UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

LIVING THE DREAM

I have stood in Times Square more times than I have in Sandton City. And every occasion was different. Unless you have lived that American Dream, no Hollywood blockbuster can ever reproduce the energy of New York. In a city that never sleeps, I have come to know and love the avenues, crisscrossed by countless roads that are traversed every day by ordinary folk like me in search of a life less ordinary.

My first American art exhibition was at the Javits Center in Manhattan. At the time I was sure that I would never set foot in such a magical place again, and I would have found it hard to believe that almost two decades later I would still leave my signature behind every year. Along the way I have met the most amazing people: artists, art dealers, publishers, movie stars and friends. My unexpected art career was a blessing in disguise. It afforded me the opportunity to dine in some of the most exclusive restaurants in New York, eat hot dogs from street vendors, get sticky with ribs in Harlem, and stuff my face with cheesecake from Lindy’s in Times Square.

The art fairs were usually towards the end of the American winter and afterwards I would fly to Hawaii to visit my great friend and fellow artist Hettie Saaiman. Together we would paint bucket loads of palm trees, pineapples and hibiscuses and sell them to Japanese tourists. I usually made enough money to fund my trip and kick back in Maui, enjoying some of the best cuisine in America. The most famous eatery on the island is the Cheeseburger in Paradise. We regularly went there for a burger and inevitably found Willie Nelson, of country music fame, nursing a beer at the bar. Apparently he loved the burgers too.

Custard powder cheesecake

No visit to New York is complete without a slice of cheesecake from Lindy’s in Times Square. They have hundreds of cakes lined up in the window and you simply can’t choose so I inevitably end up with the plain cheesecake. The cake is so rich it lasts me a whole week. I leave it in the bar fridge at the hotel and stuff my face every night before I go to bed. Authentic New York cheesecakes have biscuit crusts for the base, whereas European cheesecakes have a base made of pastry.

DID YOU KNOW?

Folding 15 ml (1 Tbsp) sifted flour, cornflour or custard powder into an unbaked cheesecake or milk tart mixture before pouring it into the base will reduce the likelihood of the custard cracking. Remember that custard powder contains a colorant and may change the appearance of your cake.

Crust

Filling

  1. Grease a 25 cm springform tin.
  2. To make the crust, use a food processor to crush the biscuits until you have fine crumbs. Alternatively, place the biscuits into a plastic bag and crush with a heavy object. I find that a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan works well. Melt the butter, and then stir it into the crumbs. Press the mixture into the prepared tin. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to set.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
  4. To make the filing, lightly beat the egg yolks in a large bowl. Stir in condensed milk, vanilla essence, lemon juice and cream cheese and mix well. Sift in the custard powder and stir well to make sure everything is incorporated. Spoon the filling into the base. Bake for 25–30 minutes. There is no need to allow this cheesecake to cool in the oven. Remove from the oven as soon as the cooking time is over and leave to cool completely in the tin.

    Makes 1 very large cake.

VARIATION

  1. Salted caramel cheesecake: Add 5 ml (1 tsp) coffee essence to the cream cheese mixture and reduce the custard powder to 15 ml (1 Tbsp). To make the topping, melt 125 g butter in a small saucepan. Add 310 ml (1 1⁄4 C) soft brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Add 125 ml (1⁄2 C) fresh cream and bring to the boil, stirring continuously for 8–10 minutes or until thickened. Stir in 5 ml (1 tsp) Maldon salt flakes. Cool completely. Serve drizzled over slices of cheesecake.

TIPS

• Freeze the egg whites left over from this recipe for future use. One egg white weighs 30 g, so weigh the freezer packet before you place it in the freezer and write the weight on the packet.

• This cheesecake can be baked in a 25 cm springform tin or a large oven roasting tray with shallow sides.

It fills the tray and makes a large quantity. Alternatively, halve the quantity and bake in a 20 cm springform tin.

• The cake will keep in the fridge for up to five days if well covered with plastic wrap.

Poppy seed and coconut chiffon with white marshmallow topping

America is the land of chiffon cakes. It was invented in 1946, just after the Second World War when ingredients were hard to come by, and has since become synonymous with American baking. I wanted to create an American super cake ‘for my book’, and so the Poppy Seed and Coconut Chiffon with White Marshmallow Topping was born. It’s bigger, better and funkier than ever before.

