Susan Herrmann Loomis

Fermented black beans are an essential ingredient to this soup. I couldn't find exactly the kind of beans Kunkhen used, so I settled for a prepared black bean garlic sauce, which was perfect and gave the soup the same earthy taste that Kunkhen's had. I recommend that if you are using black beans you begin by adding 5 teaspoons, then taste the soup for seasoning. If it needs more flavor, add more black beans. The tablespoon of black bean garlic sauce was perfect to season this amount of soup.

Fricasse De Girolles This makes a wonderful side dish to poultry or seafood, or a lovely dish all on its own.

This recipe is likely to work well with other cane berries such as blackberries and marionberries.

A bit of water whisked into the eggs tenderizes them. You may fill this omelette with anything you like, of course. It makes two very generous servings. For the mushroom and goat cheese variation, sauté 1 pound of thickly sliced mushrooms in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter until they are golden and most of their liquid has evaporated. Use about 4 ounces fresh goat cheese, and 1/2 cup of chervil sprigs (you may substitute flat-leaf parsley), which you mince at the very last minute, to take advantage of their flavorful oils.

This recipe was given to me by one of my favorite farmers at my local market in Louviers, Normandy.

Madeleines au Chocolat Madeleines are good any time, any where. Here are some secrets to making madeleines, and a wonderful chocolate version which is guaranteed to please! • Make the dough up to three days in advance and chill it in the refrigerator.
• Heavily butter the molds and chill them so the butter hardens before the molds are filled with batter.
• Refrigerate the filled molds before baking.
• Make sure the oven is fully hot before baking the madeleines.
• Bake for no longer than 7 minutes — the madeleines should not quite spring back when you touch them. This ensures a moist result.

This is the pot-au-feu from my neighbor the florist. You will find yourself making this a permanent part of your repertoire.