Farm, Fork, Food

The closer a taste is nature, the richer its flavor and the deeper its meaning. Knowing this and the power of a setting to create great food memories, Chef Eric and Jill Skokan created the 130-acre Black Cat Farm that supplies the bounty of their two popular restaurants Bramble & Hare and Black Cat Bistro, a booth at the Boulder farmers' market, CSA families, and, of course, their old farmhouse, Bramble Hill. On their farm, the Skokan family raises Highland cattle, Mulefoot pigs, heritage sheep, free-range chickens, heritage turkeys and Toulouse geese. During the day they care for the nearly 400 animals and 250 varieties of vegetables and fruits grown at the farm. In the afternoon Eric and his farm team traverse through the fields to harvest through the rows to stock the restaurants with just-picked produce at the height of its flavor to create his award-winning cuisine. And, every Saturday morning you can find Eric at the farmer's market doling out cooking tips and vegetables alike. The huge variety of produce and meats grown on their farm allows Chef Eric a limitless palate of flavors, colors, and textures from which to build his award-winning cuisine, which is even more enhanced by his ability to forage wild produce like mushrooms, juniper and wild plums that root his dishes in the flavors unique to the Front Range region. In Farm, Fork, Food, he invites readers to partake in the immediacy and excitement of vegetables just out of the garden and fruit right off the branch. His inspirational recipes, like Gnocchi with Braised Beef Short Ribs, Cardoon and Kale; Latke with Smoked Trout, Winter Watercress and Horseradish; and Basil Ice Cream with Summer Berries always have a sense of discovery and delight. Beautifully photographed by Con Poulos, Farm, Fork, Food will inspire every cook to visit their local farmers' market and start cooking Chef Eric's amazing yet simple recipes.

Table of Contents:
CONTENTS Introduction: Welcome to Black Cat Farm Chapter 1: Charcuterie Chapter 2: Soups Chapter 3: Salads Chapter 4: Appetizers Chapter 5: Poultry Chapter 6: Lamb & Rabbit Chapter 7: Beef Chapter 8: Pork Chapter 9: Fish Chapter 10: Wild Foraged Chapter 11: Desserts Chapter 12: The Larder Index Acknowledgments

About the Author :
Eric Skokan is the award-winning chef/owner of Black Cat Bistro and Bramble & Hare in Boulder, Colorado. He and his wife own a 130-acre organic farm in nearby Longmont, where they live with nearly 400 animals and their 4 children. Visit him online at http://brambleandhare.com/blog.

Review :
The most ambitious do-it-all-yourself chef and restaurateur in Colorado, and among the most accomplished in the nation. In terms of the blossoming 'Locavore' or local food movement, Skokan is a leader. The Denver Post Eric Skokan doesn't just talk the farm-to-table talk, he walks the walk, literally: through his own fields on his farm outside Boulder, growing crops and raising heritage breeds along the way. And somehow, the chef-restauranteur has found time to write a cookbook, too. -- Ruth Tobias Zagat, 2/19/14 Chef Eric Skokan of Black Cat and Bramble & Hare in Boulder ... will draw on the experiences of owning Black Cat Farm, which provides produce and meat for his restaurants. The book is organized by 12 chapters, including topics like charcuterie, salads, beef and wild foraged, with special attention paid to making use of freshly picked fruits and vegetables. As readers learn about Skokan's cooking philosophy and appreciation for high-quality ingredients, they'll also take in more than 125 recipes, like latke with smoked trout, lamb tangine with black chickpeas and basil ice cream with summer berries, brought to life on the page by Con Poulos' photography. -- Ashley Hughes denver.eater.com, July 23, 2014 Eric Skokan's book, Farm, Fork, Food: A Year of Spectacular Recipes Inspired by Black Cat Farm (Kyle Books, October), is much more than a cookbook: It's a recipe for living... Throughout the pages, Skokan deftly describes each season with insightful prose and a well honed combination of recipes, including spring pea soup with mint, lemon, and creme fraiche; stuffed summer squash with ratatouille and Taleggio; and winter roots roasted in embers...Add the stunning photography of Con Poulos, and readers get a glimpse into life on the 130-acre Black Cat Farm where Skokan and his family