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The Rustic Gourmet: Earthy Elegance from the Woods of Northern Michigan
The Rustic Gourmet Earthy Elegance from the Woods of Northern Michigan Author:Marie Lapointe Hanis It takes someone who truly knows "gourmet" to apply that concept to food that is considered "rustic." For Marie Lapointe Hanis, the two descriptors are anything but contradictory. The practice of using fresh, seasonal ingredients from local and regional sources and preparing them simply but creatively -- what the French have long referred to as ... more »la cuisine du marche -- is now the latest trend in restaurants, cookbooks and home kitchens. Too often, Hanis had heard comments like, "I only like venison when it doesn't taste gamy." In Rustic Gourmet, she teaches us to love that gamy taste and open our minds (and mouths) to other real flavors of the field, forest and waters by presenting them to us in irresistibly unique ways. Many a declared "gourmet" will be a "rustic" convert after savoring such delightful fare as: Huckleberry Scones; Cherry Pie Bread; Wild Violet Jam; Wild Duck Salad with Cracklings; Maple-Glazed Parsnips; Saffron Cod, Mock Tripe Club Style; Smoky Duck with Fennel and Apples; Morel Stuffed Grouse; Rabbit with Wild Leeks and Tomatoes; and Roast Venison with Pan Mint Sauce. During her years at Beaverdam, a hunting and fishing club nestled in Michigan's Pigeon River State Forest, Hanis wrote a column for a local paper in which she related lively tales about raising two sons in their cabin in the woods, often contrasting their upbringing to her own, in a very different atmosphere of Detroit in the 1960s. She has adapted many of those writings here, threading essays through the recipes. And what does Detroit Tiger announcer Ernie Harwell have to do with sour cream muffins? The answer is just one more delicious treat to savor in this intriguing combination of cookbook, entertaining anecdotes and "up north" memoir!« less