Vanilla Cocktails for New Year

Posted on 2013-12-31

The Cocktail Cabinet/ Vanilla Table The Cocktail Cabinet/ The Vanilla Table

A very last minute blogpost with a couple of ideas for New Year cocktails. These are brought to you by Vanilla Table author Natasha MacAller and will work well for New Years eve where ever you are or at any cocktail party really. Cocktails are all the rage at the moment, so easy to make, and sure to impress! Cheers and Happy New Year! (Drink responsibly)

The Vanilla Lemon Drop
Serves 1
Inspired by a Taste of Vanilla Lemonade, this perfect celebration cocktail, combining two fragrant tastes and only takes mere seconds to mix and enjoy!

Vodka 60ml/ 2 shots/ 2 fl oz
Lemon juice, Fresh, Strained 30ml/1 shot/1 fl oz
Vanilla syrup (I used Heilala) 2 tsp/10ml
Vanilla bean sliver for garnish

Pour liquid ingredients into an ice filled cocktail shaker. Shake well, Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a sliver of vanilla bean.

*1 shot equals 30 ml/1 fl oz

The South Pacific Star
Fragrant with Passion fruit and Proseco, this south pacific summer party cocktail was served at “Cuisines of the Sun” in Hawaii for 350 guests! This updated version Serves about 12.

42 Below Passion Fruit vodka 235 ml/8fl oz/8 shots
Heilala Vanilla Syrup 175 ml/6 fl oz/6 shots
Proseco or NZ Sparkling wine (I used a blush style) 1 bottle/750ml/3/4 fl qt.
Passion Fruit Fresh, pulp and seeds about 12/235ml/8fl oz
Vanilla bitters 2 dashes (optional)
Orchids to float and garnish

Pour together vodka, vanilla syrup (and bitters if using) then Proseco in a large jug. Layer ice cubes in bottom of a large punch bowl (3 liters). Drizzle over ice a third of passionfruit pulp and seeds. Add another layer of ice and more passionfruit. Repeat once more. Slowly pour the liquid in the center of the punch bowl, garnish with orchids and serve immediately.

1 shot equals 30 ml/1 fl oz

Recipes © Natasha MacAller. Thanks to The Studio of Tableware for letting us borrow the trifle bowl, used as punch bowl. All other props photographers or food stylists own.

Christmas with House and Garden

Posted on 2013-12-24

NZ House & Garden Magazine issue 232, Casual Christmas

Heading off to the beach or the bach for a casual Christmas dinner, or straight after Christmas day? Here’s a few fabulous and quick entertaining ideas from a shoot I did with Claudia Kozub (Style Etc & Indie Home Collective) and Bernadette Hogg for NZ House & Garden’s Christmas issue 2013. Easy to do with leftover ham, these recipes are sure to impress.

Fruity Tea Punch

2 cups strong tea
11/2 cups sugar
1 cup lemon juice (about 5 lemons)
1⁄4 cup lime juice (about 3 limes)
2 cups pineapple juice, chilled
2 cups orange juice, chilled
slices of orange, lemon, ginger and fresh mint sprigs for garnish
1.25 litres ginger ale, chilled

Place tea and sugar in a large saucepan and simmer, stirring occasionally, to dissolve sugar. Add lemon and lime juices, bring to the boil then remove from heat to cool.
Place some of the cooled liquid into ice cube trays and freeze. Put remaining punch base into fridge to chill thoroughly (or freeze if making ahead).
When ready to serve, place punch base, punch ice cubes, pineapple and orange juices, slices of orange, lemon, lime and fresh ginger into a punch bowl or serving container. Add chilled ginger ale and a few sprigs of fresh mint. Makes about 2.5 litres

The base of this refreshing beverage can be made up to a week in advance and frozen. Thaw it on the morning it is needed – although it doesn’t need to thaw completely as it can be used slightly slushy. Add the ginger ale and garnish just before serving.

