Grilled Asparagus

A nice way to quickly cook asparagus

Ingredients:

• Good handful of green asparagus (mature or young shoots are both fine)
• Salt
• 1 Lemon

Method:

Wash and then trim the rough end of the stalks.

If you are using mature asparagus then slice each spear in two lengthwise.

Pre-heat a griddle. Cook the asparagus for around 5 minutes in total, turning occasionally. Twice during cooking add a sprinkle of salt and a good squeeze of lemon juice.

Potatoes Dauphinois

A classic French recipe...And a nice way to load thousands of calories into a dish containing the usually healthy potato.

Ingredients:

• Half a kilogram of potatoes
• 1 Clove of garlic
• 150ml Double Cream
• 150ml Full fat milk
• Good knob of butter
• Salt and pepper

Method:

Peal the potatoes and cut into very thin slices.

Take a over-proof dish and run the crushed garlic around the base. Mix the cream and milk in thoroughly.

Layer the potatoes into the dish and pour on the cream and milk.

Finish with a good grind of pepper and a small sprinkling of salt. Add small chunks of the butter on top and finally place into a preheated oven (150 degrees) for 90 minutes.

Waiting for a friend....

I can't help but think that the Moses basket is missing something! Thankfully Sandra is due to give birth tomorrow. I'm very excited :)

Today I did the only thing that a worried father-to-be could do on such a day...I bought a new lens. 24-70 f/2.8 L. It's a little odd (it extends as the focal length decreases, which is the opposite of every other lens I've seen) but first impressions are very positive. At least I have an excuse this time - it's the ideal lens for taking pictures of the little one.

The picture on the right was taken with the lens...It has been de-saturated and cropped in Photoshop...And the vignetting has been added manually, thank god ;)

Reverie

Vincent Laforet has released a stunning video recorded with the recently announced Canon 5D Mark II. This camera is now capable of recording true HD video (1920x1080 @ 33fps) and allows users to utilise their investment in Canon glass.

The 5D Mk II looks like an amazing piece of kit anyway (21MPs, 50 ISO), but the addition of HD video to the DSLR range at a quality that challenges $100k+ professional video cameras will make this camera a surefire hit.

Video is available to download here - it is worth pointing out that this video has been subject to no post-processing enhancement at all, it's raw. It is also down-scaled to 960x540, which is just a quarter of the full resolution. Details of the new 5D here.

I want one. In fact, I've just ordered one. Roll on November the 30th :)

Roast pepper, tomato and rocket salad

An impressive and easy to prepare salad

Ingredients:

• 2x Romano Peppers
• 16x small, vine ripened tomatoes
• 2 handfuls of rocket
• 2 tables spoons of balsmamic vineger
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Small handful of parmesan shavings

Method:

Cut the peppers in half and remove all seeds. Lay the peppers on a tray, face up, and place 4 or so tomatoes inside each half of the pepper. Pour balsamic vinegar and olive oil into the peppers and a good grind of salt and pepper. Place into an oven pre-heated to 200 degrees F for 30 minutes, turning once after 15.

Place on a plate and top with the rocket and parmesan.

Big glass!

I’m going to have to learn not to borrow expensive camera equipment from friends and colleagues! So, I have a colleague who has a Canon 70-200 f/4 L lens – with the ‘L’ meaning that this lens falls into the serious end of the Canon lens range. He generously offered to let be borrow this lens out of the kindness of his heart (oh, and because he wanted to trial a 100mm macro in return, of course!).

I didn’t have much opportunity to use the lens in anger but a few test snaps quickly showed that this lens was indeed quality. At this point the purchase of a medium-zoom L class telephoto was inevitable, the only decision was which model (Canon make 4 different lenses at 70-200mm, 2 with / without Image Stabilisation and 2 f/2.8 and f/4.0). In the end I decided upon the f/2.8 IS enabled lens – I would only have regretted not buying the superior lens if I picked any of the other models!

The lens is an absolute monster – it is 20cm long, weighs 1.5kg and makes the 40D look like a lens cap! I’m yet to use it in anger properly (the complete lack of English summer has seen to that) but the few snaps that I've taken so far show great potential.