I spent last weekend in a photography workshop.
On the afternoon of the second day, we were treated to a behind-the-scene view of Poppy, before the Saturday evening flurry began. The restaurant’s herb garden was an urban labyrinth of exotic and well-known plants. And the eternal sunshine didn’t hurt either. It gets that way in Seattle about this time of year. No rain for weeks. Just clear blue skies, day after day.
I was spending way too much time editing my photos and I kept putting off reading my camera manual. I finally read the manual, started to read Helene’s book, and signed up for the workshop in the hope that I would get my act together before I shot too many photos for the book. So, in the interest of drilling these golden morsels into my brain as I carry on with writing, cooking, and shooting, I thought I would share a bit of what I learned.
Short List of Tips for Photographing Food in Natural Light
- shoot with aperture priority for still food shots (or manual)
- shutter priority is mainly for motion (pouring a liquid)
- use a shallow depth of field when focusing on one dish (large aperture, smaller f number)
- use a larger depth of field to get the whole meal in focus (small aperture, larger f number)
- use a tripod when shooting with a large f number
- low light conditions call for a higher ISO, higher light conditions call for a lower ISO
- bounce light (bounce light using a white or black background – I use poster board)
- diffuse light (tone down bright or direct light using diffusers, or use bed sheets and linen curtains to tone down the light source)
Short List of Food Styling Tools and Tips
- tweezers to move food around
- small, flat spatula for smoothing and spreading
- olive oil and paint brush to bring moisture back to dry food
- q-tips for cleaning the edge of a plate or glass
- add parsley to green sauces to keep things from browning
- add the green stuff at the end so it doesn’t wilt
- prop everything ahead of time and then slip the cooked food in at the last minute
- use a dummy of the same color in your prop area to keep colors balanced (white ball of tissue for a white scoop of ice cream)
- think about the story and the mood you want to convey
Whew. Got that? There’s much more but I think that’s enough for me, for the moment.
And now, here’s a delicious grain-free and gluten-free popover recipe.
Popovers {coconut flour}
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut milk or other milk
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F/220°C.
- Add all the ingredients to a bowl and whisk until fully blended and a bit bubbly.
- Fill muffin liners about 2/3 of the way with batter.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, keeping the oven door closed (so they don’t collapse).
- Cool for a moment and then devour.
I’m thinking about making these for our dinner tomorrow. The recipe as listed here calls for 1/2 CUP of salt. Is that accurate?
Help!
M.
Thank you so much for pointing that out. This automated recipe conversion process is a bit of a nightmare! It’s correct now and it’s the same now as in my Coconut Flour Cookbook.
Thank you!
My popovers taste good, but they are empty inside. What could I make wrong?
Yes, that’s kind of what popovers are like. Very light and airy.
I substitute melted coconut oil and butter for some of the eggs so they don’t taste so eggy.
Made these not really sure what to expect but they weren’t that bad. I wish they where more sweet so I wonder If I could add honey to the mix without messing them up. But they where still good for me a with a side of honey.
I JUST bought a mini popovers pan, even though I didn’t have a paleo recipe for it. I had faith and now my faith has been justified. I’ll have popovers within the hour…thanks to you. THANKS TO YOU
ooh, I’ve always lusted after those. Yeah, thanks!
Oh My Goodness. I was just thinking about how I was gonna figure out a recipe for pop-overs. We used to enjoy them on a monthly basis prior to going gluten free. It’s been over a year since we had one. Can’t wait to give this a try!
I made these for my husband & vegetarian son to go with a pot of vegetable soup. I loved them but my husband & son thought they tasted like scrambled eggs. Oh well, more for me 🙂
yes, some only taste the eggs in some coconut flour recipes. I think it’s a texture thing. You can try adding a bit more flour, or just eat them all on your own 🙂
wow! those look amazing and the recipe seems simple! can’t wait to make them!
~rosie
3rd attempt was great!
After doing a general “popover” web search — I tried oiled, heated custard cups rather than a mufffin pan with liners, and room temp eggs. I also heated the coconut milk, and baked at 450*.
4th attempt I substituted lactose treated half ‘n half in place of the coconut milk — popovers had more rise and were crispy on the outside.
Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
I’ve tried these twice in the last 12 hours, but haven’t achieved the results pictured — I know that traditional popovers can be “fussy” (oven, humidity, etc). Are these crunchy on the outside with the traditional hollow inside? ….just hoping for something close ;-). My attempts weren’t glossy/crunchy.
These come out the same for me everytime so I’m not sure what to say. They do deflate, which I mention above. They are not crunchy. They are soft througout. Hope that helps.
I made the popovers and they came out perfectly. Thank you for the recipe. I have a question: one of your gorgeous photos shown on this page has a picture with table grapes, olives, cheese, figs and a unique looking cracker? Is that one of your crackers or flat breads? Those too look gorgeous and I would be curious if there was a recipe for those as well. Thanks. I love look through your recipes!
Thanks Jennifer. ah, those crackers are gluten-free but I’m not sure what brand they are. Unfortunately I don’t have a recipe to offer you on those. They were mostly used as props for our photo shoots.
Hi, I made those with 3 eggs only and added some chopped pepper, cheese and paprika & garlic spices. I have also added 4 spoons of milk and 2 of full fat cream and they have not deflated! They taste great.
Excellent!
erica-
these are just BEAUTIFUL!
wondering if they might not deflate if they are left to set up in the oven with the heat off? this is how i finish my coconut flour & egg based baked goods so they keep their shape.
just a thought!
can’t wait to try the popovers with cheese in the batter! nom nom!
Yes, as long as they stay in the oven, they will remain elevated. But they have to come out eventually 🙂
That was such a great weekend! I keep thinking about lovely Seattle…
I have some coconut flour in the freezer and will have to experiment with your popovers – my husband is also dairy-free so he’ll appreciate these.
Cheers – Karen
It was. I hope it lingers for a while :). Love your blog and photos on your chef service! I don’t remember you mentioning that – very nice.
Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend and came away with a lot of great tips and tricks!
Yes, it was great on so many levels. I’m learning a lot from your series as well!
So excited! Made these for our Sunday dinner today, with chili and they turned out perfect. Only wish I had non-stick muffin liners! Very tasty with butter and honey. Thank you!
Silicon muffin liners are another option
Love the pop over recipe! My name is Cindy and I blog over at Vegetarianmamma.com I wanted to invite you to link up your recipe at our Gluten Free Fridays Recipe Link up party! It happens every Friday and we’d love to have you join us with some of your awesome recipes! You can find this week’s link up here: http://vegetarianmamma.com/gluten-free-fridays-recipe-party-2/
Also be sure to link up your blog on our Gluten Free Bloggers directory. You can reach the directory by clicking the “glutenfree bloggers” tab on our blog! Thanks, Cindy 🙂
Isn’t Helene wonderful? How wonderful that you could attend her workshop! I love this list of tips. Thanks!
she is 🙂 you’re welcome!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for making my fiance’ one happy man. He misses real baked goods more than I can tell you and this satisfied the craving. He’s been on SCD for almost a year and deemed a “difficult case”. He made them last night to settle his stomach and loved them…and then was late to work because he made them again this morning!
my pleasure (too)
Hi Erica! Your popovers look delicious! Looks like you applied many of the rules we learned. =) Thanks for taking great lecture notes… they will come in handy when I start taking more food photos tomorrow!
Thanks Bonnie. I still have a lot to learn :). Let me know how you progress with your business!
Oh goodness, I can’t wait to try these!