I was so excited for February’s Challenge for The Inspired Plate that I have a couple versions for our “Egg” Challenge. (Yup, I’m taking a que from Portlandia…the hipster foodie in me wants to put an egg on everything.)

We had a beautiful day at the farmer’s market recently and found these gorgeous “Winter/Spring” Greens. Delicious with a homemade dressing… A quick mix of course mustard, cream, lemon, fennel and other herbs. It was a tasty touch to this mix of greens and a perfect poached egg.

Another favorite I had to share was our homemade pizza. Sometimes we don’t have much to make dinner with but we usually have a couple eggs and some veggies. Enter in my quick pizza dough (1 c warm water, 1 packet yeast, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 1/2 c flour, 1 tsp salt; mix, sit 10 min, make pizza crusts and bake 450 degrees/14 min).  Have you ever tried to put a couple of eggs directly on top of your pizza? It’s SO delicious and can be cooked well done or soft enough to drizzle when you cut into it. Bacon Egg Cheese Pizza? Red Bell Peppers, Fennel, and Egg? Perfect for dinner OR breakfast!

Now follow our The Inspired Plate’s circle along to Laurie Vengoechea | Southern California Food Photographer. She is the incredible founder of our TIP group and such an inspiration to all of us!

xo!

Jen

February 25th, 2013 | Category: Breakfast, Food, Food Photography Challenges, Grow It, Inspiration, Locally Made, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks, The Insipired Plate, Veggie, local style | Comments (6)

A bright and fresh new start to our new year with The Inspired Plate, a Food Photography and Styling group that I’m privileged to be a part of! We are kicking off this New year of 2013 with a focus on Healthy.

Enter in my creation of Vegetarian Eggs Benedict.

Who doesn’t have living more healthfully in mind during this time of year? For me, it’s eating more of what makes me feel better. Trusting the way my body feels after I eat (or don’t eat) certain foods. A huge part of feeling better has been incorporating lots more vegetables and non-processed foods into our days. What I’ve learned is that it doesn’t have to be hard.

Here’s something we whipped up for breakfast the other day… Eggs Benedict has been such a love of mine. So many delicious tastes in one dish. What opened my mind to the versatility of this classic breakfast was a morning nosh while living in Santa Barbara. I ordered the “California Eggs Benedict”, a heavenly combination of english muffin, canadian bacon, poached egg, creamy avocado, and ripe tomato..and of course Hollandaise sauce. Amazing how food memories can stay with you..

This past morning, I had my Santa Barbara morning memory in mind.. but didn’t feel like starting my day off with bread or even a poached egg. I was craving a “Vegetarian Eggs Benedict” (and of course, Hollandaise sauce). A look around to our vegetables on hand gave me inspiration! Replace the english muffin with a quickly sauteed slice of eggplant, slices of fresh avocado, a couple of carmelized mushrooms, and topped with a “butter free” Hollandaise sauce. The result was …yeah I’m saying this word… scrumptious. The hubby couldn’t speak at first bite, saying he was “Having a moment” (in a good way), and even our 3 year old enjoyed a few bites (gave the thumbs up, literally).

The tastes were not the only bonus from this dish. We had a lovely, fancy-looking breakfast that left us feeling energized and ready to tackle the day. Another note? Yeah…I made this for a late night snack that night.

Don’t miss the beautiful images of the other The Inspired Plate members! Click this link to see the always amazing work of our talented Laurie Vengoechea | Southern California Food Photographer. I can’t wait to see what she has in store!

Vegetarian Eggs Benedict with Butter-Free Hollandaise Sauce

2 Servings

• 2 slices of eggplant, 1/2″ thick
• 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms, your favorite variety
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 2 egg yolks
• Juice of 1/8 lemon juice
• salt, pepper, garlic powder/etc to suit your taste
• Paprika & sprouts for garnish (your favorite hot sauce too!)

Pat slices of eggplant and mushrooms dry, season, and saute on med low heat with a bit of olive oil, until slightly carmelized/browned. In the meantime, add two egg yolks and lemon juice to a small saucepan on the LOWEST heat possible. Whisk the yolks continuously, which will add volume, until they become a thicker sauce (4 minutes or so). Traditional Hollandaise sauce recipes will now tell you to add 1/2 of melted butter…I’m telling you it’s SO NOT NECESSARY. Add a bit of salt and pepper to season. When the vegetables and sauce are cooked to your liking, simply arrange the ingredients! Layer eggplant slices, avocado, mushrooms, drizzles of sauce, and garnish. Stack, drizzle, eat. Delish!!!

