| correspondent
As someone used to making robust (and healthy) meals in tough situations – in a tiny camper with a two-burner hob or on a boat with a good stove but with limited space – I sat on and fell on a unique new cookbook: “The Little Kitchen Cookbook”.
The title is stylized all in lower case, and that first departure from the norm just gives you a hint of how this well-timed cookbook approaches meal times. Much of this book focuses on tools and techniques, kitchen (or galley) organization, food preparation, and storage.
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Author, Maine schooner cook and Captain Annie Mahle has built a reputation for innovative use of local organic produce that she prepared and served aboard the schooner (J&E Riggin) that she and her husband owned and served to many of Rockland, Maine, sailed for years. And now she’s published another cookbook based on these and other experiences in making haute cuisine and humble homemade favorites.
Whether you cook on a boat or in a camp, or how many do it these days – in an RV or a campsite or even in a college dormitory – this is the book for you. No matter where you prepare meals, this creative book will help you make this process more efficient and efficient – delicious too. And don’t expect beanie weenie to warm up. Rather, you will discover Mahl’s seasonal approach to fresh garden products.
The entire first part of the book is devoted to: tools and workspace; Meal planning; and the creative cuisine. To get to the point, there are “recipes for the small kitchen” in the second part. You can choose from snacks and starters; small meals; The salad; Dinner in a bowl (my favorites!); in the pan; in the pot; from the oven or toaster; and to round it off with dessert in a cup and more.
“And it doesn’t matter whether your heart burns at the thought of organizing a room or if you just want to prepare good food in your small kitchen. One way or another you have to organize, ”writes Mahle. “That means being organized, how things are done, but also what is stored where.”
Full-page color photos illustrate the text and of course show the savory and sweet recipes in it. In this book, Mahle takes up topics such as dealing with leftovers (you can be creative); entertaining; clean up and even recycle. J&E Riggin’s galley operated an efficient recycling system, including compost materials that eventually found their way into the family’s garden. If you read the extensive texts on the various topics, it becomes clear that the author has a lot of experience to back up her advice.
But how about we let the recipes speak for themselves for this unique approach to cooking? Here is a recipe from The Tiny Kitchen Cookbook, which features products from our gardens. You will find that visual appeal is an important part of all of the combinations presented in the book, undoubtedly a factor that doubly delighted all those schooner passengers as they studied Mahles specialties. Many of the recipes also offer variations and other suggestions.
Roasted red pepper halves with linguica and feta
Excerpt from The Tiny Kitchen Cookbook by Annie Mahle, used with permission from Storey Publishing:
“While the cheerful colors of the red peppers and yellow tomatoes stand out on the white feta, this dish allows endless variations. Try fennel sausage with Parmesan cheese or prosciutto with chevre. The feta is salty and the sausage too, but no, a little salt on the tomatoes makes the whole dish sing. “
For 2
2 red peppers, halved and pitted
5 ounces Linguica sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices
4 ounces feta cheese, cut into 4 pieces
6 golden (or red) cherry tomatoes, halved
2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of kosher salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)
Place the pepper halves with the cut side up on a roasting dish or cake plate.
Fill the pepper halves with sausage.
Place a slice of feta on top of the sausage, followed by the tomato halves.
Drizzle with olive oil and sparingly season with salt.
Roast for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the peppers are tender and starting to brown around the edges.
The Tiny Kitchen Cookbook is from Workman Publishing, and the paperback contains 50 of the author’s favorite recipes. I bet you or someone you know will find this book the perfect delicious solution to your cooking challenges.
Lynette L. Walther is the GardenComm Gold Medalist for Writing and a five-time recipient of the GardenComm Silver Medal of Achievement, the Exemplary Journalism Award from the National Garden Bureau, and she is the author of Florida Gardening on the Go. She is a member of GardenComm and the National Garden Bureau. Their gardens are on the banks of the St. Johns River.
