The Tragic Tale of Gwen the Hen | Charcutepalooza, challenge no. 10

I am participating in Charcutepalooza, a year of meat which entails twelve monthly challenges to prepare dishes using various charcuterie techniques.  For more information about charcutepalooza, click here.  To read why I decided to partake in the meatmaking festivities, read my first post here.

charcuterie plate featuring Gwen and rabbit rillettes,
served with red pepper sauce, spiced plum jam,
hot country mustard and cornichon.

Recipes:
Gwen was prepared following the recipe found in Charcuterie, the only alterations being the use of pork belly instead of back fat and a longer cooking time which was necessary to get her up to temperature.
 

I had hoped to serve Gwen with a more ambitious sauce, but time did not permit.  We threw together this pepper sauce which is dead simple and ended up being so popular that I had to include the recipe here.  

Red Pepper Sauce
3 red bell peppers
a couple hot peppers of similar color (amount depends on desired heat)
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs tomato paste
salt and pepper

1.  Saute diced peppers in olive oil until soft
2.  Puree peppers and work the puree through a sieve.
3.  Return puree to a hot saucepan.  Add tomato paste and cook on medium high to reduce and intensify flavors.
4.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

The Best Gifts

The best gifts are those that come when least expected.  A couple months ago I was shopping at the Norwich Meadows Farm stand at the greenmarket.  After inquiring about an unusual looking artichoke on display by the cash registers, I found myself the lucky recipient of it.

Of course my primary interest in such a cool vegetable specimen was aesthetic.

For most of my subjects, I stop at only the one drawing.  But out of gratitude for this surprise gift, I felt compelled to make the most of it.  So I kept drawing...

 … and drawing - until I had an image I was truly proud of.

study alongside regular globe artichoke

Some gifts just add to the recipient’s store of material possessions, the best ones can actually improve the recipient.  Thanks to the generous guys at Norwich, I was motivated to push my drawing skills to a higher level.  
In the days I spent observing it, I noticed the artichoke was slowly splitting apart.  At first I thought I thought it was deteriorating, rotting from the inside, but the slightly stale but otherwise inoffensive aroma suggested otherwise.  It opened slowly, like a bloom and it occurred to me that this may not be some heirloom breed, or deformed artichoke, but an artichoke flower - something I had never seen before.  My suspicion was confirmed days later, when my gift blossomed, revealing a heart of teensy purple petals.

Farmer's Market Finds

I am in the midst of packing for a week long trip up in the wilds of coastal Maine.  While there, I hope to be completely offline except when absolutely necessary, and yes, that includes twitter (eep!).  Before disappearing I wanted to share a couple things I've been working on.  

The warm weather and amazing produce at the Greenmarket has been pushing me to experiment more with color in my artwork.  This past wednesday I finally made it out to the market early enough to have my pick of the goodies at Honey Hollow Farm.  Most of their produce is foraged, so it is highly seasonal, susceptible to vagaries in the weather (as I learned when I attempted to buy morels this past spring), and like all scarcities, are in high demand.  There have been times that I've gotten to the market around noon, and find their stand completely wiped out.  

This time, however, by stopping off before my early morning printmaking class, I had all of their early summer bounty to choose from.  Here are some sketches of what I picked up:

Daylily Buds

Chanterelles

Happy Fourth of July!

Liberated Daffodil | A Nature Drawing

 

The design*sponge nature drawing contest was a lovely excuse to get outside yesterday.  In honor of the warm weather we are finally having here in the northeast, I wanted to draw daffodils.  Daffodils are the first sign of spring, if not botanically (I’m sure some other flowers bloom first), certainly aesthetically.  Who can look at the sunny yellow color, and slightly ridiculous looking shape, and not feel hopeful that spring is here to stay, despite recent frigid temperatures, and late march blizzards?  Walking around my very urban hometown, however, I noticed something distressing: all the daffodils and other blooming flowers were behind bars.  Fenced in to protect them from careless pedestrians, incontinent animals (and pedestrians), and inconsiderate flower pickers.  Not wanting to draw through iron bars like some jailhouse visitor, I decided instead to draw a tangle of branches conveniently dwelling by a park bench.  Happy with my drawing, I abandoned my flower search and decided to head home.  It was on the way out that I came across a giant patch of yellow flowers on the side of a grassy field where anyone could join them.  So I did, and made the drawing shown above.  These were not the perkiest daffodils, a little bedraggled and faded, but they were free and out in the open.  To me, nature is really at its most beautiful when I can be a part of it, and not just an outside observer. 

My Stinky Muse | Baby Conch Studies

A few weeks ago I had the sashimi omakase at Kanoyama, which included baby conch.  I brought  the shell home to draw, figuring that it would be a nice change from all the brussel sprouts.

I didn't realize until the next day that this little shell packs quite an odiferous punch.  I tried soaking it in bleach, packing it in baking soda, scrubbed it inside and out with an old toothbrush.  Nothing worked.  So I decided, do a quick study, and get the offensive thing out of the apartment, asap!  Well, two weeks later, and it is still there.  I'm finding that I cannot stop drawing this shell - the interplay of geometric and organic forms is fascinating.  So thought I'd share some of what I'm working on:.

 I also have a couple more detailed and refined pieces that I'm still working on, and hoping to make prints from.  I have one more week to work with my lovely stinky shell before I have to dispose of it - we are expecting house guests, and I cannot force them to tolerate the stench.