Easy. Fresh. Satisfying. Chunky.

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Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on linen. Making use of the square brush technique I talked about in my previous post, a summery rendition of this jewel studded dish all plated up and ready to gormandise. The real meal is pretty much as colourful as the painting is.

Did you know that all the food painting artwork is available to own in the Official Art Store?  If you want to get your mitts on the original, it is drying and awaiting it's professional photoshoot before being allowed in the shop.

To be kept updated on available paintings, get on the mailing list, yellow box top left.

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The meatless meals recipe

I enjoy the freshness of salads but often find them not filling enough. And so I have a tendency to tinker with them until they become full main meals. This is one of those tinkerings. One hot London evening (an oxymoron most of the time), I felt inspired to feast on the well known Italian tricolore or caprese salad of fresh tomato slices, fresh basil leaves and fresh mozzarella slices. Lacking those ingredients, and being hungry enough for a full meal, this is basically what I came up with. It's been refined over the years into a jewel studded crown of a summer meal.

Big thanks to Mari and Catriona in helping me give this recipe an appropriate name!

200-250g haloumi or paneer cheese, in slices about 1/2cm thick (both of these cheeses can be fried without melting out of shape)
around 310g zucchini, in slices about 1/2cm thick (using a long diagonal works well)
around 240g eggplant, in slices about 1/2cm thick
1 clove garlic
around 260g fresh tomato in slices about 1/2cm thick (about 3 medium tomatoes)
plenty of butter for frying

125g / 3/4 cup couscous
zest of 1/2 lemon
chopped parsley, about 25g
1 cup / 250ml boiling water
slosh of olive oil
optional 'clean out the fridge' veg, diced really fine - 1/2 cup

juice of 1/2 lemon

If you are using haloumi for this dish do not salt anything as it is frying. I repeat -DO NOT ADD SALT- Haloumi is very salty itself and any extra salt will make your tongue weep. Paneer, on the other hand, is usually not salty at all, so taste it first and go for your life.

Fry the zucchini slices in butter.
Fry the eggplant slices in butter. Mince the garlic and add to the frying eggplant. Once you have a bit of browning on the eggplant add some water to the pan. This speeds up the cooking time significantly and ensures the cooked eggplant is lovely and soft.
Fry the haloumi slices. It doesn't need much, just enough to be golden brown on the outside and heated through.
Meanwhile, put the couscous, lemon zest, parsley, olive oil, optional minced veg and boiling water in a container with a lid, cover and leave for 10 minutes. Your couscous is now cooked!
To serve, I like to make a ring (the crown!) around the outside of the plate with the zucchini, eggplant, haloumi and fresh tomato slices all alternating. Then I fill the middle with the couscous mix.
A squeeze of lemon juice all over finishes this off.


This makes a meal for two. Unless you are using a BBQ to fry the ingredients it's not really practical from a cooking space point of view to make this for more than two people.

Pickled Eggplant - Fiona Morgan. An example of square brush in my work.

There was once only one way for a painting to be. The surface had to be smooth, the brushstrokes invisible. Anything less was considered scandalously unfinished. This is talking about the history of European painting of course. Over time, this idea has loosened. Broad brushstrokes, suggestions of detail, obvious brushmarks are now obliviously normal.

Detail of Bastien Lepage's Sarah Bernhardt showing the loose brushwork that has influenced so many modern painters today.

The impressionists really smashed the idea of hiding every brushstroke, but the idea had been gaining ground for quite some time. The artists Velaquez, Bastien Lepage and even as far back as Rembrandt had been toying with letting the painterlyness of paint do the talking.

Angela Morgan (no, not a relative!) makes a real feature of square brush technique in her work.

Square brush or square touch technique is a version of the broken brushstroke technique the Impressionists were famous for, and it is common today.

Detail of a Joe Sorren painting showing off the square brush backgrounds I love in his work.

Usually using brights, flats or filberts, the flat of the paintbrush is used to lay down squarish strokes of paint directly, unblended, in a jigsaw pattern. 

Aldro T Hibbard, and many of the Rockport school of painting are characterised by a square brush technique.

It gives a chunky feeling which is great for modelling structure. Different planes of an object can be deliniated easily with different temperature strokes and different values.

Arthur Streeton showcasing the atmospheric quality of square brush.

     

It easily gives soft edges useful for atmosphere and light.

Daily painter Layne Cook with a dramatic square touch example showing the removal of detail.

The size of the squares eliminates distracting detail and therefore has a unifying effect on the painting as a whole. Anything smaller than one square stroke has to be really important to be included. This eliminates visual clutter, focussing the viewer on the most important aspects of the painting.

