Entertaining in the Northwest Style

As you might guess, a cookbook titled "Entertaining in the Northwest Style" focuses on what is regionally available in our various seasons. Chef Greg Atkinson takes it a step further by creating full menus to enhance Northwest moments like the return of the salmon in spring or brunch on a boat.

Some people read cookbooks like novels; this cookbook actually includes stories at the start of each menu, making it a very personal book. As an example, a menu for high tea in the garden starts off with stories of Greg and his wife Betsy's early years in Friday Harbor. This is what Greg says about a sandwich Betsy created: "It was a simple thing—just a variation on a grilled cheese sandwich. But when the cheese is blue, and the sandwich is layered with shredded leaves of fresh sorrel, and when the whole thing is served with hot tea in the cool breeze of a sunny afternoon in late spring or early summer, then the world is a bright and beautiful place. And when the woman who serves it to you is the love of your life, and she smiles, and maybe even laughs a little, as you crunch through the toast and feel the sour, buttery tang of the sorrel, then you want to experience it again and again." You have got to like a man who feels this way about his wife and who connects everything—weather, emotions, taste, memories. His stories make it a fun read.

After each story, he gives you some general information—"The Day Before," which tells you the steps you can take the day before your event, "On the Table," suggestions on types of dishes, flowers, etc., "What to Pour," wine-pairing suggestions, and "Make it Simpler," how you can simplify recipes or ideas when you don't have the time to do it all from scratch.

Recipes are clear and Greg gives some nice descriptions that help you visualize what he means. An example is making dough for whole wheat butter crackers. "Fold the rectangle into thirds, like a letter…"—we all know how to fold a letter.

He also explains why he puts certain things together, which is helpful in the learning process (i.e., when might I do something like this again?). For Thanksgiving dinner, his menu consists of a turkey with Madeira pan gravy with cornbread and oyster dressing. Prior to his gravy recipe, he provides some history on Madeira and explains "Here it provides a perfect flavor bridge between the cornbread and oyster stuffing and the brined turkey." If you love to cook, it's not enough to simply recreate a recipe. You want to know why things are put together in certain ways—what was the chef thinking? This book speaks to those questions.

To make it even a more personal book, each menu was cooked and photographed at friends' homes. Greg was able to understand what it would be like to recreate his menus in different kitchens (and tweak them as necessary) and the photographs have more meaning than just being beautiful pictures of food.

"Entertaining in the Northwest Style" is a celebration of life through food and an inside look at one of the Northwest's talented chefs.

(Click here to find halibut and farmers market vegetable recipes from Greg's book)

Connie Adams/June 2006