The Lake House Cookbook

Book excerpt: "Moving to Lake House brought back to me my childhood dream of living on a farm. Although Sting and I are both from urban working-class backgrounds, it is with some sense of returning to our roots that we have come to Lake and are trying to live off the land . . . [as] my father and Sting's father were both keen vegetable growers." Since it was built in the English countryside in the sixteenth century, spectacular Lake House had been lived in by only five families before Sting, Trudie Styler, and their children settled in. It was this sense of history that encouraged Trudie and her family to move there--that and the opportunity to grow their own food, given an active interest in the ecology of the land and concern for their family's health. Beginning by cultivating leafy greens and potatoes, along with basic fruits like apples and pears, she and her husband have lovingly transformed the property into a working organic farm, with more than sixty acres of fruits and vegetables, four types of livestock, and honey- and cheese-making facilities. The Lake House Cookbook, written with family chef Joseph Sponzo, offers a mouthwatering array of dishes based on the farm's yield. Arranged seasonally, the more than 150 recipes include soups and starters, salads and vegetable dishes, main courses, desserts and baked goods, and drinks and preserves for every occasion and for the whole family. Dishes range from Roast Chicken with Corn and Broad Beans to Rolled Lamb with Chile Sauce and Mole, Swiss Chard and Pearl Barley Soup to Sea Bass with Mushrooms and Carrots, and Rustic Open Peach Pie to Herb-Brushed Polenta Bread. And while the emphasis is on organic, the ingredients themselves are veryaccessible and can easily be found in some variety at local stores. Lavishly illustrated with more than 300 photographs and wonderfully spirited, The Lake House Cookbook is a celebration of good food and good living. Nestled in the English countryside, Lake House is both a stunningly beautiful English manor house and a working organic farm that is home to Sting, Trudie Styler, and their family. Illustrated with more than 300 photographs, The Lake House Cookbook celebrates a year in the life of this incredible property, offering more than 150 recipes based on the farm's yield.