Feasting on Art

I rarely return home from the grocery store without some sort of brassica in my basket. This is the second week in a row we have enjoyed brussels sprouts roasted simply with a bit of parmesan finished with a squeeze of lemon. The cheese gives the dish a salty-meatiness and the lemon provides a balancing freshness. Excellent paired with an icy dry white wine, the dish could accompany a standard main course or stand on its own topped with a fried egg.

Edward Weston, Cabbage Leaf, 1931
gelatin silver print, 19.1 x 24.1 cm

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This recipe was devised as an accompaniment to the previous dish, spatchcock stuffed chicken. By cooking the beets over a long period of time with a low amount of heat, the natural sugars in the vegetable caramelize producing a sweetness which is echoed by the balsamic reduction. This dish almost didn’t make it to the table due to my spring-loaded oven doors. Luckily a quick catch saved the beets which proved to be a perfect pairing with the poultry.

Ed Ruscha, Stains, 1973
beet juice and pulp on paper, 58 x 74cm, Private collection

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The following recipe has been affectionately known by the names ‘Chichcock’, ‘Spatcken’ and ‘The Great Chichicken Debacle’. Conceived and executed with my brilliant friend Mel, the spatchcock stuffed chicken was a two-day affair. Day one consisted of meticulously deboning a small spatchcock, otherwise known as a poussin or juvenile chicken, and a larger adult chicken. Using Jacques Pépin’s youtube tutorial for deboning quail as a guide, we sliced our way through the poultry incurring only minor injuries while keeping the majority of the bird intact. We stuffed and rolled the fowls into a small bundle and chilled them overnight in the fridge until the following day. Day two involved cooking the chickens and after sliding our concoction into a hot oven, two hours later we were delighted to find two tender birds – the spatchcock inside fairing a bit better than the larger chicken outside.

In the words of the great Julia Child from Mastering the Art of French Cooking,

“You may think that boning a fowl is an impossible feat if you have never seen it done or thought of attempting it. Although the procedure may take 45 minutes the first time because of fright, it can be accomplished in not much more than 20 on your second or third try.”

With this advice ringing in our ears, Mel and I decided to forfeit the cooking class or online courses uk in favour of a self-taught approach. In the end, there will be none the wiser should there be a few extra cuts or or pieces after deboning a bird.

Gustave Caillebotte, Display of Chickens and Game Birds, c.1882
oil on canvas, 76 x 105cm, Private collection

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Three years ago today I posted an entry about Paul Cézanne and a recipe for cherry & nectarine clafouti. It was my very first entry on this site and it seems only fitting that it is included in Feasting on Art’s first major magazine spread. Pick up the April issue of Appetite and you can find four recipes inspired by art in the article ‘From palette to plate‘. I would also like to thank Saveur for recently naming Feasting on Art as one of their ‘sites we love.’ As a longtime reader of the publication it is an incredible honor.

Paul Cézanne, Still Life with Peppermint Bottle, c.1894
oil on canvas, 65 x 81 cm, National Gallery of Art, D.C.

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Eat This Poem is a new blog that combines food and poetry in much the same way Feasting on Art considers food and art. The website is written by Nicole Gulotta who has an MFA in poetry enabling her to marry beautiful words with delicious food. Working with her on a collaboration only felt natural and when she suggested a post investigating William Carlos Williams and Pieter Bruegel, I knew I was fated to work with her. While an undergrad I double majored in both English and History of Art and in my final semester, I did an entire course in William Carlos Williams. My major paper considered the collection of poems titled Pictures from Bruegel which is a composite representation of Bruegel’s work through the viewpoint of Williams. The poetry illustrates the way in which Williams’ eye follows the canvas and his impressions while gazing upon the works.

Pieter Bruegel, The Harvesters, 1565
oil on wood, 118 x 160.7cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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