briciole

aglio

garlic embraced by scapes

Both garlic and garlic scapes have a fascinating shape, somewhat complementary, I'd say. The black and white version highlights the elegance of those shapes.

The photo above is my contribution to edition #35 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Sihi of Wandering Ladle.

The photo was shot in color (you can see it in this post) and then converted to black and white.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

cavolo riccio

Red Russian kale

Red Russian kale after a spring shower

"Eat more kale" say nuritionists. That's quite easy for us, since kale grows readily in my little vegetable patch. So much so, that's hard for us to keep up with it. Fortunately, our local food bank accepts donations of fresh vegetables from gardens, so I can bring a bagful there. And recently, I found a use for the blossoms, but that is a story for another day.

I noticed that rain droplets make pretty patterns on the textured leaves of my Red Russian kale and yesterday I was able to capture an image that satisfies my aesthetic sense.

The photo above is my contribution to edition #34 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Sra of When My Soup Came Alive.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white.

This post contains the gallery of photos submitted to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

fantasia di fagioli

a fantasia of beans

Paul's Mix

When a customer asks Paul Giuntoli what are his favorite beans among the kinds he sells at the Arcata Farmers' Market, he answers: "Paul's Mix." I interpret this to mean not only that he stands behind his signature bean mix, but also that he loves them all. Paul's Mix includes black, borlotti, calypso, canario, Jacob's cattle, speckled bayo, yellow eye beans — and another one or two varieties I can't remember now. Warren Creek Farms' organic beans are truly outstanding — and photogenic.

The photo above is my contribution to edition #33 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Sarawathi of Sara's Corner.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia.

This post contains the gallery of images submitted to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

mercoledì in bianco e nero: la galleria di foto

Black and White Wednesday: the photo gallery

When photographing, we try to capture light, to tell a story using light. The stories below are connected to food, so they speak a universal language. Many thanks to all who illuminated my week by contributing their images to edition #32 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event. And a big thank you to Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook who created the event.

In my announcement post, I mentioned a surprise as a way to celebrate briciole's five years of life. I am asking you to wait a little longer before finding out the details. First, enjoy the show!

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Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook: Al Fresco Eatery

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Hema of Hema's Adugemane: Banana Lassi

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Suzanne of La Belle Aurore: Maroc

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Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu:
An Assortment of Demitasse Spoons, Espresso and Cappuccino Cups and Saucers

Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu:
My Favorite Shallow Bowled Plates with Antler Cutlery From Pitlochry, Scotland

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Alessandra Zecchini: So hard to peel kumara!

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Pushpa of Taste as you Cook: Yummy Munchies with Jaggery

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Fragoliva: Thinking about Umbria — Wild Boar Stew

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Mireille of Chef Mireille's Global Creations: Baharat Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Mireille of Chef Mireille's Global Creations: Coconut Puto

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Cinzia of Cindystar: Kids' Carousel Pasta

Cinzia of Cindystar: Ice Fusion Exotic Jams

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Francesca of Burro e zucchero: Brisé caskets

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Guinevere of  Jasper Farm Iowa: Barley with Bacon, Olives, & Parmesan

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Sharmila of The Yellow Turmeric: The circle of spice

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Rajani of My Kitchen Trials: Chutney in cute cups

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Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yums: Gorged With Sun

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Brii of briggishome: Moka

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Paz of The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz: Horseradish

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homemade canestrato

Simona of briciole: Surprise

elegant draping of the cloth

Simona of briciole: Elegance

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The small surprise is a journal for which I created a cute cloth cover. The random number I got was 5 and the fifth person in my list is Pushpa of Taste as you Cook: congratulations!

As of today, Sarawathi of Sara's Corner is accepting submissions for edition #33 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event.

You can send her your contribution at simplysara07 AT gmail DOT com.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the event.

I do hope I have not left anybody out of the roundup. If you find that, notwithstanding my best intentions, I actually have omitted a post, please send me a note.

Arrivederci a presto

eleganza

elegance

elegant draping of the cloth

In this photo I took during the cheese-making workshop I attended recently, you see the Bel Paese cheese we made on day 2 early in the draining period. The cheese has been flipped once, as evidenced by the surface, and will be flipped several more times before being brined. The linen cloth's folds fall in elegant folds over the mold. I ♥ this photo.

This is my second contribution to edition #32 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Simona of briciole. Details regarding the event are in this post.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

sorpresa

surprise

homemade canestrato

The cheese that you saw in this post before aging looked like this when I cut it, about four months later, and was worth the wait. Even after three and a half years of making cheese, the moment I insert the blade into one has the same suspense and the first bite the same thrill as the very first time. This homemade canestrato was a rewarding surprise.

The second surprise is that this week, I have the honor of hosting Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event. Send your contribution at simosite AT mac DOT com, namely

• your name
• your blog's name
• the image(s) (max 500 px wide, either orientation)
  

You have until Monday, May 14 at 6 pm Eastern time to do so. If you are unfamiliar with the event or need a reminder of the rules, you will find the details in this post. Feel free to use the logo below (it can also be found here). If you have a photo, but no blog, send it to me and I will include it in the roundup, which will be published on Wednesday, May 16.