Dean Cornwell with an excellent example of fooling the eye into seeing more detail than is actually there. Look at the greys - the timbers and the ground.

It gives a pixellating vibrancy to the surface of the painting. Each stroke can be a slightly different colour and angle which makes the painting appear to sing with more colour and detail than is actually there. The eye detects colour changes and hints of detail. Square touch is a way of fooling the brain into adding what it thinks should be there. Thank you impressionistic heritage.

Sir Henry Raeburn, Scottish portrait painter, managed to subtley use square touch throughout his career of figurative painting, despite being ahead of his time and the difficulty of this technique in portraiture. It's much more suited to still life and landscape.

http://stapletonkearns.blogspot.com/2010/07/more-on-brushstroke.html

There are loads of artists who make great use of this painterly technique. Know of an artist whose work is loaded with square brush? Tell us! Leave a comment.

More art technique articles

This article is one in an ongoing series of technical articles for artists, all archived together and accessible from here. The topics range from details on materials, to the business of art, to specific art techniques. Please make use of this resource.

Sometimes you want to create a vegetarian version of a familiar

meat based meal. And non-vegetarians who have to cook a meatless or vegetarian meal are often stumped about how to get past the mentality of ‘meat and three veg minus the meat’.



The bad news is that sometimes it’s just not possible. Trying to make a vegetarian version of a baked fish, for example, is just setting yourself up for failure.

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to the work of Michael Leunig by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

The Creative Cauldron series of posts explores and showcases the visual styles, techniques, attitudes, ideas, artists and paintings that have had the most impact on me. 

The rest of the series is accessible via the Creative Cauldron page. Have a meander if you please, and remember to check out my artworks on Flickr, and have an insider peek at life as an artist on Facebook.

Refreshing. Zesty. Delicate. Versatile.

Elderflower cordial is made from the flowers of the elder tree (sambucus nigra) in summer. Elderberry wine is made from the berries that grow from the flowers in autumn. This cordial / syrup / squash is wonderful as a mixer in simple cold summer drinks. It's simple to make and far far cheaper than buying a commercial version, if one is even available where you live. I struggle to find it in shops where I am, yet can think of at least three abundant elder trees within two minutes walk. So I make it myself. I first discovered this drink while living in Edinburgh. Just like summer there, the elderflowers don't stay around long enough.

30 heads of elderflowers - the elder tree flowers at the beginning of summer for only a few weeks. That's early December in the southern hemisphere, and early June in the northern. The best time to pick the flowers is on a warm sunny day when the flowers are fully open and when the pollen is at it's height. I've also read that mornings are a better time for picking as by evening the flowers can smell like cat pee, but I haven't personally found this to be the case. It may depend on individual elder trees. At any rate, the flowers should smell heavenly when you pick them. If not, try a different time or different tree.

1kg sugar- yes this seems like a lot but I have tested using less and this amount was the clear flavour winner. Also sugar acts as a preservative, so a large amount means this should keep on the shelf.

1L water

2 lemons

2 oranges (I've read that limes can be used instead, but I haven't tested this.)

55g citric acid - here in Australia this is available in supermarkets in the baking section. I'm told in the UK it is available in chemists. If you get a strange look while purchasing it's because heroin users make use of citric acid, for exactly what I'm not sure. Rest assured that citric acid is a very normal ingredient in cordial making! I've read that tartaric acid can be used instead, according to personal preference, but I am yet to test this.

First clean and sterilize all the cooking implements. It's easy, all you need to do is give them a normal wash, then a quick wash in diluted bleach and finally a rinse under very hot or boiling water. This may be overkill for cordial, but as with all preserves, it's heartbreaking to go to the effort of cooking and bottling only to find three weeks later that everything is growing mould because you couldn't be bothered sterilizing an item. I needed to use a chopping knife, chopping board, grater / zester, giant pot and lid, stirring spoon, 1L bottle, funnel,  sieve and fine mesh muslin.

To make the cordial, put the water and sugar in the pot and heat while stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Put the lid on the pan and leave it to cool to at least luke warm or cooler.

Stir in the citric acid.

Zest all the lemons and oranges and add the zest to the pot.

Then slice the lemons and oranges, discard the ends and add the whole slices to the pot.

Gently shake the elderflowers clean of debris and insects over a sink or bowl or bin and add the entire flower heads minus any leaves to the pot. Do not wash the flowers as you will lose all the lovely scented pollen.

Give the pot a good stir, cover with the lid and leave for 24 hours.

Next day, after giving your hands a thorough wash, firmly squeeze all the liquid from the elderflowers and then discard the flowers.

