INTREPID FISHERWOMEN WRITE A SEAFOOD COOKBOOK

Sisters Kiyo and Tomi Marsh and friend Laura Cooper, are three extremely attractive women who happen to make their living in commercial fishing in Alaska. Think about it...three chicks doing men's work in a man's world in one of the roughest environments imaginable. I wanna meet these ladies for a cocktail so they can regale me with stories of their adventurous life at sea. In the meantime, I have THE FISHES & DISHES COOKBOOK: Seafood Recipes and Salty Stories from Alaska's Commercial Fisherwomen (Epicenter Press; $19.95; ISBN: 978-1-935347-07-1) for stories and some first-rate seafood recipes.

"Our book provides a window into working on the water in Alaska, a world that few get to experience directly," they write in the Introduction to THE FISHES & DISHES COOKBOOK. "Collectively, we've worked as captain and crew, engineer, deckhand and cook. Tomi was looking for a way to make money for college and "talked her way into a cook's position aboard the Scotch Cap, a fish processing boat." But she had to earn respect and that meant not only cooking, but cleaning, laundry plus process fish. She got the job, but had to ask a seat mate on the plane to Alaska how to make coffee. Sister Kiyo was also trying to pay for school and ended up joining Tomi when she bought, the F/V Savage, a 78 foot lobster boat. As they fished throughout the seasons for salmon, king crab, opilio crab (often called snow crab), turbot, black cod, shrimp, and herring, they found themselves "frequently feeding crew, friends, and fellow fishermen." Even in their off-time, they would bake up cookies for their fisherman friends. In bad weather boats "would often hide in a sheltered bay with a bevy of boats rafted up to us. Then everyone would gather in the galley of the Savage, for steaming cups of coffee, food, and good conversation." They eventually met Laura Cooper, who among other things, worked for the World Wildlife Fund. Laura would become "a partner in shaping this book, and her artful collages grace its pages."

Cooking fish makes people nervous. Excellent fish cookbooks come and go and there are great books on the subject by Mark Bittman, James Beard, Rick Moonan and others. FISHES & DISHES, however, immerses the reader and cook into this rough and tumble world. The "dishes" provide lots of photographs which show the staggering beauty as well as the tough living conditions of those who fish the waters of this cold and remote area of the Pacific Northwest. Having the absolute freshest seafood available to them anytime they needed it, helped shape their cooking, and THE FISHES & DISHES COOKBOOK, features not only delightful recipes, but lots of fishing lore, tall tales and memories, and interesting information about the world of fishing such as:

• Alaskan Commercial Fishing Methods: Learn various methods used for catching fish, i.e., gill netting, purse seining, trawling and trolling
• Memorable stories about the author's fishing friends
• Sustainability in the fishing industry
• Cooking in the Ditch--or how to get a meal on the table in rolling waves
• The story of Kitty, a black cat who would become the Savage ship mascot for eighteen years
• Methods to preserve the catch
• Goddesses in Grundens: Fishing Fashion for the Ladies (not your idea of haute couture)

Spicy Crab and Artichoke Melt Sandwiches

The stories will charm the reader, and the evocative photographs just may lure you to Alaska. But the recipes are the real reason to own THE FISHES & DISHES COOKBOOK, and this is an excellent basic seafood book that won't intimidate those who already are scared of cooking seafood at home. I chose the recipe for Spicy Crab and Artichoke Melt Sandwiches because it is easy and reminded me of the crab and cheddar toasts that I found in oyster bars in San Francisco in my youth. But these sandwiches are very distinctive on their own. They are generously loaded with fresh crabmeat and chopped artichoke hearts, which are combined with mayonnaise, finely chopped garlic, Parmesan cheese, green onion, and chopped fresh Italian parsley. The spice comes from fresh minced jalapeño peppers. All this is topped with shredded cheddar cheese and run under the broiler. What a great combination of flavors. Paired with a green salad, a good beer or glass of wine, this is a festive Friday night meal at home with friends.

