Cooks' Books by Lisa Messinger

"Wood-Fired Cooking: Techniques and Recipes for the Grill, Backyard Oven, Fireplace, and Campfire" by Mary Karlin (Ten Speed, $27.95)

Who cares if Mary Karlin can catch a fish? You want her on your next camping trip. It doesn't matter if she can pitch a tent or not. You want to be chatting with her around the glow of your campfire.

Well, really, as you unwind after a day in the wilderness, you want that firelight to be shining on the meal she expertly crafted for you.

Karlin has made a specialty of chuck-wagon cooking and yells "Come 'n' get it," so to speak, in her new book, "Wood-Fired Cooking: Techniques and Recipes for the Grill, Backyard Oven, Fireplace, and Campfire." If you've wondered not only how to start a meal fire, but also what to do with it, Karlin is your go-to gal.

She is a founding staff manager and chef-instructor at Ramekins Sonoma Valley Culinary School in Sonoma, Calif. She teaches wood-fire cooking classes that she's also presented at a number of other locales, including campuses of the Culinary Institute of America. In Superior, Ariz., she directs the Live-Fire Cooking Camp Culinary Center.

What this adds up to is a specialty cookbook. First, she tries to transfer as much of her hands-on knowledge as possible through informative chapters on "Cooking with Fire," "Wood-Fired Basics," "Becoming an Efficient Wood-Fire Cook" and a primer on stocking the wood-fired pantry.

After a brief, exciting history of wood-fired cooking that literally takes us back to the first moments of human civilization, Karlin moves quickly toward more modern needs: selecting outdoor cooking ovens and appliances, fuel, cookware and wood. She teaches you to build an open fire, but also how to bring camping fun home with the addition of wood-fired ovens, ceramic cookers, smokers and box roasters.

No matter what the method, Karlin's recipes stand out and are extremely well-thought out. Campfire recipes are one-pot affairs with big flavor payoffs, such as a lemony-dill salmon and corn chowder, garlicky steamed clams, smoky paella and fire-roasted crab.

Every technique for wood-fired cooking is taught with panache — how best to employ clay pots and cast iron for results like a three-cheese baked penne with pancetta, smoky French onion soup or crab gratin with potatoes, leeks and spinach. Baking on the hearth ensures savory tarts and galettes, flatbreads and rustic artisan breads. Create desserts that include not just chocolate, cinnamon and caramel, but a perfect wisp of smokiness.

For those who don't have outdoor equipment or are not quite ready to hit the great outdoors, Karlin points out that virtually every recipe can be fired up indoors, too, albeit without the trademark smokiness. Although, a hungry soul in a robe and slippers — while sipping coffee in a kitchen warmed by nothing more than the fire in a traditional oven — may not mind when breakfasting on treats, such as Karlin's morning focaccia with grapes, figs, blood orange oil and candied orange peel.

Regardless of such effortless coziness, Karlin thinks you'll become a lifelong convert like her, when you instead make a puff of smoke as common an ingredient as a cup of flour or sugar.

CAMPFIRE SALMON AND CORN CHOWDER

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch slices

8 ounces unpeeled small red potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground white pepper

1 bunch green onions, coarsely chopped, including half of greens

1 1/2 cups corn kernels (about 2 ears) (see Note 1)

4 cups fish or chicken stock

1 cup heavy cream

2 pounds salmon fillets, skin and pin bones removed, cut into 2-inch pieces (see Note 2)

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup minced fresh dill

Yields 6 main-course servings.

Prepare a campfire or wood-fired grill for cooking with indirect heat.

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat and saute the celery for 3 minutes.

Add the potatoes, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in the green onions and corn and add 2 cups of the stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the potatoes are almost tender, about 15 minutes.

Add the cream and simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the salmon and lemon zest and simmer gently until the salmon is just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Add more stock as needed and lemon juice to taste. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve in bowls, topped with the dill.

Note 1: For an even smokier flavor, carefully roast the ears of corn directly over the fire before cooling and removing the kernels.

Note 2: If you don't have fresh salmon, frozen will work fine, or you can use smoked salmon. If using smoked salmon, cut back on the salt for seasoning.

WARM OLIVES WITH FENNEL AND ORANGE

1 cup picholine olives with pits

1 cup nicoise olives with pits

1/2 cup oil-cured black olives with pits

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fennel seeds, bruised

Strips of orange zest from 1 orange

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

Yields about 2 1/2 cups.

Prepare a hot fire (400 F) in a wood-fired oven, cooker or grill.

Soak the picholine and nicoise olives in water to cover for 10 minutes, then drain. Combine the drained olives, oil-cured olives, olive oil, thyme, garlic, fennel seeds and orange zest in a baking dish. Roast uncovered until the garlic is fragrant and the olives are hot, about 10 minutes. Carefully remove from the heat and add the vinegar. Toss to combine. Let cool slightly, then serve warm. To store, cover and refrigerate for up to 1 month. The flavor gets better with time. Rewarm to serve.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "After-Work Gourmet" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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