Food Photography Tips

CLEAN THE LENS: Wipe off lens before shooting as there might be smudges and residue which will make the picture look blurry.

GET THE RIGHT LIGHTING: Shoot away from the light source. Make sure light source is on the front of the meal. Use natural light. Move the dish near a window if you need to. Do NOT use a flash, it’ll make a great meal look bad. Plan ahead when choosing your seat if you are eating out.

KEEP IT SIMPLE: The meal is the star, make it stand out. Take out the stuff you don’t need. Choose a background that doesn’t interfere. Use non-patterned plates so the food always pops. White plates are best.

FRAME & CROP: Shoot with the entire meal in frame, you can always crop after to show details.

FOCUS: Make sure the meal is in focus – most mobile phones allow you to tap on what you want to focus on.

ANGLES: Try different camera angles. Get creative and try to show the meal in a different and inviting way.

WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?: Show as many of the ingredients of the meal as possible. I wanna know what I’m looking at. If it’s a burrito or sandwich, cut it in half. Describe what it is, where it’s from, how you made it in the description.

FILTERS: Don’t use em. They are cheesy (no pun intended) and ruin the realism of the food.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Make me want to eat it.

Gluten Free Gingersnap Blueberry Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Gluten Free Gingersnap Blueberry Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 small package of fresh blueberries
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • Maple syrup
  • 4 tbsp butter, melted
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 2 ½ cups Bob’s Red Mill all purpose gluten-free flour
  • 1/4 tsp Bob’s Red Mill xanthan gum
  • 2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp butter / oil for pan

To Prepare:
In a medium bowl, mix the melted butter, eggs, vanilla and sugar.

In separate bowl, whisk flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, salt until blended nicely.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture stirring as you go. Add the milk and continue stirring until all lumps have been removed and the mixture is smooth.

On medium heat, melt 1 tbsp of butter on a 12″ skillet and proceed to spoon 1/3 of the pancake mixture onto the hot buttery pan puddle. The pancake batter may need to be smoothed out and flattened into a circle on the pan. You can use the spoon and flatten it by making a circular motion from the inside out. Once flattened, sprinkle blueberries and chocolate chips evenly across the batter. Cook until golden and then flip.

Repeat until you have no more batter. Serve with warm maple syrup and enjoy your food coma!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bombs

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bombs

I wish I could claim this recipe as my own, however I found it on www.bojourgourmet.com here while trying out a few gluten free recipes. There are easily THE BEST cookies I’ve ever made. For a while, I have scoffed at the idea of gluten free foods, but having tried them for a little while, I feel better and actually can probably eat more in a sitting as my body is able to break down what I am eating more efficiently. Let me know how yours turn out! I even tried added bacon to mine for a little saltier flavor.

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 head butter lettuce
  • 1 large red bell pepper
  • 1 cup of sliced water chestnuts
  • ½ yellow onion
  • ¼ cup Soy Vay hoisin garlic sauce
  • 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 1 tbsp scallions
  • Salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper as desired

To Prepare:
After rinsing the chicken, lightly season both sides with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to your liking.

In a medium skillet, add ¼ cup of olive oil until pan on medium/high. Once the pan has warmed up, place the chicken breast in the pan and sear both sides until medium brown (about 2-3 minutes on each).

Proceed by placing seared chicken on a baking sheet/pan in the preheated oven at 350 degrees. Chicken can roast for 18 minutes.

While chicken is baking, continue by dicing half of a yellow onion, and large red bell pepper. Place vegetables and ¼ of olive oil in a stove-warmed pan and season with salt and pepper.

After five or so minutes, add 1 cup water chestnuts to the stove and continue to sauté vegetables until lightly browned. Then transfer the vegetables from the stove into a large mixing bowl, and add ¼ cup hoisin, garlic sauce and let cool.

Rinse lettuce and dry each leaf as it’s pulled from the head.