Along with a Salmon Primer, you'll find a number of fine salmon recipes: Cider-Brined King Salmon and Salmon Dumplings with Coconut Curry Sauce. Who wouldn't want to serve King Crab Dip at their next gathering? Crab Food Yung with Gravy could be your next comfort food favorite. I've got to find smoked black cod for a heavenly looking soup called Smoked Black Cod Chowder. Sea Scallops with Smoked Paprika and Citrus combines some of my favorite ingredients.

FISHES & DISHES concludes with a fine selection of cocktails based on local bars and taverns in Alaskan fishing villages with a smart feature on pairing wine and seafood. As much a delightful armchair read as it is a fine cookbook, FISHES & DISHES is a lively book about three amazing women and the challenging work they're passionately involved in. It is also a valentine to the rugged grandeur and mesmerizing beauty of Alaska.

Spicy Crab and Artichoke Melt Sandwiches

Piled high with crabmeat, these open-faced sandwiches pack just the right amount of heat. Add more jalapeño if you really want to feel the fire. Jalapeños with white striations in their skin will generally be hotter than those without.

Makes 4 servings

11/2 cups shelled crabmeat, shredded

1 cup artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped

1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh jalapeño

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 green onion, sliced

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 large or 8 small slices of French bread, cut 3/4 inch thick

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Chopped fresh Italian parsley

Preheat the broiler and set the rack on the middle level.

In a medium bowl, blend together the crabmeat, artichoke hearts, jalapeño, garlic, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, green onion, and salt and pepper.

Toast the French bread slices under the broiler on one side. Remove the toasted bread slices from the broiler, turn them over, and spread each with the crab-artichoke mixture. Top with the cheddar cheese. Place the open-faced sandwiches under the broiler and cook until the topping is hot and bubbly, about 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley, and serve hot.

OUR DAILY BREAD

My version of Jim Lahey's famous "No-Knead Bread" with white flour from the original recipe as published in The New York Times and baked in my New York kitchen.

Pane Integrale or whole wheat bread from Jam Lahey's MY BREAD with 2 and 1/4 cups of bread flour and 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, made recently in my Portland kitchen.

When Mark Bittman published a recipe by Jim Lahey of New York's famed Sullivan Street Bakery for a rustic-looking artisanal loaf of bread that looked like a boule from a Parisian bakery, in The New York Times, the effect was electrifying. For months people talked about this recipe, marveling that one could replicate it so easily at home. Here was a beautiful loaf of bread that could be easily made at home without a lot of fuss, looked handsomely rustic and tasted great. I made it right away, and the results were outstanding. At the time I was working from my home office, so I had a fine loaf of bread for toast in the morning and a sandwich at lunch. I estimated the cost of this loaf of bread to be under $1.00. I was accustomed to paying at least $3.00 a loaf and often higher. It required only three cups of flour, a 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, some water and salt and a 6-quart Dutch oven (as it turns out, my antique Griswold four-quart Dutch oven with a heavy glass top worked just as well and made a higher loaf). The catch was really no catch at all, though this dough does require a rising time of between 12 and 18 hours. The good news is that you mixed it up very quickly, covered it and went about your business without having to fuss with the dough--there was no kneading required. I quickly got into the habit of mixing the dough at 12:00 noon and then in the morning, giving the dough a few turns with a little extra flour, and then letting it rise an additional two hours before putting it in a very hot pot pre-heated in my oven to a high 450 degrees. This allowed me to enjoy the crackling, crunchy crust of the bread in my lunch sandwich--a fleeting pleasure, as the minute you wrap the bread (or any other bread for that matter) that magical crunch disappears.

