Thursday, January 24, 2008

Dallas Museum of Art

Tonight was my usual evening at the Dallas Museum of Art. I did my usual tour to see what was new. I found a couple of exhibits that I meant to photograph last time, but I did not know if they were part of the collection and photgraphy was allowed. My favorite of this current exhbit is of an Untitled work by Tom Friedman (2004).
This is a work of scale, A large blue figure looking down juxtaposed with a tiny figure (barely visible in the image) looking up. This piece was placed in the very appropriate location in the Barrel Vault. This work is part of the Rachofsky Collection. I am a great fan of large scale works, especially when the work is of a subject made to be many times its expected size.

I continued my walk through the museum looking for Silver and other reflective dectorative works. In the main hall I found some tea sets which I photographed looking to find an image suitable as a Self Portrait. In the American Galleries I found an 18th century mirror. The surface as tarnished but I could still see a good image. I took a number of images trying to get a good Self Portrait. This image shows my final choice. I brought it home and did a little image manipulation to do a horizontal rotation of the image.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Tamales with Spinach Tomatillo Sauce, Fried Plantains


Tonight I decided to create a Spinach Tomatillo Sour Cream Sauce for some Central Market Tamales I had. I fried first about 4 tomatillos cut up with 2 garlic pods and pearl red onion sliced. After the tomatillos were soft I added about 1/2 bag of cut up spinach. I cooked to the spinach was done, and then added light sour cream.
While the Sauce was cooking I cut a yellow skin plantain into 4 slices which I coated with pastry flour and fried until light brown in olive and canola oil. After the plantains were done I set them on paper towel to soak up excessive oil. I put tamales and plantains on plate and then topped the tamales with the sauce.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Coho Salmon with Kholrabi, Carrot, Broccoli Stirfry

Late this afternoon I made a trip to Central Market with a Coupon for $10 off Seafood with $40 Purchase. In the produce department I found one of my favorite but lately rare vegetables, Kholrabi.
I also got a couple of large organic carrots. In the Seafood Department I picked out a nice Coho Salmon Filet and about 6 medium peeled shrimp to round out my $10 seafood allowance.
When I arrived home I grated on of the Kholrabi roots along with about one half of one of the carrots. I also sliced the stalk and florets of small crown of broccoli. I then stirfried these vegetables in Olive Oil and butter with garlic salt. When nearly complete I added and cooked the 5-6 shrimp and cooked til they were ready. I braised the Salmon in Olive and Canola oil for 2 minutes on each side and then finished a 425 degree oven for 6 minutes. After it was finished I put some Fisher and Wieser Mango Ginger Habanero Sauce and then served. Dang it was good!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Cranberry Apple Crisp

A week or so ago, Mom emailed me a great recipe for Cranberry and Apple Crisp. The recipe calls for the ingredients for the crisp topping but I skip that and just get a commercial mix at the grocery. I do prepare the fruit as the recipe calls, using 2/3 bag of Cranberries and two large apples sliced and cored. I add sugar and one tablespoon of floor, put it in the 8inch pan and the add the crisp topping and bake for about 30 min. It turned out great.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Chicken Cacciatore

Tonight I did my best to reproduce a recipe I used to prepare when I was in my late teens and working in a neighborhood Italian Restaurant. The Recipe is Chicken Cacciatore and I used Leg Quarters, first brasing them in a little oil. I then added 1 regular sized can of Italian Stewed Tomatoes, 1 cup Merlot, 1/2 bell pepper, and 1/2 cup of mushrooms, and enough water to just cover the chicken. I cooked until the chicken was nearly coming off the bone. I then added long strips of yellow squash and continued cooking until the Squash was done. About 20 min before Cacciatore was finished I prepared a small amount of Penne Pasta and added enough Olive Oil to coat pasta and added a small amount of fresh parmesian cheese. I put Chicken legs on plate with Pasta and served the sauce over the pasta. I served a Green salad with Basalmic Vinegar and Olive Oil Dressing.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Weekend Cutting Horse Show


This past weekend I photographed 1 1/2 days of the Rose Country CHA Show. This is the first time I had used the new camera for a weekend show. I set up two strobes and set them at very low power and used a high ISO so I could shoot all day on one strobe battery. This shot was taken while I was taking a break while the sun was setting. In this arena at sunset in the winter time, the sun shines across the entire width of the arena making it hard to overcome the strong warm light. I was sitting in the stands and took this photo just as the horse stopped in the light. There were no shadows cast on the horse so the image worked very well.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Photographing Vizsla Puppies


Today I brought my camera to the ranch in hopes of getting some photos of the month old Vizsla puppies. We had a great warm day to put the puppies out to enjoy the sun. My niece Austria was playing with some of the pups and the others were running around the yard. I laid down on the grass and captured these images of some of the pups.