Feasting on Art

The day Ozoz’s package from the Netherlands arrived was a very exciting one, not only because of the delicious caramel cookies but  also the beautiful cookbook filled with the things I love. Ozoz writes the food blog Kitchen Butterfly and is one of the most dedicated bloggers I read, posting every other day. She kindly sent me a copy of the cookbook Dutch Culinary Art which she first wrote about on her blog back in December after meeting two of the three writers. The book is filled with traditional recipes introduced by sweet little anecdotes about their origin and history. Dispersed throughout are opulent still lifes and pleasant kitchen scenes. Ozoz’s blog is more than just a record of recipes and culinary delights, she provides useful travel guides as well as everything you would need to know about food before visiting the Netherlands. I only wish I knew about her blog when I lived in the UK and frequented the ‘Orange Country‘ – her affectionate name for the Dutch countryside. Thank you again Ozoz for the beautiful book and for working with me on this collaboration!
 

Visit Ozoz’s blog Kitchen Butterfly for a recipe for Pumpkin Ice Cream & Lemonettes.

Willem Kalf, Still Life with a Chinese Tureen, 1662
Oil on canvas, 64 x 53cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin

 
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I tasted my first authentic mole in Mexico City on a History of Art trip to study the art of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. With the vibrant paintings swirling through my head, I became completely intoxicated with mole poblano. From the Mexican word molli meaning ‘concoction,’ mole is commonly known in the combined form guacamole - avocado concoction. Mole is a generic term for a variety of sauces in Mexico with ingredients ranging from chilies and peanuts to tomatillos and chocolate. It is typically used to top chicken but in restaurants it is often used in enchiladas. The pumpkin mole yields a lighter sauce, not as complex or heavy as traditional recipes – perfect when paired with fresh lime as a summer lunch.

Frida Kahlo, Still Life, 1942
oil on copper, 64.5 cm diameter, Museo Frida Kahlo, Mexico City

 
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I am so happy to reinstate the monthly collaborative feature here on Feasting on Art. Alyson, the designer behind the website redesign, is also the blogger behind the charming design site, Unruly Things. I visit her blog daily to gush over pretty vintage finds and inspiring photography. In addition to her design company Seventy & Sunny, Alyson runs a letterpress shop called Postal Press where her appreciation for specimen charts manifested into a letterpress calendar. It seemed only appropriate that we would deconstruct a botanical art illustration.

Visit Alyson’s blog, Unruly Things, for the recipe for Pear Almond Sticky Buns.

Johann Christian Berndt, Plate 21, 1809-1812,
Colour plate of pear varieties from Johann Ludwig Christ’s book, Vollständige pomologie, Royal Horticultural Society

 
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Thanksgiving, or Turkey Day as it is affectionately dubbed, is not complete with the glistening roast bird set as the centerpiece of the meal. In 2007 I had the pleasant experience of discovering that the tiny oven in my London flat would not accommodate the giant bird I bought to roast. After a bit of wrestling I managed to sort out a solution but I have since decided that roasting the bird in pieces is much easier and takes a portion of the time. This recipe works just as well with chicken and can either be cooked entirely in the oven or finished off on a grill to enhance the smokey & charred BBQ flavor of the sauce and the rub.

Soren Emil Carlsen, Thanksgiving Still Life, 1891
Oil on canvas, 117 x 106 cm, San Diego Museum of Art

Soren Emil Carlsen was a Danish born artist who was heavily influenced by the work of Chardin. His paintings featured simple objects in muted tones. His limited palette produced moody canvases and he worked carefully to create seemingly haphazard compositions. He was a contemporary of William Merritt Chase and was part of the European educated talent working in America. Unlike Chase whose brushwork loosened to accommodate the Impressionist style, Carlsen’s work remained fairly tight and clean with thick layered brushstrokes.

{Spice-Rubbed Turkey}
This recipe could be substituted for chicken

2 TB brown sugar
2 tsp smoky paprika
1 large clove fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 small turkey, cut into pieces

Preheat the oven to 200C. Mix the seasonings in a small bowl and rub all over the turkey pieces. Place the turkey in a roasting tray and slide into the oven for about 40 minutes. Occasionally spoon the juices from the meat back over the turkey.

Remove the turkey from the oven and brush on the BBQ sauce. Either return to the oven for another 20 minutes (check the thickest part of the breast for done-ness) or place on the grill (on an area of moderate heat – not directly over the cinders). Roast the turkey brushing on additional sauce as needed until done and the BBQ sauce begins to caramelize upon the meat.

Serve with additional BBQ sauce.

{Cranberry BBQ Sauce}

1 small red onion, chopped
1 TB olive oil
1 jar (250ml) cranberry sauce (alternative use 1 pkg frozen cranberries cooked for 10 minutes in 1/3 c sugar)
1/2 c ketchup
1/3 c hot sauce
1 TB apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
black pepper

Saute the chopped onion in the oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the cranberry sauce, ketchup, hot sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce and a pinch of black pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until it reaches the desired thickness.

Once cooled slightly, puree with a hand blender. Pass through sieve and serve with the grilled turkey.

This is the fourth recipe in a four part series for a smoky & spicy Thanksgiving.

