Monday, December 26, 2011

FFWD Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin

I don't think I've ever owned a camera.  Maybe a plastic one when I was very young.  I have used a couple of disposable ones over the years, but that's really about it.  For this blog I've been borrowing Paul's camera, but I am absolutely clueless when it comes to photography.  I had Monday off of work this week so I decided to make the Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin for lunch.  This meant that for the first time ever, I was able to try to photograph something in natural light.  As you can see, my pictures look mostly like shadows.  I could tell shadows were a problem but I had no clue what to do about it (should I have actually taken the food outside to shoot?) and was frankly too hungry to care, so my photos are quite shadowy. I do like the brightness, though.  I can definitely tell that if I had any clue what I was doing photos taken in natural light would come out much better than the usual ones I take in the dark.

 Luckily, the gratin came out much better than the photos!  I bought 2 cartons of eggs last week thinking for sure that would be enough, but when I opened the fridge to make this recipe I realized I was down to four eggs.  I guess I went through a lot of them making dinner for Christmas Eve!  Oh well, I just used the eggs I had and decreased the amounts of the other ingredients a bit to compensate.  I also increased the ratio of milk to heavy cream, wanting to feel less guilty about eating this after big meals Christmas Eve and day.  

Gratin and shadows
Even with the changes, I was very happy with how this came out.  I especially loved the edges.  They browned and got a bit crispy, which I just love.  I served this with some brussel sprouts that I roasted simply with olive oil, salt, and pepper and some gougeres that were left over for Christmas Eve.  They weren't quite as good as fresh, but they did toast up pretty well!  This recipe was easy and we both enjoyed it.  It's definitely one I'll make again.

Lunch

12 comments:

  1. It is amazing what a little bit of light can do, isn't it?

    It looks great - especially alongside those Brussels sprouts.

    Happy New Year!

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  2. I love your photos! It was overcast here, so no sunny looking gratin for me. Happy New Year!

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  3. Cheesy Cauliflower and Cheesy Gougeres. What a perfect lunch! Happy New Year, Jora!

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  4. You know you are a Dorista when you can identify the Gougeres on your plate :) I spied them with my little eye and think they make a lovely addition. And your photos are lovely. I usually end up finishing the recipe late on a Thurs (sometimes even Friday) so have to deal with indoor light shadows when I am tired. All I can say is thank goodness for digital. Happy New Year from Nana and I !

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  5. Your photos look good:) it managed to make me salivate...so it has to be good :) Lovely meal with the gratin as main dish with the brussel sprouts as a side...mmmm great meal you have there. Happy New Year !

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  6. Isn't it wonderful to have gougeres in the freezer for whenever they're called for? Nice job.
    Marie

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  7. If you're like me soon the photography will become as important as the food. I love roasted brussel sprouts..I love roasted anything:) Happy New Year!

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  8. Your gratin browned so nicely and your brussel sprouts also look so good. I think your photos are lovely. Hope you have a Happy New Year!

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  9. It looks terrific in the natural light. Brussel sprounts are a favorite in our house, and they look really delicious next to this gratin. We loved this one!

    Happy New Year - looking forward to cooking with you in 2012!

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  10. I like the natural light, we don't have very good exposure in the house this time of year so your light gratin looks very good to me! Enjoy your food photography, it kind of grows on you! Enjoyed checking out your FFWD posts and look forward to following your cooking adventures in 2012;-)

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  11. Yummo - I agree that this was good. Your photos look fine - I am hopeless at photography and usually take photos at night because that is when I get time to cook.

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  12. Happy new year to you. I always use natural lightning. It looks, in my opinion, better, but in this time in the year, it's difficult, because your meals have to be ready to put on the photo around 4 pm (and we eat around 6 pm), for enough light.

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