Annemarie Ahearn didn't always want to live in Maine, where for generations her family has owned a blueberry farm. She dreaded childhood visits to the state, with its rocky beaches and rolling fog. But for Ahearn, Maine eventually became home, and in her family's barn on Maine's coast she founded her cooking school, Salt Water Farm.
In Full Moon Suppers at Salt Water Farm: Recipes from Land and Sea, Ahearn shares her favorite recipes from monthly dinners she hosts the night of each full moon, plus advice to keep both guests and chef happy, such as "every meal should begin with a well-made drink." Her first recipe is for a simple vodka martini. What follows for the January moon is considerably less simple: sea urchin butter on toasts; potato gnocchi with lobster, cream and tarragon; roasted beets with citrus, horseradish yogurt and toasted hazelnuts; poached codfish with green olives, fennel, saffron and tomato conserva; and cinnamon rice pudding with Cara Cara oranges, Medjool dates and wildflower honey.
Every moon yields similarly sumptuous feasts, plus useful tips like how best to open a pomegranate or make perfect tart dough. For a sauce to accompany haddock fritters, Ahearn edifies the less capable with another trick: "You can cheat by adding a spoonful of store-bought mayonnaise."
Reverence permeates Ahearn's writing on the fruits of nature and the roles of those involved in food's journey onto a plate, honoring lobster trappers, tipping a cup to harvesters, and celebrating animals and the land--indeed, everything under the moon. --Katie Weed, freelance writer and reviewer