It is now three plus years since I first started making this wonderful bread. I make other loaves and sometimes let my old bread machine do the mixing and rising before baking it in the oven, but nothing tastes quite as good as this superb loaf. I now often mix two cups of white flour with one cup of whole wheat flour with great results. Sometimes I add 1/2 teaspoon of yeast instead of 1/4 teaspoon. I've made the bread with olives. I've experimented with the amount of water from the original 1 5/8 cups of water in Bittman's original writing of the recipe, to the 1 1/3 cups that Jim Lahey now recommends in his great baking opus, MY BREAD: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method (written with Rick Flaste; Norton; $29.95; ISBN: 978-0-393-06630-2). The dough which is very soft and "wet" is much easier to handle. So popular has this recipe become that Cook's Illustrated magazine weighed in with its own version of Lahey's original recipe, adding a small amount of beer and white wine vinegar, cutting down the water, and kneading the bread slightly. I liked the results, but Lahey's recipe didn't need improving. However, Cook's Illustrated did fix the one thing I never liked about Lahey's creation and that was moving this incredibly soft dough into the hot Dutch oven, which could be downright dangerous and was always messy. Their method required putting the dough on a length of parchment sprayed with cooking spray and put into a shallow fry pan to rest for the final rise. Using this parchment "sling" you could easily transfer the dough to the hot pot holding the parchment at both ends, cover the pot and put it in the oven to bake. This is far preferable to trying to "dump" it in a hot pot from the kitchen towel you've dusted with bran flakes or flour or corn meal and thus scattering debris in every direction.

Pizza Patate

MY BREAD is full of Jim Lahey's great recipes for breads, pizzas and focaccias, and rolls. The first thing I made from the book was a Pizza Patate, a sensational combination I first tasted in Rome on my first visit to that magical city. Thin slices of potato, onion, are tossed with olive oil and rosemary is added to the finished pizza. This amazing pizza emerged from my oven a deep golden color on the edges of the dough, with crisp caramelized edges on the potatoes and glistening with olive oil. I sprinkled some salt and red pepper flakes and dug in. The flavors of potato, rosemary, sweetened onion just sang. Then I made Pizza Bianco, which we ate one night and saved the rest for a sandwich the next day. We simply piled our sandwich fixings on top of the re-heated pizza and enjoyed a delicious open-faced sandwich.

Pizza Bianca

Bianca in Italian means “white,” which is not exactly what a pizza bianca is. “Almost naked” might be a better description, as it is one of the least adorned pizzas. It’s pretty much a flatbread that you flavor with good olive oil (unlike my basic pizza dough) and often some herbs. I use rosemary leaves here, but any fresh herb or combination that appeals to you will work. And that’s it. In Rome, pizza bianca is eaten in the morning, the way Americans eat buttered toast—and then throughout the day, too, because Romans never seem to be able to get enough of a really wonderful, simple thing. Notice that this pizza is not made on a baking sheet, as the others are, but is baked on a stone and requires a peel to get it in and out of the oven. Both the peel ($20 or so) and stone (usually around $25) are quite inexpensive; they are available in kitchen stores and on the Internet (through Amazon, among other sources).

Yield: One 14-inch pie; 6 to 8 slices
Equipment: A large (at least 14 inches in diameter) pizza stone and a pizza peel

ingredients	measure	weight
bread flour, plus additional for dusting	3 cups	400 grams
instant or other active dry yeast	¼ teaspoon	1 gram
table salt	½ teaspoon	4 grams
sugar	¾ teaspoon	4 grams
cool (55 to 65 degrees F) water	1½ cups	350 grams
extra virgin olive oil, plus additional for coating the bowl and brushing	¼ cup	60 grams
coarse sea salt	½ teaspoon	4 grams
fresh rosemary, leaves removed	3 sprigs

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and yeast. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Lightly coat a second medium bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature, until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 9 to 12 hours. (While most of the breads in this book can rise for as long as 18 hours, this one is at the short end of the range because a longer rise would cause the dough to be less elastic, more firm, and it needs to be stretched out.)

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface (a cutting board is useful here) with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece; as you begin to pull it away from the bowl, it will cling in long, thin strands and will be quite loose and sticky. Using lightly floured hands, fold the dough over itself two or three times and nudge it into a loose, rather flat ball. Brush the surface of the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with the coarse salt (which will gradually dissolve on the surface). Put the dough in a warm, draft-free spot and let rise until doubled, 1 to 2 hours.

3. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F, with a rack in the center, and place a pizza stone, at least 14 inches in diameter, in the center of the rack.

4. Generously dust a pizza peel with flour and place the ball of dough in the middle. Spread out the fingers of one hand, like a claw, and drive your fingers into the dough, but do not puncture it (short nails are essential; see photos, page 136): you want to simultaneously create dimples in the dough and spread it out across the peel. Continue working your hand across the dough and dimpling it until you have a bumpy disk about 12 inches in diameter. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top and sprinkle with the rosemary leaves.

5. With the peel resting on the counter (this part gets easier with practice), grasp the handle and give it a quick little tug: you want the pizza to just barely move but stay on the peel. (Loosening it makes it easier to slide it onto the baking stone.) If the dough sticks to the peel, gently lift it around the edges and add flour to the peel. Shake the pizza onto the baking stone. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown on the mounds but still pale in the dimples.

6. Slide the peel under the pizza and transfer it to a rack to cool for at least a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Variation • Schicciata d’Uva (Sweet Raisin and Grape Pizza)

After scraping the dough out onto the work surface in Step 2, scatter about 10 grams (1 heaping tablespoon) raisins over the surface of the dough. Then proceed by folding the dough and brushing it with olive oil, but sprinkle it with 2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar instead of the coarse salt. In Step 4, begin to dimple and stretch out the dough. Halfway through the dimpling process, spread 300 grams (about 3 cups) stemmed Concord grapes over the dough, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top, and continue dimpling, smashing some of the grapes into the dough as you do so. Sprinkle with 6 grams (about 2 teaspoons) anise seeds and 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake as directed.

In additions to such standards as Rye and Whole Wheat breads, Olive Bread, there are many fascinating breads and some of the more exotic include Carrot Bread, Jim's Irish Brown Bread, Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread, Coconut-Chocolate Bread, and a yeasty Fresh Corn Bread--all employing the no-knead method.

For anyone like me who has enjoyed Sullivan Street Bakery's other pizza offerings, it nice to know that I now have recipes for his versions of mushroom, zucchini and onion pizzas. There's Pizza Cavolfiore, an intoxicating blend of roasted cauliflower, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Sicilian green olives, red pepper flakes and bread crumbs.

MY BREAD also has a sandwich section with recipes for the fillings that go onto his baguette loaves (Stecca, Stirato--an Italian baguette--and Ciabatta), such as Rosemary Roast Beef, Citrus Roast Pork, Marinated Beets and Eggplant, Roasted Red Peppers, Spicy Eggplant Spread and Lemon Dressing. Panini receives it's own inspiring section and there's an entire chapter of recipes that utilize the inevitable stale bread. I'd bake a loaf, leave it out on the counter just to make something called Budino, a bread pudding tart, which I can hardly describe because it has a pudding inside a tart crust with caramel and fruit (this is an ambitious recipe that begged me to make it--soon).

Jim Lahey served a long and somewhat difficult apprenticeship as a breadmaker, struggling to get along with colleagues as he wrestled with his passion for making and mastering bread his way. He writes compellingly of his travels to and from New York and Italy, working for Amy Scherber (the owner of Amy's Breads, and a baker he admires and acknowledges as an important early mentor), as well as the children of Joe Allen, the owner of Joe Allen's and Orzo--popular New York theater district restaurants. All of this makes for a riveting opening chapter, "The Making of a Bread Baker."

I've been an sporadic baker of bread throughout my years of cooking, yet I have enthusiastically continued to add fine baking books to my cookbook collection. I read them, bake a loaf or two and forget about them. MY BREAD feels different. This is bread that speaks to me and I know will have wide appeal. Get this book, buy some bread flour and yeast and get busy. A well-made loaf of bread is one of the most satisfying accomplishments any baker can do.

