Locally Grown: La Tartine Gourmande

Last night, Pod in Brookline hosted the incomparable Béatrice Peltre—author, food stylist, and photographer extraordinaire. Béa was there to introduce her first book, “La Tartine Gourmande – Recipes For An Inspired Life,” based on her award winning blog, LaTartineGourmande.com—as much a feast for the eyes as it is for the stomach.

Béa lives in Boston with her husband and daughter, but her cooking influences are rooted in the French countryside, where she was raised. Living around the world, from Crete to Denmark to New Zealand, she adapted her recipes to each culture, developing a rich and broad palette. Her book is rife with anecdotes and observations by a keen global traveler, along with an exhaustive (and unique) guide to kitchen and ingredients, plus almost 100 flavorful and healthy recipes (including gluten-free).

What does she recommend for the neophyte cook? Carrot, beet, and apple juice. “A drink can be a meal!” she said with a laugh. She also recommends carrot and red lentil soup with coconut milk, which has a few more ingredients but is just as simple to make.

And this, from her website: “Your mouth will water as Béa recalls the oeufs en cocotte (“baked eggs”) that she ate as a child after collecting fresh eggs from her grandmother’s hen house. Her recipe for this classic dish now includes leeks, spinach, smoked salmon, and cumin. Or try the buttermilk, lemon and poppyseed pancakes she made every morning in Crete when she was pregnant–they’re now her little daughter Lulu’s favorite. Warm up with a bowl of celeriac, white sweet potato, and apple soup, a dish inspired by a chilly day of horseback riding in New Zealand. You’ll love sharing the saffron-flavored crab and watercress soufflé, a delicious homage to one of her mother’s best-loved Christmas traditions. And since most would agree that “a meal without dessert is like wearing only one shoe,” try the apple, rhubarb, and strawberry nutty crumble, served with vanilla-flavored custard, just the way her husband’s Irish grandfather preferred.”

For an irresistible Valentine’s Day dessert, Béa swears your loved one will swoon over dark and white chocolate mousse cake or a hazelnut chocolate molten cake.

You can meet the charming Béa and be transported by her French accent at her next book signing on March 1 at Trident Booksellers on Newbury Street, where she will demonstrate one of her recipes. Or purchase the book online at Roost Books.

Mini brown butter pistachio and poppyseed financiers were offered with sparkling water or wine.

Béa sat near the window among garden succulents, her green jacket the perfect color to match.

Illustrator Susy Pilgrim Waters tops up wine for Jennifer Campaniolo, publicist for Shambhala Publications.

Béa personalized copies of La Tartine Gourmande with “Amicalement, Béa.”