Looking at Food

Observations of a San Francisco Food Stylist

[sffoodstylist]

[sffoodstylist]

My son turned 13 yesterday, and sadly for the first time ever we had to celebrate without my wife (she is in Japan with her ailing mom).  

I knew Jesse was feeling a bit blue, and was extremely apprehensive about how he would be spending his birthday, so I threw him a surprise party with a couple dozen or so of our closest friends here at our home, that was actually a huge surprise.

It’s amazing how much party food shopping and preparation I was able to get away without being detected;  he thought I was working.

Since I’m not a big fan of most sheet cakes, and since I didn’t have much time, I picked up 5 delicious smaller cakes in different flavors from our local gourmet grocery store, Canyon Market, instead and put my own spin on the traditional presentation.

My pseudo sheet cake was received extremely well, and the leftovers today are great!

[sffoodstylist]

PRESSURE COOKER RECIPES

Today’s job, styling 6 pressure cooker recipes that I developed for a Farberware pressure cooker package and the inclosed recipe booklet, was a lot of fun.  I’ve never had a pressure cooker before, though this project has made me a new convert.  Yes, now I have one more small kitchen appliance to find room for in an already saturated home.  However, believe me folks, these pots do afford a great time savings with no additional hassle to speak of and I don’t anticipate the novelty ever wearing off.  

Much gratitude and appreciation to my client, Meyer Corporation, and Jeremy Beeton, head photographer at ON3, for making the images sing. (Above you are seeing only a screen shot, so please excuse the poor resolution.)

Here’s one of my recipes, a vegetarian tagine, simmered under pressure for a mere 6 minutes.

Vegetable Tagine

Even meat lovers will clamor for the complex and authentic Moroccan flavors of this delicious vegetarian stew. If you are missing a spice or wish to substitute a vegetable, do not be discouraged; this recipe is fairly forgiving and by using the Farberware pressure cooker is lightening quick.

 Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 lg. yellow onion, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs. fresh ginger, grated

1-2 cinnamon sticks

1 ½ tsp. ground cumin

1 ½ tsp. coriander

1 ½ tsp. turmeric

1 ½ tsp. paprika

1 tsp. salt

1 pinch cayenne pepper (to taste)

1 medium cauliflower cut into large florets (approximately 5 cups)

3 carrots cut into 1-2” slices

½ lb. tender green beans (vine ends trimmed)

1 can (14.25 ounces) diced tomatoes (drained)

1 can (15.5 ounces) garbanzo beans (rinsed and drained)

½ cup pitted prunes, halved

½ cup pitted green olives, whole

1 cup vegetable or chicken broth

Directions:

Heat oil in open pressure cooker pot and lightly saute onions until they start to become tender but not brown.  Add ginger, garlic, spices and all of the remaining ingredients, tossing with a wooden spoon to combine.

Cover the pressure cooker and bring the contents up to pressure over medium high heat.  Once pressure has been achieved, lower the heat and continue cooking for a scant 6 minutes.

Release pressure, uncover the pot and gently stir the stew. Serve tagine over couscous, garnished with a dollop of plain yogurt and sprinkled with chopped mint leaves.

[sffoodstylist]

JOE’S SPECIAL

I made this dish for friends at a job one day recently and I was surprised that none of the group had ever had it nor heard of it before.

This sauté jumble, a mixture of ground beef, spinach and onions bound with egg is a true San Francisco treat.  It is said to have originated at the “Original Joe’s” restaurant in the tenderloin but several restaurants claim to have been the first to serve it.

Back in my teens, a formative culinary period in my life, with high school friends we would often order this at “Little Joe’s” on Columbus street.  Later on as a waiter, and occasional cook, in an omelet house on Union Street, we learned to make, serve and eat Joe’s Special at every opportunity we possibly could.  It is magically addictive, and keeps getting better as you continue to eat it.

Nowadays at home, if there’s a pound of ground beef, a package of frozen spinach and some eggs in the fridge, no other excuse is required.

