Update 12/8/09 I’m thrilled to share that I’m a featured blogger for Oprah’s Holiday 2009 where this recipe is being featured!
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While I love to make my own pizza or flatbread dough from scratch, sometimes I just don’t feel like getting my hands all messy with dough. I cheat a lot and buy packaged flatbreads from the supermarket and throw them on the grill or under the broiler for a quick pizza. One of my favorite fall recipes is Warm Fig, Apple and Gorgonzola Flatbreads, briefly grilled on our barbeque grill.
The creamy gorgonzola with specks of blue-black cheese melts, the warmed slices of Granny Smith Apples and wedges of juicy figs cradle the shaved slices of Parmegiano-Reggiano. But we’re not done with it yet, sweet, sensual honey drapes each slice, some oozing over the edge, onto your fingers.
If you’re interested in food photography…I’m showing you photos before I used Photoshop, so that you can see before and after. I shoot in RAW with my Canon 40D and I used the 60mm macro lens to get nice, sharp closeups. I generally use Photoshop to sharpen, lighten the photo and increase the saturation just a bit to make the colors and detail really pop. I know many of you don’t have Photoshop (it’s expensive) but you can do the same in Adobe Photoshop Elements 7
($99); and even in Flickr they have free online tools to help you lighten and increase saturation of your photos. I know Adobe has a free online editing tool…but can’t find it at the moment…if you find, will you please let me know?
I always try to fiddle with the photo and camera settings to take the perfect shot, which minimizes my use of software to touch up. But sometimes, the lighting is not just right or my white balance is a bit off and I’ll need to adjust. There’s nothing wrong with doing that, every single professional photographer does some sort of touch up, and it’s generally sharpening and color correction.
Here’s my before and after:
I’d love to show you what I do in Photoshop (it does make a big difference in the picture, but since so few of you have this software, I’ll have wait until I buy a copy of Photoshop Elements so that the tutorial is more relevant to more people.
Test shot #1: angle too low, where’s my apple? little too dark, let’s move closer to the light and fiddle with camera settings
better angle. swiped an apple slice from one of the other slices to tuck under the fig. the background in previous pic was a little empty, so I added some apples and figs next to the knife. Doesn’t this look like a better composed photo? Now that I got the setup, lets get the honey on top.
Nice, but you know what? I think it would look so much more interesting if I made it an action shot. Honey drizzlin’ action shot. Hard part is that I don’t have a remote shutter release for the camera and I’m home alone. So I’ll have to drizzle w/one hand and shoot with the other.
Drizzling honey, TAKE ONE!
Oops too early. But I have my camera set to take lots of photos really fast. Let’s see what the next frame is.
Drizzling honey, TAKE TWO!
Problem is that my camera is focusing on the HONEY…and the honey is liquid, so now the shot looks out of focus. Need to adjust focus. This might be too difficult to do by myself. If I had one of my kids here, I’d pay them 25 cents to hold the spoon for me.
Even if I left the photo like this, it’s still a damn fine photo. But let’s try again. Wipe off honey and….
Drizzle honey, TAKE 42!
Bingo! Got the shot that I want. Look at that honey action! This is all pre-Photoshop, and the next frame is my final.
In Photoshop, I sharpened (Unsharpen Mask) and brightened up the shot just a tiny bit. If you go back to the previous shot, you’ll notice a big difference of how the colors just pop and become more vibrant.
And here was my lighting situation. The light was really harsh that late afternoon, so I kept the food out of the direct light to avoid harsh shadows. The whiteboard helped bounce the light back onto the food.
Oh yes, please enjoy the recipe for Warm Fig, Apple and Gorgonzola Flatbread
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2 tablespoons olive oil
4 8-inch round flatbreads
4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1 apple, cored and sliced very thinly
8 ripe figs, cut into 6 wedges each
2 ounces parmesan cheese (Parmegiano-Reggiano), shaved with vegetable peeler
2 tablespoons honey
Preheat your grill, half direct heat. Brush olive oil on top of each flatbread, especially the edges. Assemble flatbreads with gorgonzola, apples and figs.
Grill flatbreads over direct heat for 3 minutes, until the bottoms are toasted and browned. Then move to indirect heat and close cover for 3 minutes to finish melting the cheese and warming the fruit.
If broiling, set your rack to upper 1/3 position. Grill flatbreads without the toppings for 2 minutes to just get them nice and toasty. Then layer on the olive oil, gorgonzola, apples and figs and return to oven for 4 to 6 minutes until cheese has melted and fruit is warmed through.
Sprinkle shaved Parmegiano-Reggiano and drizzle honey on top.
Serves 4 to 6 as appetizer or dessert.
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Chloe Crabtree on 8/13/14 at 7:26 am
This sounds wonderful! I am saving this to my recipe folder and pinning it too! I plan to share this on Celebrate and Decorate on Monday in a round up of apple recipes. Visitors will have to come over to your blog to get the recipe. I hope that sends more people over to discover your wonderful blog, recipes and photographs!
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Candi on 6/1/14 at 8:57 am
Which pre-made flatbread do you recommend? Can the fig be substituted? I don’t think we have those in small-town Ohio!