CANNING AND PRESERVING: A New Obsession

My First Preserves

Last December a friend brought me 15 ruby red grapefruits for Christmas. It was a lovely present, but what the heck does one do with 15 grapefruits when one is living alone? I'm not even supposed to be eating grapefruits or grapefruit juice any time I take my medication to control my cholesterol (though you can hours afterwards). I had a high old time making delicious grapefruit Screwdrivers, but that paled quickly. I had them halved for breakfast and that grew tired. I had one salad of watercress and grapefruit, but you don't exactly crave having another in close proximity. Well...what about marmalade?

I've never canned or "put up" preserves in my life. I would never have attempted to do this in my New York kitchen. But now I'm in Portland and my kitchen is large and such an undertaking is possible. A futile search for pink grapefruit marmalade in my large cookbook collection revealed nothing that interested me, so I went to the Internet and found a recipe that had been adapted from one by Nigella Lawson. It looked simple enough, but was poorly written. I had to convert grams to ounces, and steps were sketchy at best. But it woefully lacked instructions for sterilizing, jars, inside lids and screw bands--and not having specifics about this important part of making preserves could end up making you sick. That's why I turned to a nifty and detailed book on the subject: CANNING AND PRESERVING FOR DUMMIES, 2nd edition by Amelia Jeanroy and Karen Ward (For Dummies, a branded imprint of Wiley; $19.95; ISBN: 978-047050455). Here is a guide that combines excellent recipes for making jams, jellies and preserves as well as canning vegetables and sauces, with the specifics of equipment, utensils, the steps required to both sterilize jars and lids and the necessary water-bath and pressure canning and proper storage.

I was already committed to making the pink marmalade and the closest I got to a recipe in CANNING AND PRESERVING FOR DUMMIES was being inspired to add ginger to the pink grapefruit after reading a recipe called Lime-Ginger Marmalade. But I learned how to properly sterilize my jars separately from the lids, and how much water to immerse the finished jars into, and for how long, etc. I learned how important skimming the top of the bubbling preserves is to the clarity and appearance of the marmalade. I had my first experience trying to fish hot jars of marmalade out of the boiling water bath without the benefit of jar lifters and discovered how much easier it was to use a wide-mouthed canning funnel. I also discovered that you often need things like pectin to help thicken the fruit juices into jelly. I had no idea that preserves, jams and jellies required so much sugar! My marmalade turned out perfectly because I was able to use the recipe instructions to understand when the fruit had cooked to a "jammy" consistency (in this case without pectin)--thanks to this instructive book.

CANNING AND PRESERVING FOR DUMMIES extends to other methods of storing food. Discover how your freezer can truly become another storage extender by knowing what freezes well and what doesn't, find out all about vacuum sealing machines, and how to pack, label and thaw frozen foods safely. There are recipes for freezing your own vegetables from asparagus to winter squash. Extend the life of your herbs by freezing them so they are ready when you are. There are also chapters on drying fruits, nuts and vegetables. Finally there is a chapter on root cellars and alternative storage spaces, making this a comprehensive resource to preserving the best of the growing season so it is available to you throughout the year.

As we move closer to canning season, I now have a raised bed outside my kitchen door. I'll plant vegetables that I can put up during the summer so that I have them during the winter months when good tomatoes are unavailable, asparagus is out of season, and I'm longing for a Chiogga beet. I can make my own pickles, relishes, chutneys, and sauces, preserve peppers, and those gorgeous Atomic purple and orange carrots that I so admired at the farmer's market last summer. I might even try my hand at canning my own creamed corn or Sauerkraut. In this economy making your own food, especially when you can preserve food at its peak makes $sense.

After running through 12 half-pints (shown in photo), another friend in a burst of enthusiasm, gifted me with an additional 12 pink grapefruits, which took up two afternoons and I have enough for another eighteen jars! I now have 12 new, large pint jars of marmalade on my storage shelves in the basement and with CANNING AND PRESERVING FOR DUMMIES, the confidence I need to add this method of making food to my cooking repertoire.

