Between the Lines
What's up for Vermont book lovers
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Published: November 1, 2009
Good tastes
If you're looking to put something different on the table for this year's holiday feasts, a handful of new or recent Vermont-steeped cookbooks will offer some ideas.
-- A couple of months ago we told you about a forthcoming book telling the story of Vermont Butter and Cheese Co. of Websterville. "In a Cheesemaker's Kitchen" is being released officially Monday, and it is a trove of inspiration for autumn menus.
In it, company co-founder Allison Hooper relates how she and Bob Reese went out on a limb in 1984 to begin producing goat cheese, practically unheard of in the United States then. She manages not to sound too gloating when she writes that 25 years later, "what began as a quaint creamery on a hill farm in Brookfield, Vermont, is today a national leader on the thriving artisanal cheese scene."
They've also branched out into other, equally esoteric products like quark, crème fraiche and mascarpone, and the book introduces each of these and more. It also explains the secrets of cheese-making; gives tips on putting together and enjoying a cheeseboard; and spotlights the chefs who developed some of the recipes.
But the heart of the book is those recipes – pages of comfy-sounding creations like winter crème fraiche baked potato soup, Alison's chèvre and smoked salmon scones (from chef Alison Lane of Mirabelles in Burlington), lobster mascarpone risotto, and fresh crottin-stuffed leg of lamb.
It all wraps up with a four-season mascarpone cheesecake. For fall, it's dressed in a ginger snap crust, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and topped with apple compote.
-- Restaurant consultant and former executive chef Marcie Kaufman of Jay outlines a menu for autumn in her "Seasonal Appetite: A Chef's Celebration of Vermont's Seasons." As the title suggests, she has one for each of the other seasons, too, all inspired by professional restaurant menus.
Variety is the watchword, with four choices for each course, plus an assortment of breads. The fall appetizers include caramelized sea scallops and gateau escargot with red wine gastrique. For soup, the classic acorn squash bisque gets punched up with apples, plus there's cream of parsnip and a mushroom cream.
The entrees are rich: coq au vin, duckling, wiener schnitzel and venison loin roast (think you'll get your deer?). The desserts are equally so: crème caramel, white chocolate cheesecake, tarte tatin, and Hubbard squash and crystallized ginger tart.
One fun addition is the detailed instructions for plating each dish, so you can impress guests with professional presentation. Kaufman graduated from the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier in 1992. The book is illustrated by Jeff Gold of Danville.
-- If your meals are on a more solitary scale, famed cookbook editor Judith Jones' new title will be good company. "The Pleasures of Cooking for One" demonstrates that cooking for yourself offers all sorts of opportunities to be creative.
Jones, who lives part of the year in the Northeast Kingdom, offers basic recipes for things like tomato sauce and pesto that she believes cooks should have on hand, teaches how to build meals over the course of a week, and supplies a lifetime's worth of tips and shortcuts gleaned from her famous collaborators.
She will present the book Nov. 17 at the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center at 7 p.m. and Nov. 18 at the Norwich Bookstore in Norwich, also at 7 p.m.
Not entirely novel
No, not THAT John Deere. Sandgate resident RW Pero borrows the famous Rutland native's name for the protagonist in his new self-published novel, "Killing the Hunt."
The other deer in this book are the four-legged kind, specifically one that Deere calls Charlie. The massive, one-eyed buck has become his obsession since the death of his wife, Wilma, and the near-collapse of their farm in southern Vermont. As Deere sets out to kill Charlie, he begins walking the fine line between sanity and insanity,
Pero says he came from a background similar to his character's but went on to a career in biotechnology.
The Reading Light: Spotlight on events
Jan Brett's picture book "The Mitten" seems like it's been around since everyone was a child, but this year is the 20th anniversary of publication.
Brett will visit the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center on Friday at 5 p.m. to celebrate the Ukrainian folk tale about a boy who drops a white mitten and the forest animals – a mole, a rabbit, a badger and more, each bigger than the last – that manage to crawl inside it.
Compiled by Ruth Hare. Do you have a tip for Between the Lines? Send it to ruth.hare@timesargus.com.
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