The Lost Kitchen, a TV show on the Magnolia Network, features Erin French, who returned to her hometown in Maine at the age of 23, after a post-high school “escape” and a plan for medical school. As things didn’t go as planned, she returned and opened a restaurant called The Lost Kitchen in the town’s

A gooey vanilla cake with rhubarb compote mixed in.

Erin French, the mastermind chef behind popular Maine eatery The Lost Kitchen, joins TODAY to share a few recipes out of her cookbook of the same name. She makes roasted buttercup squash cups, rosemary-brined pork chops and apple cider doughnuts.

Get a look at the 13-course, 5-hour tasting EXPERIENCE that is dinner at The Lost Kitchen, Erin French’s restaurant in the woods of Freedom, Maine!

If you are unfamiliar with The Lost Kitchen, Erin French's postcard-reservation-only restaurant in Freedom, Maine, this recipe is a window into her style of cooking. She cooks only with seasonally appropriate and locally sourced ingredients and puts her heart and soul into a menu that looks as good as it tastes. Her home-cooking inspired recipes are uncomplicated, but packed with nuance. While not exactly as Ms. French may have dreamt it up, this roasted squash recipe has it all: palate pleasing velvety smoothness from the pumpkin and ricotta cheese, crunchy tart apple flavor, and a classic maple syrup pairing drizzled over the top. It makes for a fabulous, room temperature Thanksgiving side dish, but is also tasty served right from the oven alongside a roasted chicken for a splendid fall and winter easy week night meal. We used the WT Barrel-Aged Bourbon and Rye Maple Syrup for a bit of added sophistication, but ordinary maple syrup is mighty fine.

A small town in Maine provides big flavors.

From The Lost Kitchen's Erin French

Put this seasonal produce to good use in baked goods, drinks and more.

A small town in Maine provides big flavors.

Leave it to a native Mainer to create a truly new New England clam chowder. This clean and elegant recipe from chef Erin French of the Lost Kitchen is still as creamy and satisfying as a chowder should be

These best-ever, superlight scones get flavor from fragrant rosemary and lemon. Get the recipe from Food & Wine.

Image CreditsPhoto by Nicole Franzen Ingredients 1 small buttercup squash (about 2½ pounds), cut into 4 wedges and seeded ½ cup olive oil Salt and pepper 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter 1 small shallot, finely diced 2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar 2 crisp apples 1 tablespoon ma

About the Book Subtitle in pre-publication: Recipes and a life found in Freedom, Maine. Book Synopsis From the New York Times bestselling author and founder of the beloved restaurant The Lost Kitchen comes a stunning collection of 100 Maine recipes for every season. "A sensory joy . . . simple seasonal fare, creatively elevated and beautifully photographed . . . The recipes in The Lost Kitchen beckon you to keep returning for more."--The Philadelphia Inquirer Erin French grew up in Freedom, Maine (population 719), helping her father at the griddle in his diner. An entirely self-taught cook who used cookbooks to form her culinary education, she founded her acclaimed restaurant, the Lost Kitchen, in the same town, creating meals that draws locals and visitors from around the world to a dining room that feels like an extension of her home. No one can bring small-town America to life better than a native, especially when it comes to Maine, one of the country's most off-the-beaten-path states, with an abundant natural bounty that comes from its coastline, rivers, farms, fields, and woods--a cook's dream. Inspired by her lush locale and classic American cooking, Erin crafts deliciously satisfying and easy-to-make recipes such as Whole-Roasted Trout with Parsnip and Herb Hash, Maine Shrimp Rolls, Ramp and Fiddlehead Fried Rice, and Rhubarb Spoon Cake. Erin's food has been called "brilliant in its simplicity and honesty" by Food & Wine, and it is exactly this pure approach that makes her style of cooking so appealing--and so easy to embrace at home, wherever you live. Review Quotes "This Freedom, Maine, restaurant, located in a restored 1800s mill, is a hot ticket these days, and has the reservation wait list to prove it. French, whose beautiful story needs to be heard, truly delivers with a book full of fantastic seasonal recipes like Maine halibut Niçoise."--Tasting Table"This charming, tremendously personal book speaks so beautifully of the remote and glorious land it comes from and is packed with wonderful 'perfectly imperfect' tales of life, cooking, and the love of place. Erin French's passion is contagious and her simple but nuanced and detailed ingredient-focused cooking captivating. Think Wood-Smoked Leg of Lamb with Garlic Scape & Mint Pesto, Fried Green Tomatoes with Buttermilk & Chives, and Sweet Parsnip Cake with Hazelnuts & Mascarpone--oh, my!"--Suzanne Goin "Long before I got to the very tempting recipes in The Lost Kitchen, I was hooked by Erin French's charming storytelling. Home cooks will enjoy the warm tone in which Erin has written her recipes. They are a breeze to follow, call for only a handful of mostly easy-to-find ingredients, and reveal the good life of the four seasons in Maine."--Nancy Silverton "One of the most magical experiences of my life was eating at Erin French's Lost Kitchen, a magnificent restaurant-in-a-mill in Freedom, Maine. The food was deeply personal, local, and delicious. I am filled with joy at the prospect of re-creating some of the dishes at home from the recipes in this gorgeous cookbook."--Dana Cowin "At first I thought this was simply a gorgeous restaurant book full of the food I love to eat, but now I think Erin French has done something more magical than that; hers is that luscious, dim restaurant you go to in your dreams, the one that feeds you in every sense of the word. Her food isn't just beautiful--although it is--it also contains emotions, moods, and a lot of love for her Maine roots."--Amy Thielen "Part of the allure in perusing The Lost Kitchen, I admit, is that I won't be scoring a reservation to Erin French's boutique restaurant anytime soon. So re-creating her food is as close as I'll get to understanding why the Lost Kitchen has become such a dining destination. Bordering on precious, some might say, but the cookbook is both aspirational and attainable. And it could be the only one I read this year that offered directions for concocting a milk-and-honey body scrub."--The Washington Post, Best Cookbooks of 2017 "A sensory joy. The 100 recipes are simple seasonal fare, creatively elevated and beautifully photographed. . . . French's story reads like a novel. . . . The recipes in The Lost Kitchen beckon you to keep returning for more."--The Philadelphia Inquirer About the Author Erin French turned a string of early catering gigs into a secret suppers series in her apartment. She took her dinners on the road, organizing traveling "fork-to-field" dinners from a tricked-out 1965 Airstream trailer, before returning to her tiny hometown, Freedom, Maine, to build her dream restaurant, The Lost Kitchen, in a restored 1834 gristmill. Each spring, the day the phone line opens to accept reservations, the restaurant books up for the entire year. This is her first book.

