Todd Porter and Diane Cu of White on Rice Couple Plus Homemade Sriracha Sauce and a Cookbook Giveaway

With the release of their cookbook, Bountiful, Recipes Inspired by Our Garden, foodies Todd Porter and Diane Cu of White On Rice Couple invite us to share their insanely delicious seasonal recipes, including a condiment I can never get enough of, Homemade Sriracha Sauce. And you have the chance to win a copy of their cookbook for yourself.

Todd and Diane are often referred to as one and the same, White On Rice/Todd and Diane/Diane and Todd, most likely due to the fact they are equally talented and share duties both in the kitchen and behind the camera.

They take turns clicking the camera for print and video, they both cook, create and style their photos and recipes (Todd is often found as the author of most of their baking posts while Diane has a penchant for spring rolls) and they share a passion for gathering people around food they love.

But before there was a cookbook, Todd and Diane created a following of faithful food blogging novices, eager to listen and learn about food photography and styling at food blogging conferences across the country.

I first met Todd and Diane when I attended not one, but two of their food workshops at a blogging conference in Park City, Utah. I had only created FoodieCrush a few months before meeting them and I figured if attending one of their sessions was good then two could only be better. I couldn’t have been more right.

Both days I was slotted in Diane’s group, where she patiently reviewed each photographer’s cameras, providing tips and tricks on everything from aperture to tripods. The following day was hands on, with an intimate tutorial and then shooting for ourselves to replicate what we’d learned.

The slide above from their presentation is hands down the most useful piece of photography advice I had yet to receive. Things were starting to make sense.

Those two days they laid it all out for everyone to use, for all to improve their own talents waiting to bloom. That’s just how they do it, it’s their nature to give and share.

Just as their garden continues to provide, Todd and Diane give as well. And with a cookbook chock full of inspiring recipes and lush photography, there’s still more to share.

I asked Todd and Diane to share a little bit more about themselves to celebrate the occasion. Thank you White On Rice Couple for being all of our foodie crush.

1. Describe your blog in 3 words:
Food, photography, storytelling

2. If you could be one food blogger other than yourself, who would you be?
David Lebovitz. It would be amazing to live his Sweet Life in Paris for a day.

3. Which 3 blogs do you follow/are obsessed with/can’t live a day without?
New York Times Lens Photo Blog keeps us grounded and connected with the world.
The Oatmeal and Teri Border’s Bent Objects are clever, witty and keeps us laughing and entertained.

4. What is the one kitchen tool you could never give up?
Our kitchen knives. One great kitchen knife can do so much magic in the kitchen. They are all Wusthof knives except for a Japanese chef knife and Japanese noodle knife we got in Japan.

5. What dish are you obsessed with mastering that you just can’t get quite right?
Chocolate covered candies and truffles. Getting consistent tempering and the perfect finish to chocolate is still challenging. This is something we’re still working on. It’s a life long journey in chocolate.

6. What did you have for dinner last night?
Pizza. We love homemade pizza and never get tired of it.

7. What’s one secret talent outside of the kitchen nobody knows about you?
Todd is a black belt in Aikido and spent his entire childhood training horses. Diane gave up medical school and graduate school and ended up writing a food blog.

8. You’re happiest when cooking/eating:
….For those we care about. Gathering dear friends and family together for a meal brings us so much joy.

9. The two of you are a formidable pair covering nearly every avenue of photography: creating, photographing, styling, teaching and inspiring others to do the same. How do each of these areas influence the other?
We’re always pushing to learn more and make ourselves better in what we do. With that journey and as we learn things, it’s rewarding for us to be able to connect all those dots and pass it on to others when we can.

10. The one secret ingredient to your success is:
Continually supporting one another, being patient, kind and sharing a cocktail. Or Two.

Living in Southern California certainly has its perks. For Todd and Diane, one of their passions (besides walking their two well-loved dogs on the local beach) sprouts from the temperate weather, creating a food lovers dream garden (including 38 fruit trees!) that produces culinary inspiration year round.

Bountiful, Recipes Inspired by Our Garden, explores every category of the garden, from tomatoes, herbs and leafy greens to stone fruit and beans stalks and roots. It’s garden based recipes could quite possible turn even the most ardent veggie loather into a veggie lover.

And now you can win your own copy to savor. Just fill in the info in the widget below with one or more entries to be entered to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fresh garden ingredients paired with Bountiful create simple yet delicious recipes for our own gatherings at home.

My only challenge in reading this lively cookbook was deciding which recipe to share with you. Somehow I narrowed it down to Meyer Lemon-Iced Brown Butter Madeleines, Fig and Gorgonzola Pillows or what I consider a staple of the White On Rice food blog, Homemade Sriracha Sauce.

So instead of choosing for myself I took to my Facebook page and let you make the decision for all of us. Here’s what you had to say, and the recipe, well, it speaks for itself.

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Homemade Sriracha Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup Thai red chili peppers stemmed and roughly chopped
4 fat cloves of garlic quartered
2 shallots roughly chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
water

Instructions

Add the chopped Thai chiles to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a regular blade and process for a few seconds until they are finely minced, then scrape into a bowl.
Add the chopped garlic and onion to the food processor and also process until finely minced.
Add the oil to a sauté pan on medium high heat and add the garlic and onion and cook for about 1 minute or just until fragrant, stirring so they don't burn. Add the Thai chiles and the tomato sauce, bring to a simmer, then lower the heat. Add the fish sauce, rice vinegar and sugar and mix well.
Cook for about 5 minutes then remove from the heat and let cool completely.
Transfer the sauce to a blender and blend until the sauce is smooth and the pepper seeds and skins have been completely incorporated.
Taste the sauce and add more sugar, fish sauce or vinegar to taste. If the sauce seems extra thick add a teaspoon or two of water to loosen it. Blend again then pour into a sterilized jar or container.
Refrigerate for up to 1 month.

Notes

When stemming and chopping the Thai chiles, it's a good idea to wear rubber gloves to protect your skin from the chile seeds.

Barely adapted from Bountiful, Recipes Inspired by Our Garden by Todd Porter and Diane Cu

Thank you Todd and Diane for sharing yourselves with us. Readers, if you’d like to meet Todd and Diane at one of their book signings, check out their appearances here. I’m thrilled I’ll be seeing them again here in Salt Lake City.

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