eat; raw butternut pumpkin pappardelle

I decided to go on a raw diet this last week (well, I still had my espresso!!!) and will be posting the yumminess I discovered and 'cooked' up over the next few posts. My decision to go raw was to discover how to create great tasting meals that were more than simply tossing a salad. It was more challenging than I imagined and I used ingredients in ways I had never used before. I had some disasters but mainly successes. I don't have a dehydrator and the food processor in my share house is a little kids toy compared to the beast I have at home in Melbourne. I tried dehydrating using the oven, keeping the temperature as low as I could and the door of the oven ajar with a wooden spoon. It worked but I had to be home for at least 6 hours as I was not confident leaving the oven on. This was a problem.

There is an element of raw 'cooking' that is heavy and too flavourful for me.; things like a raw lasagna where more than one layer is a combination of too many flavours. I like the coupling of intense flavours and uncomplicated freshness, so I will attempt a raw lasagna at some stage using only one complicated layer and the rest using vegies in their raw state . 

I have decided to keep going with my raw adventures, keeping my diet at 80% raw which would mean I only have 4 cooked meals a week, or 8 meals at 80% raw. I imagine creating meals with cooked brown rice adding small chopped raw vegies or meals using beans and the rest of the ingredients raw. I will consume fully cooked meals but will keep them at a minimum or plan it that my night out with friends, will be my cooked meal. This will be an interesting adventure but I think will be a good way to cut out the 'I'm starving! I'm just going to shovel in something before I die!' action, which for most vegetarians, is normally carbohydrate rich foods.

Day 1 of my raw week was this amazing Butternut Pumpkin Pappardelle. Yes, I can hear you all...'WTF?!?!?! RAW PASTA?!?!?!' Especially as I AM THE PASTA QUEEN!!!!

But let me tell you, this recipe by one of my favourite raw chiefs, Russell James, is pretty fun to eat and has amazing flavours that will surprise any skeptic. Give it a go and see for yourself!!!!

This recipe serves 4.

What you need;

Pasta

1/2 butternut pumpkin (squash). Try to
get one that is as straight as can be

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbs olive oil

Cream sauce

1/2 cup raw chashews

1/4 cup raw pine nuts
1/2 cup water

1/2 clove of garlic
1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp nutritional yeast

4 basil leaves

Assembly

2 cups rocket (arugula)

3 Tbs shallots, sliced paper thin

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1/4 tsp salt

Start by soaking the cashew and pine nuts in filtered water for 2-4 hours. Once the time is up, drain and rinse, then put on a kitchen towel and dry by rolling a little.

If you have time, place the tomatoes into a very slow oven for 8 hours on a tray with a little oil.  Keep the door ajar with a wooden spoon. If you have a dehydrator, thats even better! Otherwise, fresh is fine.

I've taken pictures of the steps to cutting and preparing the pumpkin for shaving into pappardelle shaped pasta. 

Start by cutting the pumpkin in half, length wise.

 Turn the pumpkin on its cut side and slice length ways about 1 1/2cm.

Remove the skin with a potato peeler and cut out the seeded section.

 I've added this photo to show you how to 'shave' the pumpkin into strips. 

Try and slice all the way along in one big steady but slow action. 

You will have bits left over that are too hard to peel. 

 Save in a container for use with another recipe within a few days.
(I'll be posting a recipe within the next few weeks where I used the left over bits and the other half of pumpkin)

Vola! Your pasta is ready!!!! Add the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and toss so each piece is covered. Set aside.

For the cream sauce, simply add all the sauce ingredients into the food processor, except the basil leaves, and wizz away until smooth!!!! You may need to add more water until you get the consistency like a sauce. Add basil leaves towards the end and pulse to chop it up.

Back to the pappardelle.; add the rocket (arugula), shallots, salt, (leaving out the tomatoes until later) and mix well by hand. Add a handful onto each plate and pour a good amount of sauce onto each serving. This is simply for aesthetics as I think this looks better than serving it with the sauce mixed in. Now add the tomatoes onto each plate and serve.