Roasted Pear and Glazed Ham Platter

This dish gets the ham cooking out of the way nice and early, as it can be glazed and cooked several days beforehand. Slice it on the morning required, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until half an hour before serving. The pears, onions and cherries can be roasted the day before needed.

5 firm but ripe pears, skin on, cored and quartered
3 red onions, outer skin removed, each cut into 8 wedges
2 smallish cinnamon sticks
1 thumb ginger, peeled and finely sliced
3 whole star anise
2 tablespoons each: maple syrup, sweet chilli sauce, olive oil, rice wine vinegar juice of 1 lemon
200g fresh cherries
1 1⁄2kg cooked glazed ham, thinly sliced

Heat oven to 200°C. Line a large baking dish with baking paper.
Place pear quarters and red onion wedges in a large bowl and add all remaining ingredients except cherries and ham. Toss to coat pears well.
Tip pear and onion mixture into prepared dish and arrange in a single layer. Bake about 60 minutes, turning pears and onion every 15 minutes. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, scatter cherries over. Remove pan from oven when pears are tender and golden. Cool to room temperature. If making ahead, store covered in the fridge and remove from fridge 30 minutes before serving.
To serve, arrange pears, onion and cherries decoratively on a platter with sliced ham. Serves 6-8

Vanilla Blogtails

Posted on 2013-12-23

The Cocktail Cabinet

In October I shared some of the photos I shot for Natasha MacAller’s Vanilla Table. With Christmas just around the corner and the sun beaming down, Natasha decided to share a new vanilla drink recipe suitable for a casual kiwi Christmas by the beach or at the bach. This delicious Bourbon Vanilla Milkshake works both as a dessert and as a cocktail, and is a real treat on a hot day! Natasha has a couple more Vanilla cocktails she’d like to share. These are suitable for a New Years party, so make sure to check back then! Thank you to Flotsam & Jetsam for letting us borrow the vintage Agee Jars.

Running out of ideas on what to get someone for Christmas? Why not Natasha’s fabulous book Vanilla Table for more inspiration on how to use vanilla in untraditional ways.

Recipe © by Natasha MacAller

Bourbon Vanilla Milkshake with Caramel and Cherries
Serves 4

Natasha explains: “ I have often been asked: “Why is Vanilla called Bourbon Vanilla? Is there bourbon in it?” The most widely available Vanilla in the world is often referred to as Bourbon or Madagascar Vanilla, the Bourbon refers to “ Ile Bourbon” a French ruled island in the Indian Ocean where The Vanilla Orchid was first pollinated, not by bees but, by the hand of a thoughtful and clever slave-boy: Edmond Albius. Without his discovery, the modern business of the vanilla trade might not have happened.
This easy moreish summer cocktail blends bourbon vanilla bean ice cream with aged Kentucky bourbon to make the ultimate adult milkshake!”

Bourbon (such as Makers Mark) 30 mls/1 fl oz/1 shot
Amaretto Liqueur 30 mls/1 fl oz/1 shot
Dried Cherries 30g/1 oz/ ¼ cup, rehydrated
Caramel Sauce, for drizzling
Vanilla bean Ice Cream or Gelato, 8 large scoops/400g
Whole milk 160 ml/5 fl oz/2/3 fl cup
Ice cubes 1-2 cups/50-100g

Chill 4 300 ml canning jars in the freezer. Combine Bourbon, Amaretto and cherries in a small jug and set aside. Spoon the ice cream and milk in a blender, add strained cherries (reserving a few for the top) and the liquid. Blitz on high and add ice cubes as needed to thicken. Drizzle caramel sauce down insides of frozen jars then pour the milkshake in center of jars. Sprinkle reserved cherries on top and serve with straws before it melts!

