Feasting on Art

In honour of the 4th of July, I put together a small selection of nostalgia inducing recipes. I am travelling back to the States in three short weeks and after two years away, I am feeling pretty sentimental! Sunday is the 4th of July and perhaps one (or all) of these recipes will inspire a few Independence Day menus. I will be celebrating with my closest ex-pat friend here in Sydney and if my oven was not still broken the chocolate chip cookies would be at the top of my ‘to make’ list. Happy 4th everyone!

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Every December disappears in a blink. Between holiday dinners and various projects, my time management skills are seriously tested. That is why I love the idea of brunch – combining meals to save time! I put together this little menu featuring fruity breakfast recipes inspired by Post-Impressionist painters.

If you live in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney and you see a Wentworth Courier while out and about then check out my interview on page 30. If you are not a Sydneysider you can read it here. I also had an article published in the December 2009 issue of Ceramics Monthly. As a tangent off of my dissertation, the article explores the work of contemporary artists who incorporate methods of repair and use into the finished product. From Bethan Laura Wood’s teacups that stain as you drink them to the delicate drips of gold lacquer on the Reiko Kaneko‘s pieces the idea of use as damage is disregarded and instead embraced. You can read the article online here.

In her beautifully composed photographs, Marian Drew includes the lifeless bodies of Australian fauna collected from the side of the road. The photographs represent a meeting of Europe and Australia through the insertion of wallabies, kangaroos, and possums into the still life tradition. The images assume a painterly tone achieved by long exposures and careful application of light via torch. This process allows Drew to highlight important elements in the composition as well as experiment with shadow as a form.

Marian Drew, Crow with Salt, 2006
112 x 134 cm, digital image on German etching paper – archival pigments, from the series Art Fair

Marian Drew was directly influenced by the traditional still life paintings she studied while living in Germany. Ranked the lowest in the hierarchy of genres created in the 17th century, still lifes were considered to be merely a record of inanimate objects. The Dutch depicted opulent banquets with a seemingly endless bounty spilling over the edges of tables while the French presented an ordered and contained tableaux of goods. The fare was delivered to the viewer to be visually consumed and became a dialogue between a prosperous society and their material possessions. The still life genre featuring small game and poultry acted as a signifier of wealth. In Germany in the 15th-century, hunting rights were only granted to the aristocracy. The still lifes demonstrated not only their control over nature by commanded their authoritative stature in society. This theme is continued by Drew who examines the dominating relationship between the urban landscape and it’s natural fauna. Life is juxtaposed against death and contemporary cultural identity is explored through the traditions of the still life.

Marian Drew, Kingfisher with Chinese Cloth and Strawberries, 2009
112 x 134 cm, archival pigment on cotton paper, from the series Birds

While driving down a dusty road in the short documentary Australiana, Drew states that in Australia, citizens are not encouraged to pick up roadkill because it acts as food for other native animals. With this in mind, her compositions take on a whole new meaning. What we consider to be inedible waste becomes a meal for another. Although I cannot appreciate four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie, the blushing strawberries and the sunny lemon would make a tempting dessert to set before a king.

(The photograph of the Berry & Lemon pie was created using the same methods developed by Marian Drew.)

{Berry & Lemon Cheese Pie with a Lemon Butter Crust}

1 punnet fresh strawberries
1/3 c honey
1 lemon
3 TB sugar
1 pkg cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 punnet fresh berries (blueberries or blackberries)

Prepare the Lemon Butter Crust (recipe below) and have ready and chilled. In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and tsp lemon zest. Cream with an electric mixer until light and fluffy and the sugar has dissolved. Spread onto the bottom of the baked pie crust.

Divide the strawberries and cut half into quarters and place in a new bowl. With a hand blender puree the strawberries and mix in the juice from half of the lemon and the honey (alternatively you could mash the strawberries with the back of a fork). Pour the mixture into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile slice the remaining strawberries. Once the strawberry mixture is boiling begin to stir continuously to keep from burning. Cook for two minutes and take off the heat. Add the remaining strawberries and blueberries, mix, and pour over the lemon cheese layer in the pie.

Chill the pie in the refrigerator until the berries have set an a slice will hold it’s shape (about 3 hours). Serve cold.

{Lemon Butter Crust}

1 1/4 c plain flour
1/2 c unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 TB water

Place the flour, butter, lemon zest, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Begin rubbing the butter into the flour working it until the mixture resembles wet sand and clumps together. Add 1 TB of water and mix turning out onto a floured surface and kneading slightly. Form into a round disk and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Work the dough into a 1 cm round on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Fit into a buttered pie pan. If the pastry breaks up you can fit it back together by pressing it into the pie tin. Ensure there is an even layer of pastry within the tin. To create the decorative edge roll the remaining pastry into small balls and press around the edge of the tin. Once assembled in the pie tin, place the pastry in the freezer.

Heat the oven to 180C. Remove the tin from the freezer and place a sheet of parchment paper over it and pour in dried beans or rice to weight the pastry. This will keep the base from rising. Slide into the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the baking weights and prick the base of the crust with a fork to release steam. Return the crust into the oven for an additional 10 minutes until golden. Add non-cooked filling.

