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Jane Crosen, Mapmaker grew up influenced by two good cooks fond of reading, writing, and travel: her Downeast mother, and a grandmother who delighted in international cookery and baking at the family's lakeside camp in Hancock County. Add a healthy interest in natural foods, three years cooking at the vegetarian Findhorn Community in Scotland, a flair for intuitive baking, a love of maps and exploring . . . Fold in a kitchen mate with a background in vegetable gardening and preserving, keeping food animals, restaurant cooking, and a shared love of camping and waterborne adventures, and you have a couple at home in most any kitchen and cuisine—and an eclectic gathering of favorite recipes, from classic to rustic to purely original.
Welcome to the Mapmaker's Kitchen and a delicious collection of 350 versatile recipes and variations, plus dressings and sauces, marinades and condiments, whole-grain crusts and toppings, all from scratch and cross-referenced with a comprehensive index. Fresh Salmon Pâté, Savory Potato Pasties, Apple-Pistachio Salad . . . Crabmeat Frittata, Mussels in Lemon-Wine Sauce . . . Greek Lemon Chicken, Chicken with Cherries, Spanish Orange Chicken, Beef Rouladen, Persian Lamb Shanks . . . Eggplant Kookoo, Tuscan One-Pot, Chickpea Rolls in Phyllo . . . Asparagus with Orange-Cilantro Cream, Scalloped Potatoes, Brown Rice Pilaf with Chestnuts . . . Cranberry-Walnut Biscuits, Blueberry-Almond Bran Muffins . . . Fresh-Fruit Gelatin Pie, Green Tomato Mincemeat Tarts, Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie . . . Cardamom-Walnut Shortbreads, Apple Butter Cookies, Apricot-Almond Bars . . . Whether down-home comfort foods and family heirlooms, vegetarian international favorites with meat options, camp-friendly stovetop dishes, or serendipitous "pot lucks," the cooking is easy, creative, and healthy, with an emphasis on local foods and classic flavor combinations.
This uniquely personal cookbook is part memoir, woven with reveries about foods, people, communities, and special places in Downeast Maine (and the British Isles). Decorations from the artist-author's series of hand-drawn Maine maps accompany the recipes, along with kitchen illustrations in a similar style . . . and photo galleries of cooking together at home and at camp. And of course the book wouldn't be complete without a sprinkling of maps!
It's also a friendly guide to growing, harvesting, and putting food by, taking advantage of garden bounty and seasonal local crops like berries, corn, seafood, and free-range meats, with practical notes on freezing, canning, drying, and preparing food. Baking tips abound among the healthy, sumptuous baked goods and desserts. And as veterans of many camping adventures on Maine backcountry lakes, ponds, and islands, Jane and Richard share thoughts on camp kitchens and eating well at camp, including planning, packing, and preparing fresh foods in a rustic kitchen.
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