Danish Design Sandwiches

Posted on 2013-12-19

Smorrebrod, Danish Open Sandwiches

Being Danish abroad (from Denmark), one can hardly talk about food without bringing up the subject Danish food and Danish open sandwiches. With a lot of focus on Danish food and the Scandinavian food scene in general, over the last few years, it is also with certain pride that I do talk about it. With Rene Redzepi‘s Noma probably being the main source for our glory these days, the New Nordic Food movement has given us reason to be proud and to show off our heritage. I’m pleased to see that it’s not just the Danish “fine dining” scene that is popular, but also more down to earth Danish food is starting to be the talk of town. Maybe not so much in New Zealand yet, but in New York most certainly, and also in Australia. In Melbourne, Danish chef Bente Grysbæk runs Restaurant Dansk, at Denmark House a division of the Royal Danish Consulate in Melbourne. Earlier this year I went to see Bente, and to shoot some work with her for a future project that also involves New Zealand based journalist Kirsten Rødsgaard-Matiesen. Bente and Restaurant Dansk focuses entirely on a Danish menu with a twist, and here you can get beautifully designed Danish open sandwiches, with all elements made from scratch, just like our grandmothers would.

Around Christmas time I usually get quite homesick and one thing that is very closely related to home is of course food, and especially our open sandwiches – Smørrebrød as we call them. Great Danish food is hard to come by out here, although our beloved rye bread is now available at some supermarkets and specialty bakers around Auckland. So a simple open sandwich with pate, salami or salmon with a slice of cucumber is often part of my lunch, but not nearly as artistic and handcrafted as Bente’s. And one thing that I rarely have is the Christmas seasons variety of marinated herring with curry salad on top. So I’m very pleased that Bente has shared her very own recipe for making marinated herring. This is a must have on the Christmas table on a slice of rye, with a shot of snaps/ akvavit to wash it down with. Enjoy!

Recipe © Bente Grysbæk @ Restaurant Dansk, Denmark House, Melbourne

Marinade for herring
4 large herring fillets in oil (or 8 small)
200ml water
200ml vinegar
125g caster sugar
1/2 tbsp salt
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp whole black pepper corn
1/2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
1/2 tbsp all spice
5 whole gloves
Put everything in a pot, except the herring fillets, and let simmer for about 30min. Let the marinade cool down completely. Drain the herring fillets from any oil or other marinade they came in. Then add them to the cooled marinade and leave for at least 1 week, 3 weeks is optimal.

Yellow marbled eggs
2 eggs
1 tsp turmeric (for yellow marble)
Cook 2 large eggs for 8min then refresh in ice water until cold. Now crack the shell all over, without removing any of the shell. Dissolve the turmeric in plain cold water then add the cracked eggs.
Leave for 1-2 days before peeling. They should be used the same day as you have peeled them, as the marbling fades.

Curry salad
100g mayonnaise
50g sour cream
30g raw macaroni soup pasta
1 granny smith apple peeled and cut into fine dices
1.5 tsp mild curry powder
Pinch of pepper
Mix mayonnaise and sour cream thoroughly combined. Then add apple dices, cooked soup pasta, curry powder and season with pepper. Salt is not necessary, but optional.

Assembling
Find a nice rustic rye bread from your local bakery, and cut 2 slices length way, 1 cm thick and cut in half again, so you end up with 4 rectangle pieces. Spread each slice of bread with good quality butter, salted. Drain herring on paper towel before placing on top. Then place the curry salad in a straight line. Peel the eggs and cut into wedges before placing on top of the curry salad, egg yolk facing down. Then garnish with thinly sliced granny smith apples and shallots, capers and dill.
Best accompanied by ice-cold beer and aquavit.

Christmas with Dish

Posted on 2013-12-13

Dish Magazine #51, Christmas Feature 2013

Phew, does time go by fast! I can’t belive how fast 2013 has gone! Christmas is almost here, and it’s been a whole month since my last post.

With NZ summer in full bloom and Christmas just around the corner, I hope to be able to post a few things for inspiration for Christmas, starting with these lovely images I did for Dish Magazine’s Christmas issue.