January 28th, 2013 | Category: Breakfast, Food, Food Photography Challenges, Grow It, Inspiration, Locally Made, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks, The Insipired Plate, Veggie, local style | Comments (4)

The Inspired Plate is celebrating our 1st Year as a group! Joining this food photography and styling group back in January 2012 was a much needed joy for me. Throughout this past year, our group of talented women has become not only friends but teachers, brainstormers, cheerleaders, and confidants to each other.

I’m in for 2013, ladies! Looking forward to what the new year will bring!

xoxo

Jen

Now jump over to the next TIPer to show her take on Celebrate!, the talented Kay Pickens | Columbia MO Food Photographer.

December 27th, 2012 | Category: Breakfast, Desserts, Food, Food Photography Challenges, Inspiration, Local Places, Locally Made, Main Dishes, Recipes, Seafood, Snacks, The Insipired Plate, Uncategorized, Veggie, local events, local style | Comments (2)

Hi Friends!

I’m excited to share Part 1 of my Holiday Table, our latest challenge from The Inspired Plate. Here are some unique dish ideas that will liven up your Holiday Table this December.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here’s to a month of celebrating with good people, eating good food, and keeping our sanity through it all (good food, friends, and cocktails have a lot to do with that).

Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad with Bacon, Cranberries, and Honey Walnuts

Sriracha Cheddar Cheese Sticks

Rosemary Sugared & Spiced Bar Nuts

Cornbread Stuffing with Maple Bacon, Leeks and Pecans

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NOW please follow The Inspired Plate’s blog circle and see what the incredible Kim Kelly of Liv Life has on her Holiday Table.

Enjoy and Cheers!

xo

Jen

December 3rd, 2012 | Category: Food, Food Photography Challenges, Inspiration, Locally Made, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks, The Insipired Plate, Veggie, local style | Comments (4)

Earlier in October, the Ode to Tomatoes Festival was celebrated here on the Central Coast. We SO enjoyed attending the Party in the Garden at Avila’s Sycamore Mineral Springs Garden. Four popular eateries joined forces for an afternoon of yummy tomato-inspired bites, tasty sips, and a lovely tour of the garden.

Here is a photo montage of our time at the Sycamore Garden! Marisol at The Cliffs created these delectable Pork Belly Sliders (we went back for seconds, by the way…). The Apple Farm had Cherry Tomato Toasts with Basil and White Anchovy, gorgeous!

Chef Gregg Wangard of Marisol serving out fantastic Tomato Basil Sorbet on mini cheesecakes. Jesse’s favorite of the afternoon!

Beautiful Garden Margaritas from Marisol packed a punch. Sea Venture’s Chef Everett “Casey” Walcott dished out African Tomato and Banana Salad (sounds unusual but we really enjoyed it!).

Tomato and Goat Cheese Cannolis from Sea Venture Restaurant…still very much a dessert with a subtle tomato flavor.

Later in the afternoon, Sea Venture shared this refreshing Tomato Gazpacho topped with fried fennel frawns…just enough heat, a very nice balance.

Above, The Apple Farm’s Cherry Tomato Toasts with basil and white anchovy (seriously good), and below,  a yummy Green Tomato Pie (we had no idea there was not one apple in it!).

Mini Cheesecakes waiting to be topped with Tomato Basil Sorbet.

Such a fantastic afternoon. Great weather, beautiful grounds, free delicious bites and yummy drinks. I hope they do this next year, we’ll be there!

xo

Jen

October 25th, 2012 | Category: Desserts, Food, Grow It, Inspiration, Local Places, Locally Made, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks, Veggie, local events, local style | Comments (2)

Nope, this isn’t about one of my favorite AC/DC albums…though it was ringing in my head while shooting this challenge from The Inspired Plate. Black Background was our challenge this month.

Want to mix things up with your dinner routine? This is so fun, Miso Udon Noodle Soup!

Miso Udon Noodle Soup with Oyster Mushrooms and Pickled Vegetables.

