In personal stories, evocative photographs, and recipes that are purposefully simple and designed for the home cook, Chef Kirsten Dixon and her family share fresh, rustic cuisine offering friendship, communicating passion, and bringing comfort and delight to the table. This recipe collection represents the cuisine at Tutka Bay Lodge, the Dixons' seaside lodge nestled within the curve of a quiet cove at the entrance to Tutka Bay, a deep seven-mile fjord in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. In oldworld tradition, Kirsten Dixon's family works together to craft a lifestyle that centers around three themes: the natural world, their culinary lives, and living a life of adventure. The cookbook is organized by sections for breakfast, lunch, appetizers, dinner, and the Cooking School at Tutka Bay. Among the one hundred recipes are Brioche Doughnuts with Cider Black Currant Marmalade, Hot-Smoked Salmon Croquettes, Grilled Oysters with Salmon Bacon and Pernod, Braised Short Rib Ravioli, and Wild Berry Chocolate Shortcake. "Seafood is the star of our cuisine here, as it should be. We certainly serve our share of ocean-caught salmon throughout the entire summer season. Halibut, cod, rockfish, shrimp, and crab also are served nearly daily. We are never too far from the garden in our cooking and many of our recipes include fresh-picked herbs or vegetables that grow well in Alaska. In addition, the wild berries, herbs, mushrooms, and sea vegetables inspire us to remember where on the Earth we live and how lucky we are," Kirsten says.
About the Author: A passionate culinary student and educator, chef Kirsten Dixon has been cooking in the backcountry of Alaska for more than twenty years. She owns Within the Wild Adventure Company along with her husband, Carl, and daughters, Mandy and Carly. Together they operate Winterlake Lodge, Tutka Bay Lodge, the Cooking School at Tutka Bay, a home goods boutique, and a café, all located in Southcentral Alaska. Kirsten completed a Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing at Goddard College, Vermont, and has since written for and been featured in many national and international publications. She has written two cookbooks, including THE WINTERLAKE LODGE COOKBOOK for which she won the Best Female Chef USA award at the Gourmand International Cookbook Awards in 2004. Her new edition of THE WINTERLAKE LODGE COOKBOOK with new recipes, new design, and new photos was published in 2012. Expanded bio and resume at: www.facebook.com/WinterlakeLodgeCookbook/notes Mandy Dixon serves as Within the Wild Adventure Company's pastry chef and the chef of La Baleine Café, a seaside cafe in Homer, Alaska. She trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, California, and later enrolled in the intensive pastry program at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, California. Mandy worked as a pastry chef for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group in Yountville, California, before returning to the family business in Alaska in 2010. She was the food stylist for the second edition of The WINTERLAKE LODGE COOKBOOK, and is a coauthor of the upcoming THE TUTKA BAY LODGE COOKBOOK: COASTAL CUISINE FROM THE WILDS OF ALASKA.