About the Book
Farmers' Markets and CSAs are among the best places to find high-quality, diverse, and exciting vegetables and fruits. But the rich array of unusual varieties can be confusing and overwhelming. From detailed produce descriptions to storage tips, preparation techniques, and over two hundred flavorful recipes, The Farmers' Market Cookbook has the answer to every prospective locavore's perennial question, "What do I do with this?"
Featuring a range of traditional favorites alongside innovative creations showcasing the stunning flavors of heirloom fruits and vegetables, this guide to seasonal eating will help you engage your powers of creativity, learning, and experimentation. Recipes include:
Garlic scape vichyssoise Potato fennel "risotto" Beef roulade with cilantro mojo Cantaloupe salsaEating locally cultivates appreciation for those who grow our food. Full of practical insights from field to fork, The Farmers' Market Cookbook celebrates the small farmer's labor of love with recipes that showcase every crop at its best—essential reading for anyone who wants to appreciate fresh food at its best.
Julia Shanks has honed her culinary talents working in restaurants around the country, developing a taste for fresh, local and seasonal foods. She consults with restaurants, farms and food producers, helping them maximize profits and streamline revenues through sustainable business practices. Brett Grohsgal worked as everything from line cook to executive chef while developing and sharing his appreciation for artisanal, seasonal foods. Now he runs Even' Star Organic Farm, growing and harvesting crops year-round for restaurants, grocery stores, universities, farmers markets, and the farm's own successful CSA.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
1. Eating Seasonally
2. Produce Descriptions
3. Storing Your Produce for Optimal Freshness
4. Key Techniques and Definitions of Terms
5. The Recipes
Recipe Index: By Ingredient
Recipe Index: By Course
About the Authors
About the Author :
Julia Shanks is a chef, serial entrepreneur and certified pilot whose passion for food preparation began when she was 12 years old and determined to bake, grill and steam her way through the complete set of Time-Life Cookbooks. In her later years, she honed her culinary talents working in restaurants around the country, developing a taste for fresh, local and seasonal foods. Today, Julia consults with restaurants, farms and food producers, helping them maximize profits and streamline revenues. In her tiny, urban garden in Cambridge, MA, she harvests vegetables seven months out of the year.
Brett Grohsgal has dedicated himself to delighting tastebuds from New England to California, working as everything from line cook to executive chef, while developing and sharing his appreciation for artisanal, seasonal foods. As his passion for cooking evolved he began growing his own produce, and in 1996 he and his wife established Even' Star Organic Farm. Even’ Star focuses on harvesting crops year-round for restaurants, grocery stores, universities, farmers markets, and the Grohsgals’ own successful CSA, while adhering to the highest standards of responsible environmental stewardship. Life is too short, and farm life too arduous, to ever grow or eat boring foods.”
Review :
"You know how you go to the farmers market and you buy all sorts of amazing produce but never know what to do with it all when you get home? Well, this book is what. Its advice is clear and instructive, its recipes delicious and, most importantly, manageable. Along with all those wonderful fruits and vegetables, this book belongs in your market tote."
-- Adam Rapoport, Editor in Chief, Bon Appétit
"In this handy guide/cookbook, Shanks and Grohsgal offer practical tips on how to store and prepare your farmers market and CSA veggies."
-- Mat Schaffer, The Boston Herald
"A book of imaginative and simple recipes for an abundance of vegetables and fruits."
-- Omar Sacirby, The Boston Globe
"Just leafing through will inspire you to head out to your local farmers market and start cooking."
-- Taryn Plumb, Taste of the Seacoast
"[Shanks and Grosgahl's] collective wisdom on culinary techniques and fresh produce has helped to create a highly targeted guide with dozens of seasonal recipes that maximize freshness and flavor."
-- T. W. Barritt, author, Long Island Food: A History from Family Farms & Oysters to Craft Spirits
"Really, really, really fantastic! [The Farmers Market Cookbook] offers cooking tips, how to store [the produce] and how to use it right."
-- Annie B. Copps, chef, writer and cooking teacher
"I love farmers markets, and often pick up quantities of fruit and vegetables just because they look so good -- and then am left wondering what to do with them. [This book] solves this problem, with lots and lots of tempting recipes that are creative without being overly complicated."
-- Lisë Stern, author, Culinary Tea
"The recipes are easy to follow and a great beginning for the new cook or a great launching platform for the experienced or adventurous cook. Great recipes enhance the fantastic quality of the produce I receive from my CSA each week."
-- Mary U., Lusby, MD
"Even though I've been cooking all my life and have a collection of literally hundreds of cookbooks, using this cookbook has gotten our whole family even more invested in participating in the CSA program....t's like a "how to" manual for being a CSA member...what to do when it's just me and that box in the kitchen at dinnertime."
-- Ruth K.
"I highly recommend this [cookbook] to help CSA members make the best use of the seasonal vegetables available from their farmers. Thanks for providing the cookbook for us."
-- Kathryn P., Washington, DC