  

YUM!!!!!!

Buon Apettito!

pink; for the love of god

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Damian Hirsts For The Love Of God  isn't exactly a candidate for contemporary works in pink but I  was reminded of this work in an email newsletter from e-flux stating this work will be on show at Palazzo Vecchio in Florence for only the third time since Hirst made it in 2007. It is a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead. I figured a work with a pink diamond in it is surely allowed to find its way into this section of my blog...don't you think?!?!?!

Hirst spent $16 to $20 million to make this work and it sold for $99 million. This makes the work the  most expensive art work ever made. I think it had to be. Making this work with fake diamonds would not have allowed it to be so poignant. It needed to be an exorbitant expression through wealth to have the impact it does. It becomes a tongue-in-cheek execution of the idea it is trying to convey.

Hirsts works deal with death carrying on a tradition of artists who created in the genre memento mori. The diamond encrusted skull reminds us of our mortality.  We may try to defy aging or improve our physical appearance, but in the end, we cannot defeat death. This skull stands as a shining death star staring back at us with a victorious grin, knowing in the end, it will win our fight. We are living creatures after all, and yes, we have things we want to achieve, to create for ourselves and others, but our final destination, goal, or point in life is death, to become this skull (well, not exactly encrusted in diamonds, but you get my point).

We use the term 'for the love of God' towards someone in a situation when we want them to be aware of their irrational behaviour at that moment. We even end it with exclamation marks!!!! Hirsts use of the saying in the title of this work is his way of telling us to wake up and see the bigger picture, to be aware of how we are spending our days, our years, our lives. For the love of God, realise that one day, no matter how much riches you have accumulated or how much 'success' you have had, you will die. Simple. Make the most of now! (Don't you worry, I'm listening too!!!!)

Ahhhhh, la vita bella! Enjoy every step as if it were your last :0)

love; 10 things I love this week

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1. Perfume! I love a spray as I head out the door. My favourite is good old Paris by Yves Saint Laurent.  It was launched by the design house in 1983 and has a flowery fragrance. It is a blend of mimosa, orange flower, rose, moss, sandalwood, and amber. I first got a bottle as a gift for my 21st in 1991 and have always had a bottle, while others have come and gone. LOVE!!!!!

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2. A gold handbag!?!?! My housemate came home the other day with a gold bag stating that what you put your money in is a reflection of how you feel about it. By putting your money into a gold bag surely must instigate more money!!!! Will be shopping for one as soon as spare money comes my way!!!! LOVE!!!!

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3. White tights with black spots! Well of course I do! Look at the design of my blog! LOVE!

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 4. White sunglasses! I do love them and have owned a pair on and off forever! Even as a kid, I loved 'em. LOVE!

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 5. Drinking 1.5 Liters of water a day. Yep, been doing this forever as well! I don't ever buy bottled water as the plastic thing aint good for me or my environment. I re-use my Laken water bottle, carrying it wherever I go, and YES it is pink!!!! LOVE!

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6. Mice. I know, what the hell are vermin doing in my list of 10 things I love this week?!?!?! Well, I've begun to appreciate these cute little creatures (look at him!) for what they are doing in our compost. Yes, I know they are creepy and freak you out when they scurry along, but I do love the hard work they do and how they contribute to my recycling! LOVE!

7. I went out to enjoy my green smoothie in this mornings winter sun and came across this only patch of water outside. It was the shape of a heart! How amazing is this?!?!?! Is the universe trying to tell me something after finding the paper heart last week in the gutter and this water stain this morning?!?!?! LOVE!!!!!!

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8. I watched this last night and LOVED IT!!!!! If you haven't had a chance to see it, make some time this week to see Balck Swan. It is powerful, nerve-racking and extremely thoughtful. I still can't think straight after seeing it last night! LOVE!

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9. "A life lived in fear is a life half lived". LOVE!!!!!

