Edward Behr writes, edits, publishes and probably typesets his very personal magazine The Art of Eating. University of California Press has published The Art of Eating Cookbook: Essenial Recipes From the First 25 Years. After reading the book and talking about different recipes I’ve spent a few shifts experimenting with two simple dessert recipes. Behr has a recipe for what he calls Coffee Ice; I’d call it Coffee Granita. And actually when I made it with the assistance of two baristas here at Toscanini’s we made Espresso Granita, using Lucid from Arlington’s Barismo. Behr’s proportions are a bit different than others. A key difference is that he infuses a single vanilla bean in the hot coffee. Vanilla beans can have almost magical powers. In this case the single vanilla bean wasn’t as strong as I hoped and I’ll make the recipe again with two split vanilla beans. Coffee Ice or Coffee Granita is a wonderful thing, and easy to make almost anywhere.

I also made what Behr calls Melon Ice and I’d label Melon Granita. His recipe is very precise. Combining pureed melon, sugar syrup and white wine resulted in a subtle granita -or ice, if you will- that I thought might benefit from more wine or even additional sugar. But others thought it was too winey for their taste so maybe its just about right.

The book is handsome and always rewarding to read. Behr is equal parts knowledgeable and fussy.