eat; beetroot risotto cakes served with a blood orange salad

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A few weeks ago, we invited some girl friends around to have a girly night of watching Mad Men Season 3. What to cook for dinner?!?! I had some beets and blood oranges so decided to cook up this amazing dish! It isn't vegan but I do think it will work without the egg and you can replace the goats cheese with a vegan yoghurt.

Beetroot (beets for all ye Americans!) might have to be one of my favourite vegies but I'm not really a fan of risotto. I came across this recipe and the thing that captivated my imagination was turning the risotto into little cakes of magenta heaven! And heaven it is! 

I've tweeked the recipe a little and served it with an amazing salad using the leaves of the beetroots adding blood oranges for more amazing colour (you can use normal oranges if you don't have access to blood oranges).

What you need;
2 cups arborio rice
6-8 cups vegie stock
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
splash of balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup finely chopped continental parsley
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 small beetroots
4 sprigs rosemary, plus extra
Goats cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Blood Orange Salad
leaves from the beetroots
3 blood oranges
1/4 red onion
splash of balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Start by roasting the beetroots in a water bath. To do this, wash and then chop the tail and stalks off the beets and add 1/2 cup of water to your baking dish. Add the beetroot to the pan and the rosemary twigs.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about half an hour at 180C (375F). Check at the 30 minute mark using a knife to pierce the beetroot. If it goes in easily, they are ready. Cook a little longer if need be. Once done, discard the rosemary and let the beetroots cool enough so you can peel them. Peeling is easy as the skin rubs off. Once peeled, add to a food processor and whiz away until pureed. You can freeze it at this stage for later use if you like.

To make the risotto, heat the olive oil in a pot and then add the arborio rice. Lightly toast the rice on a medium to high heat for about 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. 

Add 1 cup at a time of the stock, stirring constantly, allowing the liquid to be totally absorbed before adding the next cup. Continue this process until the rice is cooked (check by biting into a rice grain and seeing if the center is cooked)

Once cooked, add the beetroot puree, a good splash of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste and continue until the risotto is on the drier side.

Set the risotto aside and let cool. Once cool, add the chopped parsley and beaten eggs. Mix well.

You're now ready to make the risotto cakes.

Use your hands to create the balls at any size you like. Not too big though. I used about a heaped tablespoon for each. Roll them around in the palm of your hands into a ball and then gently press down. I was making them as I went rather than have a line up waiting. It's all up to you.

Shallow fry with olive oil on a med heat, cooking on each side for about 2 minutes, or lightly golden in colour. 

To arrange, I stacked the cakes one on top of each other. Before placing the second cake, crumb some goats cheese on top of the first one, then gently stack the second. Again, crumb some goats cheese on top and sprinkle with finely chopped rosemary. I added a little sprig for decoration.

Blood Orange Salad.

Juice one blood orange and pour into a glass. Add olive oil so that the amount of oil is even to the amount of orange juice. Add a small splash of balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Mix and set aside.

Shred the beetroot leaves going across the leaves into about 1cm strips. Peel the remaining two oranges with a sharp knife, making sure you cut away the white parts. Cut the oranges in half and begin to slice into thin pieces. Shave the onion as thin as possible. Mix the ingredients in a bowl and arrange on a plate. With a teaspoon, drizzle the dressing over the salad.

Voila! A yummy and 5 star looking dinner!!!! 

Buon Appetito!

pink; untitled (male gaze, working title)

 

This is Nathan Lam Vuongs photograph which is part of a series of works he had on exhibit in one of the galleries I visited at CAL Arts two weeks ago. I would like to start by giving my apologies to the artist and to you guys, as this is such an awful reproduction of the actual photograph! I had my shitty camera with me and believe me, it really is shitty! You can check out a better reproduction of Vuongs work here at Flickr and the complete series this photograph is a part of.