Originally I started this blog to establish a forum to study and write about art as well as experiment in the kitchen (experimenting with photography was an added bonus!). I do however, have certain goals, one of which is to curate an exhibition revolving around the idea of a meal. I won’t go into detail but you can imagine my delight when I discovered Caitlin Williams Freeman’s Mondrian Cake from the cafe at the San Francisco Museum of Art. It is my dream! In cake form!! I decided I had to make one but I wanted my version to be easily recreated in any home kitchen. The cake was delicious but there are a few things I will change the next time I try this recipe. First, I will use angel food cake rather than pound cake – I think it would better absorb the natural food coloring and not appear so yellow. Secondly, I will try mixing the berry juices into the batter to see if I can achieve an even stain. Although the slice of cake pictured below turned out pretty even, my results throughout the rest of the cake were spotty at best. Finally, I would wrap the outside in fondant to hold all of the segments together. Using the natural food colorings will not achieve the bright results found in Freeman’s cake but it does provide a pretty tasty way to insert a bit a flavor into each slice.

The painting recreation was inspired by Bridget from The Way the Cookie Crumbles.

Piet Mondrian, Composition No. 8, 1939-42
Oil on canvas, 74 x 68 cm, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

The canvas Composition No. 8 was painted during Mondrian’s time in London and New York where he fled from Paris because of the invading fascist forces. Mondrian worked within rigid self-imposed artistic restraints. Typically he only painted using primary colors and straight sided forms. He founded the De Stijl movement (Dutch for ‘The Style’) which had a profound influence on modern and abstract art. His later paintings feature more lines than the earlier works and have been likened to cartographic maps. During this period, the blocks of color were not habitually contained by the black lines and were instead allowed to ‘float’ freely upon the white space. Mondrian developed the idea of a ‘dynamic equilibrium’ evident through the relationships and patterns of the blocks and lines (1). The composition is not balanced, with more visual activity on the right side of the canvas. This however, is compensated by the inclusion of the large red square in the top left which is then stabilized by the strip yellow at the bottom center of the painting. There is no reason to the rhyme but Mondrian includes enough impetus to carry the eye over the entire surface of the canvas.

Traditionally, pound cake was made with a pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar (hence the name). Often the ratio is paired down to make smaller cakes with additional ingredients added depending on the regional origin of the recipe. The British variation contains dried fruits and yields a very dense cake. My recipe, because of the inclusion of lemon zest, would be closer to the French version called quatre-quarts which features fresh lemon juice. The most favored recipe is the sour cream pound cake found in the United States (2). The sour cream addition makes for a wonderfully moist cake with a very delicate crumb.

{Mondrian Pound Cake}
Pound cake recipe adapted from Good Taste – April 1998

250 grams butter, room temperature
1 c superfine sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest
4 eggs (I omitted 2 of the yolks to keep the cake from becoming too yellow)
1 2/3 c flour
3 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 170C. In a large bowl begin to beat the butter with an electric mixer until it is smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon zest and continue to beat until creamy. Add the four eggs, one at a time and continue to beat the mixture between each addition.

Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and gently fold until well combined. Spoon the mixture into a bread tin and after smoothing the top of batter, bake for 50 minutes or until a testing skewer comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool.

Assembly:

Prepare frosting and natural food colorings (see below). Slice the cake into strips of varying sizes (see picture) paying attention to the order in which the cake was dismantled (it will be helpful to remember for a quick and painless assembly). Select three strips of cake to be stained and poke throughout with a toothpick to allow the berry juices to penetrate the middle of the cake. On a large plate drizzle all of the sides of each strip of selected cake with the berry juice. Be careful not to over-soak the cake and make it soggy. Allow to dry slightly before assembly.

Place a piece of parchment paper on the cake platter. On the first strip of cake to form the base cover all sides with the chocolate icing. Lay the next strip down and repeat the process effectively gluing the cake back together with the icing. Once the cake is reassembled coat the outside with the remaining chocolate frosting. Before serving place in the freezer to set the frosting and to keep the segments together. Will keep for 2-3 days refrigerated.

{Chocolate Frosting}
adapted from Hello, Cupcake!

1 stick butter, cubed
2/3 c chocolate, chopped
450 grams icing sugar
1/3 c milk

Melt the butter and the chocolate stirring often. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer.

Add the icing sugar alternatively with the milk. Continue beating until smooth.

{Natural Food Coloring}

Red: Finely grate two strawberries.

Blue: Boil 1/2 of a pint of blueberries until the juice is released.

Yellow: Add 1/3 tsp turmeric to the juice from half of a lemon.

The next few posts have been carefully planned to coincide with my parents visiting from the States. I last saw them in June ’08 and I can hardly believe I will have them sitting here with me in my flat tomorrow morning. Needless to say, I am very happy and I decided to make this bread a ‘welcome to Australia’ treat for their arrival. I made it for my friend Cassie when she came to visit me in London and we decided that the lemon glaze is what makes this loaf so special.

Vincent van Gogh, Still Life: Red Poppies and Daisies, 1890
oil on canvas, 65 x 50 cm, Private Collection

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