MAGNIFICENT MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE FROM MARIN COUNTY

I've got two stories to tell here. There's a charming and very stylish boutique in the Sellwood neighborhood of SE Portland, not too far from where I live. It's called Ste. Maine, and I discovered it last summer when I moved to Portland. They were having a sale of these beautiful porcelain bowls perfect for soup or pasta. When I walked into the store, two things impressed me. The two very chic young women who own it have amazing taste and they sell books. There's a handsome, round table center-stage in the middle of the shop stacked with cookbooks, coffee table art, fashion and design books. The ladies are friendly in a way that you rarely see in retail these days. I recently received an e-mail announcing they were moving. Worried, I dropped by the store to investigate. Elizabeth quickly assured me they were moving around the corner and that it was a good opportunity for the shop. Then she hauled me over to the book table and put into my hands one of the most attractive, oversized cookbooks I've ever seen. INSALATA'S MEDITERRANEAN TABLE (Laura Parker Studio; $32.00; ISBN: 978-0-615-31453) is a privately published book, which you probably will be able to find in a few stores in San Francisco, but for everyone else, it will probably be easiest to find it at Amazon.com. It only took a quick thumbing through its beautiful pages to convince me to buy the book. The author is Heidi Insalata Krahling, the owner/chef of Insalata, a justifably popular restaurant in San Anselmo, in Marin county. The book's visual look is the collaborative vision of the author and the inspired artist/publisher, Laura Parker, whose stunning still life paintings of fruit and vegetables not only illuminate the book, but also hang in the restaurant.

Chef Krahling, influences include legendary San Franciscan-based Joyce Goldstein, owner/chef of Square One (now closed) and Mary Risely, founder, Tante Marie's Cooking School, also in San Francisco, as huge influences on her cooking. She presents a really attractive collection of recipes that represent the entire Mediterranean area from Syria, Morocco, Spain, Italy, and France to Turkey, Greece, Portugal and points beyond. Unlike many collections from restaurant chefs which are unnecessarily complicated and inappropriate for home cooking these recipes are ideal for the home cook.

I wrote to a friend who lives in Mill Valley because of something called a Fattoush Salad, may be the most popular item on the menu. My friend wrote back telling me they have dined at Insalata many times, and that her husband had bought the book. Indeed, she wrote, the Fattoush Salad is one of their favorites and they often make it at home. I decided to try it and let me tell you, I may never make a Caesar salad again after digging into this addictive combination of romaine lettuce, English cucumber, cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, thinly sliced red onion, and finely chopped cilantro and mint. To this you add crisply baked bite-sized wedges of pita bread, and a refreshing vinaigrette of two different oils, garlic, squeezed lemon juice, kosher salt, toasted and ground cumin seed and black pepper. The garlic is warmed in oil and the whole thing gets tossed together in a big bowl.

We ate that salad at my house last Thursday. It was so good, I made it again for Friday night's supper, with nothing else other than a glass of wine. When I called the artist to obtain a jpeg of the salad for this review, she told me that if Heidi stops making this salad, there would be a revolt in the restaurant. I believe it. It's that good.

Poring over the recipes in this readable book makes me want to cook and eat. There are so many mouth-watering recipes, such as Lamb Riblets with Za'atar and Cumin Yogurt. A spice rub of harissa powder, papricka, oregano, caraway, cumin, pepper and sugar is dusted over racks of lamb riblets, baked and then grilled on the barbecue and served with Za'atar, a flavorful sauce of spices, parskley, shallot, sumac, thyme, olive oil and other ingredients "for drizzling," and cumin yogurt for serving. What a bright alternative to regular pork ribs. I love beets and the Beets with Tahini Yogurt offers another terrific way to enjoy them. Halibut with Yellow Tomato Vinaigrette can be put together in a few minutes. Grill the fish, ladle the made-in-seconds vinaigrette (with only four ingredients), and serve with a side of Picholine-Olive Salsa Verde. It's an astoundingly simple dish to execute. Cataplana is a Portugese clam, chorizo and tomato saute that uses a few choice ingredients that deliver big flavor benefits. There are more elaborate recipes for company such as the Pork Stew with Tomatillas and Purslane, Tunisian Seven-Vegetable Tagine, or the voluptuous Fettucine with Chanterelle Mushrooms and Corn with a goat cheese butter added for richness and more flavor. Chef Krahling loves grains, so recipes for bulgar, Israeli couscous, fregula, quinoa get star treatment here.

