On Monday, I posted a review of Home Made Winter by Yvette van Boven. That 2012 gem was followed in 2013 by this one, Home Made Summer. It’s the same inspired format, just pushed forward six months. Though, truthfully, like the Winter book this Summer one can be used year-round.
Still, with the summer season almost upon on us, here are some of the lovely recipe ideas you will find in Summer:
- Artichokes en Cocotte: artichokes are cooked and cooled, the center leaves removed, that dent filled with Béchamel sauce and an egg, then cooked.
- Cantaloupe Soup with Goat Cheese and Basil Oil: the cantaloupe and wine plus lemon zest and ginger go in your food processor, then are adorned with crumbled cheese and oil.
- Tatin of Eggplant, Red Onion, and Pine Nuts: just what it sounds like, but it is so beautiful that a picture closes this blog post.
- Carrot Pie with Apple and Goat Cheese: puff pastry is filled with sliced onions and apples, then topped with spokes of carrots, frosted with the cheese and crème fraiche and baked until brilliantly brown.
Summer, like Winter, has been intriguingly photographed by off Vershuren. It’s art, seductive art for you are immediately tempted to begin cooking. That’s the sign of a great cookbook.
With her Irish, Dutch and French life experiences, Yvette’s cooking seems to be spawned directly from the farm and the field. These are dishes that would make any main-street restaurant proud, yet they seem more to be from a village inn or the home kitchen of a farmer’s wife. The recipes here are earthy, hearty, and real.
And the recipes have Yvette’s signature design of combining ingredients in ways that are designed to give you pause and the pleasure. Take that carrot pie, for example. Beginning with puff pastry, you have richness at the start. Layering onions and apples is something you don’t do every day. Topping off with both goat cheese and crème fraiche does seem overkill — given the puff pastry start — but this is European food from dairy-rich lands that treasure their culinary bounty.
Some of the pages here are hand drawn by Yvette. Some of the photos are not of food but simply of the land, the farms, the markets, the people. This is a book about food and a way of life. It’s a way that you will enjoy every step that you take.