Vuong is an interesting man to look at. He wears brightly coloured socks which match brightly coloured '80's inspired jumpers that look like they are made lovingly by someones grandma. He is the son of Vietnamese refugees and is coming to the end of his MFA program at CAL Arts here in Los Angeles. His website called 'nails by asians', totally reflects his humorous attitude towards his cultural heritage. Vuong works in photography, karaoke-works, performances, watercolors, and installations  dealing with his own issues within the Asian American culture and the nuances of longing, loneliness, and confusion in dating.

The work above has a working title; thus Untitled (Male Gaze) followed by 'working title'. There were four photographs in total, all exhibited with the same 'streamer' background and all taken from the waist up. The differences between the way these men were presented to us was in the choice of coloured background and the choice of coloured streamers; soft pink, blue, green and yellow reflected a colour range normally associated with a babies room. These streamers reacted subtly to the movements of the viewers bodies as they walked by each one, creating a physical relationship between the viewer and the viewed.

Before you begin to read any further, I invite you to take a moment and scroll down to watch the video documentation I took of this work hanging in the gallery space. As you have seen in the video below, there is a creepiness to these works. This series of works by Vuong follows a tradition that began in painting (famously known with the Mona Lisa) where the sitter's eyes seem to follow you as you walk past the work. This optical illusion in paintings and photographs is created by having the sitter look straight into the camera lens or directly at the painter. Our brain then tricks us into thinking the eyes are following us, when the reality is they cannot. As I did my research on this post, I came across Fong, an art collaboration group lead by Golan Levin. Fong created Opto-Isolator, which is a mechanical eye that follows you as you walk on by, even blinking as you blink. A very different experience to that of Vuong's work, but I did find it to be a nice contrast.

The men in this series of works by Vuong are his silent crushes, who he asked to pose for these photographs without telling them what the relationship between them was. Once printed on paper, these photographs go through a seemingly violent, yet planned and detailed transformation. Vuong pulls out a scalpel and with careful incisions, cuts the eyes out of his crushes. By performing this 'surgery', these men are forced to look at him but there seems to be a feeling of revenge on these men  for Vuongs unrequainted silent crush. They would be more passive in their gaze had he not cut their eyes out. It reminds us of our own desperate attempts in the past to receive the gaze of our own silent crushes.

Walking past four of these photographs made me feel very uncomfortable. It was as if I was forcing these men to look at me. To be gazed upon or to not be gazed? That is the question Vuong asks through this series of works, creating an uncomfortable revisit back to our own adolescent years when our desire to be gazed upon may have seemed to be a much more intense and desperate experience than it has become as an adult (or so we hope!).

love; ten things I love this week

my-chef.org

1. Crossaints with coffee!!! Dolphina and I went out for THE most amazing crossaints the other morning. Straight outta the oven! When is someone going to make a vegan crossaint? Oh actually, that might be my path to millions!!!! LOVE!!!

2. Liquid Smoke. I'm not sure if it is in Australia, but let me tell you, this little bottle of smoking goodness will add the most amazing flavour to your dips, marinades and anything else. LOVE!!!

3. This video on happiness. I do hope my 18yo nephews watch this as they are starting their first year at University and it touches them. LOVE!!!

ifood.tv

4. OMG!!!! My friend Glo sent me a link to a great idea! Click HERE! 

5. These photos of Basset Hounds! A friend of mine posted this link on F.B and they are funny! LOVE!!!!

6. These shoes! I bought them this week and they are the hottest pink (the photo does no justice!) you've ever seen! Best part is they are recycled!!!! LOVE!

7. This music box component. My housemate Natalie was cleaning her room the other day and came in to mine saying she had something for me. Oh what a lully thing it is indeed! It plays 'It's A Small World', which means soooo much to me right now. It was the first ride I went on, on my first trip to Disneyland and as I am leaving my wonderful Lala Land next week, it was the perfect thing to remind me Lala Land is never going to be that far away from me. LOVE!

octopusg.blogspot.com

8. Rain arriving on L.A's doorstep and sticking around that little bit too long, like an unwanted visitor! I must admit it is a wonderful thing when rain does visit L.A. It is the perfect excuse to stop, put on the under worked heater and bake all day! Vegan cupcakes came out of my oven in abundance today!