DID YOU KNOW?

Chiffon cakes differ from angel cakes in that the latter does not contain baking powder or oil. The appearance is often the same, although chiffon cakes have a slightly moister, crumbly texture.

Cake

Topping

  1. Preheat the oven to 160 °C.
  2. To make the cake, soak the poppy seeds in the sour cream for 30 minutes. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the coconut.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks, oil and vanilla essence. Add the poppy seeds soaked in sour cream and whisk everything together until smooth. Pour this mixture over the flour and coconut, and use an electric mixer to whisk everything together until smooth.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until firm. Drizzle the poppy seed batter over the egg whites and fold in. Turn the batter into an ungreased chiffon cake tin and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool upside down in the tin until the cake is completely cold. If you try to pry the cake out of the tin while it is still warm, it will cause the cake to break up.
  6. Make the topping by combining all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and leave to cool and thicken for about 30 minutes.
  7. Spread the topping over the top of the cake only, allowing the chocolate to run and drip down the sides. Decorate as desired.

Makes 1 large cake.

VARIATION

  1. Rose petal topping: Use a mixed bag of marshmallows and white chocolate to make a light pink topping. Add 1 ml (a tiny drop) red food colouring and 2 ml (a few drops) rose-water to the melted marshmallows. Sprinkle with edible glitter.

TIP

The marshmallow topping can be made with white or dark chocolate. When using a 150 g packet mixed pink and white marshmallows with white chocolate, the icing may turn out a pale creamy pink. In order for the icing to remain white, select only the white marshmallows. This will not matter when using milk or dark chocolate, so feel free to use a mixed bag. Never use flavoured marshmallows.

Linguini with white clam sauce

Whenever my art publishers took me out to dinner in New York, I would order linguini with clams. You can order either the red or white clam sauce, which refers to the wine it’s cooked in. One of my favourite places to eat clams is at Carmines, off Broadway, a large family-style Italian eatery with one of the best menus in town.

  1. Heat 30 ml (2 Tbsp) of the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the garlic, anchovy fillets, chillies and parsley. Sauté for 2 minutes without browning the garlic. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the wine and clams. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook until the clams open. Give the saucepan a good shake every now and again to distribute the liquid and prevent anything from sticking. Discard any clams that have not opened. Reduce the heat, add the cooked linguini and simmer until the linguini has absorbed a little of the liquid and the sauce starts to thicken slightly. Taste and add a little salt if needed. Immediately transfer to serving bowls and grind over some black pepper.

Serves 2–4.

TIPS

• It is highly likely that clams purchased in South Africa will be frozen. This is absolutely fine, but remember to thaw before using. The clams would already have been cleaned, but give them a good rinse in cold water and drain well before you start. Discard any that don’t open during cooking and never force any open either!

• Use only linguini or spaghetti for this dish. Go easy on the salt as the dish contains anchovy, which dissolves in the sauce and gives the dish a salty taste. Clams can also be a little salty. The clams are served cooked in the shell so remember to provide a dish for the empty clam shells at the table.

• This recipe can easily be doubled.

Cynthia’s sirloin au poivre with soy and green peppercorns

Cynthia Shinn is my American art dealer, travelling companion and friend, and we have been working together for almost two decades now. She lives in the heart of America’s most prestigious naval academy and plays host to numerous naval personnel from around the world. One of her cadets was a Korean American, and it was his mother who first introduced Cynthia to kalbi, the marinade usually prepared for Korean beef short ribs. Cynthia uses the marinade for steak and always cooks this dish for me when I visit.

Marinade

Soy and green peppercorn sauce

  1. Slip the steaks into a large zip-seal bag. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the marinade into the bag, seal and refrigerate for a few hours.
  2. To make the sauce, melt the butter very slowly over low heat without letting it bubble and separate. Gradually whisk in the soy sauce and mustard. Continue to whisk while gradually adding the sour cream. The mixture will start to bind and thicken slightly. Do this very slowly so that the sauce doesn’t separate. Stir in the peppercorns at the end.
  3. To cook the steak, heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet. Season the steak well with ground black pepper only, no salt. Sear the steak quickly and cook to your preference. Rest the steak for 5 minutes, covered with foil to keep warm, and allow the juices time to settle. Slice thinly and transfer to a serving platter. Drizzle the sauce over the meat and serve at once with plenty of chopped parsley.

