Top Tips for Food Plating - Issue #4

Happy New Year!

I saw a little quote recently and I liked it very much - keep it simple, yet spectacular! Isn’t that so fitting - here at Easy Peasy Kitchen we believe that making beautiful and delicious food doesn’t need to be hard or time consuming.

This year I hope you are filled with inspiration to try some of the tips shared in our videos to take your food to the next level.

In this issue:

• Fresh off the press (+ Recipes) - How to plate carrots (5 alternative ways)
• Inspiration from my kitchen - Egg alternatives
• Q&A - What are the Easy Peasy top tips to up your food plating game?
• What’s in the pipeline? - Submarine Sandwiches

Fresh off the press... (+ Recipes)

Our latest video has just been published - How to plate carrots (5 alternative ways).

Carrots are such an economical, versatile and delicious vegetable, but so often we default to just cooking and plating them in boring ways. So how can we use them and plate them to make them more exciting?

In this video we explore different ways of cutting and preparing them to make them more exciting in the finished dish. We also look at how we can use the vibrant orange colour of carrots to enhance a plated meal.

Click on the link to have a look and see what ideas we came up with…

Carrot Puree

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots, chopped
• 20g (1 oz) butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• Salt

Method:

• Add the carrots to some boiling salted water and boil until tender.
• Drain and put into a blender.

Add butter and milk, and blend until a smooth consistency is achieved.

(You can add more/less milk to alter the thickness. You can also add other flavours to make a more complex puree i.e. orange zest, cinnamon, ginger, crushed garlic etc.)

Turned Carrots

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots, peeled
• 20g (1oz) butter
• 20g (1 oz) sugar
• Salt

Method:

• Trim carrots into equal lengths and cut off the sides to form a rectangular baton shape.
• Trim from the centre top to the centre bottom, curving out towards the sides. Continue this around the sides creating a barrel type shape. (Please see the video to understand this process better).
• Put them in a saucepan with a little water, and simmer gently until fork tender.
• When the water has evaporated, add in the butter and sugar, and allow it to caramelise on the carrots.
• You will end up with beautifully shiny, slightly sweet and buttery carrots to add as a side on any dish.

Carrot Ribbon Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots, peeled and then continue peeling into ribbons
• Iced water
• Almonds, cranberries, feta cheese and parsley to garnish
• Orange vinaigrette

Method:

• Put the carrot ribbons into iced water for about 30 minutes to firm up and accentuate the curls.
• Drain and carefully dab dry.
• Toss with the vinaigrette and garnishes, and serve.

Orange Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 orange, zest and juice

Method:

• Whisk all the ingredients until they all come together.
• Pour over salad to add flavour and moisture.

Inspiration from my kitchen

Here in New Zealand there are new laws that have come into effect regarding eggs and would you believe it, we have an egg shortage! I went to 4 different shops yesterday to look for eggs and all the shelves were empty - A bakers nightmare!

So guess what, I have given chia eggs a go. Have you ever tried using chia seeds as an egg substitute?

All I did was take 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and added 3 tablespoons of water. I gave it a bit of a stir around, and left it for about 5 minutes to gel up.

I must say it looked rather weird adding it to my muffin mix in place of an egg, but the muffins rose just like they would have if I’d used an egg. They did need a little longer cooking time though.

I’d love to hear if you have tried some egg alternatives, whether for dietary purposes or a dreaded egg shortage…

Q&A

Q: Since a lot of what we do at Easy Peasy Kitchen is about how to make our food look great, what are some top tips to take into the new year that are easy to implement in our own kitchens?

A: My top tips for easily upping your plating game are to:

• Use fresh herbs, they’re delicious and can enhance any dish, plate or platter effortlessly. Whether you’re adding just a little chopped, or a whole sprig they really are a game changer.
• Make sure you have some colour on the plate - remember we eat with our eyes before we even taste the food before us. So try to have some colour.
• Try to add some height to the plate, lean the food up against something or stack it up a little. You will be surprised what a difference it can make as opposed to everything laying flat.
• Don't be afraid to try new things; you never know when you'll come up with something that surprises you.

What's in the pipeline?

Here’s a photo to keep you inspired. We’ve been having fun making Italian inspired sub sandwiches recently. Don’t they look delicious. Keep an eye out for an upcoming video to find out our tips for making these.

Wishing you a wonderful 2023 with lots of exciting new foody finds,
Taryn