9. Just got an email from Gallery 1988 here in L.A who are having a show about rabbits! 100 artists were asked to participate by interpreting Watership Down, a fantasy/political novel about a small group of rabbits. Looks amazing! Will have to check it out during the week! You can see the pics here.

10. Creating a Facebook page for eatpinklove! I loved creating a logo for it and am enjoying writing my short fantasy lines for it everyday. Check it out here and become a fan!

eat; eatpinklove meets glo

flickr.com

I met a wonderful woman named Gloria (affectionately known as Glo) a month or so ago and we finally ate together this week. She  has her own blog about food, music and things she loves and has been tempting me with talk about her Arabic (Palestinian) foods and flavours and I was in absolute seventh taste bud heaven when Glo invited me around for lunch. She made a BIG bowl of Fattoush and while she prepared the salad, heated up a piece (or three!) of pita bread on the stove for me to try Lebneh, which she poured olive oil over, Za'atar which is an amazing combo of spices and her home-made Hummus (one tip for all ye out there; never, ever invite me around and distract me with food while you're doing the cooking!!!!) OMG! I was soooooo excited I almost wet my pants over the party that was happening in my mouth!

Arabic cooking uses lots of spices, similar to Indian cooking but without the heavy cooking time. It is super fresh and light and mainly served as Mezza, which is the Arabic version of Tapas. I must admit that Glo's Hummus put mine to shame, and I have always been proud of mine! More oil, more garlic and more lemon next time!

Above is what I ate while Glo was chopping. To the left is Glo's amazing Hummus and to the right is the Lebneh spread onto a piece of pita bread and then dipped into the Za'atar...YUM!!!! (I must remember to take a photo before diving right in!)

So I've decided to share Glo's recipe for Fattoush Salad. It is really simple to make but what gives it something special is the Sumac spice powder. You will be able to find this in most spice stores.

Glo's Fattoush Salad

Serves 4

What you need;

4 small pita breads

4 Roma lettuce

2 organic tomatoes

2 Persian (Lebanese) cucumbers

10 small spring onions

2 bunches of curly leaf parsley

1 bunch of mint

3/4 lemon juice

3/4 olive oil

4 tsp ground Sumac

salt and pepper to taste

Start by placing the pita breads into an oven on a med to high heat while you're chopping and preparing the salad. Keep an eye on it so you don't burn them!

Chop the lettuce, tomatoes cucumber and spring onions as shown in the pics above. Add it all into a big bowl and set aside.

To make the dressing, chop the parsley with a Mezzaluna knife if you have one, into smallish pieces. Do them same with the mint. Add to the oil and lemon juice that is in a cup and stir in the sumac, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Break the pita bread into small bite size pieces and add to the awaiting salad. Pour the herb dressing over the salad and toss. Place the salad into individual servings and sprinkle with a little more Sumac.

Buon Appetito!

I'm really loving cooking with other people so if you out there have an amazing vegetarian dish (preferably vegan) that you would like to share with me and be a feature in an upcoming post, send me a message and we'll work out a day of pure eating indulgence!!!! For all you in the States, I'm only here for another two weeks before I return home, so get to it! Those in Australia, start booking me in for a lunch date after the 30th of March and let's eat!

pink; pink constellation

whitehotmagazine.com

This past week, I went to an artist talk at California Institute of the Arts by Martin Kersels, who is the current co-director of the Art Program at the College. I must admit to seeing two pink works, one by Kersels and one by a current second year MFA student, so next week I will be posting about the pink work by the student.