Here is a basic recipe that serves 3-4 (you will want to eat large portions):

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 onion (chopped)

1 lb. ground beef

3-4 cloves garlic (minced)

a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

a few shakes of worcestershire sauce (optional)  

2t dried oregano (optional)

lots of salt and pepper

red wine or sherry for deglazing the pan (optional)

10 ounces frozen spinach (defrosted and well-drained)

5-6 eggs (lightly beaten)                                              

Directions: Sauté onion in olive oil until almost tender.  Add ground beef. As you brown the meat well on all sides, season it with the following 6 ingredients. Drain the pan of excess fat and liquid.  Douse it with a good splash of red wine turning up the heat to boil and have the alcohol evaporate. Add the spinach and mix well.  Add some more salt and pepper.  Pour the eggs into a vacant spot in the pan and begin to scramble before combining with the rest of the ingredients.  Serve with garlic bread and perhaps a salad, or eat at brunch with ketchup on the side.

[sffoodstylist]

DRY SUBJECT?

These are images that I worked on with photographer, Lori Eanes, for “Dried and True”, a Chronicle book on dehydrated foods by Sara Dickerman.

[sffoodstylist]

UBER EATS

6 different locations, all shot in one studio in two days!

I’m very proud and grateful to have recently been included in a smart campaign, designed and commissioned by UberEATS’ San Francisco art department for their Manhattan market.  

The 6 different ads are currently appearing in some 300 locations in lower Manhattan, gracing bus shelters and subway walls. Rick and Erik Der of Der Studios led our team with vision, brilliant sets and gorgeous light, while prop stylist, Mona Long, dressed our talent with wonderful wardrobe, accessories and props.

[sffoodstylist]

Breakfast last week at the original RED HUT CAFE in South Lake Tahoe was a real treat!  Since 1959, this cozy quaint retro diner has been managed by two successive caring families.  The servers are extremely friendly to locals and tourists alike, and the food is to die for.  A “waffle sandwich,” ($8.99) one egg, 2 strips of bacon or sausage and a crispy waffle with a generous amount of whipped butter and warm maple syrup was absolutely delicious.  If you are in the area, don’t miss it.

[sffoodstylist]

UBER EATS VIDEO SHOOT 

 For the first time ever I was asked to style a ramen burger! It was a gas seeing the talent tear into them. Even though we had recently finished lunch, and even though these ramen burgers were stone cold, the 2 female models attacked the food with sincere gusto, refusing to spit it out through multiple takes. The male model on the other hand, had a most troubled look on his face. Turns out he is a vegetarian, saved in the 11th hour from biting into the burger, once the crew became aware of his secret.

[sffoodstylist]

THIS VALENTINE’S

photo: jeff warren

[sffoodstylist]

HALF-BAKED IDEA

Two or Three months ago while basting a raw turkey for a job, it occurred to me that it wouldn’t be that hard to mask half a turkey.  Here lies the results.  ‘hope you all have a wonderful holiday!  Randy

half cooked photo: Jeff Warren

[sffoodstylist]

This burger was the subject for one of 6 down and dirty shots, a totally mixed bag,which I styled yesterday for a large mainstream grocery chain's weekly advertising supplement. Following lunch over an hour after we had finished shooting the burger for our assignment, before tossing it in the garbage, I took it outside and had photographer friend, Jeff Warren, take a snapshot with my phone looking over my shoulder.

[sffoodstylist]

KINTARO AME is a rock hard candy cylinder produced in Japan since the 18th century. Kintaro or "Golden Boy", is a folk hero, a child with super-human strength. Though this style of candy can be found in a variety of characters and patterns, it is this one that is most emblematic. No matter how you slice the cylinder the resulting face will always be the same.  In the same way “cookie cutter” is used to describe conformity, the Japanese have an expression, “Kintaro-ame no yo da” (”Just Like Kintaro ame!”).

[sffoodstylist]

One of the great things about having a terrific crew paint the exterior of our house was that I got to cook for them. These guys put their hearts in to our job which lasted almost 2 weeks, and when I was home, I loved showing my appreciation by preparing something good for their lunch. One day it was a homemade chicken vegetable soup with everything but the kitchen sink. The next day that soup was even better after all the flavors had melded together and when served with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with canned jalepenos. When the weather turned warm, something that doesn’t happen very often in SF, I served a composed salad of romaine, tuna, avocado, hard boiled egg, carrots, pickled beets and red onion, radish slices, tomatoes, cucumber, olives and 1000 island dressing. We even celebrated Daniel’s birthday one day with a small ice cream sundae for dessert. I was touched when their phones were brought out to take pictures of our meals for sending to their families and friends, and the job they did on our house was stupendous!

