Cook like an artist

Within the comfort of their own kitchens, some artists also looked to food as another creative outlet; as Olafur Eliasson once said, “Cooking, like art, is both reactive and creative—it is about being in flux, navigating and trusting our senses and then connecting and transforming.”



Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Photo by Amanda Vick on Unsplash

Smooth it out

supercharged smoothie

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

As we sleep during the night our bodies fast. During periods of fasting the liver breaks down glycogen stores and releases it as glucose into the bloodstream to maintain stable blood sugar levels. When we wake in the morning our glycogen stores are low and need to be replenished in order to maintain metabolism and boost brainpower.

Start your day strong with this Banana-Oat Breakfast Smoothie!

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 cup milk of your choice
  • 2 teaspoons honey or maple syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Nuts or seeds of your choice for healthy protein and fat


Method

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.


COOK LIKE AN ARTIST > CLAES OLDENBURG

This week, the team challenged our Director, Melinda, to make a meal that looks like an artwork. A stickler for simplicity, it is not entirely surprising that Melinda’s recipe has just one ingredient.

Ingredient

An egg at room temperature (Try an organic, free range egg - one from a happy chook - you can taste the difference).

Method

Heat your pan, add oil or butter, slide your egg in and there you go. 

Result

A Claus Oldenburg sculpture, not to scale. 

You could choose an array of accompaniments - chutney, toast, a sprinkle of parsley, salt and pepper. Really, it’s up to you.

If you try out any of our Cook Like an Artist recipes, please share your foodie photos!

#lindennewart #cooklikeanartist #nailedit

Egg-citing!

Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Cook like Claes Oldenburg. Photograph: Melinda Martin.


Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Mini Rainbow Skewers. Photograph: Juliette Hanson.

Rainbow
Skewers

MINI RAINBOW SKEWERS

This colourful and healthy recipe has been inspired by the work of Emma Coulter, whose work is critically concerned with vibrant colour and spatial interventions. Coulter won the Linden Art Prize in 2016.

This is a great one to try with kids!

Ingredients

  • 1 box of toothpicks
  • 1 kiwi fruit*
  • 1 orange*
  • ¼ pineapple*
  • 2 slices watermelon*

*or any 4 fruits of your choice  

Method

Cut up your chosen fruits into little cubes of 1 x 1 x 1cm.
Arrange the cubes into stripes on a plate.
Slide the cubes onto the toothpicks, using one of each fruit for every skewer.



HESTON BLUMENTHAL AND CHEESECAKE WITH EMMENTAL

This week we have looked to the master of magical cuisine, Heston Blumenthal, for our cooking inspiration. Well-known for creating illusory recipes such as ice cream pork pie or meat fruit, we have found a recipe that is achievable without a science-lab kitchen, yet still has that beautifully surprising element of not being all that it appears. 

Ingredients

  • 50g Crushed butter biscuit
  • 30g Mascarpone cheese
  • 2g Gelatin sheet (or Powdered gelatin)
  • 60g Mascarpone cheese
  • 25g Sugar
  • 35g Plain Yogurt
  • 2g Vanilla extract
  • 85g Whipped cream (whipped up 50%)
  • 90g Crushed butter biscuit

  • 45g Melted unsalted butter
  • 150g Mascarpone cheese
  • 3g Vanilla extract
  • 70g Emmental cheese
  • 50g Milk
  • 60g Sugar
  • 6g Gelatin sheet (or Powdered gelatin)
  • 200g Whipped cream (whipped up 50%)
  • Food colouring (yellow, orange)


Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Cheesecake Recipe. Image source.

Cook like
Heston
Blumenthal

Method

Combine the mascarpone and crushed butter biscuit then press into the base of a baseless 12cm ring mould.

Put the gelatine into warm water. Combine the sugar and 60g mascarpone cheese. Add the vanilla extract and plain yoghurt, mix until smooth. Drain the gelatine and melt in the microwave for 10 seconds until it is liquid. Add this to your mixture. Add the whipped cream. Pour this mixture over the biscuit base in the 12cm mould. Let this set in the fridge for about an hour.

Combine melted butter with crushed biscuits. Press into the base of a second, larger 15cm mould.