Since messages can get lost, please, contact me again if you don't get an answer to your email or a comment on your blog within a couple of days of emailing me.

And the third surprise is that May 15 marks the fifth anniversary of briciole. To celebrate another milestone of my blogging journey, I will send a little gift to a randomly chosen participant of the event I am hosting this week. What the gift will be is, as you can imagine, a surprise, which I will announce together with the winner, on May 16.

This is my first contribution to edition #32 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Simona of briciole.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

formaggio (ancora)

cheese (again)

making caciocavallo: stretching the curd

To learn a lot and get answers to many questions, I traveled again to lovely Shelburne Falls to take a cheesemaking 201 workshop with Jim Wallace. The photos are from the first of two days making Italian cheeses. Above, an image of caciocavallo curd being stretched: caciocavallo is in fact a  pasta filata cheese. Caciocavallo being one of my favorite Italian cheeses, I can't wait to make this at home. (This page shows some Caciocavallo Silano.)

Taleggio in the mold: early phase of draining

After filling the mold and letting the curds drain for a short while, Jim flipped the Taleggio so the upper side shows the markings of the bottom of the mold. This plastic mold is in my wish list: the marking resemble well those made by wicker baskets.

More stories and images from the workshop will appear in a future post.

This is my contribution to edition #31 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Siri of Cooking with Siri.

The photos were shot in color and then converted to sepia.

This post contains the gallery of photos submitted to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

foglie nell'orto

leaves in the vegetable garden

chard and dill besieged by poppy plants

I am an inconstant gardener: I alternate periods of activity in my little vegetable garden to periods of neglect. The excuse for the latter is usually bad weather and since we had plenty of it in March and April, currently portions of my garden are in need of attention.

One thing that happened during the weeks when wind and rain made work outside unappealing, is that poppies took over the section where a few months ago I planted some rainbow chards. The poppy seeds were in my compost pile, so their distribution is unplanned. While I want some poppies in my garden, first for the flowers and then to harvest the seeds, I am not interested in turning my garden over to them, so I had to uproot some. I feel really bad when I have to get rid of a plant, especially if it is not, strictly speaking, a weed.

The compost pile contains also dill seeds, so I have a few plants of the fragrant herb here and there. In the early morning light, the dewy leaves are a nice subject for a photo.

This is my contribution to edition #30 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Brii of briggishome.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia.

This post contains the gallery of images submitted to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

mezzaluna e prezzemolo

mezzaluna and parsley

mezzaluna and parsley

I recently prepared a dish with a lot of chopped parsley called frità an bagna. In the relevant post, I wrote: "With the precious help of my mezzaluna, chopping the parsley (divided into two batches) was a breeze." I took the photo right before starting to chop the second batch.

I ♥ my mezzaluna — and the parsley from my little vegetable garden.

This is my contribution to edition #29 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. After a few weeks hiatus, Susan has made some changes to the structure of her popular photo event and restarted again this week.

The top photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white.

This post contains the gallery of photos submitted to the event.

grissini (II)

breadsticks (II)

grissini

My first post on grissini ended with the description of a plan for baking crisp grissini like those I used to eat in Italy. I had already eyed a recipe in Daniel Leader's most recent book, called Simply Great Breads. I always say that if a cookbook contains one great recipe, it is worth the expense. In Simply Great Breads I had already found one great recipe: Boiceville Bialys. I will now add to the list Crisp Bread Sticks.

When I first read the recipe, I was intrigued by the use of a pasta machine to first roll the dough and then cut the grissini. Having realized many of Leader's recipes, I trusted him and got down to work. Still, I must confess that I approached the cutting part with a bit of trepidation: what would I do if the dough got stuck?

cutting grissini

Fear not. As you can see from the photo, the operation went smoothly and it was fun to catch the strands coming out of the machine and then spread them on the baking sheet. The original recipe includes instructions on getting seeds on the grissini's surface (see the result on the cover of the book). For my first rendition, I kept close to the tradition with which I am familiar and made plain grissini.

When I was a child, grissini were always part of the bread basket in restaurants and that's where we ate them — never at home — so seeing them on the table felt rather strange. My husband liked to munch on them and I did as well — same as many years ago. Based on the photos in the book, I think Leader used an attachment that makes wider strands than mine, but again, I am perfectly happy with the grissini I made.

The location where I found the recipe for Boiceville Bialys does not provide access to the recipe for Crisp Bread Sticks so the book is the place to go for it. Interpret this as a recommendation (this is not an ad: I purchased the copy of the book I have). Note that the recipe directs you to use a stand-up mixer. However, the dough can be mixed and kneaded by hand, which is what I did.

This is my contribution to edition #28 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. After a few weeks hiatus, Susan has made some changes to the structure of her popular photo event and restarted again this week.

The top photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia.

This post contains the gallery of images submitted to the event.