Presented with six cookbooks from six different authors, Frank Bokuniewicz created a summery five course meal tied together with Island sourced ingredients and simplicity.
It isn’t every day that Mr. Bokuniewicz, executive chef at Lola’s, uses other’s recipes in his kitchen. But for the third annual Cook the Vineyard, an event that celebrates Island food and cookbook authors, he was willing to make an exception.
Island food enthusiasts milled about on Monday snacking on pan-roasted lobster crostini from Chris Fischer’s The Beetlebung Farm Cookbook and sipping Martha’s Vineyard Distilling Company vodka tonics filled with floating fresh fruit. They purchased cookbooks from a table staffed by Bunch of Grapes (the big seller of the day was Fresh Fish by Jennifer Trainer Thompson) and tasted infused balsamic vinegar from LeRoux before sitting down for a full meal.
The annual event is hosted by the Martha’s Vineyard Magazine.
During lunch, host and lifestyle personality Sissy Biggers chatted with the authors about their dishes, their books and their kitchen secrets.
A Thai melon salad started off the lunch, a recipe plucked from Cathy Walthers’s book Raising the Salad Bar.
“I like to take a wholesome food and make it taste good,” Ms. Walthers said.
Though honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelon don’t need much more than a spoon to make them taste good, not all healthy foods have the same luxury. Ms. Walthers’s newest cookbook, Kale Glorious Kale, took her family on a 120-day journey of leafy greens. Her go-to tricks to make kale taste good for even a picky eater is buying it fresh and massaging the leaves with olive oil and salt. She recommended Blackwater farm as a good source of kale on the Island.
The main course was a combination of three cookbook authors’ creations. Roasted cod on garlic toast topped with tomato and basil, a entree take on bruschetta, came from Fresh Fish by Jennifer Trainer Thompson. Ms. Thompson created a book she called “an ode to growing up along the coast and being barefoot.” Recipes for all manner of fish are paired with stories from her life near the ocean.
“I think people are afraid to cook fish,” she said, noting it is the only meat where home cooks have to regularly deal with eyes and scales. But buy it fresh and fish is easy to prepare, she said, and cod is a classic New England catch.
Quick roasted Brussels sprouts and smashed cauliflower were served on the side, family-style. The roasted Brussels sprouts came from Susie Middleton’s first book, Fast, Fresh and Green, a technique book that focused on making cooking fun and included nine ways to prepare vegetables. Ms. Middleton is involved every step of the way in her recipes as a farmer, cook, author and bookseller.
“The Vineyard thing is to do a lot of different things,” she said.
Mona Dolgov’s 100-calorie smashed cauliflower came from her cookbook The Perfect Portion. The Perfect Portion was all about creating healthy versions of classic comfort food that didn’t sacrifice flavor with the calories. The smashed cauliflower replaces classic mashed potatoes. When it comes to keeping sweet treats appropriately portioned, muffin tins are a cook’s best friend, she told the crowd.
The main course was followed by a cheese board from Grey Barn featuring four cheeses, each distinctly delicious. A coconut macaroon drizzled in dark chocolate ended the meal. Though there was no added sugar, the mouthful from Little Bites by Sarah Waldman was delicately sweet and the recipe is easy enough for a child to make, she said.
Ms. Waldman wrote her cookbook with her two young sons in mind.
“The idea that kids can’t eat real whole foods is crazy, they are just shorter people,” she said, followed by laughter. Her book is full of “treats you can say yes to,” and many of the Cook the Vineyard guests Monday afternoon said yes to the macaroons more than once.
Comments
Comment policy »