Susan Herrmann Loomis

I like to make this intensely flavored sugar and use it in all my baking. The flavor of vanilla always improves a cake, cookies or a tart, and can even add an alluring flavor to bread. This sugar is also delicious stirred into plain yogurt, sprinkled atop buttered toast and for dipping strawberries.

This salad was inspired by a classic Salade Niçoise with its fresh anchovies, potatoes and green beans, and one offered to me by Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse, who comes to France every year to avail herself of, among other things, the fine green beans of summer.

(Cake aux Olives) This version of cake originated in Provence, where olives, basil, and garlic create a harmonious triumvirate. Here they combine with roasted red bell peppers and Parmesan cheese to create a bread that is gutsy, aromatic, and lovely to look at. Serve this as an appetizer, in tandem with fresh goat’s- or cow’s- milk cheese, or even lightly toasted with a poached egg on top.

(Purée de Pommes de Terre, de Topinambours, et de Céleri-rave) At the market in Le Neubourg, not far from where I live in Normandy, each Wednesday farmers bring out their produce in a panoply that directly mirrors the seasons. This dish, which I make with vegetables from that market, is a celebration of fall. Farmers in Le Neubourg are really mostly market gardeners or truck farmers, or maraîchers. They and others like them are the backbone of the French agricultural system, providing from their small plots the best and the freshest produce in the country. Because they are small and sell direct, they can grow a wide variety of vegetables, which is why I can find Jerusalem artichokes alongside potatoes and celery root, dandelion greens, and wild mushrooms gathered in the surrounding woods. Though the vegetables in this dish are unglamorous, the balance here is luscious, rich, and satisfying.

I do not think that pêches de vigne, French red-fleshed peaches, are available in the United States so, for this recipe, use the most ripe, fragrant peaches you can, and go easy on the orange flower water. Slice, drizzle and serve the peaches immediately, so they are still lightly chilled!

Swiss Chard a l'Italienne Swiss chard is a rare gift of winter, and this is my favorite way to eat it. You can use this as a base and add tomato sauce, cheese, or hot peppers.

Gâteau Breton aux Noix This is my variation on a traditional butter cake from Brittany. Its dense, rich, and very buttery flavor is amplified by the lightly toasted walnuts, giving it a whole other dimension. In Brittany this cake is served for an afternoon snack, with coffee, or after a meal. I sometimes put it on the breakfast table as well.

(GELEE DE COING) The lemon juice is really only necessary if the quince jelly doesn't "take" within the allotted time.

(Salade Verte à la Vinaigrette) This is a basic recipe, one that should be part of every culinary repertoire. On the farm it is an everyday salad that changes according to the season, depending on what greens are fresh in the garden. In winter I am a slave to escarole, which I occasionally combine with Belgian endive. In spring and summer I mix greens, using green or red oak-leaf, mesclun (a fragrant mix of young greens), arugula, and fresh herbs.

(Le Gâteau de Maïs) This is an old-fashioned dish, a simple meal that Marie-Rose Sol makes often for herself and her husband, Gabriel. Farmers who have raised everything from foie gras geese to vegetables, they are semi-retired now and living by themselves, though not far from their children. For Marie-Rose that means cooking for two, something that she’s never quite gotten used to. "When I make this, I still make almost as much as I did when the family was here, and we eat it all, with salad!" she says. This dish, which is like a crisp corn pancake, is wonderful in late winter when the weather's still cold but no longer biting. Marie-Rose makes it when she wants something delicious that takes little effort. "Besides, this is one of Gabriel's favorite things," she says. It's simple and somewhat unusual, like a dessert but treated as a vegetable. There is very little batter to cover the apples, so the result is light and crisp. Don’t be afraid to bake the cake until it is just this side of burned on the edges and golden in the center, Serve it immediately upon removing it from the oven. You'll see that it goes perfectly with a garlicky salad! Try a simple Bergerac with this.

(Poulet aux Echalotes de Mme. Lascourrèges) This is an interpretation of a recipe given to me by Denise Lascourrèges, whom our son christened "Madame Châtaigne." It was she who revealed to us the marvelous Gascon woods, which were so full of chestnuts we had to dodge those falling from the trees. Mme. Lascourrèges raises her own chickens and ducks, and the appear frequently on her table. At her house I found ways of preparing chicken that departed from the norm. This recipe, which relies on the sweet heat of shallots and the bite of vinegar, intrigued me most of all, and I've made it often since I returned from her farm. I use the oven most often, though occasionally I cook it on the grill, which is the way Mme. Lascourrèges usually makes it. In general, French farm cooks use a lot of shallots, which here turn dark and caramelized — some turn almost black — but they don’t get bitter. Instead, their flavor intensifies. The vinegar adds a pleasant tartness; the oil smooths all. At the last minute I like to add parsley, which scents the whole dish with its slight anise flavor. Consider it an option — it is my addition to Mme. Lascourrèges’s recipe. Try this with a lightly chilled dry red Bordeaux, or a Chinon. Watch how to cut a whole chicken into parts to use in this recipe.

This is a very near replica of the small cheese quiches Madame Fromage sells each Saturday at the Louviers market.

This recipe can be multiplied indefinitely.