Canal House Cooking Volume No. 1: Summer [Paperback]

Christopher Hirsheimer (Author), Melissa Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2011

Canal House Cooking Volume No. 1, Summer is a collection of Christopher and Melissa's favorite summer recipes, ones they cook for themselves all through the long lazy months.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“With gorgeous pictures and watercolors, just because. Hard to believe that something this useful could be this lovable. But the evidence that this is true is on each and every page.”—Jesse Kornbluth, HeadButler.com

“Melissa and Christopher, thank you for your beautiful book! As Fanny said, everything you do is perfect!”—Alice Waters

“Check out the latest volume of Canal House Cooking a collaboration of talent and love by Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer.”—Lidia Bastianich

“The Canal House Cooking series, which features their rustic and seasonal cooking, publishes three times a year and has earned Melissa & Christopher a cult following among the fooderati. It sure hooked us!”—Adam Rapoport, Bon Appétit

“Once you see the summer volume, you’ll want them all.”—Elaine McCardel, theItaliandishblog.com

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Canal House is more than just Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton's studio--it's their workshop, dining room, office, kitchen, lair, lab, and atelier devoted to good ideas and good work relating to the world of food. The duo writes, photographs, designs, and paints, but in their hearts, they both think of themselves as cooks first.

And every day they cook. In the middle of the day they stop their work, set the table simply with paper napkins, and have lunch. So it came naturally to write down what they cooked, thus bringing about the Canal House Cooking series.

This cookbook is a seasonal collection of Christopher and Melissa's favorite recipes--home cooking by home cooks for home cooks. With a few exceptions, they use ingredients that are readily available and found in most markets in most towns throughout the United States. All the recipes are easy to prepare, all completely doable for the novice and experienced cook alike. These two women believe the everyday practice of simple cooking and the enjoyment of eating are two of the greatest pleasures in life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 122 pages
• Publisher: Canal House; Original edition (October 25, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0692003177
• ISBN-13: 978-0692003176
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best summer cookbook I've ever used, June 9, 2009

By 

Jesse Kornbluth "Head Butler" (New York) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canal House Cooking Volume No. 1: Summer (Paperback)

If you were assembling a cookbook of your favorite seasonal recipes --- recipes for meals you've actually served, and served often ---- it would be the size of Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton's Canal House Cooking, Volume 1. That is, about 60 recipes. These recipes would offer the unique tastes of your "signature" dishes. They would be easy to make --- this is a summer cookbook. And you'd have very few choices in each category.

That's the key idea: choicelessness. As consumers, we are awash in choices. Most are false choices, so your mind goes blank. You don't so much choose as surrender. And this is as true of cookbooks as it is of the hundreds of cereals that are basically just delivery systems for high-fructose corn syrup.

What we want, whether we know it or not, is an editor. Or, better, a curator --- someone who knows our values and tastes and can reduce the world to the very few things we might like. [..] is built on this principle. So is Hirsheimer and Hamilton's book.

These women describe themselves as "home cooks". That's testimony to the enormous effort they have undertaken to liberate themselves from decades of professionalism. Christopher Hirsheimer was one of the founders of Saveur Magazine. She has co-authored four cookbooks and taken the photographs for thirty more. She knows from "high end". Melissa Hamilton co-founded a restaurant, did a stint at Cook's Illustrated and ran the test kitchen at Saveur before becoming its food editor. Her bio does not mention a love for sliders.

Something happened to Hirsheimer and Hamilton when they moved to little towns across the river from one another in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Fresh produce, of course. But also a gentler pace. They found a loft overlooking a canal and opened a studio: Canal House. It has a dishwasher they don't use and a wood stove they do. And in late summer they roll up their sleeves and preserve their bounty.

Volume 1 is their summer cookbook. It starts with seven kinds of drinks --- did I say this is a summer cookbook? They teach you how to hard-boil an egg. [For easiest peeling, use eggs you've refrigerated for a week.] A few nibbles. Tomato and crab aspic. Four soups. A sprinkling of salads. Enough ideas for tomatoes to make you less guilty about that big-eyed purchase at the farm stand. Three kinds of fish. Ditto for chicken. Just six vegetables. And modest desserts.

In short: the basics, the meals they love. Presented casually, just as you would. With gorgeous pictures and watercolors, just because. Hard to believe that something this useful could be this lovable. But the evidence that this is true is on each and every page.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy This Book, July 4, 2009

By 

Faith B. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canal House Cooking Volume No. 1: Summer (Paperback)

This is a beautifully produced cookbook with a carefully edited selection of very appealing seasonal recipes that you really can make. It is also the perfect gift for those friends who invite you to their country place or beach house this summer. I write about food and own hundreds of cookbooks, so am not easy to impress. I could go on, but I must go straight to my kitchen to start cooking! (Better yet, there will be three seasonal books each year, so I'm already looking forward to fall and holidays!)

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excited for Summer Cooking, June 5, 2009

By 

Frances Beadle (Galena, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canal House Cooking Volume No. 1: Summer (Paperback)

Wow!! This book has my mouth watering every time I turn the page. I don't know what recipe I want to try first... However, I think the baked tomatoes with rice, 2 steaks for 4 people and salad with homemade green goddess dressing will definitely be on the menu for this weekend.

Not since my first copy of Joy of Cooking (now very stained and battered) have I felt that excitement of having one "go-to" cookbook. This one is going to stay on my counter all summer until I can replace it with the Fall book!!

Great job Canal House - keep these wonderful seasonal recipes coming...:)