Feel Good Food: Recipes from the Hudson Valley’s Blue Mountain Bistro-to-Go
By Chef Richard Erickson and Mary Anne Erickson (Bluemountainbistro.com, 2018)$29.95. A vintage-style neon sign with a chef logo beams like a beacon on Route 28 west of Kingston, in the strip of foodie heaven known as Gourmet Row. Welcome to Blue Mountain Bistro-to-Go, where Chef Richard Erickson, artist/entrepreneur Mary Anne Erickson, and their staff send busy locals and weekenders home with “Takeout that Tastes Like Dining Out.” This cheerful, user-friendly cookbook tells how it all began and provides home-kitchen versions of Chef Richard’s signature Mediterranean-plus dishes to roll out when you’re not within takeout range. You’ll find all the secrets here: what makes the spice-roasted sweet potatoes so fragrant, how the skin on that poulet roti grand-mere gets so crisp, what’s in chimichurri and muhammara, how to whip up the best dark chocolate mousse. The Ericksons’ son Chris designed the book, which is dedicated to both authors’ grandmothers. No wonder the Blue Mountain’s motto is “We Create Joy.”