I have decided that there is a “Murphy’s Law” of food blogging. You make a dish and it is awful, yet you take the most fabulous photo of it ever! A photo destined to not be published, since your failures are quietly swept under a rug. Then you make a wonderful dish, a dish that you swear you hear angels singing as you are eating it, and you can’t take an attractive picture of it even though you try 392 times.
Evidence? This Balsamic Mushroom and Goat Cheese Salad from Donna Hay Magazine #50. This was amazing. Beyond amazing. One of those dishes where the output is exponentially greater than the work put into it. Make this. You will not be disappointed. Note: she calls for goat’s curd, which I have no idea what that is, so I just used goat cheese also she called for an assortment of mushrooms, I just used 4 portabellos that I had handy. Also, she tells you to toss the goat cheese, I didn’t, I scattered it on as I served it because cheese must be equally distributed in our house – it’s a rule.
Balsamic Mushroom and Goat’s Curd (or goat cheese) Salad
- 6 field mushrooms, sliced
- 14oz Swiss brown mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 sprigs oregano
- ¼ cup olive oil
- sea salt and fresh black pepper
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 8 thin slices sourdough baguette
- olive oil for brushing
- 6 ounces baby beetroot leaves (I just used a salad mix)
Preheat the oven to 400. Place the mushrooms, garlic, oregano, oil, salt and pepper on a baking sheet and toss to combine. Roast for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the vinegar and sugar and cook for an addition 5 minutes or until caramelized. Brush the bread with the extra oil and grill or broil until golden. Scrape the mushroom mixture into a bowl, add the goat cheese and salad leaves. Serve with bread. Serves 4. (or 2 if you love it as much as I did)
This will be my entry for Heart ‘n Soul Blog Hop.
AND for My Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory.
AND for Souper Sundays (Soup, Salad, or Sammie) hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.
Kevin says
Warm mushroom salads like this are so good!
Corina says
This looks like a great Saturday lunch recipe. I also have that problem with photos. I especially hate it when I make something great but then completely forget to take a photo!
CherylK says
I actually this the pictures are good! I believe you when you say we should make this so I'm going to. Can hardly wait!
Chris says
What the hell is wrong with your photography, this picture is awful! (ha ha, just kidding)
Yes, the food blogger paradox does tend to sneak up doesn't it?
Lea Ann says
I love amazing salads so I'm bookmarking this one! I've prepared one of my favorite dishes about three times and still haven't gotten a good photo...so no post yet. And by the way, your photo looks good to me.
grace says
so true--i haven't even posted about some of my favorite creations because the photos are just heinous. the silver lining? i get to make them again in an effort to take a better picture. 🙂
Lori Lynn says
Hi Pam - I was just deleting a bunch of old photos - and I know exactly what you mean. There were some memories of fantastic meals and really really bad pics. Lots of them.
The salad sounds terrific and I just yesterday received my order from amazon, including a Donna Hay cookbook, my first! I have hundreds of cookbooks, but I did not have one of Donna's. I'm excited now...
LL
shabby girl says
OH! I LOVE when angels are singing over one of Hubby's recipes!!!
You crack me up!
Good or bad, my food pics never come out anywhere near as good as yours!
Sweet and Savory says
Frankly, I think your photos are just fine. If you saw some of mine for recipes, I love, you would appreciate yours.
Most important though, is that this sounds like a fantastic recipe, one that I want to make.
Kalyn says
Yes, we are channeling each other. But the salad sounds fantastic (and I think your photos are still better than my awful one!)
5 Star Foodie says
The balsamic vinegar with mushrooms sounds wonderful, and just perfect with the goat cheese, a terrific combination!
Bella Rum says
I seem to have a lot of people in my life who do not like mushrooms. I'm not one of them. My husband and I enjoy them.
You're photos are always great.
Marjie says
If cheese is not equally distributed, someone will gripe. Never toss cheese. I made great bread last night, and forgot to take pictures until after most of it was gone. I believe in Murphy's Picture Law, too.
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) says
In my house, it's definitely Murphy's law that either my cooking mojo or my photo mojo will show up, but never the two at the same time!
merrilymarylee says
Looks wonderful!
i remember cheese curds from Wisconsin--mostly, I remember that they squeaked when we ate them. I would think that goat cheese curds are quieter.
Making my grocery list now...!
girlichef says
HA! I know just what you mean and that drives me totally bonkers! That said, this sounds and looks delicious to me. All the fabulousness of the balsamic with the earthy mushrooms and the creamy goat cheese? Oh. Yes.
Amy says
Oh, totally. And also? I'll waste so much time taking several shots and changing out the props, only to decide in the end that the very first photo will suffice.
For the record, your photo is anything but sub par. Looks delish. And we have the same rule about cheese. Actually, it's the law.
Betsy from Tennessee says
HI Pam, That Balsamic Mushroom and Goat Cheese Salad does sound incredibly delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
I have the same problem with waterfalls... The ones I love the most never look as good in photos... Oh Well
Hugs,
Betsy
June says
Maybe I should take more care about my photo's but crazy as it may sound, I'm more concerned about the food than the pic. Since JBug's is all about everyday, I figure the people that follow it know all about good days and bad. That's just life isn't it.
Absolutely GREAT salad Pam.
Joanne says
I have very similar experiences with food photos. THe things I love the most are unphotographable (I have a really hard time taking pictures of dessert!) and those I'm slightly ambivalent about...beautiful. Maybe that's because, since I'm not as excited to eat, I have more patience about taking good pictures. Hmm.
I do love the sound of this dish and actually think the photos are pretty enticing! Anything covered in goat cheese sounds perfect to me!
A SPICY PERSPECTIVE says
I love simple and elegant recipes like this. Bravo!
Peter M says
I think the salad still looks good. I've gone through the same photo woes but you can always make the salad again, take snaps and prey to the photography Gods!
Big Dude says
Pictures looked pretty good to me and the dish sounds delicious. I like to post my failures as well as successes so my readers can learn from my what-not-to-do's.