food fotos: pictures to accompany recipes and food cost analysis estimates

whenever i do a consulting job that requires recipes to be developed one thing i offer the client is accompanying photos. nothing beats a "seeing is believing" approach to teaching someone how to cook, and pictures also help to jar their memory once i have departed the training.

the following three dishes were developed for an american restaurant and martini bar that wanted to have not only a tapas type menu, but also some main dishes of note. the seafood cocktail in the over-sized martini glass was developed to coincide with the massive martini menu they offered at their bar.

these pictures were taken with a first generation logitech webcam, so please excuse the resolution and lighting. you will also notice i have marked up the images that were then put into an album which was kept in the kitchen so that the staff would have a quick reference guide when jamming out orders.

seafood martini: this has been on my menus in some sort of configuration 

since i worked for chef ted at nicoles in mendon, vermont. 

under all that deliciously fresh seafood is a cocktail sauce 

that has won praise for the over 27 years i have been making it. 

i will post that recipe one of these days.

proscuitto wrapped filet mignon: this was a dish we held over 

from the existing menu at the restaurant. we just dressed it up a bit. 

notice that i took the photo before the balsamic reduction was applied, 

so i photo-shopped some in. after all, its a working guide for chefs, not a magazine photo.

the veg in all these shots is one of my favorites, ratatouille. 

when you are serving a lot of guests, need a good sturdy veg and want to add some good colors, 

a good al dente rat will always have your back.

swordfish with 5 lotuses: nothing like a catchy exotic name to prod the guests 

into ordering something great that they may overlook otherwise.

the stuffing is made from sauteed until clear, minced garlic, shallots, leeks, onions and scallions 

that are bound with fresh chopped parsley and mozzarella, fontina and parmesan cheeses.

do not pocket and stuff the fish until you are a few minutes away from grilling it, 

otherwise it will taste like sh*t or possibly go sour. 

also cut as large a pocket as you can, and stuff the filling in as deeply as you can, 

because it has a tendency to ooze out while the fish is grilling.

also, before placing the fish on the flat hot steel put a few slivers of 

fresh ginger and a sprig of rosemary on it. 

this will sear the ginger and herbs into the flesh and infuse it with these flavors.

this is another great technique i learned from my mentor chef ted.

also, note that the plate is slightly glazed with a spoon of veal demi-glace. another chef ted-ism. some may think it inappropriate to put meat glaze
with the fish and my reply to them is:
you've never had a surf and turf dinner?
the fish is resting on a bit of sauteed spinach.

nuff said!