Martin Kersels dominates the room with his presence. A large man with a large presence, one cannot help but notice him when he is in the room, and this is what he plays on within his practice. Kersels began his talk where most artists don't, at the beginning of his practice, before he completed his MFA at CAL Arts. He showed us works he produced between 1984-1993 while being a member of an all male art group called SHRIMPS. The influence of this group on Kersels performance practice can still be seen today. They performed live performances where they explored 'daintiness' and other characteristics not normally associated with large men. One such performance was the men taking on feminine attributes while wrestling with female wrestlers, with their movements being restricted by small platforms. The result is often humorous and fun and Kersels definitely knows how to make his audience laugh.

Pink Constellation was created in 2001 and is a two part work, the other titled Tumble Room. The work revisits the movie technology of the revolving room, famously used by Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding in 1951, where a camera is fixed into place as it looks into a room. I wanted to concentrate on Pink Constellation rather than Tumble Room as I have seen similar works to Tumble Room before, but I will briefly write about it towards the end of this post. The image above and below are video stills of Pink Constellation. I really searched hard to find a copy of this video on the net but was unsuccessful. You will just have to imagine it. 

culture24.org.uk

Kersels uses the image of a teenage girls room as the backdrop to the performance and throughout the nineteen minute video performance, strange things happen (as if watching someone dance on the walls and ceiling wasn't strange enough!). The beginning of the video sees Kersels himself entering the room, dressed in outlandish zebra print pants that look like he just stepped out of the eighties, paired with a brightly coloured orange top. One is completely struck by this image as it contrasts so vividly with the image of a sweet looking teenage girl and the girly pink bedroom. My first impression was, 'what the hell is this?!?!'

The video wavers between Kersels and a teenage girl and their individual interactions with the room. Where the teenage girl looks graceful and totally comfortable within the room, sometimes seen just reading, Kersels looks awkward, clumsy and a little creepy. They both dance at some stage during the nineteen minute performance; the girl, graceful and seamless in her dance as the room is revolving, Kersels jolted, unrelated and awful to look at throughout his dance. It reminded me of those scenes where the drunk Uncle gets up to dance at your party and is a total train wreck but you can't seem to look away.

This is where Kersels interest in contrast and expectations lies, of what a big guy should be within our society and how we may view them. We don't see big men as dainty, nor do we see them as being graceful, even if they are. There is a point where the room is not nailed down anymore and the video comes to a crashing end, literally, when the last five minutes or so, sees Kersels struggling with a collapsing room around him. Not only is Kersels himself thrown around the room, unable to get his balance, but he is now struggling to protect himself from the harm the teenage girly room is about to inflict. The bed, the desk, the lamp and even the bedside table, all become weapons against this middle aged male intruder. What a fitting end to an attempt to relate to the life and thoughts of a teenage girl.

junglekey.com

I did like this work by Kersels, even though at first viewing, I was a little creeped out by his initial entrance into the pink room. This work is successful at portraying contrast because of the teenage girls room backdrop. It becomes the antithesis of daintiness and gracefulness, prettiness and the entry point to femininity. It is all that Kersels is exploring within his practice as a large man trying to fit into a world that seems to want to continually put stereotypes onto people like himself.

moussemagazine.it

The picture above is Tumble Room. It has been shown at various museums around the world. It is the teenage girls room slowly tumbling into a destoyed void. Kersels mentioned that he buys the furniture from Ikea, and then 'updates' the posters on the walls so it becomes a contemporary teenage girls room. He showed us collages he had created for its recent showing that included pictures of Justin Bieber and Edward Cullen to be taped to the wall of the bedroom. He seemed to take delight in imagining himself as a teenage girl and what and who they would idolize at that age.

love; ten things I love this week

1. OMG!!!! Is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen?!?!?!?! Cats with wigs...yes, they do actually make them specifically and you too can buy one for your precious little fuzzy love! It's soooo strange but oh so right! You can check out more at the website. LOVE!!!!!

2. The real life Simpsons house! I am not a fan of The Simpson's but I can certainly appreciate anything from cartoons transformed into reality! The house was built as a competition to win way back in 1997. The house does still exist, but it has been de-Simpsonized :0(  You can see what it now looks like here. One day I hope to have a house that looks like this! Check out the interior photos here.