Let chicken sit for several minutes after baking to retain moisture. Then cut into small cubes, and serve atop garlic/hoisin mixture on the bed of 1-2 large pieces of butter lettuce.

Lightly drizzle additional sauce for presentation and extra flavor and enjoy.

Super Bowl Food Coma Party

Hey everyone! The Super Bowl is this Sunday and it’s a great matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. Being a big sports fan I couldn’t be more excited, however, what I’m most excited for this year is the food! What really makes a good Super Bowl party isn’t the game (the game is a constant). Assuming you are watching the game with the friends you hang out with on a usual basis, the thing that really makes a Super Bowl party memorable is the food! In order to help you out make your party more awesome then the rest, I’ve put together a Pinterest board with some great recipes and ideas that’ll keep your friends talking about this party for years to come.

Here’s the link: Super Bowl Food Coma Party

Homemade Ice Cream Sandos

Homemade Ice Cream Sandos

For the party:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tap vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Smiles. You need smiles.
  • 1 pint of your favorite ice cream, or more if you dare

Cookware:

  • 10″x15″ baking sheet (rimmed helps)
  • Parchment paper
  • Medium mixing bowl

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Now melt the butter and mix all of the ingredients with the exception of the ice cream, in the mixing bowl. Mix it hard. Mix it good. Make that ish creamy awesome.

Once creamy chocolate mixture status has been reached, take your baking sheet and cover it with a layer of parchment paper.

Pour the chocolatey goodness onto the parchment paper and spread it evenly with a spatula making sure to leave a 1-2″ buffer from the sides. Feel free to use your tongue if you are going to be making the batch for yourself.

Throw the sheet in the oven for 5-10 minutes (time will vary depending on oven size – if this is your first time doing this, it doesn’t hurt to check the brownies occasionally – nobody likes a burnt brownie ).

Once the brownie is cooked, pull out of the oven and place another piece of parchment paper on top of the brownie. The idea here is to flatten the brownie to make it harder and more solid for the sando shell. Find a nice flat surface (i.e kitchen table) and place the brownie on it (between the parchment paper still). Take the cookie sheet and place it on top and press down to flatten the brownie.

Place brownie in freezer to cool a bit more – we don’t want the ice cream to melt on contact so a cold brownie will be better.

After a couple minutes, take the brownie out of the freezer, cut in half and spread the entire pint on one half. Take the other half and place on top of the ice cream and press down to help even out the ice cream. If the ice cream is melting at all, place the cake back in the freezer to cool it back down.

Take a knife and put it under hot water (a warm knife will cut the cake better) and cut up into bite size pieces

Serve and enjoy your food coma!

A Delicious Buttery Balls Party For Your Mouth

A Delicious Buttery Balls Party For Your Mouth

For the party:

  • 8oz unsalted butter
  • 10oz bag of marshmallows (mini melt easier)
  • 6 cups Reece’s Pieces Puffs
  • 1/3 cup milk chocolate morsels
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • Smiles. You need smiles.

Cookware:

  • Large sauce pan
  • Cake pan – you decide the dimensions – smaller = thicker

What to do:

First, you need to brown that butter. Start by turning your favorite burner on the stove to a medium heat and melting the butter in the sauce pan.

Once the butter is melted, it’ll begin to foam and sizzle at you, like it’s cheering because you are awesome. Make sure to stir and don’t become too arrogant with how awesome the butter thinks you are as you need to pay attention. The butter will start to brown in color and smell “nutty.” You’ll notice little brown flakes floating up from the bottom of the pan because they wanna play. Say no and scrape the flakes from the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat to warm or off and mix in the marshmallows.

Stir until you have a nice creamy fluff.

Now it’s time for the real party to start. Mix in the puffs, chocolate chips, and salt until everything is coated with everything else.

Take the cake pan, lubricate it with butter, and dump the puff party into it. Spread evenly with a spatula. (I used a greased parchment paper to push the puff party into the corners of the pan).

Let cool for 30 minutes to an hour and then serve yourself a delicious food coma.

Load More