Pan-Roasted Salmon w/Orange Vinaigrette & Workshop Updates

It’s been a crazy busy 2013 and we’re trying to keep up with our goals and list. So far, so good!

Finally, after so many requests, we have our updated food photography/styling workshop information in one place. And better yet, we finally set up a mailing list for all updates regarding all our workshops, updates and behind the scenes photos from the classes. So for those of you who keep asking us to add you to a list, we have one for you!

Visit our new “Official” Photography Workshop Website: http://workshops.tdphotographers.com/

You can subscribe to our mailing list for all photography workshop new dates and updates here.

And we have one spot that opened up for our February 22-23, 2013 Food Photography/Styling Workshop here. We’re also working on a March date, so keep checking back on our workshop website or sign up for the updates.

Over the last 2 months, we’ve been working on the manuscript edits for our cookbook. Wow, this journey has been so fun. Can’t believe we didn’t do it sooner. Best of all, we’ve had editors red-mark our manuscript and correct us of all our typos, grammar and cleaning up all our mistakes. If you haven’t had a copy editor run their red marks through your work, it’s an eye-opener. But really, it feels so wonderful to have someone help make our writing better and we learn so much from this whole process. Wish we had one for the blog.

Thank goodness we didn’t get a school grade on our manuscript because if it was an English assignment, we’d get a C+. Seriously, who knew that we shouldn’t have water written out on the ingredient list? And the use of too many “uh, of, the, but, and…”. Yup, that’s us. Grade: C- . We’re always working on being better writers but until then, we won’t quit our day jobs as photographer and food stylist.

So in keeping busy, we’re shooting a bunch of fun photographs and project for Food & Wine. Some are recipes and some are lifestyle shots for an upcoming feature. The recipe shots are so fun and eating them is even better. It’s so hard to not dive into each of their recipes but we’ve bookmarked some of our favorites to make for future dinner parties.

One recipe we really loved was this pan roasted salmon recipe that rocked our world. We’ve been craving more seafood lately and the last batch of shots for Food and Wine had plenty of salmon for us. This salmon recipe is cooked to tender-perfection on the pan and dressed with a wonderful orange vinaigrette.  In our region, citrus season is peaking and with our abundance of fresh oranges, a vinaigrette over salmon can’t get any better.

Why we love this recipe even more is that it’s loaded with fresh shaved fennel bulb, baby spinach and radicchio- all of which makes a perfect collage of greens and ruffage. This pan roasted salmon really can’t get any better than this. It’s a healthy dinner that feeds the craving for healthy protein and a generous dose of seasonal vegetables.

For this Pan Roasted Salmon recipe, visit the Food & Wine Site. This new photo isn’t on the site yet, but you got the sneak peak here today!

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Shrimp and Avocado Noodle Salad with Creamy Ginger Vinaigrette

Our road trip back yesterday from San Francisco was slightly longer than usual, but the beautiful route along the 101 was worth the extra 2 hour drive.  It’s not often that we get to see a mix of California’s gorgeous oak woodland interior and stunning rolling coastline, so the 10 hour drive was visually fabulous. If you ever get a chance to road trip our home state of California, please add Route Highway 1 PCH and 101 on your list. You will not be disappointed.

We spent the last 4 days in San Francisco for a video shoot with Blue Bottle Coffee along with a visit with family. It seems like we’ve been making this trip quite a bit this year, so for our drive home we wanted to mix things up to see more of our beloved state. Gosh, California is just so beautiful in Spring and we’re smitten with it beyond words.

some iPhone images from San Francisco

view of the city from Bay Bridge

cherries in season at the Castro Farmers Market 

The Richmond Bridge in the distance,  Marin County 

Along our drive home we talked about Sierra, the garden, our next travel work trip and what we were going to share on our next post. Then we remembered the avocado shrimp noodle salad! Oh yes, can’t forget that amazing avocado shrimp noodle salad. We had shared an image of this dish about 10 days ago on our Facebook page and wanted to make sure we were able to test the recipe a few more times before we posted.

For our last food photography & styling workshop, the kind folks at The California Avocado Commission were so generous and sent us some avocados to photograph and style with. And with the leftovers, we were able to have a feast of avocados to eat for our Cinco De Mayo party!