I am very excited to introduce a new monthly feature to Feasting on Art – blogger recipe collaboration. It is a great way to highlight some of the writers and photographers that I follow and who influence my work. Each collaboration will focus on one painting and two recipes – one sweet and the other savory. This week you will have to visit Jamie’s post, Baked ‘Fried’ Apple Pie, for the sweet half of this autumnal German menu. With it being the first week of Oktoberfest I would recommend enjoying the meal with a big stein of lager. Although German cuisine is often thought of as heavy and stodgy, the sauerkraut (German for ‘sour cabbage’) balances the schnitzel, lightened through the inclusion of fresh apple in the breading. Side-note: due to a dust storm (see photo) all of the photographs were shot by candlelight.

Paul Klee, Still Life with Four Apples (Stilleben mit vier Früchten in Schale vor dunkelgrünem Grunde), 1909
Oil and gouache on board, 34.3 x 28.2 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York City
 

Paul Klee was a Swiss painter (born in Germany) who was linked with Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism, and Abstraction. His work rarely falls into one movement’s classification but always demonstrates his natural ability as a draftsman. Still Life with Four Apples is a monochromatic painting with a focus on the repetitive geometric form of the circle. The perspective of the painting places the viewer directly above the bowl reinforcing the shape and drawing attention to the lack of a specific light source. The tonal variations on the apples are subtle but not consistent and there is a patch of shading in the centre of the bowl that mimics the colouration of the apples. Although colour theory was always at the forefront of Klee’s artistic aesthetic – in 1909, the year Still Life with Four Apples was completed, Klee was struggling to balance his domestic life with new artistic endeavours. This personal grapple with balancing life and art is a possible explanation for the household subject matter and disconnected colouration within the composition.

 

 
If you are not familiar with the photoblog From Me To You then I highly suggest paying a visit as soon as possible. Not only do Jamie’s images from New York City make me rethink my status as an ex-pat, she has the most envy-inducing collection of vintage cameras. You can read a great article that Jamie wrote about collecting vintage cameras here. In addition to the beautiful photographs of her travels and styled shoots for Working Class Magazine, she includes a regular feature called Dinner & a Movie. More often than not I secretly wish I lived in the Big Apple and that Jamie would invite me to share one of her delicious meals – especially one like the South American menu. Jamie’s aesthetic is impeccable and her photographs capture the beautiful nuances of everyday life (a favorite being the Bloody Mary in a jam jar). Her portrait series All the President’s Girls demonstrates her mastery of the medium by transforming beautiful paintings into photographs with soft painterly qualities. Jamie’s blog is a continual source of inspiration and I am so pleased she agreed to be my inaugural collaborator! Thanks so much Jamie!

 

 

{Apple & Red Onion Sauerkraut}
adapted from Gourmet

1 1/2 heads green cabbage
3 tsp salt

3 TB olive oil
2 red onions, thinly sliced
1 green apple, finely sliced
1 head red cabbage
3 whole cloves
3 TB dark brown sugar
1/2 c dry red wine
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1 bay leaf

Finely slice the heads of green cabbage – 1/2 head at a time. Once each half head is sliced, add to a large crock pot and cover with 1 tsp of salt. Mix well and place a plate over the cabbage to compact it into the bottom of the pot. Continue with all of the cabbage ensuring the salt is evenly distributed and fully compacted. Fill a ziplock bag with water and place on top of the plate to weigh down the cabbage. Cover the pot with plastic cling-wrap and then with a towel. Allow to ferment for 10-14 days. You may need to top up the brine if the salt has not extracted enough liquid to cover all of the cabbage. Mix one mug of water with 1/4 tsp of salt and add to the cabbage. Rinse thoroughly before consumption. *There may be a bit of mold on the top layer of cabbage – simply discard.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and sauté the onion with the cloves until browned, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until tender. Discard bay leaf and serve room temperature. The sauerkraut will keep chilled for two days.

 

 
{Wiener Schnitzel}
adapted from Delicious Magazine

2 c breadcrumbs (can be fresh or dried – or a mixture of both)
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 green apple, minced
1/4 c finely chopped parsley
2 eggs beaten
1/4 c milk
4 chicken breasts
1 c flour
1 c olive oil
lemon wedges, to serve

Combine the breadcrumbs, minced apple, Parmesan, and parsley on a large plate. Place the eggs and milk in a bowl and beat lightly. In another bowl, add the flour and season with salt and pepper.

Place the chicken on a cutting board. Slice evenly through the chicken creating two thin escalopes of chicken. Using a meat mallet (or in my case a metal measuring cup) flatten each escalope to a thickness of 1/4 of an inch.

Dip the chicken first in the flour, then the beaten egg and finally the breadcrumbs pressing the mixture so it adheres to the chicken. Heat the oil in a non-stick frypan and fry the chicken over medium heat for one to two minutes until golden. Turn and cook the other side for another minute.

Drain on a paper towel and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining three pieces of chicken. Serve with a wedge of lemon and sauerkraut.

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Be sure to visit Jamie’s blog From Me To You for the sweet recipe, Baked ‘Fried’ Apple Pie, to complete the German meal inspired by Klee’s Still Life with Four Apples.