Recipes

This soup has existed about as long as farming has in western civilizations. It is the mainstay peasant soup of France and can be used as the founda­tion for any number of other vegetable soups. In restaurants this soup is near­ly always pureed, but in the old-fa­shioned country version it is not — the vegetables are simply cooked to near disintegration. My version is a compro­mise because it is intended as a main dish and somehow a pureed soup never seems to make it — the hungry mouth needs something to chew on, I guess,

Serves four.

Faeries may not so much dance as galumph around under the moon after a slice of this rich moist cake laden with fruit and nuts. The directions assume an electric mixer, but you can also beat it together with a wooden spoon.

Dried black mushrooms from Japan and spicy, pungent French chanterelles make this a meatloaf for royals. As well it might, since the imported dried mushrooms cost a king’s ransom.

Eaten plain or with yogurt for breakfast or lunch and involved in more elaborate desserts for dinner, strawberries are hardly tiring, even on a daily basis. The season is too short for that. Here is a strawberry shortcake that can be prepared in a trice.

As soon as the weather warms (and the rains cease — a dove with a sprig of impatiens landed on my windowsill, indicating the waters are about to subside), thoughts turn to the pleasures of outdoor dining The barbecue season, perfuming the air with the aroma of charbroil and keeping the heat out of the kitchen, has arrived.

Pizza may be a year-round staple, but in the summer season it can take on a special bright freshness. Now is the time. Herbs, fresh tomatoes or even a little ratatouille discovered while rummaging in the refrigerator are wonderful additions, providing you make the pizza yourself, an activity that allows for creative innovations and saves on gasoline. 

Mussels, readily available now that the weather and water are beginning to warm, are yet to find as popular a place on menus here as clams. Perhaps if the Indians had started the colonists off with a mussels bake, the history of seafood consumption would have been totally different.

Although at least 100 chocolate cake recipes have passed through my ovens in 18 years of marriage to a chocoholic, I know I have scarcely scratched the surface of possibilities in this enchanting subject. While many of these have become favorites, I’m just as ready to try something new.

Whole wheat has finally become upper crust. Dark, earthy loaves of bread formerly shunned by everyone except peasants, nutritionists, and other dangerous types, have been welcomed at the tables of quality. The about-face is made complete by the fact that whole grain breads now cost more than once fancy white.

Is there a better East End summer dish than chilled fish or seafood? And think of the possibilities! With a big advance from your publisher or the profit from that lot you sold in Sagaponack you could buy a few shrimp.

The time of year for lighter food is rapidly approaching. Quick sautés because you don't want to spend hours in the kitchen, lemony flavors to entice warm weather appetites, and bright green garnishes for visual allure are what dinner need most. Food like this offers an attractive alternative to the inevitable barbecue grill or platter of cold poached fish.

There is no better fish to exemplify maritime territoriality than the cod, sought after and fought over by fleets of many nations. Sacred cod.