nurture the produce and animals raised for the two restaurants, the CSA, and the Boulder Farmers' Market stand. -- Carol W. Maybach 5280: The Denver Magazine, 9/2/2014 Although the book is dotted with coffee table-worthy pictures, it is designed to be a kitchen workhorse with recipes that range in difficulty from simple to complex most fall somewhere in the middle based on vibrant fresh produce and beautiful meats that span the seasons. "It's an idea book," he says. "It should be a bridge between the market and success at the dinner table. The recipes are geared that way. They're very ingredient-focused, not technique-focused." -- Cindy Sutter Daily Camera, 10/22/2014 The chef and farmer has been hailed as a true farm-to-table pioneer; his farmland and ranch in Boulder County provide nearly all of the food for his two restaurants.The new Colorado-inspired book reaches to a national audience with its guide to growing, sourcing and cooking locally. -- Josie Sexton Coloradoan, 11/13/2014 Farm Fork Food is straight-up gospel from the church of Farm to Table. Nationally recognized Boulder chef and farmer, Eric Skokan of Black Cat restaurant and Bramble & Hare has just proclaimed on the printed page what he has been delivering on the dinner plate, that getting the tastiest ingredients as quickly as possible from the earth to the kitchen produces miracles. And this particular form of devotion is hard work. For aspiring gardeners, the book is a motivational guide to grow what you are inspired to eat. For devoted foodies, it is a call to cook from what is available seasonally at your local farmers markets or your own backyards. "When you have inspiring ingredients to work with, truly stunning dishes don't require a chef - just someone in the kitchen who is willing to get out of their way," Skokan says. Amen to that. Although, it takes an astute, flexible and confident cook with some time to spend to achieve greatness with this restraint. That said, it is possible and it is definitely worthwhile to go for it using Skokan's book as a bible. -- Beth Pilar Strongwater Boulder Daily Camera, 11/11/2014 I have had lamb on my mind - and in my belly - recently... thanks to Eric Skokan, the Boulder chef-farmer (Black Cat Bistro, Bramble and Hare) who has an excellent new cookbook, Farm Fork Food. The cookbook features a lamb carpaccio with harissa and crisp capers. Harissa is a North African hot sauce that uses piri-piri chiles, but for Eric's recipe, any good zippy red chile will work. What makes this harissa recipe especially interesting is the use of carrots in the sauce. -- William Porter The Denver Post, 11/05/2014 Most restaurants depend on shipments of produce from around the world to feed their patrons. The more resourceful places try to source their ingredients close to home. And then there is Eric Skokan, the most ambitious farm-to-table restaurateur in North America. Skokan, 45, the owner of Black Cat Bistro and Bramble & Hare, both in downtown Boulder, Colo., grows nearly all of his own food on 130 acres in Boulder County. He spends his spring planting and his summer weeding and harvesting. During the late summer and early fall-the height of the harvest-he nearly lives in the fields. All along, he cooks and runs his busy restaurants too. Kyle Books released Eric's new cookbook, called Farm, Fork, Food: A Year of Spectacular Recipes Inspired by Black Cat Farm in October. The book draws on Eric's vast experience in kitchens and on fields. ORIGIN Magazine, 11/11/2014 But you don't need quite that level of agricultural ingenuity to appreciate Skokan's just-released first cookbook, "Farm, Fork, Food," a work inspired by his other job -- selling produce and meat at a farmers market."The book I envisioned writing a while ago was a polished, technical cookbook geared toward chefs," Skokan said. "But over the last seven years, selling produce at the farmers market, we've spoken to hundreds and hundreds of customers who have had more basic questions -- 'How do I make a great vinaigrette to go with this arugula?' Or, 'I made pot roast last night and it was miserable, can you help me figure out what went wrong?'"So I came around to wanting to do a book that was inspired by those conversations, to bridge that gap between the enthusiasm people feel about food they're seeing at the farmers market and success in the kitchen."The book