Instagram takeover: Thanksgiving cooking with @foodess
From delicious cookies to fend off hungry guests to a well-done turkey, Jennifer Pallian shares her recipes
CBC Vancouver is featuring a local photographer on our Instagram page every month. This Friday, we're showcasing the work of @foodess.
It's easy to see why Jennifer Pallian's Instagram feed has so many followers. Cooking and photography come together like perfect ingredients, balanced just right in a tantalizing dish with unique flavours.
The Vancouver cook is known to many by her Instagram name Foodess. But when asked what it meant, she sheepishly said "It's a play on words...you know, food and goddess.
She has the chops to back her name.
Foodess was a finalist in Saveur Magazine's 2013 Best Food Blog Awards. She was named Huffington Post's Top Ten Food Bloggers, and her work has appeared in many magazines such as Bon Appetit magazine, Food Network and Jamie Oliver.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we asked her to share some of her favourite seasonal recipes.
Passion for baking
The Vancouver chef grew up on the Canadian East Coast with regular "maritime kitchen parties." She learned to cook through baking and developing her own recipes, but is largely self-taught.
"It always came from within."
While her recipes aren't always easy, she looks for inspiration in seasonal items like pumpkins or while strolling through farmer's markets.
For Thanksgiving breakfast, she recommends this pumpkin bread recipe with fall spice and sticky cream cheese drizzle.
What you eat while the turkey is in the oven
Pallian studied food science and nutrition at UBC but eventually decided to turn her attention back to cooking.
"I started my career developing recipes in a professional test kitchen and providing technical baking support for a flour company," she said. "Baking is a lot like chemistry."
She recommends these gingersnap cookies, "because you're probably going to have a lot of hungry people hovering in your kitchen on Thanksgiving."
Delicious cookies fend them off and provide a much-needed sugar boost for the cook," she added.
The turkey
Pallian's cooking is often inspired by global ingredients.
"My mother-in-law is Indian and she's a phenomenal cook," she said. "I really like comfort food, and I love going out to restaurants and trying out new dishes and then using some of those spices in my own cooking."
But for a Thanksgiving turkey, she recommends keeping it simple.
"For the main event, I have the easiest roast turkey method. It speeds up and takes the stress out of making a delicious holiday dinner," she said.
"A few secrets? You start with the bird upside-down. Never baste. And don't stuff.
The desserts
It wouldn't be a Thanksgiving meal unless you feel stuffed like a bird. Pallian recommends trying one of these — or both!
"This walnut-crusted cranberry tart is a stunning holiday finale. All it needs is a soft pillow of whipped cream," she said.
And if pies and tarts are not your thing, she recommends this apple pie cake. It's a fluffy, tender, cinnamon-spiced creation, topped with lots of juicy, brown-sugared apples.
Why she shares her photos on Instagram
Just as with her cooking, Pallian is largely self-taught in photography.
"It came out of necessity. I was doing all this cooking and wanted to show what it looked like," she said.
But what she hopes people will take away from her Instagram feed of recipes is a passion for food.
"It's all about getting back to the table and sharing in that human experience of laughter and friends and family all eating together."
Are you snapping photos of B.C. for Instagram? Tag your photos #cbcvancouver to share them with us and potentially be featured on our Instagram.
If you're interested in doing a takeover of our account, email [email protected].