Eating Local: The Cookbook Inspired by America's Farmers [Hardcover]

Sur La Table (Author), Janet Fletcher (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 1, 2010

A celebration of America’s farmers and a guide to joining the eating local movement.

In the visually stunning yet practical cookbook Eating Local, author Janet Fletcher and the kitchen experts at Sur La Table not only show you how to use more fresh ingredients in your everyday cooking, they also bring you closer to the family farms where the ingredients are grown and to the idealistic people who grow them.

With 150 recipes featuring a wide range of fresh ingredients, Eating Local also highlights 10 community supported agriculture projects around the country. These progressive farms provide inspiration for all who want to cook more wholesome meals using ingredients from their own foodshed.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Like most Sur La Table books, it's a feast for the eyes: lushly photographed, and somehow both elegant and earthy. Fortunately, Eating Local cooks as good as it looks." --NPR

"This newest collection from Sur La Table (The Art and Soul of Baking; Things Cooks Love) is perfect for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscribers and farmers' market fans looking for ideas on how to use their produce. James Beard Award-winning food writer Fletcher profiles ten American farms with CSA programs. Since the book focuses on fresh, seasonal produce, recipes are organized by primary ingredient rather than course." --Library Journal

"James Beard Award-winning writer Janet Fletcher is garnering considerable buzz for her newest cookbook, "Eating Local: The Cookbook Inspired by America's Farmers", with its glorious photographs and 150 tempting recipes. Stories and images from 10 small family farms are interspersed among recipes" --Mercury News

About the Author

Sur La Table is the trusted authority when it comes to all things cooking related. Sur La Table entices aficionados and curious beginners alike with its amazing selection of cookware, bakeware, tools, cookbooks, and cooking school programs designed to make any cook's life easier. They have coauthored nine cookbooks including The Art and Soul of Baking (2008), which received the 2009 IACP Cookbook Award for Baking, was chosen by Gourmet magazine as a book club selection, and was nominated for 2009 baking book of the year by the James Beard Foundation. Baking Kids Love (2009) was also nominated for a 2010 IACP Cookbook Award for Kids/Family Cookbooks. The original store and headquarters are in Seattle, Washington.

Janet Fletcher is the author of several cookbooks, including Fresh from the Farmers' Market, and the winner of three James Beard Awards. She lives in Napa, California, where she maintains a large perennial and edible garden.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; 1st Printing edition (June 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740791443
• ISBN-13: 978-0740791444
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #279,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 30 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars learn to cook fresh vegetables July 7, 2010

By A. Kendrick

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

First of all, the pictures in this book are amazing. So if that is more important to you than interesting recipes, buy this book. However, if you have any familiarity with fresh vegetables this book will probably not be much use to you. I have had CSA memberships and my own garden in the past, so I was looking for some interesting new uses for fresh vegetables, this book does not provide that. Included are recipes such as warm beets with greens, and three types of pea pods steamed together! Boring, basic, but useful if you don't know how to cook. This book should have been called 'learning to cook fresh vegetables.'

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book! June 22, 2010

By Kerrie Sparks

Format:Hardcover

I work part-time at a Sur La Table store, and picked this book up the moment I saw it come in stock! The photography is beautiful, and best of all, REAL. The people you see in this book are the actual farmers working their farms. The book focuses on 10 sustainable farms throughout the country, giving you a peek into each one along the way, with beautiful recipes for the fresh picks!

If you consider yourself a locavore, someone who shops regularly at a farmers market or CSA, or want to learn more about doing so, you should pick up this book. If you've been timid about joining a CSA or visiting your local farmers market because you're not quite sure what to do with all those fresh fruits and veggies, this book will help you!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring photos and recipes July 8, 2010

By The Local Cook VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Part of what I love about this book is that it is written from the perspective of CSAs. The photos of the recipes are gorgeous, and various CSA farms are featured. These are not your run of the mill recipes. Many of them use specialty oils (and describe how to make them yourself!) and cheeses. Recipes like Stuffed Artichokes with Pine Nuts and Currants and Mexican Pork Stew with Tomatillos use simple ingredients but are complex enough to satisfy foodies.

