Customer Reviews

Fresh From Dover Canyon: Easy, Elegant Recipes from Dover Canyon Winery

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mary's recipes are approachable, creative and delicious! this book runs the gamut of great recipes from high brow dinner parties to Monday night football suggestions. Her advice is practical, helpful and will having you saying things like, "Of course I should never use cheap cooking wine to cook! I should never buy cheap wine at all! What was i thinking?!?!" Its a perfect gift and for someone who likes mustard as much as i do, i loved the Viogner Mustard recipe!

Unlike other winery cookbooks I've collected, all of which I've enjoyed reading, this one is much more personable. Baker talks about the long days and demands of the harvest season, and shares recipes that she can easily prepare from whatever is available in her pantry and garden. The recipes are simple, ingredients are fairly common, and the dishes have a California flair--lots of use of peppers, garlic and herbs. I tried the Grilled Chile and Cheese Sandwiches with the Bouillabaisse with Saffron and Leeks, and the combination was delicious. The only criticism I would make is that the wine sections are fairly simple and focused on California wine.

My favorite things are food, information, vivid writing. This book has all three. The recipes are quick, easy, healthful, good-looking and tasty. The tips for preparing dishes and for selecting, serving and cooking with wines are very helpful. The writer's ability to evoke the colors, flavors, odors and textures of her materials...well, just reading the book makes my mouth water.

We bought this cookbook at the winery because my husband picked it up and couldn't put it down. He loves to cook and grill and doesn't usually read recipes, but he liked the new ideas in this cookbook, and the chapter on grilling was funny and also right on. Its kind of sparked his interest in looking through our other cookbooks too, so now he picks out recipes and writes his grocery list (for me of course) during football halftimes. O yes, we liked the wine too and the people at the winery were really friendly. They refered us to other small wineries that we also enjoyed and we had a good time in Paso Robles!