Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
One more question that I keep forgetting to ask:  how many cookbooks
do you own?  And how do you use them--for recipe templates, for
suggestions or inspirations, for research?
  

    
I don't have a super vast library - maybe a few hundred cookbooks,
botany books, historical books on food, and such.  Space is a
consideration so I've given a lot of books to my local library and to a
charter school that has hired a young man to cook.But it never fails
that I have a need to page through them once they're gone. 
I use my books for reference as much (if not more) as to cook from,
but not for recipe templates. I have my own ideas about that.  Research
for sure. Inspiration wherever I can find it.  Some of my books are
like old friends. I was just looking at Simple French Food the other
day and couldn't believe how worn it was, how soft the pages were, how
used, and it was still inspiring! That then that's Richard Olney.
  

    
By the way, "rabe" or "rab", as in kohlrabi or broccoli rabe, refers
to
turnip.  So kohlrabi means cabbage-turnip, and broccoli rabe of course
means broccoli-turnip. It combines turnip-like greens with little
broccoli-like nubbins. I just looked at my turnips yesterday, which are
now more interested in growing again since there's more daylight, and
sure enough, the leaves are shooting up, there are clusters of flowers,
or buds anyway, and they look a whole lot like broccoli rabe.
Turnip greens! And the taste is not dissimilar. They're great with
buckwheat noodles, by the way. And I love the contrast between the
sweet turnips and the more pungent greens. Good to serve them together.
  

    
Can we please get back to dessert and <debunix>'s lemon problem?  I'm
dying for a good lemon dessert recipe.  
  

    
Did I miss something?  Apparently I did, and now I can't seem to find
"debunix"s post about lemons and a lemon problem!  Sorry - this is
still not 100% clear- the navigational part, that is.

I have an appointment in town but will address lemons just as soon as
I return!  Would other citrus qualify as well?  

back soon!
  

    
Okay - I see I've missed a lot of things  including the post about
school gardens, which I'd like to return to later. And desserts.
Alas, not so many lemon ones, but lucky for the lemon tree owner,
lemons have a great use in savory dishes as well.  But more later on
all of this!  For now, all I can say is that I wish I had a lemon
tree!
  

    

We have two lemon trees and there is NEVER a day when there isn't ripe fruit
on them.  One of the great benefits of living in the Mediterranean climate of
Oakland, California.  <reet> uses lemons in everything - lucky us!
  

    
Thems some good lemons.   TMOT.
  

    
I don't have a lemon tree (no gardening space for a tree), but I know
which neighbors will let me pick as many as I want!  Almost as good.

I wonder why broccolini and broccoli rabe are so expensive.  Seems to
me they'd grow like weeds, like chard here in the Bay Area.
  

    
There's only one commercial company that sells broccoli raab - Andy
Brothers (?), and they've had the market for years. Farmers are
starting to grow it, though.

Okay. Lemons. As a Californian—I should say former, but CA is still
home to me - I also grew up with lemon trees - Meyers and Eurekas and
there was always fruit.  Faithful friends and family still send me a
box of lemons each year and I swear they taste better than the ones I
can buy at the store. Given the past 20 years in New Mexico, lemons
have become one of those more rare fruits than they were in California,
for sure, which is why I'm going to disappoint someone when I say I
don't have a lot of lemon desserts - hardly any, in fact.  So sorry! 
One problem with many lemon desserts for me is that they often end up
too sweet in the effort to compensate for the acidity, especially in
Eureka lemons. Too much sugar gets added.  I'm thinking of lemon bars
in particular, but it comes up in curds and pie fillings too.  Of
course using Meyer lemons allows you to use less sweetening because
they aren't quite so sharp. There are two recipes in The Greens
Cookbook for Meyer lemon desserts —a mousse an a lemon curd. They're
pretty straight forward, no fancy tricks and seasonings, but I'd be
happy to serve a Meyer lemon mousse garnished with the fresh violets
that are blooming right now in my garden. I like the Lemon-Rose Sherbet
in "The Savory Way" a lot. It's infused with rose geranium leaves and
when you put it together the milk curdles like crazy. But amazingly, it
comes out perfectly smooth.

Actually, I prefer lemons in savory dishes. A little thinly sliced
lemon on the Nicoise Pizza from Greens made it so unexpected and
lively. Lemon grated into a bean soup—just about anything really, fruit
or vegetable - always makes it sparkle. I can't think of a place where
lemon as a seasoning goes wrong in the savory kitchen - or the sweet
one.  Add a little grated lemon zest to a rhubarb fool or compote an
once again, it brightens.  And when you think you want salt to finish a
dish, it's often a few drops of fresh lemon juice that will do the
trick. Almost always, in fact.
  