[sffoodstylist]

Months ago, long before my new website was even close to completion, I toyed with a concept. If that day ever came, I would send out an announcement made from peas and carrots. A plan of execution evolved quickly and would later be implemented. 6″ stick-on letters that were colored green would be attached to an orange surface, and then with laminated strips of cardboard and hot glue I would painstakingly construct perfect corrals around every letter. These would be surrounded with cooked sliced carrots filled with peas and then carefully removed, and without effort I would have a perfect sign.

I enlisted the support of my friend, Kevin Twomey who in addition to having great vision, is also one of the best technical photographers on the planet.  As that Saturday morning approached, I promised Kevin I would cook and place all of the sliced carrots at home so that once I got to the studio, all we would have to do would be to fill the letters with peas remove the corrals and shoot.  I predicted we would be done in an hour and could go out for an early celebratory lunch. 

Unexpected challenges began even before leaving the house.  With my wife’s help, I peeled, sliced and parboiled nearly 20 pounds of fresh carrots, and still that wasn’t enough to thoroughly cover the entire surface.  Already running late, I needed to stop at a supermarket to buy a few large bags of frozen krinkle-cut carrots to supplement (this turned out to be a good thing). Once at the studio, I found that it wasn’t as easy as I expected to fill the corrals, and worse yet, they were very difficult to detach from the surface and lift cleanly  without disrupting the edges of the letters. Hours of pea coaxing with chop sticks ensued. Hunched over a low set, my shoulders began to burn. I wondered if herding peas could be even worse than herding cats, and still the letters, my message, was busy and difficult to read.  It was approaching 2 in the afternoon, we hadn’t broken for lunch yet, and what I hoped would be a bold unmistakable  ALL NEW ! was still looking weak and confusing, and with the exclamation point was reading more like ALL NEWL.  Suffering from low blood sugar level, still far from happy, I covered the field of carrots and peas with damp paper towels and we finally broke for lunch feeling somewhat resigned and dejected.  At that point I feared my concept might never be fully realized nor be worthy of sharing despite the hours I had invested.

Back at the studio following our late deli lunch, with a corned beef on rye in our bellies and fresh eyes, the image on the monitor didn’t look so bad.  On Kevin’s suggestion, I decided it was best to concede the exclamation point.  We prodded peas for another hour or so and came away with an image that I believe was worthy of showing.

lower photo: Kevin Twomey

[sffoodstylist]

I was grateful to be part of a fine crew, working on a special Ben and Jerry's 4.20 video. Here is my big scene which came at the very end of the shoot day. With the help of the prop master, I had to figure out how to make an ice cream "Brrrito" appear as if it was flying through the air end over end.

If you haven’t seen it already, the video is 2 posts back ;-)

[sffoodstylist]

Still experiencing afterglow from working on a video project for Google on Thurday. I got to shoot in a sound stage on their Mountain View campus, and, at least, for a day got to experience the many perks of being employed by an internet giant. 

 The video ad which will include a layer cake rising up and being cut away all in about 4.5 seconds, required 2 days of prep, baking a couple dozen layers and whipping up three massive batches of the most amazing home-made buttercream I've ever tasted. The cake didn't have to taste good or even be edible for that matter, but that buttercream also spread like satin and I believe the crew was grateful they could eat cake. 

 The image on the lower left shows a variety of color samples put out for the clients to choose from.  We were given a green room and a table in the hallway of the studio to set up our makeshift kitchen.  I can’t wait to show you the finished video when it comes out.

[sffoodstylist]

I’m very excited to see this video today for the first time.  I worked on it for DAYS and you would never know it, but it came out great and the clients were happy so I’m happy too.  The challenge was to make an ice cream “brrrito” that could be tossed through the air and turn end over end.