Kristina’s Bookshelf
Living the French Country Dream
For many readers, award-winning cookbook author, journalist, and entrepreneur Georgeanne Brennan needs no introduction. Brennan, who lives with her family in Northern California, is well known for spreading the gospel of French food in the United States. Brennan has a special appreciation for French dishes that are made from a few simple but deeply flavorful seasonal ingredients or that celebrate the outdoors. You can read more about Georgeanne Brennan, her cookbooks, and the many products she offers for living la vie rustic (the rustic life) at georgeannebrennan.com.
La Vie Rustic: Cooking and Living in the French Style
by Georgeanne Brennan
(Weldon Owen, 2017)
In her latest cookbook, which some fans celebrate as her best yet, Georgeanne Brennan shares a lifetime of French farmhouse cooking using ingredients from forest, field, sea, and stream to make casual, very satisfying meals. The cookbook weaves together personal experience, stories, and tips about how to create a sustainable life and celebrate with family and friends. Recipes can be comfortably managed by home cooks, and ingredients are available in local East Bay markets. Standout dishes include combinations like charred artichokes with fresh herb dipping sauce, zucchini and pine nut fritters, fennel and chicken braised with lemon, a sweet pepper and shelling bean gratin, mulberry and pistachio tart, fresh bay leaves skewered with lamb and peppers, lavender pepper goat cheese, and sea bass with lemon verbena beurre blanc. East Bay local Sara Remington once again supplies Brennan with beautiful photography, and Georgeanne’s daughter, Ethel, manages styling. Some readers may recall that Sara Remington and Ethel Brennan collaborated to great effect on a cookbook, Paris to Provence, which detailed their childhood experiences in France. The duo’s efforts add an enticing visual dimension to Brennan’s delicious and appealing recipes.
Edible East Bay’s book editor Kristina Sepetys is eager to share her ideas and book recommendations
with our readers.