I loved just reading through this cookbook; I can't wait to make more of the recipes in it.

Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher to review on my blog [...]. I was not obligated to review the book and all opinions are mine.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great recipes and luscious photos July 27, 2010

By Lynn Harnett TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Formerly of Chez Panisse, food writer Fletcher builds her cookbook around the CSA - community sustainable agriculture - model, in which locals buy shares in a farm, providing income to the farmer and fresh food for themselves. Fletcher profiles 10 farms, from 75 to 1500 members, from Oregon to Massachusetts.

Illustrated with enticing photographs of the produce, people, places and dishes, the book is divided into three sections - Vegetables, Fruits, and Meat, Poultry and Eggs. Vegetables, organized alphabetically, get the bulk of the attention, from Grilled Asparagus with Citrus Oil to Lebanese Pickled Turnips. Fletcher includes classics like dilly beans, braised Romano beans, and pickled okra, and lots of contemporary fare, like Green Garlic Soufflé and Grilled Radicchio with Bagna Cauda and Greek Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes and Grilled Pita Chips.

Fruit dishes include Mixed Citrus Compote with Pomegranate Seeds, Peach and Boysenberry Cobbler, and Baby Greens with Grilled Figs, Blue Cheese and Walnuts. Grilled Five-Spice Chicken, Lamb Burgers with Grilled Red Onions and Feta or Grilled Sausages with Baby Turnips and Turnip Greens round out the meal.

Innovative, mouth watering and fresh, this will furnish plenty of ideas for all that summer produce.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Profusely and beautifully illustrated throughout with color photography June 15, 2010

By Midwest Book Review

Format:Hardcover

Local farmer's markets have grown increasingly popular and accessible with those who want the freshest seasonal ingredients at the lowest possible 'carbon footprint' possible. "Eating Local: The Cookbook Inspired by America's Farmers" by cook book author Janet Fletcher (in cooperation with the successful Californian restaurant Sur La Table) is a 320-page compendium packed with thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly' recipes utilizing farm-fresh seasonal ingredients found in local community farmer's markets. Profusely and beautifully illustrated throughout with color photography, the recipes range from Grilled Eggplant Cannelloni with Ricotta and Prosciutto; to Pickled Yellow Wax Benas with Fresh Dill; to Home-Dried Tomatoes in Herbed Olive Oil; Skillet-Cooked Creamer Potatoes with Rosemary; to Peach and Boysenberry Cobbler. Of special note are the succinct introductions to showcase farms representing the kind of 'family farm' agriculture that is the source of what local farmer's markets have to offer grateful communities, making "Eating Local: The Cookbook Inspired by America's Farmers" a particularly appropriate and highly recommended addition to personal and public library cookbook collections.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, inspiring photos and stories; Recipes organized well March 10, 2013

By mqo001

Format:Hardcover

I was lucky enough to stumble across this book in a secondhand store (sorry Amazon!) and I feel so lucky to have found it! After reading Kingsolver's 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle', I've found myself trying to be more conscientious about what I'm eating and where it has come from. This has led me to exploring our local farmers markets and CSAs, though I've found that I find many things in abundance that I'm not sure how to cook! That's where I found this collection of recipes to be particularly helpful! The book is designed to solve just that problem and is organized alphabetically by the main vegetable ingredient. All that's in season and available today are greens? No problem - hit the greens section and find a variety of options for cooking them and changing up the flavors so you won't be too bored until the next set of veggies make an appearance. Some of the other reviews criticize the book for being too basic, but for me, this is a great introduction for what to do when you have a basket full of things you've never cooked before! I've really enjoyed working with this book as well as just sitting down to read through it cover to cover, trying to decide what I want to plant in my own garden this year! For me, it's been a great find!