• Simply raise a pan of 1/4 c miso, 4 c broth (vegetable, chicken, water will do), and one bunch of udon noodles to simmering.
• Thinly slice red onion, cucumber and radish; let these vegetables soak in a mixture of vinegar and sugar (scant portions, just enough vinegar to cover); this will pickle the vegetables.
• After 5-10 min, when the noodles are softened to your liking, add soy sauce and fish sauce to your taste.
• Divide soup portions into bowls and add fresh oyster mushrooms and pickled vegetables. Top with watercress or microgreens and enjoy!

And don’t forget dessert ….(my backup photo for Black Background…these are already gone..)

Now click this link to see the amazing Kat Clark, the next photographer in our circle. Keep following the links in each photographer’s post to see the entire work of The Inspired Plate.

xoxo

Jen

October 22nd, 2012 | Category: Food, Food Photography Challenges, Inspiration, Locally Made, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks, The Insipired Plate, Veggie, local style | Comments (7)

Digital Textures was this month’s challenge with The Inspired Plate! I really was surprised that I liked the rustic feel it gave these images. Fun to experiment!!

Look at my images and follow on to see the talented Kat Clark, and follow along the links to see the rest of our talented group’s work!

xo

Jen

September 24th, 2012 | Category: Food, Food Photography Challenges, Inspiration, Recipes, The Insipired Plate | Comments (9)

Here are some highlights from our recent visit to Rooster Creek Tavern in the village of Arroyo Grande. Beautiful location with a sunny patio (always a bonus for me), and we really enjoyed ourselves! Think about stopping by here after a trip to the farmer’s market or before an ice cream treat at Doc Burnstein’s!

The Grilled Tri Tip sandwich was super tender, two thumbs up!

A fun surprise was the Oak Grilled Chicken sandwich…cucumbers absolutely made this for us! Who would have thought, chilled cucumbers on a grilled sandwich?  Yup it worked for sure. (This was in a to-go box for the hubby who had to rush back to work!)

And the pizza was pretty fabulous. I was with New Yorkers who, let’s just say, are picky about their pizza. They loved the pizza, great crust and lots of topping options. We got the Chicken, Feta & Spinach pizza and split The Wedge salad last weekend and had a very nice afternoon on the patio

The next time you’re in the village of Arroyo Grande, stop by Rooster Creek Tavern for a quick bite or a big, satisfying meal. A great place for a nice afternoon!

xoxo!

Jen

September 20th, 2012 | Category: Food, Local Places, Locally Made, Main Dishes, local style | Leave a comment

What’s better than treating yourself to dessert for breakfast? I’ll tell you what’s better…when you top it with bacon.

The beauty of this French Toast is that it’s completely make-ahead, and can be frozen in individual servings. Pull out a couple slices, just a few minutes in the toaster and breakfast is served!

Cinnamon-Swirl French Toast

the what:

1/2 loaf of cinnamon raisin bread (Trader Joe’s had one to die for)

1/2 loaf of a tasty white bread

5 eggs

1 cup 1/2 & 1/2

1/2 cup maple syrup

the seeds of 1 good vanilla bean

1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar (add more if desired), a pinch of salt

6 pieces of good, cooked bacon; crumbled into small pieces (some reserved for topping)

the how:

mix all ingredients (besides the bread) in a large mixing bowl

rip the bread into bite sized pieces and combine gently with the wet ingredients

place in a buttered loaf pan and bake at 375 degrees for about an hour.

freezing:

once completely cooled, slice loaf in “toaster sized” slices

place on sheets of waxed paper, stacked on a cutting board, and freeze

place in freezer bags when completely frozen

enjoying:

these usually take a couple rounds in the toaster (set to high), so easy!

serve simply with a pat of butter, good maple syrup, powdered sugar

…and don’t forget the crispy bacon on top!

These are perfect for a quick breakfast for kiddos running late for school or just as a treat after dinner. I made this batch for a dear friend who recently had her first baby…a perfect, yummy, and quick breakfast that only takes one hand to make!

I’ll be experimenting with other make-ahead breakfasts perfect for the toaster. Can’t wait to share. In the meantime, try this recipe and add your own twist (orange zest, berries, apples…lots of options).

enjoy!

xoxo

Jen

September 19th, 2012 | Category: Food, Inspiration, Joi ~ Baby | Leave a comment