includes a section on basic building blocks for that success, including how to make homemade vinegar, garlic oil and curry powder, along with six kinds of stock. "I share lots of little tricks along the way, the building blocks of good cooking," Skokan said. "That's ultimately what the book is about. It's a toolbox." -- Kristen Wyatt Daily Herald, 12/28/2014 We've been looking forward to Colorado chef, farmer and activist Eric Skokan's cookbook for a while. Farm, Fork, Food isn't just a collection of recipes from his beloved Boulder restaurants, it's a guide to living well, choosing local and seasonal ingredients and upgrading your general outlook on American cuisine. If you think you love Colorado lamb now, wait until you try Skokan's carpaccio. Food Republic, 10/30/2014 'We haven't bought pork in five or six years,' he added. 'We use Mulefoots for everything but the squeak.' In his just-released cookbook, Farm, Fork, Food (Kyle Books, $29.95), you'll find gorgeous examples from country pate with turnip mostarda to plum wood-smoked shoulder. Their upbringing has something to do with their deliciousness, of course. 'They're free range all the time. We have really big fields, and we actually require them to move, putting where they eat, sleep, drink and graze in opposite corners.' His animals also live at least twice as long as their factory-raised brethren (11 to 13 months versus about six), fattening up over time as the bone structure of their breed dictates. -- Ruth Tobias Zester Daily, 10/24/2014 His new book, Farm, Fork, Food guides you through farmer's market fare and offers recipes to turn it into delicious meals for your family. His farm-to-fork philosophy is simple: Meat, produce and other food items that have been raised or grown without additives or chemicals result in healthier dishes for your family. There are dishes as simple as salads or vegetables seasoned with herbs such as tarragon and lavender. Star anise and cardamom bring beets to life; saffron oil adds depth to chicken paired with a consomme of spring peas. Skokan's dishes are inventive; some are even challenging. But adventurous home cooks can see themselves right in the middle of his kitchen. -- Diane Cowen Houston Chronicle, 12/19/2014 Boulder chef Eric Skokan has put together lots of menus in his time, but it was always kind of a slog until he became a farmer. Then, he says, his dishes came alive. He'd pull some fresh vegetable from the soil and get inspired. Skokan is a force to be reckoned with in the farm-to-table movement. He has two restaurants in Boulder: Black Cat Bistro and Bramble & Hare. At both, produce and animals from his farm take center stage. His new cookbook, called Farm Fork Food: A Year of Spectacular Recipes Inspired by Black Cat Farm highlights ingredients that grow well in Colorado. He challenges cooks to make the most of them. -- Rachel Estabrook Colorado Public Radio (CPR), 11/3/2014 The end result-the cookbook Farm, Fork, Food: A Year of Spectacular Recipes Inspired by Black Cat Farm. It's a closing chapter in a story about a flood disaster, which the Skokan family never thought they would be a part of. 'It's brought everybody together in a really great way,' Skokan said. 'I wouldn't wish it to happen ever again, but in the end, it's been a good thing.' Skokan's new cookbook received a mention in the New York Times this past week. He said he hopes it's a reflection of their Colorado-based recipes and the community. -- Maya Rodriguez 9NEWS: KUSA-TV, 11/2/2014 Many of these recipes appear with the exceptional photographs of Con Poulos. As you browse the book, you can only stop at these recipes and the others with a sense of wonder. There's a refreshing brightness here, somehow Colorado has been impacted with inspirations from Italy and Rome. Ah, but those cuisines have been tempered with Eric's love of American ingredients turkey and pumpkin which make periodic and enchanting appearances.These are recipes that have been crafted for their impact and surely surprise. But, but can you do them yourself, in your home kitchen far from Boulder? Yes, you can. The recipe titles may be long, but each of them is written up in just a page. You'll often find the ingredient lists to be long, but who cares: these recipes are adventures and you want to be well outfitted before venturing in new territory. Cooking by the Book, 1/14/2015