Even after the workshop, we had a few gorgeous avocados left over and decided to use those for lunch in our noodle salad. So here it is, one of our favorite lunches to feast on. It’s a fresh and satisfying noodle salad with creamy avocado and grilled shrimp. The creamy ginger vinaigrette binds everything together so well and toss it up a bit to blend the avocado in with the noodles, you have yourself a winning noodle salad.

This noodle salad is wonderful when it’s cold and with all the amazing warm weather we’ve been having, consider it the perfect picnic dish. Hoping your weather is warming up and sunshine is filling your days!

hugs,

diane and todd

P.S. many of you have asked us about attending our food photography/styling workshops at our studio. We plan on adding two more dates this Summer and will be announcing them soon. In the meantime, you can sign up on the waiting list and get a pre-notification of dates before we officially announce. Sign up for waiting list here at Eventbrite. 

Yield: 2 Servings

Total Time: 10 min

6-8 oz dried Asian Noodles *See Note 1Creamy Ginger Dressing *recipe follows1/2 lb Shrimp, shelled & deveined1 Avocado, dicedGrape Seed or Canola OilSea Saltfresh cracked Black PepperCilantro, Thai Basil, or other herb of choice for garnish, chopped or torn1/4 cup of olive oil or grape seed oil (we prefer grape seed oil because it's lighter and neutral tasting for this dressing)1 teaspoons of sesame seed oil2 heaping teaspoons of minced ginger (about a 1" knob)1 teaspoon of mayo1 tablespoons rice vinegar3 teaspoons of soy sauce1/2 teaspoon sugar2 teaspoons of lime or lemon juice1 teaspoon of minced cilantro, extra sprigs for garnishCook noodles to package directions then rinse and cool under cold water.Make the dressing: Combine all ingredients together well. Set aside.Heat a medium saute pan over medium-high heat.Lightly oil pan and cook shrimp about 30 seconds on each side or until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.Starting with 2/3 the amount of dressing, toss noodles, shrimp, avocados, and dressing together. Taste for seasoning preference and add more dressing if necessary.Garnish with fresh herbs and serve.

Note 1: Usually we'll use a rice noodle such as the Vietnamese bun or pho noodle or a quality ramen or somen noodle. Use whichever type of noodles you prefer most.

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Red Rice Salad w/ Mint and Shallot Vinaigrette – A favorite whole grain

We’ve been up to our elbows lately with some new projects and late at the end of the day, nothing makes us happier than a big bowl of comfort food and a cocktail. Or two. Comfort food, regardless of how many devilish calories lurk in all the starch, always manages to calm our nerves and satisfy our appetites.

A bowl of red rice is certainly one of our favorite comfort foods and this recipe is updated from our January 2008 archives, with a few new additions. A chewy and nutty grain variety, red rice is not only satisfying to eat, it’s loved by many for being exceptionally healthy.

Have you ever had red rice before? If not, you need to get yourself a bag, especially if you’re a fan of brown or any type of wild rice. It’s one of our favorites, so full of flavor, chewy bite and nutritionally packed with vitamins. This whole grain is always a win-win on our table.

Red rice is hailed in Chinese medicine as having medicinal qualities to help cure diabetes and high cholesterol. We love eating it often because of it’s flavor, texture, beauty and versatility. If you’re searching for  different alternatives to brown or black rice, this red variety is perfectly balanced with flavor & chewy bite. The color is a pleaser too with the subtle red tones still retained after cooking.

Red rice, along with various varieties of black rice, are available in most Southeast Asian grocers, specialty food markets and even online. The most inexpensive prices are at the Asian grocers, ranging from $4-$7 for a three pound bag. We’ve seen it priced at specialty Non-Asian markets for $7 on a 10 oz. package, ouch!

Once you get your hands on some of these red beauties, try this fresh and simple red rice and mint salad. It can be eaten either warm or as a cold salad and the addition of cucumbers and mint is refreshing.

