Exploring a Cookbook: Sunday Suppers at Lucques

I found a few mentions of Lucques, the restaurant in L.A. on LTH, but no references to its namesake cookbook by chef Suzanne Goin.



I've really been enjoying this cookbook, which is similar in spirit/sensibility to The Zuni Cafe cookbook. Some of the recipes are a bit involved but others could easily be weeknight meals. I also like the book as layed out as menus listed by season. It's really handy when you are working on matching your CSA box contents to recipes.

So far, we've tried the following:

Kabocha and dandelion green salad with bacon, pecans and roncal (or in my case, manchego):



Tunisian Lamb Stew with Eggplant and Harissa (we subbed rice for the recommended farro as the stew recipe was a little more time consuming than anticipated and we were getting hungry). I thought this recipe was delicious, if a little fussy. Also, she recommended sauteeing the eggplant, then adding it at the end. The cooking time listed for the eggplant was way too short. We finished it off in the oven before adding it to the stew--it worked just fine.



Swiss chard tart topped with a relish of currants and pine nuts.
I added sauteed bell peppers to this (I had a lot of them in my CSA box but not quite enough chard) and used homemade goat ricotta instead of cows milk. The base of the tart was a mix of the ricotta, an egg and creme fraiche with some crumbled goat cheese above and below the chard mixture. You top the tart with a relish of parsley, currants, red onion (we used shallots), balsamic reduction. I loved this recipe and with store bought puff pastry, it was pretty easy to put together.

Goat milk ricotta in process



Goat milk ricotta (I hung it for a while to get it a little drier)



Tart:


Relish:



I thought this would make a nice appetizer for entertaining as the components can be made in advance.