The white and metal story is their main Christmas feature, which we shot in my studio. As the studio is a nice, open space with both white walls and floors, it was easy to keep tones of grey and white looking clean, and with Lianne Whorwood’s (The Props Department) amazing talent for finding quirky and beutifull things, this feature is sure to inspire. As always Claire’s (food editor of Dish Magazine) food is beautiful and full of flavour and every issue there’s usually at least one recipe that goes into my repetoire as a favorite. This Christmas ham is certainly no exception and also the buns in the background have a secret ingredient, and they are to DIE for!

When I started this blog, I did have the hopes of updating once a week, and with so many posts lined up, and ideas for new ones, I honestly thought it was going to be a piece of cake. But as with anything else, if you want it done properly, it takes time and effort, and I do tend to be referred to as a perfectionist. So fingers crossed, there will be a few Christmas related blogposts up next week. But for now, if I may say so: Get your Dish Magazine Christmas issue ASAP!

When life gives you lemons

Posted on 2013-11-08

When Life Gives You Lemons

… make lemonade! Last summer, I planted a small lemon tree in a pot on the deck of the studio. What a joy to watch these little golden gems ripen. Now that winter is gone, and we’re waiting for spring and summer to kick in properly, I’ll put my feet up with this little vodka lemonade drink.

½ cup of sugar

½ cup of water

12 lemons – makes 1 cup of lemon juice

lemon rind from 1 lemon

vodka

antipodes sparkling water (or your preferred brand)

Squeeze the juice from the 12 lemons into a cup, should measure about 1 cup. In a saucepan, stir ½ cup of sugar into ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Set aside and cool. Once cold, mix the syrup with the lemon juice, and voila you have lemonade from scratch! I find it quite strong tasting, so I dilute my syrup with water till it tastes to my liking, and store in the fridge in a clean glass bottle.

For a refreshing and festive looking vodka lemonade drink, frost the rim of the glasses: Mix sugar and lemon rind in a bowl. Dip the rim of the glass in 2-3mm deep water, and then dip in the sugar/ lemon mix and twist. Cool in the freezer for half an hour for a longer lasting effect. Then pour your preferred amount of vodka into the glass, double with lemonade, fill with ice and top with antipodes lovely sparkling water. Enjoy – and drink responsibly!

Vanilla Table

Posted on 2013-10-25

Vanilla Lacquer Duck Leg with Shanghai Dim Sum & Lychee Lime Relish, recipe by Paul Jobin, food styling by Natasha MacAller Vanilla Table, the essence of exquisite cooking from the world's best chefs, by Natasha MacAller, published by Bateman NZ © 2013

Following Wednesdays book launch of Natasha MacAller’s Vanilla Table, the essence of exquisite cooking from the worlds best chefs, the book we spent most of last year working on, and talking about, is finally out in the shops. Today I spotted it front forward at Queen Street, Auckland’s Whitcoull’s right next to Donna Hay’s new book, so that couldn’t be better placement really! Hopefully Donna will help us with the sales!

Natasha and I met when I was shooting Peter Gordon’s Everyday book, back in October 2011. Peter & Natasha has been great friends for years, so I was very honoured to firstly have Peter recommend me, even before his own book was finished, and secondly to have Natasha actually pick me, to shoot her fabulous book project. We started early 2012, where I went to stunning Bay of Islands, to shoot the first 3rd of the book with Natasha. We had a marathon of a week, up to our necks in delicious food and treats, and vanilla coming out of our ears- in fact I’m pretty sure I was sweating vanilla by the end of it. And Natasha got her first taste of what she signed up for, when shooting a book. It’s bloody hard work!

Later, midway through the year, I went to London to shoot the 2nd batch of recipes, and while it’s fabulous to travel around the world, doing what I love to do: Shoot food, I didn’t really get to see much of London that week. Finally back in Auckland, I got a beautiful delivery from Heilala Vanilla’s green house in Tauranga, the stunning vanilla orchid plant and fresh beens pictured inside the cover, and we finished off with the 3rd batch of recipes in November, while I just managed to stay sane, before my wedding in early December.