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imee on 10/31/11 at 2:43 am
Hi Jaden, the Figs are plenty now here in Dubai and these looks sooo delicious so i was thinking is it ok to use Arabic Bread instead of flatbread?
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SteamyKitchen on 10/31/11 at 9:40 am
Oh totally! Would *love* to see pics of your Arabic Bread!
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Mindy on 11/19/10 at 4:41 pm
I’m starting to dabble in food photography and LOVE your slideshows of your thought process. I often get frustrated and don’t know what to do, and get very hungry. Seeing what you thought in the process will help me play around a little more.
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Blender Benefits on 12/18/09 at 12:49 pm
this looks so simple and delicious! Haha, Debbie is right- those pictures are HOT.
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Debbie on 11/23/08 at 3:17 pm
The photos are downright SEXY!
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Laurie on 11/17/08 at 10:14 pm
What a great recipe! Total YUM. Love the step by step photos and your comments. Very helpful to those of us still trying to figure out how to take better photos.
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taste memory girl on 11/16/08 at 9:09 pm
stunning! what a great combo with figs ~ as always lovely photo too!
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Carolyn Jung on 11/11/08 at 1:14 am
There are few marriages as perfect as roasted figs, honey, and salty, creamy cheese. Thanks for the photo tips, as always. I’m actually going to take a Photoshop class soon. I’ll be happy if my photos end up looking even half as lovely as yours. 😉
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iron stef on 11/10/08 at 11:47 pm
Wowsers. That looks amazing. I. Speechless …
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The Flirty Girl on 11/9/08 at 3:25 pm
Oh Drool! I’m going up to San Francisco next week and fully intend to go pick up some cave aged Marisa cheese to try this with.
BTW I passed along an Uber Blogger Award to you today in my blog. Just wanted to share your great recipes with my readers 😀
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Wicked Good Dinner on 11/3/08 at 8:57 pm
You NEVER cease to amaze me – gorgeous. I can actually taste the fig and honey just by looking at the photo.
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Candice on 11/3/08 at 9:54 am
OMG! I made this last night on plain naan since we had no dough, and it is AMAZING.
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Lynette {Radio} on 11/2/08 at 10:36 am
I think I’m going to faint. Those are some of my favorite foods EVAH and now you’ve put them together in a sexy combo. As soon as I can get my hands on some fresh figs, I’m making this!
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Zenchef on 11/1/08 at 10:47 pm
Oooppss!.. What is Pedro doing here??
hehehehe.. Sowwwwyy! 🙂
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Pedro, the Mexican Boyfriend on 11/1/08 at 10:45 pm
I tried pouring a sauce over something while taking the picture, once. The tripod got off-balance and while trying to catch it i splattered myself with chocolate sauce… a ladle-full of chocolate sauce! Never again Jaden… NEVER!!!
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Rasa Malaysia on 11/1/08 at 1:14 am
This camera is a keeper. I need to get one, well, after I get a new laptop (still searching for that perfect one!)
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Tea on 10/31/08 at 1:30 pm
Gorgeous shot! (can I hire you to do my blog photos?:-)
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Jescel on 10/31/08 at 11:00 am
man… this is p*rn on a plate…so sinful! :o)
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sue bette on 10/31/08 at 6:48 am
The honey spoon shot is top-notch and the recipe looks amazing! Thanks for sharing your photo techniques!
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Toni on 10/31/08 at 2:06 am
Oh, drooooool…….And then drool some more. This is to die for, and I love the photo. And I have Photoshop CS2. But I don’t have a third hand. 😉
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Asianmommy on 10/31/08 at 12:02 am
Beautiful shot–I love the honey action!
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Giff on 10/30/08 at 9:38 pm
great photo Jaden. I imagine that was a pain holding the camera and the honey spoon and keeping things in focus as you dribbled/clicked!
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Rosa on 10/30/08 at 6:57 pm
What a gorgeous recipe! That flatbread looks ever so tempting and delicious! Yummy! Nice shots too…
Cheers,
Rosa
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mycookinghut on 10/30/08 at 6:08 pm
Very nice and sharp shot! Looks so delicious.
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Dana on 10/30/08 at 3:56 pm
This is SO my kind of recipe. YUM.
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cakebrain on 10/30/08 at 2:57 pm
Wow! that’s a great action shot of the honey dripping! I know first-hand how difficult it is to shoot with one hand and hold a dripping spoon in the other! it takes some pretty good hand-eye coordination! I wish I had the time to learn Photoshop. I have the program but I’m too lazy to make use of it. Instead, I use the free Picasa Web Albums program which is super-easy to use and does a lot of things automatically if you just click the right stuff!
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Emily on 10/30/08 at 11:06 am
This looks absolutely delicious! I might have to try this on a chilly fall night.
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Tabitha (From Single to Married) on 10/30/08 at 10:53 am
That looks fantastic and so do your photos (ps – I’d be interested in the Photoshop tutorial since that’s the software I have). just my vote. 🙂
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Lynn on 10/30/08 at 10:23 am
Beautiful shot! I love the step by step tutorial, too.
