Who Be He?
They call him Phillip Retuta. He calls himself a visual & interactive designer, motion graphics artist, and illustrator -- an all-around artist. He's 29 years old, from Chicago, living in NYC, and has a lovely husky-lab mix named Nico. Currently employed as Senior Designer at a digital and social media firm.
What's All This Then?
Well, it's a fairly random tumblog of current and upcoming art endevours, photographs, comic sketches, creative philosophies, inspirations, and generally incomplete art projects.
So yeah, it's like a sketchbook.
Demo Reel 2012-2013
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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
You Too Can Fucking Cook: Green Tea Cookies with White Chocolate and Almonds.
- 1 tablespoon of Matcha Green Tea Powder
- 1 stick of salted butter, softened at room temperature
- 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips
- 1/4 slivered almonds
- 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 cup flower
- 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup of light brown sugar
- Bin of rice
Mix butter and sugars into a grainy paste. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract. Sift flour and Matcha green tea powder in. Add white chocolate and almonds.
Put batter in plastic wrap and securely wrap it. Roll into a log about 2 inches wide in diameter. Put the log atop a rectangular tupperware container (10 inches long) of rice (this prevents the bottom from being flattened). Put all this shit in the freezer for an hour.
About 15 minutes before you take the green tea log out, start pre-heating the oven to 300 degrees.
After the hour is up, carefully cut the log into 1/2-inch thick disks and place on a parchment paper-covered cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
Makes about 20-24 cookies.
Ramp Up The Jam.
I found myself at the Union Square Green Market waiting for a friend, and I noticed they had ramps in stock. I wanted to know what the big deal is with these super popular leeks, so I bought a bundle.
Last night, I sauteed the ramps in olive oil with some shallots and garlic. Made steak topped with herbed goat cheese and spring onion mashed potatoes, too. Verdict: ramps are pretty delicious. I heard you can make a pretty kick-ass pesto with them, too.
My 30th birthday was last week, and I decided to throw a dinner party for my friends. I combined my love of cooking with my love of puns by naming each dish after pop songs and musicians.
“Food Fighting Dave Eggrolls”: ground beef or soy beef with cipollini onions, garlic, and soy sauce wrapped and fried in a rice flour wonton wrapping.
“The Biscuitification of Lorraine Cheese Hill”: cheese and garlic bay biscuits. I was going to serve it with a cheddar-mustard “That Thing (Fon-doowop).”
“Whipped It! Devo’d Eggs”: deviled eggs with homemade roasted yellow pepper relish, whole grain mustard, and roasted red pepper caps. Topped with vegetarian bacon.
“Lemon Ricotta Seal’d Between A Kiss From A Rosemary & Honey Cookies”: rosemary and honey shortbread cookies with lemon ricotta icing.
(Pun Pending) White Cheddar and White Truffle Macaroni: Vermont white cheddar, Panko breadcrumbs, shallots, and a bechamel sauce sprinkled with white truffle oil.
Jack Donaghy’s “Good God, Lemon!” Tart.
In honor of 30 Rock and its finale, I made a Liz Lemon-inspired dessert: Jack Donaghy’s “Good God, Lemon!” Tart (the recipe is based off Mrs. Field’s Triple Layer Lemon Bars).
Crust:
- 1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick)
- 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour
Lemon-Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese (an entire brick/tub, softened)
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp lemon extract
Lemon Custard
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tsps lemon zest (grated)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsps salted butter (softened)
- 2 tbsps confectioners sugar
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Prepare the shortbread crust: Cream butter and sugar in medium bowl with electric mixer set on high speed. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Add flour and mix at low speed until fully incorporated.
- Press dough evenly into bottom of an 8- by 8-inch baking pan. Refrigerate until firm, approximately 30 minutes.
- Prick shortbread crust with fork and bake for 30 minutes or until crust turns golden brown. Cool on rack to room temperature.
- Prepare the cream cheese filling while the crust is baking: Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth in medium bowl with electric mixer set on high speed. Add egg and lemon extract and beat on medium speed until light and smooth. Cover bowl tightly and refrigerate.
- Prepare the lemon curd: Blend the egg yolks with cornstarch and sugar in medium non-aluminum saucepan (I used a double boiler). Place over low heat and slowly whisk in water and lemon juice. Increase heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Add lemon peel and butter and cool for 10 minutes.
- Assemble the bars: Spread chilled cream cheese filling evenly over cooled shortbread crust with spatula. Spread lemon curd evenly over cream cheese filling. Place pan in center of oven. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until edges begin to turn light golden brown. Cool to room temperature on rack. Chill in refrigerator 1 hour before cutting into bars. Dust top with confectioners’ sugar.
- # autumn
- # fall
- # 2012
- # october
- # new york
- # city
- # zombie
- # the walking dead
- # zombies
- # walking dead
- # food
- # amc
- # 365
- # eric chung
- # manhattan
- # upper west side
- # uws
- # bread
- # dessert
- # intestine
- # bake
- # baked
- # pastry
- # cheesecake
- # raspberry
- # halloween
- # funny
- # photoshop
- # undead
- # dead
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I made homemade, mini apple pies tonight. Just because I was bored.
(Taken with Instagram)
Maple Pancake Bacon and Egg Mini-Muffins.
Ingredients:
- 3 Eggs
- 1 Cup of Pancake Mix
- 5 Strips of Bacon (or, in my case, Morning Star Veggie Bacon)
- 1/3 Cup of Milk
- 1 Tablespoon of Sour Cream
- 1 Tablespoon of Brown Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon of Lemon Juice
- 1 Teaspoon of Worcester Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon of Maple Syrup
- Salt/Pepper to Taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix pancake flour, 1 egg, maple syrup, milk, and sour cream together in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper (and a pinch of brown sugar) to taste. Cook bacon in a a fucking skillet with oil or butter (I added a dash of brown sugar, maple syrup, and pepper for the hell of it). Drain bacon. In a small bowl, mix the two remaining eggs with the Worcester Sauce, lemon juice, and a dash of pepper (I used white pepper) — you’re essentially making a variation of Eggs Benedict’s Hollandaise Sauce. Using the remaining bacon grease, scramble that egg mixture in the same skillet until choppable. Let the bacon and eggs cool. Once relatively room temperature, crumble the bacon and the eggs into the pancake batter. Don’t over mix.
Get one of those greased mini-cupcake pans and pour the mixture till each cup is 2/3 full. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out fucking clean when you stick it into the center of a cupcake.
Cool and serve with maple syrup, butter, or a nice Hollandaise sauce.
Highlight of the Day: 2012.04.25: Baked Art. on Flickr.