    
About "Seasonal Fruit Desserts" - yes, desserts! But to me, it's still
about produce and we haven't really, as a nation, gotten around much
to fruit. The government tells us we should eat it, but that turns it
into sort of a duty food because it's mostly pretty disappointing If
fruit is as good as it can be—great varieties, properly grown, not
shipped far, there's be no need to tell people to eat it. They can't
stay away - kids included.

I started out in pastry and have always loved the dessert course so
taking on the last course of the meal wasn't as strange to me as it may
seem to you. The book moves through a progression of approaches, from
featuring sublime fruit with little to nothing done to it, to very
simple compotes, fruit sautes, roasts, braises, the onto tart and
galettes, classic fruit desserts but not too many, puddings, 6 cakes
that go well with fruits, dried fruits, nuts, our new American cheeses
paired with fruits and finally some very simple sauces based on fruit.
I'm really looking at farmers markets here and orchards and
 back yards as the source of some of the best tasting stuff to work
with. Go to a Wisconsin market and you might find shagbark hickory nuts
- sublime little things. Pair them with a Wisconsin farmstead cheese
for dessert—so good. Or do the same with a fine California Teleme and a
really fresh walnut, or a delicate goat with pears sauteed with honey.
Simple foods, but not always easy to find and that's the key here, as
in "Local Flavors".

Where do I get my recipes?  This question always amuses me. I don't
"get" them. There's no store to go to. I don't download recipes.I just
get started in the kitchen basically, working from what I know, what's
inspired me of late, and what the ingredients are saying to me.

As for a favorite - really, an impossible question to answer! Because
this book is very much about seasonal approaches favorites will come
and go like the shifting sands. I suppose one favorite would be the
Concord Grape Galette because that's my favorite dessert period. But as
I'm thinking about the book, my mind keeps saying "that one", "no,
that one!" Sorry! It's kind of like choosing kids, after all. They're
all good.
  

    
Delighted by the prospect of Concord Grape Galette, because the
marvelous garden in the house I'm renting also has concord grapes,
which I also am hard pressed to keep up with at their peak season.  
  

    
Oh man, you HAVE to try her Concord Grape Pie (I think it's in her
often strangely overlooked but completely marvelous "The Vegetarian
Table: America" http://tinyurl.com/yg85t39).  Just thinking about it
makes me long for grape season when the Korean markets are overflowing
with those impossibly huge and perfect purple globes.  

Right now, though, I'm salivating over the recipe in "Seasonal" for
Figs in Pedro Ximenez... it even has a yellow jacket glomming onto one
of the figs!  And if you love cheese paired with fruits (and why would
you not?), there's a whole section devoted to specific cheeses that
complement certain perfectly ripe fruits and nuts and so forth, like
Pt. Reyes Blue with Honey or Goat Milk Pave with Blenheim Apricots.

Deborah, are you going to be in the Bay Area any time for book
readings or signings?  Do you have a web page that lists where you're
going to be appearing?  Talking with you for these past two weeks has
been a singular joy, and I want to thank you for all your time and
thoughtful responses.  Please come back again soon!
  

    
Thank you, Carolyn!  It's been a lot of fun and thought provoking.  I
must say, to grossly generalize of course, that Bay Area people are
pretty good solitary eaters. Impressive in fact, but somehow, that's
not a surprise.

I'm so glad you're a fan of the Concord grape pie! I have to confess I
get some version of it into every book I write because it's just one
of the best desserts around, and a historical one, too. But people
usually say something like, "That sounds awful!" Then they take a bite
and change their minds. I was late to this, but I did discover that it
goes quite nicely with an aged Gouda cheese or Cheddar. A fresh young
goat is interesting too if you like that sweet and tangy combination.

I will be in the Bay Area doing various book related things.  I'll be
at Steve Sando's wonderful Rancho Gordo in Napa on the 11th of April,
back for several days in late June at Ominvore Books, l8 Reasons, The
Commonwealth Club etc etc.  It's going up on my web-site
(www.deborahmadison.com)today, I believe, and on my facebook fan page.
It would be great to meet some of you who have been part of this
discussion.
  

    
I'm a day late, due to life to thank thank thank Deborah and CJ for
their time these last two weeks.  It has been a wonderful interview. 
This topic will remain open for your posting pleasure indefinitely!
  

    
What a great piece of history via a Bell Telephone film from 1940,
"The Dial Comes to Town":

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p45T7U5oi9Q>