Add vanilla extract to mascarpone cheese. Blitz 4 slices of Emmental cheese with milk and sugar in a food processor. Pour this into the mascarpone mixture and stir well. Soak and melt gelatine as before then add this to the mixture. Add yellow and orange food colouring to make your cheese colour then gently mix in the whipped cream. Pour ¼ of this mixture over your biscuit base and allow it to set in the fridge.

When set, place your smaller mould and its contents into the centre of the larger mould, on top of the biscuit and cheese layers. Remove the smaller mould by running a knife around the inner edge. Leave the large mould in place and fill it up with the remaining orange cheese mixture. Leave this to set firmly in the fridge.

Once set, use a warm cloth to assist in removing the outer ring mould. Trim the top edge of the cake to give a rounded appearance. Use a small ice-cream scoop to make the holes in your cheese wheel. Store in the fridge until ready to enjoy.

For a forest full of whimsical recipes, with judging by Heston Blumenthal, check out Crazy Delicious on Netflix.

If you try out any of our Cook Like an Artist recipes, please share your foodie photos!

#lindennewart #cooklikeanartist #nailedit


ANICKA YI’S LEMON PASTA


This recipe comes from artist Anikcka Yi, who told Mina “It is super tangy from the lemon juice, floral from the zest, and fresh from the addition of peas and herbs. It is filling yet light, and a platform for endless variations.”

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of spaghetti
  • Zest of 4–6 lemons (however many you use for 3/4 cups of juice)
  • Juice from 4–6 lemons (3/4 of a cup)
  • 4–6 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • A pinch of red chili flakes to taste
  • 1/2 lb finely grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • A handful of fresh basil
  • A handful of Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper


Method

Boil pasta in salted water until al dente and set aside.
Whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, and minced garlic cloves. Then add the olive oil, chili flakes, and a generous pinch of salt and fresh pepper. Whisk in the grated parmesan cheese.

Anicka’s note: “It’s almost like making a lemony, cheesy, salad dressing.

Toss the pasta with the lemon and parmesan mixture and mix well. Taste for seasoning and add more salt.

Mina’s note: Citrus buffers saltiness—add more salt than you think here.

Bring a small saucepan of salted water to a boil and blanch the english peas (one minute) and add to the pasta.

To finish the dish, hand-tear the basil and sprinkle it with chopped parsley over the pasta. Then serve! 

If you try out any of our Cook Like an Artist recipes, please share your foodie photos!

#lindennewart #cooklikeanartist #nailedit

Cook like
Anicka Yi

Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Lemon and parsley image. Source


Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Cook like an Artist: Cézanne’s Brousse. Photograph: Luke Jones.

Cook like
Cézanne

PAUL CEZANNE’S
BROUSSE WITH HONEY AND ALMONDS


Embracing this week’s theme of transformation, Jasmin, our Events Coordinator, took to the kitchen with her seasonal farm produce to create Cézanne’s delectable Brousse cheese. Jasmin made this dish from her home-grown oranges, lemons, honey and goat’s milk. 

Since isolating and working-from-home at her country property, Jasmin has been experimenting with the art of food transformation; in other words, lots and lots of cooking. “It’s a really humbling process to work with ingredients straight from the tree or animal. We picked up two milking goats three months ago just before COVID-19 restrictions began. Since then, and with so much new time on my hands, I have been slowly learning how to make goat’s cheese. So, it was really exciting when this particular artist’s recipe was flicked my way for my turn to Cook like an Artist."

Ingredients (serves 6)

  • 3 oranges
  • 1 lemon
  • 175 g (1/2 cup plus 7 tablespoons) crystallized sugar
  • 1 small pinch ground nutmeg
  • 1 small piece of cinnamon stick
  • 1 clove
  • 3 tbsp thyme honey
  • 600 g (2 1/2 cups) fresh Brousse (or fresh goat’s cheese)
  • 4 drops bitter almond extract
  • 50 g (1/2 cup) sliced almonds

Method

Prepare the marmalade the evening before the meal. Wash the fruit under running water and then pour boiling water over it to eliminate any dirt. Rinse, dry, remove the ends and cut the fruit in thick slices above a pot to retain the juice. Let the slices marinate with the cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, half the sugar and 300 ml (1 3/4 cups) of water until the next day.