3. Speaking of cartoon houses made into reality...Mini's kitchen at Disneyland is my sort of kitchen!!!! LOVE!!!!

4. Finding this little piece of stuffed joy! I was walking to the bus stop and came across it just sitting on the fence. A big thanks to the person who made me smile :0) LOVE!!!

5. I came across this really cool photo but can't download it! Check out this link. LOVE IT!!!

matthewkenneylifestyle.com

6. Cafe Gratitude coming to L.A! Oh how I loved this place in San Francisco and they have finally arrived here in L.A. They have titles for their meals like "I Am Elated" for their raw burrito and "I Am Extraordinary" for their BLT. Crazy really as it does feel odd to make a statement like that to your waiter/waitress but it is part of the experience. Go hippy!!!!! Pity I only now have a two weeks to enjoy the place before I head home to Australia. LOVE!

7. The bathroom at Cafe Gratitude. This photo doesn't show it well, but written all over  the mirror was "I am an expression of beauty". LOVE!!!

amazon.com

8. Sorry guys but I couldn't resist! More Cafe Gratitude! On Saturday night I went back to Cafe Gratitude with my housemate and bought their cookbook!!!! YAY!!! When I left San Francisco, that was one of my biggest regrets not having bought their book. Now I have it! And yes, you'll all benefit from me owning it! LOVE!

9. This car I'm driving! Yes it is an ex cop car! My friend Megan from Kumquat Kitchen drives this car around sometimes (don't ask!) and she has lent it to me for the week that she is in Hawaii. It is soooo funny watching people react to the car. One guy yelled out to me "Aint you gonna give him a ticket!!!!" while I was stopped at the lights. Soooo funny! LOVE!

10. Cruising along Mulholland Drive. Yes, Lynchy reference here.  If you haven't done it, I highly recommend it! Lot's of great views of Lala Land. I'm playing tourist for the next two weeks here in Lala Land. Oh how I will miss this place :0(

eat; mexican inspired avocado boats

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I am loving the idea of a 'salad boat' and so for this week, I couldn't resist but post my latest creation! Here in California, we have Mexican food in abundance, but I have not been a fan. Maybe because it is based around meat, or maybe I don't like my food looking like it's a dogs breakfast, either ways, I cannot help but associate it has 'hang over' food or 3 am food! I have been taken to everyone I know 'favourite' Mexican restaurant as a way to introduce me to 'the best'. Nup. Still haven't found what I'm looking for in Mexican food. So this week I decided to create my own Mexican inspired amazingness that even a true Mexican would be impressed with. And here it is!

Serves 2

What you need;
1 ripe avocado
1 organic tomato
1/4 red onion
1/2 yellow capsicum (bell pepper)
big handful of fresh corriander (cilantro)
1 can of black beans
4 Tbs olive oil
1/2 garlic clove
juice of half a lime
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt to taste
good quality corn chips that are unsalted (health store quality)

Chop up the tomato, red onion and capsicum into small pieces. Place in a bowl. Roughly chop the fresh corriander and place in the bowl with the other vegies. 

Open the can of black beans and drain in a colander. Rinse under running water and drain well. Add to the vegies and mix together.

Mince the garlic into a small bowl and add oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Mix and set aside.

To prepare, lay out as many con chips on a plate as you would like to eat. Slice the avocado in half and remove the seed. Gently peel away the skin. Be careful not to destroy the shape. Gently place on the corn chip base aiming to keep the avocado level.

With a spoon, add small amounts at a time until, piling as high as you can get without it collapsing into the corn chip bed.

Drizzle the dressing evenly over the top of the salad with a teaspoon. Vola, an avocado boat fit for the king of Mexico!

Eating this can be a challenge. I suggest serving with a knife and fork so you can slice small pieces of avocado and scope up the salad onto a corn chip and eat it in a similar way to a chunky dip.

Buon Appetito!!!