Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

@jesslabz yep! The base recipe is very simple; Molly adapted from Zuni, and I believe the Zuni cookbook uses what is basically a Chez Panisse recipe, which is based on a peasant French panade. Bread + broth + veggies - always a great dinner!

Personally I like it with extra-spicy greens to balance out the richness of the bread. Also, I love to caramelize the onions really, really darkly.

So glad you liked it Nick! Definitely not the prettiest of dishes, but it has been one of my quick weeknight go-to dishes for a long time. Unbelievably fast and easy!

Faith (from The Kitchn)

Mmmm... are you by chance missing the Northstar Cafe ricotta pancakes, Nick?

Hi - sorry to be spammy-linky, but since I already wrote all this up I'll just post the links. I have catered a couple weddings for friends and put some how-tos and planning guides at The Kitchn:

How To Plan a Wedding Reception Menu

Wedding Dessert Reception Menu

Good Question: Elegant Wedding Finger Foods?

Good Question: Wedding Finger-Foods on a Budget

De-lurking to say...

- Re: New SLR... Unless you intend to really put some time into educating yourself, you may be just as well off with a high-end point/shoot, like that Powershot. If it has macro, a decent depth of focus, and the ability to set the white balance, you're in pretty good shape. I use an old Powershot G2 and it does fine. (Flickr food set here.) The most current generation, the G9, has had some brilliant reviews and retails for about $400.

- When you're dealing with the web, as much as 50% or more of your photo quality has nothing to do with your camera, skill, or lighting. It's all in how you optimize and compress for the web colorspace you're working in. I have seen incredible shots that look grainy and washed out on the web. I would concentrate on taking good photos but also realize that you need to learn how to present them for the web. Some of the photos you were disappointed with on your site could be easily cleaned and brightened up with Photoshop.

- Again, unless you want to go semi-pro and really have the time to learn it, don't go for the full version of Photoshop ($650). If you have it, great - spend some time studying out compression, levels, color balance, sharpening, and other optimizing fixes. But the $79 Photoshop Elements should do just fine for all these basics.

- Lots of resources on food photos on the web - you can practically get a college education for free! The site I read the most is Lara's Still Life With... She gives a great overview of colorspace.

- Also, I have a few really basic tips here: Food Photography Tips.

Have fun! So much of food photography really is in the learning, exploring, and experimenting. Do as much as you can with the camera you have before you upgrade; push against its limits and see how far it can take you before you spend a lot of money on a new tool.