Put the container over a slow flame, add 200 ml (3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons) of water and, without covering, bring to a boil, lower the flame and continue cooking for 20 minutes. Take off the heat, add the rest of the sugar and let it cool without covering. Remove the clove and the cinnamon and heat the marmalade until it is boiling, then take if off the flame and let it cool.

Melt the honey in a double boiler. Place the cheese, well drained, in a jar and beat it vigorously with the melted honey and the almond extract. Pour it into a serving cup and let it cool for 30 minutes before serving, decorated with almonds and accompanied by the marmalade.

"Cézanne’s recipe doesn’t include making fresh Brousse cheese, but I had a really great time going this extra step. If you’d like to try making Brousse yourself from scratch, I followed this very simple recipe. You’ll need 1 litre of goat’s milk, 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon and 2 teaspoons of salt. In a pot, bring the milk to boiling. Once the milk is bubbling around the edges, stir in the lemon and salt and continue to boil for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the pot undisturbed for one hour for the curd and whey to fully separate. After one hour, break up the curd and whey with a spoon. Pour the curd and whey into a cheese mould and leave for 2 hours to allow the whey to completely drain. Once drained, store the cheese in a jar in the fridge or enjoy fresh!

“I enjoyed Cezanne’s Brousse with honey and almonds on a homemade sourdough fruit loaf the next morning -another beautiful process of transforming flour and water into bread."  

If you try out any of our Cook Like an Artist recipes, please share your foodie photos!

#lindennewart #cooklikeanartist #nailedit




MILLET’S BREAD ROLLS

This week we have gone for a recipe that would allow you some meditation time whilst baking, as well as the therapeutic pleasure of kneading dough. This is a recipe that was enjoyed by Monet and Millet, presumably because it left them plenty of time for painting as they waited for their rolls to rise.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (225ml) milk
  • 5 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 ½ tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon fresh yeast OR 1 packet dried yeast
  •  4 cups (560g) flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 egg yolk, mixed with 3 tablespoons milk

Method

Heat the milk with the sugar to just below a boil. Leave it to cool until lukewarm. Add the salt and butter. Meanwhile, in a bowl sprinkle the yeast over 1 cup of warm water. Stir in 4 tablespoons of flour. Leave in a warm place for 20 minutes, by which time the mixture should be spongy. Add the rest of the flour.

Mix the lukewarm milk mixture with the eggs. Beat it into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon, then knead by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic, and no longer sticks to the side of the bowl.

Sprinkle four on a board and knead the dough on it for another 5 minutes. Use a warmed knife to cut the dough into 29 pieces and roll each of these into the shape of a fat cigar, about 1 inch by 3 inches. Place the rolls in a warm place, cover with a damp cloth and leave for 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 230 degrees. Flour 2 baking sheets. Place the rolls on the baking sheets and brush them with the egg yolk and milk mixture. Bake for 10 minutes.

Cook like Millet

Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Jean Francois-Millet, Woman Baking Bread [detail], 1854.
Image courtesy of the Kroller-Muller Museum.


Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Claude Monet, The Galette, 1882, “Inventing Impressionism" at the National Gallery, London (2015). 

Cook like Monet

Monet’s Chestnut
Cookies recipes


Ingredients 

  • ½ cup unsalted butter 
  • 1 cup unsweetened chestnut purée 
  • ¾ cup sugar 
  • 3 eggs, separated 

Method 

To prepare, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease 20 cupcake molds. Over low heat melt the butter; add chestnut purée, sugar, and egg yolks (set the whites aside) and stir. Take the pan off the heat. Beat the egg whites to form stiff peaks, and fold them into the mixture. Add the mixture to the molds and bake for 20 minutes or until firm. 

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Frida Kahlo’s
Strawberry Atole


Ingredients 

  • 1 ¼ Cups of masa harina 
  • 6 Cups water 
  • 2 Cups strawberries 
  • ¾ Cups brown sugar 

Method 
 
To prepare, dissolve the masa harina in 4 cups of water and let sit for 15 minutes before straining. In another bowl, puree the strawberries with the brown sugar and 2 cups of water, then drain. Mix the masa harina and strawberries in a large saucepan and stir constantly until thick. 