Just before dinner is served at the Lost Kitchen in Freedom, owner Erin French stands in the center of the simple dining room.

Make "Dad's Meatloaf" and a "Maple Manhattan" from The Lost Kitchen by Erin French, author of the new memoir Finding Freedom.

Get a look at the 13-course, 5-hour tasting EXPERIENCE that is dinner at The Lost Kitchen, Erin French’s restaurant in the woods of Freedom, Maine!

Just before dinner is served at the Lost Kitchen in Freedom, owner Erin French stands in the center of the simple dining room.

Fall flavors abound in this tasty variation of classic roasted squash recipes. Erin French, in her lovely book The Lost Kitchen - A Good Life Found in Freedom Maine, tells an inspiring story of courage and resolve...all for the love of food.

"When I was away at college, this is the dish I craved the most. It is my dad's recipe, one that he taught me how to make in the diner. I put my own spin on it and frequently treat myself to this on chilly nights with a baked potato and sour cream..." - Erin French (from "The Lost Kitchen")

Just before dinner is served at the Lost Kitchen in Freedom, owner Erin French stands in the center of the simple dining room.

"It’ll look like you’ve been up since 3 in the morning like a professional baker," says Lost Kitchen chef Erin French of these Fig and Ginger Scones with Salted Honey Butter

Fall flavors abound in this tasty variation of classic roasted squash recipes. Erin French, in her lovely book The Lost Kitchen - A Good Life Found in Freedom Maine, tells an inspiring story of courage and resolve...all for the love of food.

To Erin French, "the perfect salad is one that looks like it fell from the heavens into a sky-high mound."

This simple yet elegant recipe for Summer Berries with Ginger-Cream Shortcakes from chef Erin French is the perfect summer party dessert.

Episodes of 'Getting Lost with Erin French' are airing on Magnolia Network and streaming on Max.

There’s a natural progression that often takes place in the restaurant industry. A chef opens a restaurant. If it does well, she opens another one, and then maybe another. Perhaps she does a stint on “Top Chef,” and she goes on to form a culinary empire. But after the wild success that Erin French, owner […]

Just before dinner is served at the Lost Kitchen in Freedom, owner Erin French stands in the center of the simple dining room.

Amazon.com: Big Heart Little Stove: Bringing Home Meals & Moments from The Lost Kitchen: 9781250832313: French, Erin: Books

There’s a natural progression that often takes place in the restaurant industry. A chef opens a restaurant. If it does well, she opens another one, and then maybe another. Perhaps she does a stint on “Top Chef,” and she goes on to form a culinary empire. But after the wild success that Erin French, owner […]

Few homes in New England are without a box of saltines in the pantry. Whether you crumble them over chowder, dip them into shrimp salad, or mound them under scoops of just-melting vanilla ice cream—à la my grandmother—the effort to make these from scratch will pay big dividends. Note: A pasta roller can double as an amazing device for consistently thin crackers. Consider the investment! Reprinted with permission from The Lost Kitchen by Erin French (2017, Clarkson Potter).

From the Lost Kitchen restaurant in Maine, this pan-roasted cod with a rich caper-brown butter sauce comes together in minutes. A refreshing side salad of fennel, arugula and crunchy croutons makes it a meal

All summer and spring, I have been making this cucumber mignonette sauce to serve alongside oysters on the half shell. I first learned about this combo in Erin French’s memoir Finding Freedom. She runs the Lost Kitchen in Maine, a place I have always wanted to go, and her celebration of New England and its unique seaso

This recipe, courtesy of Lost Kitchen chef and owner Erin French, also works very well with salmon or swordfish.