When we developed this recipe, we had the vision of tabouli in mind, something with bright flavors of parsley and mint and cucumber crunch. We replaced the bulgar wheat with the red rice and added a flavorful and wonderfully fragrant shallot vinaigrette made in a pan. This dish is eaten cold and with all the fresh herbs and cucumbers, it’s like a rice salad.

combine shallot vinaigrette, red rice, chopped herbs & cucumbers

We’re fortunate enough to always have a garden full of fresh mint almost year round. But many of you cold region eaters don’t have the luxury of fresh mint, so there are other herbal options to the salad. Cilantro is another wonderful alternatives to mint, as well as adding extra cucumbers to the red rice if you want to omit the herbs altogether. This salad is wonderful cold and warm, so there are many options for serving.

Normally we’ve eaten it cold at picnics and parties, but for the times that we have had it warm, the rice is a wonderful comfort food on a cold day.

 Print This Recipe
Red Rice & Mint w/ Soy Dressing
Because of the tougher, but healthy, outer mesocarp of red rice, you need to use more water than most white rice grains. The rice can be cooked in a heavy sauce pan, but if you can a rice cooker, even better. The rice cooker will cook the red rice a little more evenly, but you can achieve the same result by stirring the grains more often for the stove top method.

Ingredients:

1 cup raw red rice, cooked to package instructions1 cup diced cucumbers1/4 cup chopped parsley1/4 cup chopped mint leaves, or even more to your specific taste

Shallot Dressing:

3 large shallots, minced3 medium garlic cloves, crushed or minced and crushed w/ side of knife4 Tablespoons olive or grape seed oil2 teaspoons sugar2  Tablespoons soy sauce1 teaspoon sesame oil1/4 teaspoon salt1 Tablespoon rice vinegar1 Tablespoon lemon juicefresh cracked black pepper, to taste

1. Cook 1 cup of raw red rice according to package instructions. Allow to cool.

2. In sauce pan over medium-low heat add only 2 tablespoons of oil and cook shallots and garlic until a light golden brown or until fragrant. Immediately remove from heat and add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil,  sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, vinegar, lemon juice and cracked black pepper. Stir till sugar dissolves and all ingredients are mixed together. Put aside to marinade further while you prepare vegetables and herbs.

3. Dice cucumbers and mince parsley (or cilantro) and mint.

4. After rice has completely cooled, toss in cucumbers, chopped herbs and shallot dressing. Eat immediately or chill in regridgerter. Before eating, toss everything in bowl again before serving.

5. For a warm red rice dish, toss cucumbers and herbs with warm rice. Heat up dressing in sauce pan till warm and toss with rice. Serve immediately.

6. Makes about 4 cups of cooked rice. Serves 3-4.

View the original article here

Red Rice Salad w/ Mint and Shallot Vinaigrette – A favorite whole grain

We’ve been up to our elbows lately with some new projects and late at the end of the day, nothing makes us happier than a big bowl of comfort food and a cocktail. Or two. Comfort food, regardless of how many devilish calories lurk in all the starch, always manages to calm our nerves and satisfy our appetites.

A bowl of red rice is certainly one of our favorite comfort foods and this recipe is updated from our January 2008 archives, with a few new additions. A chewy and nutty grain variety, red rice is not only satisfying to eat, it’s loved by many for being exceptionally healthy.

Have you ever had red rice before? If not, you need to get yourself a bag, especially if you’re a fan of brown or any type of wild rice. It’s one of our favorites, so full of flavor, chewy bite and nutritionally packed with vitamins. This whole grain is always a win-win on our table.

Red rice is hailed in Chinese medicine as having medicinal qualities to help cure diabetes and high cholesterol. We love eating it often because of it’s flavor, texture, beauty and versatility. If you’re searching for  different alternatives to brown or black rice, this red variety is perfectly balanced with flavor & chewy bite. The color is a pleaser too with the subtle red tones still retained after cooking.

Red rice, along with various varieties of black rice, are available in most Southeast Asian grocers, specialty food markets and even online. The most inexpensive prices are at the Asian grocers, ranging from $4-$7 for a three pound bag. We’ve seen it priced at specialty Non-Asian markets for $7 on a 10 oz. package, ouch!

Once you get your hands on some of these red beauties, try this fresh and simple red rice and mint salad. It can be eaten either warm or as a cold salad and the addition of cucumbers and mint is refreshing.

