I recently bought a new cookbook. Most of the time I experiment or use recipes from the internet, since sites like Epicurious rock my world with all of their free and gorgeous recipes. I saw this cookbook in my local bookstore last year, and have been drooling over it ever since. I finally broke down and bought it as an ebook. It’s called Radically Simple: Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease. Today I made two recipes from it.

This is my version of the Rutabaga, Crème Fraîche, and Havarti Torte. I actually used items from our local CSA (community sponsored agriculture) membership since I didn’t have rutabagas on hand. I used turnips, radishes, and red potatoes. I used mild goat milk cheddar, and instead of the crème fraîche I made my own sauce by reducing heavy whipping cream and sautéing garlic. Sooooo…while not exactly the recipe in the book, it was inspired by it, and I used their baking instructions. I’m experimental like that.

Do you like cheese?

This did not stay together as well as the version in the cookbook, since I radically altered it and used much smaller vegetables. Thus, I do not have an on-the-plate action shot. It was delicious, so that’s really all that matters. If I make it again with these smaller vegetables I will likely just use an 8×8 pan.

Since the kitchen was already warmed up on this hot, hot day, I figured I should just keep going. I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand for the French Yogurt Cake with Nutella. This I made exactly to Rozanne Gold’s expectations.

This too did not fail to impress my taste buds. I heartily recommend buying this cookbook if you want delectable recipes and gorgeous photographs to go along with many of them. The book is really reasonable as an ebook (under $16 for 325 recipes). If you do buy it as an ebook, I recommend Google Play’s version over Amazon. For some inexplicable reason, the Amazon version does not come with color photos. I asked them for a refund. You want to see these food pictures in color.

My Honeybee Cardigan is blocking, and will be photographed soon. Happy Memorial Day!