The Farmer's Market Cookbook: Seasonal Dishes Made from Nature's Freshest Ingredients [Hardcover]

Richard Ruben (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000

Cooking seasonally means having a keen eye and a sensitive nose as you traverse the aisles of nature's store. The harbingers of each season are color-coded - spring's plate is drenched with verdant tender stalks and gentle herbs; summer is resplendent with myriad bold reds, oranges, and yellows; autumn is rich with umber root vegetables and a second hooray of green leaves. Understanding this spectrum is an essential starting point to setting a menu. The Farmer's Market Cookbook will guide the home cook through the ripening seasons and serve as a road map allowing him or her to navigate any local market - be it farm stand or grocer's aisle. Chef Richard Ruben offers dozens of simple, elegant recipes that celebrate the gifts of nature's cycle from spring (fiddlehead fern risotto; fried green tomatoes; lamb marinated in tropical juice; rhubarb and almond crisp) to summer (strawberry tomato salsa; chilled cucumber/mint soup; grilled chicken breast with summer squash; lemon verbena sorbet) to autumn (ginger butternut soup; curried brussels sprouts; venison sausage stew; crisp apple towers). Ruben also provides additional information on the origin and proper selection of produce, hints for putting up flavored vinegars and oils, and historical facts about food. The Farmer's Market Cookbook presents an original approach to modern cuisine that hearkens back to a simple time when the land around us provided our meals, while also helping to fulfill our eclectic current cravings. (81/4 X 81/4, 202 pages)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The trend towards cooking and eating according to the seasons has been steadily gaining momentum, and it's no wonder. A fresh, deep red, perfectly ripe tomato in the middle of August seems a different species altogether than those insipid, crunchy, watery specimens we see in the supermarket in January. In The Farmer's Market Cookbook, Richard Ruben goes one better. A chef and food consultant in New York City, Ruben conducts "Green Market" classes at Peter Kump's Cooking School. He's shopped at farmers' markets all over the world and has put together a beautiful collection of simple, clear, easy-to-follow recipes that take full advantage of the kinds of specialty produce available all across the country.

Divided into sections for spring, summer, and autumn, this little volume is peppered with poetic notes and introductions by Ruben, who is obviously inspired by the produce he finds. Fava beans must have "a full allotment developed within." Lavender transports him "to languid, sun-drenched days." Choosing wild mushrooms, his "mind was now conveyed to a moist, shadowy forest." He's even included a number of food-inspired haikus for good measure!

But even if you don't appreciate his poetry, Ruben's recipes are well worth a try. Ingredient lists are short and the instructions are simple--if the produce is delectably fresh, the argument goes, what more do you need? Spring offers dishes such as Fiddlehead Fern Risotto, Lamb Marinated in Tropical Juice (with fresh mint and spinach or baby bok choy), and Wilted Escarole Scented with Garlic. Summer's bounty includes Grilled Summer Corn and Tomatillo Relish, Grilled Chicken Breasts with Summer Squash, Gnocchi with Cherry Tomatoes and Sage Butter, and Lemon Verbena Sorbet. And in autumn there are dishes such as Quince and Pomegranate Chutney, Kale with Caramelized Onions and Portobello Mushrooms, and Stuffed Dumpling Squash.

Fortunately, most of the ingredients called for are available in supermarkets, so even if your idea of fun is not a Saturday morning at the market, you can still easily create these seasonal dishes at home. And for those who love nothing better than to wander through the stalls, chat with the farmers, and find a new vegetable or herb at the local farmers' market, chances are you'll find a simple recipe here to highlight whatever you discover. --Leora Y. Bloom

Review

Full of great recipes....This wonderful book just makes me want to pick up a basket and head straight to the farmer's market. -- Joanne Weir, author of Weir Cooking

It is wonderful to see how easy and delicious food can be when prepared with fresh produce purchased from organic farmers... -- Alice Waters, Chez Panisse Cafe & Restaurant

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 187 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585741310
• ISBN-13: 978-1585741311
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #747,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The MFK Fisher for Our Time, November 18, 2000

By 

www.printedmatterpress.com "Printed Matter Pr... (Tokyo, JAPAN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Farmer's Market Cookbook: Seasonal Dishes Made from Nature's Freshest Ingredients (Hardcover)

Richard Ruben is that rare being--a chef who can write well, bringing his passion for the bounty of nature's markets to the page as well as to the table. With prose that is as beautiful as it is informative, chef/teacher/poet/philosopher Ruben takes us on a culinary tour of the seasons via the farmer's market that brings all of nature's best to our tables. With stunning recipes and lyrical prose, Ruben shares his love affair with lavender and verbena in recipes such as Lavender Ricotta Cake and Sweet Potatoes Braised with Lemon Verbena. His extensive knowledge of world cuisine comes into play in the many exotic creations like Green Rice, and Apple Shochu, a Japanese distilled spirit infused with apple. Although the book can be wonderfully playful, Ruben also offers practical knowledge in comprehensive lists of seasonal vegetables, fruits, and herbs; hints for putting up flavored vinegars and oils; and tips on how to understand the color-coded spectrum of each season's offerings, including how to select produce properly. Like the evocative haiku sprinkled throughout this lovely book's pages, Ruben's recipes resonate with an appreciation of nature and its offerings, bringing fresh food from the market to the table in dishes that will delight everyone's palate and spirit. This will be the book I give as a gift to everyone I know who loves to eat and cook. It's a blessing that will grace anyone's table.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Food... Real Recipes...Real Passion...Richard Ruben, May 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Farmer's Market Cookbook: Seasonal Dishes Made from Nature's Freshest Ingredients (Hardcover)

This is a cookbook that people who really love food in it's purest form must have. Richard Ruben translates his enthusiasm for the farmer's (or ethnic) market into simple recipes with sophisticated flavors that sing. His appoarch to food re-affirms that old adage, simple is better. As you read through his personal collection of recipes, you want to make every one. But must do so season by season to get the best results. In this day and age of hundreds of cookbooks, Ruben distinguishes himself quietly and with authority, reminiscent of the early days of Alice Waters when passion for food and the best ingrendients were the only motivators. If I could only have one cookbook and a market, it would certainly be this one. BUY THIS BOOK FOR THE SUMMER and continue to use it through fall and winter...

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic ways to cook the best nature has to offer, November 22, 2000

By 

Mary Louise Ball (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Farmer's Market Cookbook: Seasonal Dishes Made from Nature's Freshest Ingredients (Hardcover)

This cookbook is magnificent! Fun, wittily written, simple to follow, Richard Ruben focuses on enjoying the fresh goodness the earth offers us in each season. It's about tasting and exploring what's in front of us, presented by the growers themselves. Easy-to-follow recipes, ideas, charts, seasonal suggestions....it's great. I'm not much of a cook and I used this book to wow a dinner party with pheasant, curried brussel sprouts, & individual squashes stuffed with fennel, apples, & carrots. It's a valuable, exciting, DELICIOUS standout in a crowded field.