Pepper Jack, Scallion and Cilantro Drop Biscuits - A Food Photography Challenge

Food Photography Challenge 2 - A vegetable photographed raw and cooked,  side by side in a collage.

Food Photography... if someone had asked me two years ago if I would find myself spending hours in a kitchen with my lens pointed at a biscuit as I casually dropped perfectly chopped scallions around it I would have laughed.  Yesterday my kids did just that, they laughed.  So much for my "serious studio", which happens to be my kitchen table where the natural light hits just as we arrive home from school this time of year.

The second challenge in my newly joined Food Photography and Styling group earned deep respect from me as I struggled for the optimum images of Food Two Ways, raw and cooked, side by side in a collage.  While I didn't have much trouble with the raw versions, the cooked versions in the collages didn't have as much success.  Blasting my way through mushrooms (not so pretty cooked - but I now have a delightful Mushroom Crepe recipe to share), Sweet Potatoes (my mushy potato photo didn't make the cut) and beets (gorgeous raw images, but I don't really have a good recipe... anyone?), it was my Dad who made the choice easy for me.

Dropping off a bunch of scallions, freshly picked from his garden with the dirt still clinging to the fragrant beauties, I had my vegetable.  Only hours old, I couldn't help but pop the onions in front of my camera lens and begin shooting away.  While other veggies had taken numerous images to gain an acceptable shot, these fresh from the garden specimens were captured in less than 10 clicks of the shutter.

On to the cooked version I struggled once again to find the perfect recipe.  Grilled?  Absolutely.  A few placed on top of Pork Tacos lent a delicious grilled scallion pop to the dish, but not a particularly nice photo.  Scallions in a Summer Corn Chowder?  Again... positively delicious, however being mixed into the chowder itself didn't really show the scallion, and besides, it's not really summer.

A last minute decision for a side of bread proved to be my decision maker.  Our old favorite, Cheddar Scallion Biscuits, was enhanced with the addition of cilantro and the use of a spicy pepper jack cheese in place of the cheddar (more of a "this is what we had on hand" rather than any sort of extraordinary creativity...).  Only minutes from idea to batter, the biscuits cook up quickly and disappear just as quickly when placed on the table.

Popped into my collage the biscuits again made me smile.  Not being particularly familiar with collages, I found even more to think about when shooting the images.  Usually I use square photos for my posts, but the collage had me instead using half of a square image, requiring more of a "tall", shot to fill the frame... challenging for this photographer (and amusing for this photographer's kids).

For more stunning side by side images from our amazing Food Photography group, browse through our blog circle starting with Laurie Vengoecha, a San Diego and Riverside County Food Photographer as well as the brains behind our photography challenge group.  Our group currently includes 12 talented photographers from across these beautiful United States and I'm truly honored and excited to be a part of the Food Photography and Styling Project.

Cheddar Scallion Biscuits

It was one of those days... everything started out so nicely with a tasty breakfast, an early morning ride in the car and then a leash-free run at the baseball field!  Running free we dug our paws into the soft outfield grass kicking up blades behind us as we tore from one side to the other.  Dashing across the infield the red dust was flying like a herd of buffalo on the horizon.  People on the outside of the field stopped and pointed at us, cute little white fluffs bouncing after one another, literally having the time of our lives!

With this exceptionally warm, chamber of commerce, San Diego day the two of us were soon panting, our little pink tongues hanging to one side and we plopped into a nice, cool, wet spot in the shade.  After a quick drink of water we popped back into the car and headed home for what we thought was going to be a much needed nap on the cool tile floor.

Then it happened... they took our collars off.  Never a good sign.  They carried us up to the bathroom and before we even had a chance to run the other direction we found ourselves knee deep in luke-warm water.  We were doused, soaped and then rinsed.  How could such a wonderful day go so bad so quickly??  

Persevering, we made it through suds, and actually the bath didn't last all that long.  We soon found ourselves free again, and in the back yard we ran circles around the patio furniture with renewed energy, shaking the water out of our hair along the way.  Tired out once again, we settled our tired, wet bodies on the patio in the warm sun and that long awaited nap was upon us.  While we slept and dried, she was in the kitchen, baking again...

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As the "guys" took their much awaited nap I headed into the kitchen  getting a head start on dinner.  With a hearty bean soup on the stove, a nice biscuit on the side seemed to be the perfect complement.  Filled with sharp, grated cheddar cheese and a handful of chopped scallions these savory, tender and airy biscuits had me quickly reaching for seconds!  Patting myself on the back for my productive day along with some of the best biscuits I've ever made, I looked at my feet to find 4 big brown eyes and two little black noses staring up at me.  Scooping the fluffy pups into my arms we settled in for a snuggle filled with happy puppy kisses.  Life is Good!

Cornmeal Buttermilk Biscuits

I like to think of myself as fairly tech savvy.  I can work my way around most computer programs (though I do struggle a bit with Photoshop), setting up this blog was not all that difficult, heck... I can even write a bit of HTML!  Yesterday, however, I signed up for Twitter and I feel like I've lost my savviness.

Making it through the registration process was easy enough and formatting my page worked like a charm.  I added my picture and I even signed up to follow a few friends.  Carolyn, All Day I Dream About Food, promptly sent me a welcome message which I not only responded to, but did it on my phone!  Later in the evening while perusing the Blackberry Twitter Ap though, I discovered a message with the @ sign from Kimberly, Kimba's Kitchen, and still have not totally figured out how she did that.  I think I did manage to respond, but will have to take a little time to explore that area.

I'm curious... do you Twitter?  What do you tweet about?  I'm afraid that I could find Twitter somewhat addicting, so I'm going to move slowly.  But I would love to know what you like about it.  And of course... if you have any Twitter Tips I'd love to hear those too!

With the unexpected popularity of our recent Custard-Filled Cornbread, I thought I'd share another of my favorite corn meal recipes - Cornmeal Buttermilk Biscuits are basically the anti-Custard Filled Cornbread.  Being a Cooking Light Recipe I feel less guilty reaching for seconds of these tender biscuits and the ease of assembly is a plus for busy weeknights.  I like to bake mine just a little extra, giving the outside a bit more of a crunch, while keeping the inside soft and flaky.


Perfect along side a steamy bowl of chili, these biscuits are sure to make your day.  Now... if I could only figure out how to Tweet about it...