Recipes from inns let chefs get some sleep

August 16, 2006|Globe Correspondent

Sleep On It, By Carol Gordon, Hyperion, 304 pp., $13.95

The life of an innkeeper can seem ideal -- working from home in an attractive setting, being paid to cook and clean your own house. What we don't typically contemplate is the reality of having to rise at 5 a.m., when even the birds are still snoozing, and get breakfast ready for an army of rise-and-shine guests eager to get a jump on their leisure time.

Indeed, innkeepers are probably second only to parents of newborns in their battle with chronic sleep deprivation. ``Sleep On It," by Carol Gordon, who is innkeeper of Nantucket House in Chatham, is directed at all bleary-eyed souls who are expected to put something fabulous on the breakfast table. Most of the preparation takes place the night before, and the dish gets popped into the oven the following day, an act quite within reach of even the fumbling fools most of us are before our first cup of coffee.

The recipes come from small inns and B&B' s across the country, which means that they are uneven. Some are clearly the creations of people who probably grow their own herbs in their backyards. Others owe much to condensed soup and seasoning mixes. What they have in common is quantity -- most rely heavily on the 9- by-13 baking dish and feed 6 to 8 or more.

It is not surprising, I suppose, that the book's strengths lie in its baked goods. I have always suspected that some of the country's best bakers are ensconced in these little hostelries, where fabulous smells of yeasty butter doughs and coffee invariably tend to waft up the stairs around 7 a.m. These recipes were no disappointment. Baked blueberry french toast was eggy and rich, buried in a thick blueberry compote. Buttermilk oven pancakes were easy enough to make in your sleep, with a golden, chewy texture and subtle buttermilk tang (good reheated, too ). Best of all were the cranberry nut breakfast rolls, a buttery, citrusy tour de force of dried cranberries, pecans, and orange rind that had everyone who tried them licking fingers and surreptitiously sneaking back for more. The recipe comes from the Acworth Inn in Cummaquid, surely worth a trip for the rolls alone.