Pulp: A Practical Guide to Cooking with Fruit

After tackling vegetables in Ruffage and beans and grains in Grist, Michigan chef Berens turns her focus to Midwestern fruit in this rewarding outing. She kicks off with a handy “baker’s toolkit” of elements such as bread doughs, cake batters, honeycomb brittle, and pickling brine. The bulk of the no-nonsense recipes are then arranged by fruit, from apples to drupelet berries (raspberries, blackberries, and mulberries) to melons, then subdivided by cooking technique and sorted into savory or sweet. Berens has a knack for improving familiar dishes: salads of apples, arugula, and goat cheese with pumpernickel croutons should be built in layers on a serving platter to ensure equal distribution, while a chocolate pudding is kicked up with the addition of cherries that have been soaked in coffee syrup. After “you’ve grazed to boredom” on raw blueberries, use them in a baked dish of chicken and corn bread. Innovative combinations abound: pears meet bacon and onion in a tart, cream for panna cotta is infused with parsnips, and cantaloupe halves are filled with ice cream and drizzled with olive oil. Many recipes are for full meals, including the tempting “Sunday at the Pub,” which consists of poached quince, duck breast, potatoes, and citrusy relish. Locally focused but widely applicable, this will have home chefs heading to the farmers market or produce aisle with renewed confidence. (Apr.)