Serves 4.

VARIATION

  1. In Mauritius they make a vanilla and black pepper rub. Mix together 80 ml (1⁄3 C) sea salt, 80 ml (1⁄3 C) crushed black pepper, 5 ml (1 tsp) dried crushed chillies and 3–4 dried vanilla pods. Grind finely in a spice grinder and store in a glass jar with a vanilla pod in a cool, dry place. Use as a seasoning for steak. Omit the chillies if preferred.

TIPS

• The best way to marinate steaks is to combine all the ingredients in a large zip-seal bag and leave in the fridge for a few hours. Give it a good shake every now and again.

• Do not salt the steak before cooking as the soy sauce contains a lot of salt and this dish has soy in the marinade and sauce.

• Black peppercorns could also be used for this sauce, but take whole peppercorns and crush using a mortar and pestle. This will ensure a rough-textured peppercorn, which is better for making pepper sauce.

Southern pecan pie with Maldon salt

My mom and dad visited America in the late eighties and attended the Kentucky Derby. Before they left, the hostess gave my mom a postcard with this recipe for pecan pie. I still have the original, now worn at the edges, and it is from this very script that I first cooked this pie. I have now added my own touch to turn this classic into a modern dessert.

Pastry

Filling

  1. To make the pastry, sift the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, sift the flour, sugar and salt directly into the bowl of a food processor, add the cold butter and use the chopping blade to process the mixture into fine crumbs. With the blade running, add the egg yolk and ice-cold water, and process until the mixture just comes together. Remove the mixture from the processor and press everything into a neat ball without overworking the pastry. Cover and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
  2. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Grease a shallow 25 cm pie dish or a fluted 23–25cm loose-bottomed tin. Line the dish with the pastry. Prick the base all over with a fork. Lightly whisk the egg white. Use a pastry brush to coat the pastry base thoroughly with the egg white. Freeze, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the egg white is dry.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
  4. To make the filling, thoroughly beat the eggs and sugar until well combined. Add the salt, syrup and melted butter. Mix well. Stir in the whole pecan nuts. Pour the filling into the un-baked pastry shell. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove and leave to cool completely. Sprinkle sea salt over the top and serve with vanilla or milky bar ice cream (see page 25) or fresh pouring cream.

Makes 1 medium tart.

TIPS

• This quick and easy pecan pie can be baked using a 400 g packet ready-made short crust pastry. The pie bakes for almost 1 hour, which is sufficient time for the pastry to cook without having to bake blind. Bake on a preheated baking tray for added heat underneath.

• Baked pecan pie freezes well for up to three months. Alternatively, double up on the pastry and freeze half for that emergency pantry run.

Dinosaur sticky ribs

You’ve not lived until you have tried these dinosaur ribs. A fireman who assisted at the World Trade Centre on 9/11 was on duty at one of my art fairs in New York and he told me where to find the best ribs in Manhattan. We took a train to Harlem and walked a few blocks before arriving at this little eatery, aptly named Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. If you see the portions, you’ll understand why. This is my take on their ribs.

Dry spice rub

Brine marinade

Sticky sauce

  1. To prepare the ribs, mix together the dry rub ingredients and use your hands to rub the mixture all over the ribs. Leave to stand for 1 hour.
  2. Combine all the brine marinade ingredients in a large dish or basin, transfer the ribs to the dish and marinate for a couple of hours or preferably overnight.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
  4. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Cook gently for 8–10 minutes, stirring continuously or until thick.
  5. Remove the ribs from the brine and arrange them in a large oven roasting tray. Pour over the sticky sauce and use your hands to combine well. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 160 °C and continue to bake for 45–50 minutes, turning once or twice or until the ribs are cooked and the sauce is thick and sticky. The ribs should be a little crispy on the outside.
  6. Alternatively, reverse the order and start off by cooking the ribs at 160 °C in the oven for 45–50 minutes, then finish them off on the braai for 15 minutes.

Serves 4–6.

TIPS

• Baby pork loin ribs are readily available at your local butcher. Ask him to trim the ribs into more manageable portions.

• The ribs will need to be spiced and marinated for a few hours before you cook them up in the final sticky sauce.