In keeping with the Mediterranean traditions, desserts are simple but nobody will be able to resist the Chocolate Pecan Toffee (which Krahling suggests could be crumbled over ice cream or sprinkled on the Chocolate Budino) , a Pumpkin Roulade could be the center of your next Thanksgiving feast, and there's a fragrant Orange-Almond Olive Oil Cake.

I wallowed in the superb chapter with recipes for condiments in the Mediterranean kitchen such as Turkish Yogurt, a Pear and Ginger Chutney, Honey-Pomengranate Glaze, Preserved Lemons, and so much more. Having any or all of these delicious things on hand will only enhance your creativity. And the Mezze, Tapas and Antipasti chapter will turn you into a master of the small plate. I can't find fresh Taramasalata here in Portland of the same quality as can be found at the International Market on 9th Avenue in New York, so I'm thrilled to have a recipe for this favorite spread for crackers or vegetables.

INSALATA'S MEDITERRANEAN TABLE is a success as a cookbook and an art book on food because Heidi Insalata Krahling and Laura Parker had a vision for it that is completely theirs (which is one of the reasons they chose to publish it themselves). I will hate like hell to stain it when I cook, but I have a feeling it will only enhance the beauty of the book, which is a celebration of rustic, bold, earthy, heavenly and healthy flavors in this highly esteemed part of the world. Krahling's food begs to be made

FATTOUSH SALAD

Fattoush is a refreshing and crisp Middle Eastern bread salad with a bright lemony vinaigrette. At Insalata's, it has become one of the most popular items on the menu since we opened our doors. On any given day you can walk through the dining room and see dozens of people enjoying the addictive combination of cucumber and mint, Kalamata olives and sheep's milk .feta cheese. People crave this salad and are so loyal to it that I keep it on the menu year round. The ingredients are easy to find and assembling the dish is quite simple. The addition of poached or grilled chicken makes for a perfect lunch or a light supper.

Serves 6 as a side dish or 3 as a light lunch

2 pita breads

vinaigrette:

1/3 cup blended oil (2/3 parts canola, safflower, grapeseed or vegetable oil with 1/3 part extra virgin olive oil)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon cumin seed, toasted and ground

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

salad:

3 hearts of romaine, torn roughly by hand (about six cups)

3/4 cup crumbled sheep's milk feta cheese

3/4 cup vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, halved

3/4 cup peeled, seeded and diced English cucumber

1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro

1/3 cup finely chopped mint

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

To make the pita chips: Trim the edges of the pita breads, keeping a circle shape; split horizontally into two halves. Cut each half into 6 triangles; arrange on a baking sheet. toast in the oven until golden, dried and crispy, about 12 minutes; let cool. Break he chips into large pieces.

To make the vinaigrette: In a small skillet, over low heat, gently warm the Blended Oil and garlic until fragrant. (This is an extra step but well worth it if you have time.) In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil and garlic mixture, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, cumin and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

To serve: In a large bowl, combine the romaine hearts, pita chips, feta, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, olives, red onion, cilantro, mint, and about 3/4 cup of the vinaigrette, toss well, adding more vinaigrette if needed to coat the leaves. Divide the salad among 3 or 6 chilled salad plates. Serve immediately.

If you are in Marin County, you can visit Insalata's in San Anselmo, California. For more details, visit their website at http://www.insalatas.com/.

You can view more of Laura Parker's superb work at lauraparkerstudio.com.

I'm grateful to Elizabeth at Ste. Maine in Portland for bringing INSALATA'S MEDITERRANEAN TABLE to my attention. The store is moving this month right around the corner on Milwaukee Avenue (next to Starrs Antiques). Please stop by to view the gorgeous home furnishings, exquisite tabletop items, handsome accent boxes, their impressive book display, and so much more.

http://www.saintmaine.com/welcome.html.