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10. Having girly nights with my housemates!!! Tonight we are doing our nails and putting a mask on. I think I'll be off now to create a home made mix and treat the girls...LOVE!!!!!!

eat; orange chiffon cake

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The other week I wanted to bake. It was during our six days of continuous rain here in Los Angeles and it was COLD! In the fridge were some oranges and I couldn't think of anything better to warm the house up than with the smell of oranges running through with the warmth of the oven. This cake is divine! It is light and fluffy and goes really well with vanilla bean whipped cream. We unfortunately did not have cream to serve with it on the night, but let me tell you, the day after, I was heading for a B-line straight for some cream!!!

Chiffon cakes were invented in the 1920s by a Californian (how appropriate!) named Henry Baker who went on to sell his recipe to General Mills in the 1940s. Chiffon cakes were popular in the 1950s and then seemed to fade away. I can imagine the ladies in their full skirt floral dresses, bum in the air opening the oven door to check if their cake was ready...and their kitchens! I got this recipe from the joy of baking website where the recipe was adapted from The Woman's Association of St. Paul's United Church's (Spryfield, Nova Scotia) "Book One Favorite Recipes" dated 1956.  So this would have actually been a recipe those 1950's housewives would have followed!!!!!

Here is the recipe. There are a few things to watch for that I'll mention throughout the recipe.

What you need;

6 large eggs, separated and at room temperature plus 1 additional egg white

2 1/4 cups of sifted all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups of castor sugar

1 Tb baking powder

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup of vegetable oil

3/4 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice

2 Tb orange zest

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 tsp cream of tartar (this can be replaced by baking powder)

Separate the eggs into two bowls. Preheat the oven to 170c (325f) and grease up then flour a 10" (25cm) ring cake tin.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, place sifted flour (don't be lazy here, the flour MUST be sifted). sugar (minus 3 Tb), baking powder and salt. Mix together until combined. 

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg yolks, oil, orange juice and zest and vanilla extract. Beat about one minute or until smooth. I don't have a mixer here in my share house in L.A so I did this step with a bit of elbow grease and a whisk.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are foamy. Add the cream of tarter and continue beating until soft peaks form. 

Gradually beat in the 3 Tb of sugar until stiff peaks form. Make sure you do beat it until it is glossy and the peaks form and be careful not to over beat! The eggs will kind of separate if you did beat it too much.

With a large rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter just until blended. Be careful NOT to deflate the batter. This cake is amazingly light and fluffy because of this step, so be gentle and stop turning when it is just mixed.

Pour batter into prepared cake tin and bake for about 55-60 minutes. Check with a skewer jabbing the cake close to the rings center.

Once cooked, invert the cake on a wire cooling rack whilst still hot. Let cake cool completely before removing from the pan. Once cool, run a long metal spatula around the inside of the ring tin and the center core.  Dust with icing sugar and voila, you have an amazing Orange Chiffon Cake to share with your friends!!!!

This cake will be good for a few days at room temperature or a week in the fridge. It can also be frozen.

You can replace the orange with lemon or lime for different flavours.

Buon Appetito!!!!

pink; five pink heads in the corner

askart.com

Anyone know whats going on here because I certainly don't! Ahhhh Bruce, you are incredible!!! Just ask Hennesy! Bruce Nauman has been known for his eclectic mix of mediums and subject matter. His practice has been described as "fascinated by the nature of communication and language's inherent problems, as well as the role of the artist as supposed communicator and manipulator of visual symbols." Got that?!?!?!

  

Naumans sculpture above, is made from epoxy resin and fiberglass. They are heads stacked on top of each other and the tongue of each head is poking out. Five Pink Heads In The Corner (1992) makes me think of naughty kids sent to stand in the 'naughty corner', face the wall and 'think about what they have done', during the olden days of Primary School. Wait...I'm I having a flash back right now?!?!?! Or is the 'naughty corner' a collective memory that actually never existed? I was one of those kids that always got caught doing naughty stuff or blamed for others doing naughty stuff. This work is definitely bringing back those kinds of flashbacks for me.