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Cook like Frida Kahlo

Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Frida Kahlo, The Bride Frightened At Seeing Life Opened, 1943. Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, Mexico City.


Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Ed Ruscha, The Artists’ and Writers’ Cookbook: A Collection of Stories with Recipes © 2016, edited by Natalie Eve Garrett, illustrated by Amy Jean Porter, published by powerHouse Books.

Cook like Ruscha

Ed Ruscha’s Cactus Omelette


Ingredients 

  • 2 eggs 
  • 2 tbsp. small curd cottage cheese 
  • 2 tbsp. diced celery 
  • 3 tbsp. diced cactus (nopalitos, commonly found in a grocer’s international section) 
  • 1 tbsp. sweet butter 
  • salt 
  • pepper 

 
Method 
 
For Ruscha’s cactus omelette, whisk eggs in a bowl, heat a pan with butter, and prepare an omelette as you normally would, lifting the edges when they harden and tilting the pan to let the runny layers slide underneath. While the top is still moist, add salt, pepper, and cottage cheese in the center, followed by celery and the nopalitos. Fold in half and let the omelette set for one minute over low heat. “For people who like shaggy dog stories, add little bits of the green cactus on the top of the omelette to make sad or funny faces,” Ruscha says. 

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Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Artist’s Palate: Ugo Rondinone’s Swiss alpine macaroni. Photography: Baker & Evans.

Cook like
Ugo Rondinone

Ugo Rondinone’s
Swiss alpine macaroni


Ingredients 

  • 250g dry elbow macaroni 
  • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced 
  • 250g bacon 
  • 2 medium onions, peeled and sliced 
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and diced 
  • 1 tbs butter 250ml cream, half and half, whole milk or a mixture of any of these 
  • 1½ tbs cornflour 
  • 3 tbs chopped fresh parsley 
  • 250g cheese, such as Bergkäse, Gruyère, Appenzeller or Emmentale 
  • breadcrumbs, for sprinkling 


Method
 
 
Preheat the oven to 190C. 

Boil the macaroni and potatoes separately until al dente. Set aside. Cut the bacon into strips and cook until lightly crisp. Set aside. Sauté the onions and garlic in butter until caramelised and browned. Set aside. 

Mix the cream or milk with cornflour and parsley in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. 

Layer half of the cooked macaroni, potatoes, bacon, onions and cheese in a 2-quart casserole dish, then repeat the layers. 

Pour the milk mixture over the macaroni, sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and bake for 35 minutes until lightly browned. 

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Monet, The Galette

IMAGE > Artist’s Palate: Paula Rego’s lulas guisadas. Source Wallpaper.

Cook like Paula Rego

Paula Rego’s 
Lulas Guisadas


Ingredients 

  • Serves 4 to 6 
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped 
  • olive oil 
  • 1kg of fresh tomatoes or 2 x 400g cans of tinned tomatoes 
  • 2kg fresh cleaned squid (ask the fishmonger to clean it and wash any gloopy bits at home), chopped into fat rings or strips, with tentacles intact 
  • Salt and pepper 
  • Bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped including the stalks 


Method
 
 
Simmer the onion gently in the olive oil. This is called refogado in Portuguese and is the start of most recipes. Do it gently until the onion is transparent, but don’t let it brown. 

If you’re using fresh tomatoes, add them to the onions, put a lid on and sweat for a few minutes. Take the lid off, stir and sweat some more, then add a cup of boiling water. 

Add the chopped squid and tentacles, put the lid on and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally and adding water if needed. Keep prodding the squid with a fork to see if it’s cooked. When the fork goes in easily, add the salt and pepper. 

Add the chopped parsley and cook for another 15 mins. The squid should be tender when you poke it. (The squid will get softer the longer you cook it.) 

If you’re using tinned tomatoes, add the squid to the cooked onions first, put the lid on and cook for about 5 mins. Add a cup of water, put the lid back on and simmer, making sure the squid doesn’t burn. The squid will also release its water. After about 20 mins, add the tinned tomatoes and cook for an hour. Prod the squid every now and then to see if it’s cooked. When the fork goes in easily, add the salt, pepper and parsley. 

Serve with plain boiled rice or mashed potato. Both will soak in the squid gravy. 

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