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ttfn300 on 10/30/08 at 10:09 am
that sounds SOOOOOOO good 🙂
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ChefRunner on 10/30/08 at 7:36 am
Diane from Texas: You could probably make a close approximation with dried figs. I use them in a lot of stuff with cheese and honey.
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Myron Tay on 10/30/08 at 5:03 am
With food that looks this good the photography can never go wrong. 🙂
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joey on 10/30/08 at 1:48 am
Thanks for all the photography tips…mostly I never know what I am doing so they really really help! I would certainly use Photoshop to help adjust some details in my pics (like lighting and white balance as you’ve mentioned), but I don’t know how to use it! I know, in this day and age…brother…
Anyways, this pizza looks and sounds awesome! I would love it I just know because I love all the elements…just wish I could get fresh figs here!
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MySimpleFood on 10/30/08 at 12:47 am
Wow! I love the step by step photo instructions. Trying to learn to get good shots. But I am still using a digital camera….so still a little behind but one day…one day…I will get there with a SLR camera, hopefully.
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cindy on 10/30/08 at 12:37 am
i LOVE figs (i have a whole cookbook that is just figs) and gorgonzola is one of my favorite cheeses. i know this will be terrific!
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Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) on 10/29/08 at 9:27 pm
Perfect post for a day on which the Daring Bakers are posting pizzas! Gorgonzola and fig is such a classic combination. And yes, your money shot is right on the money!
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YummyGirl on 10/29/08 at 9:12 pm
That is gorgeous! My husband loves to use figs in recipes, they are very under-rated. Did you make your flatbread or is there on that I can buy? I make a gourmet barbecue chicken with red onions and cilantro (and cheese!) pizza using a ready-made crust or Pillsbury dough baked before-hand. You have to use Montebello Kitchens Virginia Barbecue Sauce (sweetened with apple butter!)to get the best tasting pizza – a little sweet, a little spice.(www.montebellokitchens.com) I like your flatbread because it is very rustic looking and that adds a lot to the presentation and experience.
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Kalyn on 10/29/08 at 9:09 pm
Very nice shot!
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Hélène on 10/29/08 at 8:52 pm
I love how you explained all the steps & how you did it. I don’t own a copy of Photoshop yet. Someday. You could make money with this shot. I love it.
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Patsyk on 10/29/08 at 8:37 pm
The moment I saw the “money shot”, I started thinking I need to make this recipe or at least something similar to it. I love that you shared your photo tips, since I hope to improve my photography! Thanks!!!!!
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Leah on 10/29/08 at 8:29 pm
Jaden,
I have to say thank you. I have for years loved fried rice and made marginal sad fried rice at home. I just adapted your shrimp fried rice to a mushroom, zucchini and green onion fried rice and it was delicious! What a wonderful gift your mother gave you with those cooking lessons. I know this isn’t a reference to your current post, but I had to write it was so good.Reply
courtney on 10/29/08 at 8:16 pm
Very nice!
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[eatingclub] vancouver || js on 10/29/08 at 8:11 pm
Ooh, ooh, ooh. . .that’s all I can say right now. These are ooh, ooh, ooh!
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Piegirl on 10/29/08 at 7:37 pm
Sexy, slurrrrpy, yummy pictures!
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Lars on 10/29/08 at 6:23 pm
Amazing photos, and if they didnt make me drool, the description does.
Gorgonzola, apple, figs and honey, what a great (and classic) combination.
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Terry B on 10/29/08 at 5:56 pm
Beautiful as always, Jaden. And the mix of flavors sounds wonderful. I think I might be tempted to substitute pear for the apple, just because apples are such an assertive texture.
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JEP on 10/29/08 at 5:09 pm
Heaven on a plate 🙂 What brand name flatbreads do you recommend?
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katie on 10/29/08 at 5:06 pm
I am learning how to use photoshop to fix my current horrible lighting, walking a fine line between cartoonish fixes and acceptable tough-ups. That looks delicious!
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Vanille on 10/29/08 at 5:03 pm
I simply love this combination ! So tasty…
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diana on 10/29/08 at 5:00 pm
Would love to make this, but I live in Kansas & I don’t think anyone in the state has ever seen a fresh fig. Could canned be substituted? Probably not. Any other ideas for the fruit that I could use?
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Denise on 10/29/08 at 4:18 pm
Looks like a great appetizer for the holidays – yum! Just have to say, love your recipes, pics and the tidbits you give us of your brother ;o Now HE is some serious drool! hee-hee-hee 🙂
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Chocolate Shavings on 10/29/08 at 4:15 pm
Indeed – that picture is worth gold!
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RecipeGirl on 10/29/08 at 3:29 pm
Mmmmmmmmm… serious drool. For a moment, I thought you might be a Daring Baker (we had Pizza Crust challenge this month). Love the money shot. I’m going to get myself deluxe photoshop one of these days!
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sb on 10/29/08 at 3:01 pm
I just found your site – just wanted to say that I just love how your foods are presented and your photos are amazing.
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