Finally the long wait is over, and we can enjoy the labour of our work. It’s so rewarding finally to have a heavy copy in your hand, flicking through the pages, and seeing all the ideas we had for look and layout come to life. We wanted to focus entirely on the styling of the food, so decided to pull back completely on the proping, and rely on beautiful textures, subtle tones of white, sand & blue and organic, modern shapes. I think the texture of the fabric really comes to life this way, and especially the feel of the cover. I could’t be more pleased, and am looking forward to trying out all the recipes again.

Unfortunately the recipes are copyrighted, and we don’t want to give away too much, so head down to your local bookstore this labour weekend, and pick up Vanilla Table, the essence of exquisite cooking from the world’s best chefs, by Natasha MacAller. Published by Bateman.

Recipes pictured:

Vanilla Lacquer Duck Leg, recipe by Paul Jobin, food styling by Natasha MacAller, props: black slate tile borrowed from John Lewis at Kauri Cliffs, blue napkin by Fog Linen Work

The Pork Chop, recipe and food styling by Natasha MacAller, props: gray slate photographers own, steak knife food stylists own, Alessi jar and bowl from Simon James Concept Store

Rum & Vanilla Cured Salmon, recipe by Douglas Rodriguez, food styling by Natasha MacAller, props: vintage stilton plate from Flotsam & Jetsam, bowl from Wonki Ware, porcelain spoon from The Conran Shop

The Lobster Roll, recipe and food styling by Natasha MacAller, props: platter by Wonki Ware, napkin by Fog Linen Work

Peach, Cardamom & Vanilla Sable Breton, recipe by Jim Dodge, food styling by Natasha MacAller, props: platter from Freedom Furniture

Scottish Shortbread Sundae with Blueberry Ice Cream, recipe by Duff Goldman, food styling by Natasha MacAller, props: vintage stilton plate and antique chiffon from Flotsam & Jetsam, porcelain for from The Conran Shop

Black and White

Posted on 2013-10-14

Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce Foccacia with Rosemary Baked Brie Peanut Stuffed Rolled Pork Belly Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes

Welcome to the online launch of my new blog, the food photographers favourites. This opening entry is a personal project I’ve been working on for some years now, but as a busy food photographer, trying to set up a business in beautiful New Zealand, there’s not always time to get those projects finished. However, I have decided that it must begin, and end, somewhere, and what initially started as an idea, a concept for a portfolio project, has now developed into this blog.

So, here it begins with a black and white project, something that stems back to my early days in the dark room back in the early 90ties. I have always been fascinated with the contrasts of B/W photographs, and at times I really miss working with the lack of colours. Inspired by Irving Penn and fashion magazine after fashion magazine, I decided to try and translate some of that into my passion and speciality: Food photography. Keeping in mind, that most food does look the best in colours, as these are what makes us recognise whatever the subject, and appeal to our tastebuds. Paying attention to the textures and shape of the food, I decided to pick a selection of my favourite recipes I’ve photographed over time, and named the project “the food photographers favourites”. Naturally not every dish was going to work well, but regardless, working with food styling in black and white is a fantastic exercise in studying how the light bounces of every subject, making sure that every important item in the dish shines. So by the end of this, it is really not so much about the recipe itself, but more about the basics of studying the light, as any great photographer would.

I send my respects to the queen of food styling Donna Hay, for picking this particular theme for her August/September 2013 issue of Donna Hay Magazine. From a photographic point of view, I think the idea is brilliant and beautiful, and I will certainly continue to explore the contrasts of food photography not only in black and white but definitely also in full colour, sharing some of my favourite recipes, shoots, recipes and other foodie related ventures. I declare the food photographers favourites blog for open!

Thanks to the wonderful people who helped make these images:

Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce, recipe by Jo Wilcox, food styling by Laura Faire • Foccacia with Rosemary, food styling by Laura Faire • Baked Brie, recipe by Penny Oliver, food styling by Laura Faire • Peanut stuffed Rolled Pork Belly, recipe by Peter Gordon, food styling by Laura Faire • Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream, recipe and food styling by Carsten Kyster • Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes, food styling by Laura Faire