Since I took the summer off, I have some food shots lying around unposted. Here’s some stuff about food that came out of the backyard.
Some thick cut pork chops on the grill. I forgot where these are from, either Ditka brand chops or from Paulina Market. You don’t find these things in the case at Jewel or Dominick’s. These are cooked on a Weber Smoky Mountain, which allows pretty good fire control, since the meat is close to 2 feet away from the fire. The disadvantage is the grill needs to be left over a very hot fire to get hot enough for good grill marks. Note the grill marks here are reverse grill marks. A quarter turn would have made these prettier. Never the less, grilling like this (with the top on) creates an evenier heat, adds to the time of cooking, so the meat can absorb a nice smokiness, but without drying out.The Weber Smoky Mountain has such good fire/heat control that baking bread is easy too, again adding a smokiness.
A terra cotta dish works great as a baking pizza stone, keeping things from direct heat. A sheet of parchement paper is perfectly fine in there too, since there’s no roaring flame to ignite it.So pizza works too. Here’s my standard pizza dough recipe.
Before
After
You get a great smoky cheese as a result.And if you have tomatoes, oregano and basil growing a few feet from the grill, there’s no way you can get fresher ingredients (sausage from Paulina Market).
The tomatoes, while not overly abundant, were awesome, and made the best BLT I’ve ever had. To be honest, I may never have had a BLT before, at least where I didn’t pull off the tomatoes. Most of my life I never liked uncooked tomatoes, plucking them off everything from burgers to club sandwiches, but I’ve been converted to them recently, although only in season.
A homegrown beefsteak, posing in a pot of live oregano.
A great BLT, with homegrown tomato and bacon from Paulina Market.Take a cheap peice of average farmed salmon from Dominick’s, put a moist sheet of cedar paper under it, put it over a wood fire, sprinkled with wood chips and smoke/grill it for awhile and you’ve elevated it to something truely sublime.
Other produce includes a grape vine, but I think it’s primary purpose is to treat the neighborhoods wildlife.
We’ve employed some security, but overindulgence in his payment has impaired the performance of his duties.
13 responses so far ↓
1 Katy // Oct 11, 2007 at 1:56 pm
First, these photos are absolutely beautiful. They’re mouth-watering!
Second, can you check out my blog and, if you like it, add it to your list? Definitely let me know if you have any questions!
2 Chuck // Oct 12, 2007 at 7:06 pm
I normally don’t go for BLTs but your beefsteak tomato and BLT pictures look delicious!
3 menukarma // Oct 12, 2007 at 8:56 pm
The BLT image is absolutely orgasmic.
4 Dru // Oct 15, 2007 at 12:55 am
Bravo! Wonderful pictures…I am envious. Would be extremely grateful if you could impart some of your knowledge in food photography! Especially when faced with dim-lighting in restaurants and using a point-and-shoot.
Also, would be much appreciated if you could add Gobbl (http://www.gobbl.com) on your list of links?
Cheers, mate!
5 Curt // Oct 15, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Nice pics … I’m commenting partly to be listed in your food blogs…
http://blog.buckymcoinkumsbbq.com
Thanks!
6 Mr. Diner // Oct 15, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Love your blogs. You have inspired me to actually get my blog off the ground finally. it is mrdiner.blogspot.com. Thanks!
-Mr. Diner
7 Laurent // Oct 15, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Your pictures are really awesome. In particular that of a steak tartare in a previous post. Great to see a blog paying tribute to the wonderful city of Chicago and its surroundings.
Feel free to check out my blog when you have a chance and add it to your list of links if you like it.
Thanks and keep up the good work.
8 Maryann@FindingLaDolceVita // Oct 18, 2007 at 3:29 pm
I must be a bot because I couln’t find your email address.
If you are interested in adding my blog that would be wonderful. If not, happy blogging..the pizza pie and BLT look fab
http://findingladolcevita.blogspot.com
9 Tori // Oct 19, 2007 at 2:27 pm
YUM! And hey…that looks like my Dave!
His hunting is limited to taking out the neighbor’s dog….possums and racoons….those are for light weights. He could seriously care less….bring on the big dogs! 
10 Daily Eats // Oct 20, 2007 at 11:51 am
Hi Dave great mouth watering photos! LOVE the pizza… and of course the cat handsome. I’ve missed you! I was in Chicago late summer - had tapas at Emilio’s.
11 Mimi // Oct 23, 2007 at 12:41 am
I love that Tomato. It’s so juicy and vibrant looking…so unlike what I normally envision a beefsteak to be and look like and inspire!
Wow.
12 kiplog // Oct 24, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Dave’s not here.
13 Pinky // Dec 11, 2007 at 4:17 am
Wow… I heard a lot about Asian crazy over food blogging. How wrong was that.
Are all those photos coming from the same garden. I’d love to have a garden like that. Beautiful plants and pets (inc raccoon)
http://everythingasian.blogspot.com