When we developed this recipe, we had the vision of tabouli in mind, something with bright flavors of parsley and mint and cucumber crunch. We replaced the bulgar wheat with the red rice and added a flavorful and wonderfully fragrant shallot vinaigrette made in a pan. This dish is eaten cold and with all the fresh herbs and cucumbers, it’s like a rice salad.

combine shallot vinaigrette, red rice, chopped herbs & cucumbers

We’re fortunate enough to always have a garden full of fresh mint almost year round. But many of you cold region eaters don’t have the luxury of fresh mint, so there are other herbal options to the salad. Cilantro is another wonderful alternatives to mint, as well as adding extra cucumbers to the red rice if you want to omit the herbs altogether. This salad is wonderful cold and warm, so there are many options for serving.

Normally we’ve eaten it cold at picnics and parties, but for the times that we have had it warm, the rice is a wonderful comfort food on a cold day.

 Print This Recipe
Red Rice & Mint w/ Soy Dressing
Because of the tougher, but healthy, outer mesocarp of red rice, you need to use more water than most white rice grains. The rice can be cooked in a heavy sauce pan, but if you can a rice cooker, even better. The rice cooker will cook the red rice a little more evenly, but you can achieve the same result by stirring the grains more often for the stove top method.

Ingredients:

1 cup raw red rice, cooked to package instructions1 cup diced cucumbers1/4 cup chopped parsley1/4 cup chopped mint leaves, or even more to your specific taste

Shallot Dressing:

3 large shallots, minced3 medium garlic cloves, crushed or minced and crushed w/ side of knife4 Tablespoons olive or grape seed oil2 teaspoons sugar2  Tablespoons soy sauce1 teaspoon sesame oil1/4 teaspoon salt1 Tablespoon rice vinegar1 Tablespoon lemon juicefresh cracked black pepper, to taste

1. Cook 1 cup of raw red rice according to package instructions. Allow to cool.

2. In sauce pan over medium-low heat add only 2 tablespoons of oil and cook shallots and garlic until a light golden brown or until fragrant. Immediately remove from heat and add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil,  sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, vinegar, lemon juice and cracked black pepper. Stir till sugar dissolves and all ingredients are mixed together. Put aside to marinade further while you prepare vegetables and herbs.

3. Dice cucumbers and mince parsley (or cilantro) and mint.

4. After rice has completely cooled, toss in cucumbers, chopped herbs and shallot dressing. Eat immediately or chill in regridgerter. Before eating, toss everything in bowl again before serving.

5. For a warm red rice dish, toss cucumbers and herbs with warm rice. Heat up dressing in sauce pan till warm and toss with rice. Serve immediately.

6. Makes about 4 cups of cooked rice. Serves 3-4.

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Snapdragon Tangy Vietnamese Vinaigrette, 10.1-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6)

Journey to the culinary capitals of Asia with Snapdragon, where every stop brings a new taste discovery. Snapdragon Tangy Vietnamese Jasmine Rice Vinaigrette is an adaptation of nuoc cham blending rice vinegar with ripe chili peppersand pure cane sugar.

Price: $23.94

Click here to buy from Amazon

Snapdragon Japanese Black Sesame Vinaigrette, 10.1-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6)

Journey to the culinary capitals of Asia with Snapdragon, where every stop brings a new taste discovery. Snapdragon Japanese Black Sesame Jasmine Rice Vinaigrette - kuro goma - black sesame seeds blended with rice vinegar and tradtional spices.

Price: $23.94

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Snapdragon Passion Fruit Vinaigrette, 10.1-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6)

Journey to the culinary capitals of Asia with Snapdragon, where every stop brings a new taste discovery. Snapdragon Passiion Fruit Jasmine Rice Vinaigrette is tart and sweet with a tropical twist.

Price: $23.94

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Snapdragon Kyoto Plum Vinaigrette, 10.1-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6)

Journey to the culinary capitals of Asia with Snapdragon, where every stop brings a new taste discovery. Snapdragon Kyoto Plum Jasmine Rice Vinaigrette is a blend of sweet plums with rice vinegar and a touch of chili.

