Versatile. Thrifty. Leisurely. Unusual.

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Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on linen. You may know by now that I am quite a fan of rock art, petroglyphs and ancient Neolithic symbols. Onion jam, which starts out as a very large pile of rings of our ancient onion friend, seemed a perfect excuse to explore the ancient symbols of spirals and concentric rings.








Did you know you can download images of the paintings for your own personal (not commercial) use? Computer wallpaper, Facebook profile picture, yes you can. Find your favourite painting on Flickr, go to actions, view all sizes, download the size you want to your device, set it as your wallpaper or profile. And tell your friends where it came from :)

Original artwork can be purchased in the Official Art Store. This particular piece is currently drying and will be available shortly for $150. To find out exactly when that is, get on the mailing list, yellow box top left.

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The meatless meals recipe

There are so many cooking notes to go with this. I made at least ten versions, testing out all sorts of variables. Where do I start?

Ok first, the onions. It doesn't matter which colour you use. The long slow cooking is the real secret to this recipe. Red onions do give a fuller deeper rich colour, as you may expect, but the flavour is most affected by thoroughly caramelising whichever onions you use.

Sweetener. Either white or brown sugar in the quantities given works well, but avoid honey as it's sweetness is too unpredictable. One version I did was sickly with just 1/4 cup of honey. That is not right. Honey is usually less sweet than sugar, but this is not reliable.

Vinegars. Balsamic vinegar gives the most robust and flavoursome onion jam by far of all the variations I tried. If you prefer something milder, I recommend red wine which was easily the tastiest of the milder variations. Then there is white wine (untested), white wine vinegar (insipid), apple cider vinegar (really weak flavour with no depth), red wine vinegar (ok, a bit weak and lacking in flavour depth), malt vinegar (good - mild but acceptable), or sherry (really weak flavour with no depth). If you decide to use one of the weaker flavoured vinegars, cutting back the sugar a little seems to help them in the taste department.

Spices. A clove or two of garlic, a couple of chillis, and olives are other spices that are sometimes added to onion jam. Whatever floats your boat. I didn't like any of these variations.

1-4 tablespoons olive or canola oil, as required to prevent sticking
550-580g onion slices - about 4 large onions of any colour (white, brown or red)
1/4 cup white sugar or 3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 x 5cm stick cinnamon
2-3 star anise, or a few big pinches of ground nutmeg if you detest anise flavour

Cook the onions long and slow in a pan with enough oil to prevent them sticking. Stir frequently. Do not let them burn or crisp at any stage. Keep cooking. They need to be FULLY softened with absolutely no crunch whatsoever. If in doubt, keep cooking. I find this stage takes at least 20 minutes.

Then add in the sugar, vinegar and spices.

Keep cooking long and slow, stirring as needed, until the onions have fully caramelised into one dark sweet sticky mass. I find this takes about an hour.
Again, if in doubt, keep on cooking.

Makes about 1 cup of onion jam. Keep in a container in the fridge. It improves with age :)

Enjoy as an accompaniment to cheese or roast tomatoes (OMG!). Use it wherever you might use chutney. It tends to pair very well with eggs, cheese and tomatoes, and in some instances, potatoes and pumpkin.

Time for a few shots of a painting's progress. I've just finished the painting for onion jam. Here's how it developed...

Chunky. Unusual. Creamy. Moreish.

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Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on linen. The idea of using corn cobs as stamps, similar to how I'd used apples as stamps in Apple and Barley Soup, did not go according to plan as the corn stamps were so indistinct. No matter, this didn't stop me creating the bright, bold and dreamy ode to corn in a once-was-seafood dish, that I'd had in mind.


 





Original paintings for you.

Like the artwork? Tell a friend! And if you already have, THANK YOU.

Original artwork can be purchased in the Official Art Store. This particular piece is currently drying and will be available shortly for $AU150. To find out exactly when that is, get on the mailing list, yellow box top left, or email me (fi at wherefishsing dot com) to express your interest.

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The meatless meals recipe

Chowder is a very American dish (from the New England area), surprisingly uncommon here in Australia. Luckily, there is was a terrific cafe not far from me, run by an American chef, called the Chowder House. Guess what they serve? So it was there that I was introduced to this versatile and satisfying meal in a bowl. After being so impressed with chowder, I voraciously read up on ingredients and variations and methods and got all experimental in the kitchen. Most chowders are seafood based, even the corn ones. Not this one, the synthesis of all that cerebral and experimental research. 

