being as culinarily challenging as Epicurious, many of Saveur’s recipes are accessible, tasty and excellent.  RecipeFox integration makes this my 3rd favorite recipe site.  RecipeFox friendly.

4) Epicurious

You will be more likely to find a Roasted Vegetable and Prosciutto Lasagna with Alfredo Sauce than a traditional chicken alfredo but that’s why I love Epicurious.  This site is advanced and typically not what the home cook makes.  (The first recipe under Christmas is a Prosecco-Raspberry Gelee)  If you have orange-flower water and Prosecco in your pantry, this is the site for you.  (If you have no idea what those are, this site may be overwhelming at first.)  RecipeFox friendly as well.

Under the Radar

5) DrinksMixer

Quite possibly the only mixed drink site you need.  I have never really had much trouble finding anything on here. Recipes for everything from A Berry Breakfast Drink to the Zipper.  Search by ingredient, drink name, etc.  Terminology, a glossary and drinking games.  RecipeFox friendly!

6) VisualRecipes

Step-by-step photographic how-to of each recipe.  This site is a MUST for new cooks.

7) Cooking Light

This is my favorite healthy-only site. With a healthy cooking 101 section and my favorite – recipe makeovers, and one of my favorite magazines, this was a must-include on my favorite recipe sites.

Personal Faves

8) Recipe Goldmine

Another *huge* recipe site with all sorts of great and simple foods. This is my go-to site when I just need something I can make tonight.

9) Jamie Oliver’s site

I’ll admit it – I’m a sucker for Jamie’s cooking. I am the only American I know who watches Oliver’s Twist. I don’t understand his temps or half the ingredients he says until I see them.  I don’t care.  I would watch Jamie cook all day (and sometimes do!)  My mini shell pea pasta and smoky bacon sauce is a Jamie food.  They are homecooked goodness and rich, high quality skill.  Does he cook 89-star food?  Not usually.  Is he amazing in a kitchen?  Absolutely.

 

Yummy Garlic Knots (finally!)

I don’t normally “work on” recipes for a long time.  I am a food photographer not a chef. If they look good, I shoot them and call it a day.  If they look good and taste bad, I just won’t blog them or make them again. I do sell the food photos.  However… I wanted a garlic bread recipe that wasn’t a loaf of Pepperidge Farm. I made these garlic knots and they weren’t honestly very good.  I had to make them again. And again. And…

This recipe is the result of 5 different batches of garlic knots.  I think they’re very good this way. Again, I don’t normally mess with the recipes I shoot this much but I love the new flavor and hopefully you’ll enjoy them!

: Soft Garlic Knots

For the dough:

1. 3 cups bread flour
2. 1 tbsp. sugar
3. 2 tsp. instant yeast
4. 2 tsp garlic salt
5. 2 tbsp. olive oil
6. ¼ cup milk
7. 1 cup plus
8. 2 tbsp. lukewarm water

For the glaze:

9. 2 cloves garlic
10. 3 tbsp. melted butter
11. ½ tsp. Italian seasoning garlic salt

1. To make the dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the dry ingredients.
2. Add the olive oil, milk and water. Mix until ingredients have formed a dough.
3. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn once to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
5. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 10-inch long rope and tie into a knot. Take the end lying underneath the knot and bring it over the top, tucking it into the center. Take the end lying over the knot and tuck it underneath and into the center.
6. Transfer shaped rolls to a baking stone, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes, until puffy.
7. To make the glaze, finely mince the garlic or press it through a garlic press.
8. Mix with the melted butter and Italian seasoning.
9. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
10. Brush the glaze onto the shaped rolls.
11. Bake until set and lightly browned, about 15-18 minutes.
12. Let cool slightly before serving.

Number of servings (yield): 16

Meal type: dinner

 

Going Bananas!

Wow, sorry for the incredibly long absence!  I thought I was going to just move, settle in and be ready to go.  Not really, no. I moved from Syracuse, NY to Maine in early July and now I’m finally getting to the point where I’m starting to food again regularly.  That’s to blog, or shoot, or even think about, really.   It’s been a very, very busy 2 months but I’m BACK!

In order to celebrate me going personally bananas I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate this week to “going bananas.”  I made both banana muffins and banana bread.  After eating several bananas as fruit, too, I’m SICK of bananas!  I’d like things to just settle down for awhile and not be so bananas, personally, too.

Without further ado, here are some banana food photos.  As always both recipes will be listed under the “Read more” link.  (Note: I didn’t get a lighting setup photo – sorry!)  The muffins are adapted from Joy of Baking.  The bread recipe I have is older than I am – not sure the original source.

Continue reading…

Walnut Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of my all-time favorite foods. I’ve never made banana bread from scratch before but I’ve made the boxed stuff since I was a kid. Learning how all of these ingredients work together is great! While researching banana bread for the recipe I learned that the baking soda/baking powder had to be in there to make this particular bread rise. I know you pro chefs are thinking “no duh!” but hey, that’s why I’m starting to cook.

Inspired by Food Wishes and tweaked with help from Cooks.com.

* Now that you’ve made it to the blog, why not bookmark or subscribe so you can find your way back?

This is the setup photo for my shoot. I shot this to give you an idea what went into today’s shoot.

Read more to view the recipe!

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