All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr was read by our group in May.  All the Light We Cannot See was awarded the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and was a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award.  In 2007, the British literary magazine Granta placed Doerr on its list of 21 Best Young American novelists.  We certainly agreed, fabulous book!
The main character, Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks. When she is six, Marie goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris in June of 1940, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure’s agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall.
In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure’s.
Doerr’s gorgeous combination of soaring imagination with observation is electric. Deftly interweaving the lives of multiple characters, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.
Our dinner for the evening included the following, with recipes including food and ingredients mentioned in the book.  We hope you enjoy!

APPETIZER
Stuffed Mushrooms
15-20 large white mushrooms
1/2 pound of Italian Sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 crushed cloves of garlic

1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup marinara sauce
Clean mushrooms with a moist paper towel and remove stems.  Chop stems and set caps aside.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a skillet, saute sausage until brown.  Drain and put into a large bowl.  Salute onion, garlic and mushroom stems in the same skillet with the drippings until tender.  Add to the bowl with sausage and stir in remaining ingredients.  Fill each mushroom cap and place on a large baking sheet.  Bake 20 minutes.
NOTE:  I usually have filling leftover so if you need more servings, just increase number of mushrooms.  Filling is also great with scrambled eggs in the morning!

MAIN COURSE
Cassoulet (with help from Julia Child)
3 ½ cups great northern beans (soaked overnight)

1 ½ pounds pork tenderloin
1 link Andouille sausage
1 chicken thigh
½ pint beef stock
½ pint tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
Bay leaves
1 cup onion, cut into 1” long slivers

• In large pot, place great northern beans with enough water to cover well.  Bring to boil, and boil for 5 minutes  Turn off heat and let beans sit in hot water for 1 hour.
• Pork tenderloin is roasted in separate roasting pan to inside temperature 175-180°.  I rubbed the tenderloin with Long’s Peak rub (found at Savory Spice), salt and pepper.
• In separate pot, add beef stock, tomato paste, wine, water and bay leaves.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cook chicken thigh and Andouille sausage.  
• Cut tenderloin into bite sized pieces, shred chicken thigh, and cut sausage into bite sized pieces.
• Use a 4 quart casserole dish or a dutch oven.  Layer ingredients in the dish, starting with beans (drain liquid they were sitting in), meat and onions.  Set left over sauce from cooking chicken and sausage aside.  The casserole can be refrigerated overnight before cooking.
• 2 hours before serving, heat ingredients on stove top until bubbling (if refrigerated).  Sprinkle 1 cup bread crumbs over the top.  Bake uncovered 20 minutes at 375°.  May need to cover as it dries out quickly.   Reduce oven to 350° and add left over sauce if it is becoming dry.  A crust may form so break it up by poking it with a fork and pressing it down, every 20 minutes or so.  Bake 1 hour altogether.  

DESSERT
Cherry and Pear Clafoutis
Serves 8
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups fresh cherries (Pitted-*French recipe is un-pitted)
2 pears-peeled, cored and sliced in 1/4 inch thick slices
4 large eggs
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream, half/half, or creme fraiche
2 tablespoons Amaretto or other liqueur
6 tablespoons flour (I used gluten free/almond mix)
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and use lower rack of oven. Lightly butter 11x7x2 inch oval baking dish or 9 1/2 inch ceramic dish 2 or more inches in height.
2. Pat the fruit dry. Arrange the fruit in the baking dish.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the vanilla, milk, cream, and liqueur. Beat in the flour, salt, cinnamon until   well blended.
5. Pour the batter over the fruit. Bake for 35-40 minutes until it is set and firm in the center and top is lightly browned.
6. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and serve.

NOTES: 
Clafoutis can be made with other fruits such as apricots, peaches, plums, or blueberries.You can add some lemon zest in the dough. You can sprinkle top with vanilla sugar or confectioner’s sugar when warm.

Batter (make up to step 4) can also be prepared 1-2 days in advance and refrigerated and covered.