Gently squeeze about half the liquid from the fruits and then discard the fruits.

Decant your cordial into a sterilized bottle using fine muslin to catch any floaties. A funnel and sieve are very useful here.

Enjoy immediately! Goes well with sparkling mineral water, or gin, as well as with plain water, of course. A refreshing and sophisticated taste, perfect for warm lazy days.

Thrifty. Delicate. Homely. Quick.

Light. Satisfying. Easy. Moreish.

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Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm acrylic on Saunders Waterford 100% cotton archival paper.

Another abstract exploration, this time it's my more usual fascination with combining colour, texture and pattern. This painting explores some of the transparent techniques of watercolour and is ruled by the essential corn kernals, the colours of the actual soup and the  tendrilly patterns of the egg in the broth.

Did you know that all the food painting artwork is available to own in the Official Art Store?  If you want to get your mitts on the original, mailing list subscribers get first dibs on new artwork. Yellow box top left.

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The meatless meals recipe

A lifetime ago when I still ate meat, my super-favourite-must-have in every visit to a Chinese restaurant was Chinese Chicken and Sweetcorn soup (when I eventually discovered Hot and Sour soup there was decision chaos but that's another story). Some dishes just hit the spot every time. Obviously in this lifetime that dish has been off my menu. I finally got around to figuring out how to make a vegetarian version that is the equal in tastebud satisfaction, no fowl tactics required. This is it.

At least 20g dried shiitake mushroom (don't trust what the weight on the packet says, measure it yourself. I've been caught out, and not quite enough of this ingredient makes for a washed out soup)

1.8L water

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups corn kernals (2-3 cobs of corn), either whole (good) or partly crushed/blended (great)

2 large pinches ground white pepper
4 tablespoons dry or medium dry sherry
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons cornflour
2 beaten eggs
2 spring onions, chopped fine
up to 1 tablespoon sugar to taste, depending on the sweetness of the corn

Gently simmer together the water, dried shiitake mushroom, corn kernals and salt for at least 30 minutes. Be careful, if this is boiling it tends to boil over. Simmer gently.
Add pepper, sherry and sesame oil. Bring back to a simmer.
Mix the cornflour with just enough cold water to form a paste. Add this in a thin stream to the soup, stirring constantly. This will thicken the soup. If the cornflour is added slowly enough and the stirring is constant enough, lumps will be avoided.
When the soup has thickened, remove from the heat.
Stir in the beaten egg in a thin stream. It will cook instantly.
Sprinkle with spring onion.
Taste for sweetness. Sometimes the corn lacks sweetness if it is not at the height of it's season. If a pinch of sugar added to the pot improves/intensifies the taste, then cautiously add sugar until you are satisfied with the balance of flavour.

This makes enough soup for 4.

Chunky. Satisfying. Homely. Thrifty.

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Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm acrylic on Crescent Museum RagMat board. This is museum quality board, 100% cotton, made to withstand time.

Abstract Expressionism. A very sixties style of painting. The typical working method is to stand before the canvas and start and let the ideas bubble up from the subconscious while painting to make themselves known. It's not unusual for the artist to only figure out what they painted well after the piece is finished.  This method has had a huge impact on many current artists. The paintings tend to be very abstract and are meant to invoke emotion in the viewer. That's my understanding anyway.

I went about trying abstract expressionism, holding the idea of ministrone soup in my mind while aiming for the particular style of layered large shapes. I was particularly taken by this image by Pamela Scott, available here. It was exactly what I wanted to achieve - a balance of large abstract colour shapes with a retro sensibility.

I have to admit that it was a hundred times harder than it looked. If you like the ministrone soup painting, snap it up, it's a true one off. I won't be working in this style again in a hurry.

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The meatless meals recipe

This ministrone is the genuine article. Though I'm sure there are as many variations on ministrone as there are Italian cooks. This version was originally from the Italian mother of a friend from the distant past.  I'm sure I've put my own twist on it in the intervening years, but I honestly don't remember what was original and what adjustments I may have made. I've cooked this so many times over the years so it's sure to have evolved. My suspicion is that the lambrusca instead of any red wine is my personal twist.