Price: $23.94

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Snapdragon Java Ginger Sesame Vinaigrette, 10.1-Ounce Glass Bottles (Pack of 6)

Journey to the culinary capitals of Asia with Snapdragon, where every stop brings a new taste discovery. Java Ginger Sesame Jasnine Rice Vinaigrette is java ginger blended with rice vinegar, chilies and sesame seeds.

Price: $23.94

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Snapdragon Pineapple Chili Vinaigrette, 10.1-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6)

Journey to the culinary capitals of Asia with Snapdragon, where every stop brings a new taste discovery. Snapdragon Pineapple Chili Jasmine Rice Vinaigrette is sweet pineapples and fresh chili peppers blended with rice vinegar.

Price: $23.94

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Orange & Fennel Salad with Toasted Fennel Vinaigrette – Welcoming Citrus Season

Citrus season has finally arrived in our garden and hopefully in about 4 more weeks, we’ll be able to share a few rounds with friends. Last year we doubled up on an extra blood orange tree (for Katie!) and an extra Eureka lemon tree. Plans for this year are to add 3 more citrus trees because, yes, we’re addicted.

No, you really can’t have too much citrus, that’s our life motto. All the better to make cocktail with!

We can’t tell you how excited we get when it comes to citrus gardening and there’s some fun news coming in February! Unfortunately we can’t spill any beans now, but know that it’s going to be about our crazy citrus tree collection!

Since last week’s Thanksgiving eating bonanza, followed up a ridiculous craving of belly burning chili cheese fries, we’re ready for something fresh. We’ve been gnawing on arugula leaves, celery and anything green that the garden is throwing out.  The few days of holiday indulgence really did us in and it takes days of fresh raw veggies and citrus cleansing to get us ready for Christmas cookies and baked goods.

Tender baby fennel are perfect for picking, they’re sweet, crispy and perfectly fragrant. The aroma of the fennel coupled with the sweet acidity of the seasons first oranges make the perfect re-freshing follow-up to all the turkey, stuffing and fries we indulged in.

Citrus and fennel are such a wonderful pairing. Something magical happens on the palate when fennel and citrus come together. With some added baby arugula, this terrific winter salad is bursting with flavor. Each bite is juicy, sweet, floral and tenderly spicy from the delicate arugula. The vinaigrette in this salad is laced with the warm flavors of toasted fennel seeds. It’s hard to not want to have two plates of this, even for breakfast. Why not have a orange and fennel breakfast salad?

This recipe is wonderful with oranges, but we’ve seen other fabulous variations with tangerines and grapefruits. Every variation seems like a perfect accompaniment to delicate, crunchy fennel bulbs. You can create any ratio you want with the citrus and sliced fennel. Maybe when our fennel bulbs become more robust, we’ll adapt the recipe to be a fennel and orange salad.

Either way, hope you enjoy this wonderful salad to celebrate the arrival of wonderful citrus. Hope your home fills up with plenty of bright, fragrant zest!

-Todd and Diane

the aroma of fresh tender fennel bulbs & orange peel is amazing!

 Print This Recipe

Orange Fennel Salad with toasted Fennel Vinaigrette Recipe
adapted from Lucini Orange Fennel Salad

about 4 Oranges1 T Fennel Seeds3 T Olive Oil, 1 T balsamic vinegar 1/2 t Sea Salt, or to taste1 medium Fennel Bulb, thinly slicedhandful of Baby Arugula Leaves (optional)

1. Slice the rind and pith completely off of the oranges. Next slice the oranges 1/4? thick.

2. In a dry saute pan over medium heat, toast the fennel seeds for a few minutes until the aroma is nicely released and they change color slightly.  Crush well in a mortar & pestle or grind in a small spice grinder or coffee grinder.

3. Combine ground fennel seeds, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sea salt in a small bowl and whisk to mix.

4. Layer orange slices and sliced fennel bulb on serving plates.  Quickly re-mix vinaigrette then dress oranges and fennel. Garnish with arugula.*Another option for salad – Layer in a lot more arugula to have a more greens-heavy salad. The pepperiness of the arugula goes quite well with freshness of the oranges and fennel.

More Orange & other Citrus Fennel Salads:

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