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
2 3/4 cups HOT stock
kernals from 2 corn cobs (200-240g corn kernals)
around 120g sweet potato or pumpkin cut into bite size chunks
2 small capsicums, in small pieces or chunks
1/2 large carrot, in small pieces or chunks
around 300g potato, cut into bite size chunks
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 pinches turmeric
3 pinches white pepper
1 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh finely chopped dill
chilli, to taste

Melt butter in a big pot.
Cook the onion on low heat in the butter until softened and clear.
Add flour and cook until the flour is brown, stirring frequently. This takes about 10 minutes.
Gradually add the HOT stock, stirring to prevent lumps (using hot stock makes it MUCH easier to avoid lumps than using cold).
Add in everything else except chilli.
Put the lid on the pot to keep the liquid from evaporating. Cook at a simmer for at least 30 minutes until the potato is done. If this boils it will boil over - lid or no lid. Be careful.
Add the chilli, take the lid off and cook for another 5 minutes.

Makes a meal for 2.

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Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on linen. A literal interpretation of 'banana bread' - a banana which turns into a loaf- which inevitably has a touch of the surreal. Painted in a pop art icon style reminiscent of the 1960's and similar in style to a previous painting, Mushroom Burgers.

Interior photo by suzettesuzette

Original art on your wall.

Like this painting but having trouble picturing what this might look like on your wall? Email me a photo of your space and I'll Photoshop it into place (like I did with the picture above) so you can get an idea of it framed, hung and to scale.

Original artwork can be purchased in the Official Art Store. This particular piece is currently drying and will be available shortly for $150. To find out exactly when that is, get on the mailing list, yellow box top left. Alternatively, email me to let me know you're interested (fi at wherefishsing dot com).

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The meatless meals recipe

After you're done with making smoothies, banana splits, instant icecream and fruit salad, you could try this way of eating the cargo loads of summer bananas. As a bonus, it is easier to mash defrosted bananas than fresh ones, so you can just pop any older bananas in the freezer and pull them out when you're ready to use them up.

2 cups self raising flour

1/4 teaspoon bicarb soda (the banana is heavy, extra rising power is required)

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup mashed bananas (approximately 3 medium bananas) - frozen then defrosted is easiest

1/2 cup milk

Thoroughly mix dry ingredients together.
Gradually mix in the wet ingredients, one by one in the order given, into a well in the centre of the bowl.
Pour into a VERY well greased (get into those corners and thoroughly coat the bottom) loaf tin (rectangular, approx 10 x 22cm).
Bake at 220C for 10 minutes.
Reduce oven to 180C and continue baking for at least 50 minutes and until a dry knife stabbed into the centre comes out moist but clean.
Let it stand in the tin for 5-10 minutes before trying to turn it out. This greatly increases the likelihood of it coming out in one piece.
Sit on a wire rack to cool.

Serve slices as is, or lightly toasted and smothered with butter.

Makes one banana loaf.

Zesty. Fresh. Hearty. Moreish.

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Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on linen. Celebrating the squiggliness of linguini and the zing and pop of fresh summer ingredients. An oodley botannical inspired ode.

Interior photo by rogue-designs

Original art for you. Yes, YOU!

Did you know you can download images of the paintings for your own personal (not commercial) use? Computer wallpaper, Facebook profile picture, yes you can. Find your favourite painting on Flickr, go to actions, view all sizes, download the size you want to your device, set it as your wallpaper or profile. And tell your friends where it came from :)


Original artwork can be purchased in the Official Art Store. This particular piece is currently drying and will be available shortly for $AU150. To find out exactly when that is, get on the mailing list, yellow box top left. Or email me (fi at wherefishsing.com) to let me know you're interested.

***

The meatless meals recipe

If you grow zucchinis you know that the biggest 'problem' with them is finding enough homes for the sheer quantity of zucchinis that appear. They are nothing if not prolific. And so summer can become a quest for ways to make use of all these zucchinis. I'm not going to add to the cornicopia of recipes out there for soups and baked goodies that manage to inventively squirral away filler zucchini. No, this one celebrates them and makes them a centrepiece, and uses them up promptly at the same time.

Per serve:

100g pasta (linguini!)
300g zucchini (about 1 large or 1 1/2 medium) cut into thin flexible fingers or matchsticks
2 or more tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 or more tablespoons water
juice and zest of 1/4 of a large lemon
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
cracked black pepper to taste

Fry zucchini fingers in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and all the salt.
When appealingly browned (and probably beginning to stick) add water to ensure they are steamed all the way through. Keep cooking until all the water is gone to ensure the zucchini are lusciously soft. Add more water and keep cooking if necessary.
Meanwhile, cook pasta and drain.
Toss the pasta with the other tablespoon of olive oil to coat it well.
Combine the pasta, cooked zucchini, chives and mint. Add the lemon juice, zest and balsamic and mix everything together well.
Add pepper to taste.

Remember, this amount is per person.