Bacon & Scallion Barlotto and Kale & Cannellini Bean Bruschetta
I thought it’d be funny to compare photos of the food I make on a regular weeknight basis to the photos of food styled by the actual creators of the recipes. In this case, the well-paid folks over at Bon Appetit. I follow their recipes (for the most part), so my stuff should look just as good, right?!
Of course it doesn’t! For this post, I snapped my photos quickly, without frou frou-ing too much over the food. Why? Because I was hungry.
A serving size… for a little girl
So I totally had this post ready last week, but then the lawyer in me thought I should check on Bon Appetit’s policy for the use of their images. (Not that they would actually sue me. I’m not giving myself that much credit, but better safe than sorry). Well, wouldn’t you know, the bottom of their website reads, “The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.” Disappointed, I emailed them, and yes, using their photos will require a license that you can acquire “for a fee.” No thanks. You guys will just have to check out the links to these recipes to see their pics! Sorry.
When planning meals for the week, I typically browse Pinterest and check out my own food board or scroll through the general food and drink section for things that strike me. Or I search for foods I have a particular craving for, like “macaroni and cheese” or “fish tacos.” I also receive Bon Appetit’s Recipe of the Day via email and sometimes those pictures make me hungry and I click. If the list of ingredients isn’t 80 yards long, I’ll make it. This was the case with these two dishes: Bacon and Scallion Farrotto and Skillet Bruschetta with Beans and Greens.
Both recipes have a relatively short list of attainable ingredients. Or so I thought. I did take a leap of faith with the “Farrotto” and used a substitution, because they did not have “semi pearled farro” at Whole Foods. What?! Yeah, I know, just as I begin to think they have literally EVERYTHING, they let me down.
After an eternity browsing those weird ass self-service grain bins only to find no farro of any kind, I had an angry little research session with my smart phone, and decided that, fuck it, “pearled barley” would work. I don’t know what I thought “Farrotto” meant at the time, but apparently it means turning grains into a makeshift risotto… ie me standing at the stove stirring for forty minutes trying to makes the grains soften up and become eatable.
[Click here for the fancy photo of Farroto on Bon Appetit.] “Oooh look at my rustic wooden table backdrop.”
Now, let’s compare photos. And keep in mind, the idea for this post was just a “Hey, that might be funny, Charlie, give me your phone so I can take some quick pictures”:
Holy close-up, Batman
I thought my Barlotto (or Barleyotto?) was very good… not great, but very good. Good lemon, wine, bacon, and a half-a-cup-of-parmesan-cheesy flavor. It was totally laborious. The finished product gives your mouth a bit of a workout (some might call it “toothsome”).
gosh, finally it’s f’n done.
The second dish was a lot simpler, and I even debated making it because it seemed TOO simple: Skillet Bruschetta with Beans and Greens (real cute name Bon Appetit), also referred to (by me) as Kale and Cannellini Bean Bruschetta. This cooked super quickly. I wondered how the flavors would be and how Charlie would fair with a totally vegetarian dish (I didn’t even tell him that the recipe suggested a fried egg “if you’re feeling peckish”). I also added garlic.
We ate this meal after a horrendously hard class at Flywheel, and thank God cooking it was easy, because my legs couldn’t hold me up for much longer. (The thought of having to cook after that class was so bad I even suggested that we just eat at Brixx post-workout. Charlie’s response: “I am not sitting my ass down anywhere else tonight but a soft cushion!”) And anyway, a kale and bean bruschetta seemed a healthy, fitting meal to follow our hardcore exercise.
[Click here for the photos of Skillet Bruschetta with Beans and Greens.] “Wait Wait, let me see if I can sneak my vintage olive oil can into the picture…”
This was good. And different. And they aren’t playing when they tell you to drizzle some olive oil on the bruschetta to finish it. It’s quite necessary. Maybe a few extra drops of lemon juice too. It does not keep well, however, so go ahead and eat it all.
Go ahead, marvel at the similarities. I know you’re impressed:
see, I have a rustic (or broken) bamboo cutting board too
So now I’ve learned an important lesson in blogging. Better to just take your own pictures and use them. Much simpler. And to anyone out there that might have some need, feel free to borrow my photos, so long as you link back to me!
I’m counting the days until my iPhone 6 comes in and my pictures improve exponentially. I have a trip to Mexico coming up that is going to blow your mind.