1 cup cooked or 1/3 cup dried cannellini beans
1 cup fresh or 1/3 cup dried whole green peas
7 cups stock
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 stick celery, sliced
1 largish onion, chopped
8 tomatoes rough chopped or around 600g tomatoe puree
optional 1/2 cup of any leafy green roughly chopped
optional 1/2 chilli, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup uncooked macaroni
optional and highly recommended 1 cup sweetish red wine (something like lambrusca is fabulous)

Warning. You will need a big pot.
For dried beans and peas, soak them overnight in the stock and then simmer for 1-2 hours with the celery, carrot and onion until the beans and peas are soft.
For cooked beans and fresh peas, just simmer these together with the stock, celery, carrot and onion for 40 minutes.
Then add the tomato, leafy greens, basil, oregano and chilli. Cook for 10 minutes.
Add the macaroni (and frozen peas here if you are cheating) and cook until the pasta is tender.
Add the red wine and heat through.

Serve with big chunks of crusty bread.
Feeds at least 6.

Leisurely. Versatile. Unusual. Hearty. 

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Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm acrylic on paper. The paper is no ordinary paper, it is textured Hahnemuhle 300 gsm 100% alpha cellulose which is acid-free fibre of vegetable origin. A high quality paper, made to last for generations.

The symbol in this artwork is based on an ancient Chinese lotus charm. The buddah and the lotus are closely connected and I like that the hidden meaning of the charm, continuous harmony, is a suitable sentiment for the celebration of the end of winter and the beginning of a new year that this dish is traditionally served at.

From the charm website, "In Buddhism, the lotus represents purity and detachment from worldly cares because of the dignified manner in which it emerges from the muck of a pond.

Because the Buddha is often depicted as seated on a lotus, the lotus is considered a sacred Buddhist symbol (one of Eight Auspicious Symbols) representing purity and detachment from worldly cares.

The Chinese word for lotus is lianhua or hehua. Lian is also the pronunciation of the word for continuous and he is also the pronunciation for the word harmony so the lotus has the hidden meaning of "continuous harmony"."

Did you know that all the food painting artwork is available to own in the Official Art Store?  If you want to get your mitts on the original, it is drying and awaiting it's professional photoshoot before being allowed in the shop.

To be kept updated on available paintings and other happenings of interest, put yourself on the mailing list, yellow box top left.

***

The meatless meals recipe

On the first day of Chinese New Year (a variable date in January or Febuary) it is traditional to cook this vegetarian dish. Chinese New Year is meant to mark the end of winter, so as it's officially the first day of spring here in southern hemisphere Australia, this recipe is quite appropriate. 

Buddah's Delight goes by quite a few names and a vast array of ingredients. I'll get to that bit.  You may have heard of it as Monks Vegetables. Or maybe as Lo Han Zai or Zai Choi.

As I mentioned, the ingredients are widely varied. I find this dish is as much about sampling different textures together as it is about taste. All the textures are bound together by the flavoured sauce. The sauce varies a lot too. Many recipes use a fermented tofu product as the base of the sauce which some people find nauseating, myself included. It's also a bit tricky to find. Many recipes use a heavily soy sauce based sauce, which I found to be just plain salty and one dimensional. This version uses a modified soy sauce base with heaps more flavour added in and easy on the salt. You should be able to get all the ingredients at your supermarket too.

And the last note is that this dish tastes best if at least half of the ingredients are fresh. In other words, minimise the tofu, starch, lotus, noodles, lilybuds and waterchestnut and maximise the vegetables.

Sauce base:

4 cloves garlic, sliced

sesame oil

2 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 cup dry or medium dry sherry

1 1/2 - 2 cups stock (water from rehydrating the shitake mushrooms is good here)

Recommended ingredients:

bamboo shoots

shitake mushroom (fresh or rehydrated)

1 carrot, sliced

lotus root slices

chinese cabbage, shredded fine (2 handfuls or more)

snowpeas, whole

water chestnut

wood ear / black fungus mushroom (fresh or rehydrated, remove the hard bits, half a handful is enough, this expands a lot)

Additional ingredients:

bean sprouts

dried sticks of bean curd

glass noodles (half a handful is enough)

dried lilybuds

gingko nuts or peanuts or cashews

small cubes of fried tofu puffs

other mushroom

Get a big pot out for this. No, bigger.

Make the sauce base:

Fry the garlic on medium heat until golden in sesame oil.

Remove from heat and add sugar, salt, hoisin, soy sauce and sherry. 

Put back on the heat and simmer until the sugar dissolves.

Time to add your ingredients:

Choose your ingredient selection according to your tastes and what you have available to you. It's more about varied textures than a blend of flavoured ingredients.

Use one handful of each ingredient unless noted. 

Add ingredients one at a time, starting with the one that will take the longest to cook.

Braise each for a few minutes before adding the next until all of them are done.

Add stock as required.

Feeds 4-8 depending on the number of ingredients used. It's a bit of a banquet. Serve on a little rice.