Feel free to write a comment below of what you think is going on here with this sculpture. Would love to hear what people are thinking when looking at this. Naumans work is challenging at the best of times and this work definitely does not give anything away.

love; 10 things i love this week

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1. This quotation website! Click on this link to get a quote for the year. LOVE!

2. Riding around L.A yesterday in Dolphina's mini convertable wearing our tiaras. What a lovely way to spend a winters day in L.A! We made so many people smile with our tiaras sparkling away in the sun! LOVE!

3. Finding this in the gutter on the ground along my travels here in L.A. LOVE!!!!!!

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4. Coconut water!!!! It is the best way to sure a hang over!!!! Get into it! LOVE!

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5. Wearing white eyeliner on the inside of the eye. I discovered this last year and am obsessed with it!!! . LOVE!

 6. Having fresh flowers in my bedroom. At the mo, I have miniature pink roses...LOVE!!!!!

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7. Tom Storm is a photographer who takes photos of landmarks around the world, reflected in a bubble! Check this out! Love!!!

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8. As Kramer states on an episode of Seinfeld, "Who's gonna turn down a Junior Mint? It's chocolate, it's peppermint; it's delicious!" I think so too! With it's retro packaging and history these are a definite choice when I get a chocolate craving. LOVE!!!!

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9. My housemate Natalie and her black beetle! Well, especially when she goes away for work and lends me her car that is! I've had it for the last five days and L.A is even more bliss with it! LOVE!

10. Cherries!!!!! I do love them! Every year for Christmas Day either my brother, mum or myself will buy a box of them for the table. Soooo ridiculous to have soooo many cherries but they are soooo devine! I bought some yesterday which has confused the shit out of me because I thought they were a late spring, early summer fruit. Either ways, I aint complaining! LOVE!

eat; red lentil and tomato soup

kashi.com

Seeing it's cold in the Northern Hemisphere of our wonderful world, I've decided to add this soup for those living here. I know it's bloody hot in the Southern Hemisphere, but I'm sure you guys will enjoy this soup when Melbourne has one of those cold summer days soon.

Tomato soup has definitely been a take it or leave it soup for me in the past. I grew up eating tomato, not drinking it! It wasn't until I tried this recipe that I became a fan of this humble soup. I made this once for a friend of mine, Julishka from Germany, who is an avid fan of tomato soup. She told us Australians that tomato soup shouldn't come from a can and I completely agree with her in terms of ready made canned soups, even though this recipe does call for a can of tomatoes!?! I am proud to announce that Julishka was so blown away with every mouthfull, that I had to email her the recipe as she was eating it, right then and there!!! There was no way she was going to leave my house without it!

So here it is and you will definitely blow away minds with this simple but super tasty recipe!

What you need;

1 large onion finely chopped

810g can of tomato, whole or chopped. (Remember what i said in my earlier post about canned tomato, if you can't get Annalisa brand, go organic only!) 

1 cup of washed red lentils

3 cups of vegetable stock

2 cloves of garlic

4 Tbl of olive oil

10 basil leaves, torn

salt and lots and lots of freshly cracked pepper

Heat the oil in a big saucepan. Once hot, add the chopped onions and cook until soft. Add the can of tomatoes, breaking them up slightly if using whole tomatoes.

Stir in the stock, add the red lentils and salt and pepper. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for about 30 mins or until the lentils are cooked. Add more water while cooking if need be.

When cooked, throw batches into a blender and blend away. At this stage, add the torn basil leaves and 2 cloves of garlic to one of the batches. Yes the garlic is uncooked but will bring out amazing flavours to this soup because of it!

As your batches are being blended, make sure you have a big bowl handy to pour the soup into. Once all complete, you can return it to the stovetop in the saucepan to re heat.

This soup is AMAZING served with an open grilled cheese sandwich. I've served it with vegan cheese above, thats why it looks a bit wrong (vegan cheese doesn't grill too well). You can also freeze the the left over soup.

Buon Appetito!!!