Customer Reviews

Fresh Every Day: More Great Recipes from Foster's Market

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

`Fresh Every Day, More Great Recipes from Foster's Market' is Sara Foster's second book in about three years, with a new co-author, Carolynn Carreno, a co-author of the very good New York City bistro / bakery book, `Once Upon a Tart'. Whether it is from the change in collaborator or some other reason, Ms. Foster has succeeded in giving us a book which is not only better than her first, but it is better than books from her nearest competitors, Paula Deen and fellow Martha Stewart alum, Ina Garten. While Deen gives us very good renditions of classic Southern dishes, Ms. Foster and her allies have done a `fusion Southern' cuisine which has all the charm of the original models with maybe just a little less fat and a little more flavor. Compared to fellow caterer, Ms. Garten of Long Island, Ms. Foster gives us much more bang for our $35. I have always thought Ms. Garten's books are just a tad overpriced for their content. Sara Foster has delivered a lot more content, and more interesting content, for the same price.

While it took a fair amount of careful reading before I gave Sara's first book my five stars, my visceral pleasure with this book kicked in almost immediately, which is a sure sign that this is a quality cookbook. Very good and very bad books usually show their colors in the first few pages. When you have to look for the good stuff, it is surely an average book.

The book has just a slightly different focus than the first book, in that it covers a lot of things Ms. Foster cooks at home for her family and dishes she demonstrates when she is doing book tours and cooking classes.

For starters, I always give high marks to books with good breakfast recipes. For every decent book on breakfast dishes, there are fifty or more on desserts, so, we are always in need of more and better breakfast dishes. None of the recipes are really unusual, but that isn't what you want from a rural milieu caterer. You can get the fancy breakfasts from The Plaza and the Hiltons. The scrambled egg recipe(s) are a fine sample of what Ms. Foster and company do so well in this book. She gives the basic technique that is effective, but simple. No James Beard water bath cooking for 40 minutes here. Then, she gives us six different variations plus the courage to throw in most different kinds of odds and ends leftovers from the fridge.

I thought the following page with breakfast tortilla recipes goes a long way to showing how far Mexican cuisine has influenced our cooking in that Ms. Foster uses the terms chipotle, burrito, quesadilla, and enchilada with no explanation of what they mean and really assumes the reader will have no problems following an instruction to `fold it like a burrito'. Later in this chapter, chipotle finds its way into several different recipes. The chapter also covers such essential subjects as grits, smoothies, biscuits, muffins, and granola.

The next chapter is `Simple Soups' which opens with a sidebar on soup making which has almost as many spiffy soup suggestions as several soup books I have reviewed. Like the breakfast dishes, most soups are pretty standard and pretty hearty, with a heavy emphasis on roasted ingredients and pureed preparations. There are some interesting surprises such as the golden gazpacho soup, but the big value is in teaching us to use soup toppings and garnishes.

The third chapter is on `seasonal salads and salad meals'. The content which impressed me most was the number of different vinaigrette recipes, including summer herb, sweet basil, balsamic, blue cheese, tarragon, sweet and spicy, sesame ginger, red wine with chives, tangy Italian, black olive, and pad thai vinaigrettes. And that just the vinaigrettes!

The fourth chapter is `seasonal sides' with lots of stuff on using fruits and root vegetables. The most interesting section is the general suggestion plus several recipes on mashing vegetables OTHER than potatoes. This notion, plus the variations on doing corn on the cob are worth the price of the chapter.

The fifth chapter is `quick and tasty meat main dishes' which throws lots of Southern, Italian, Greek, and Mexican ideas into a pot and comes up with great nouveau Carolina cuisine. The featured sidebar is on grilling. The best `extras' are recipes for `fridge pickles and pan seared duck breasts.

The sixth chapter is `fast and fresh fish, pasta, and risotto meals'. This chapter is heavy on the shrimp and scallops plus halibut, snapper, sea bass, and lots of condiments such as lemon chive oil, Cajun aioli, and green goddess dressing. The sidebar on fish cookery is excellent.

The seventh chapter is `meals that cook themselves' which, of course, is not literally true. It is a collection of recipes that cook for a long time with little or no fuss or attention. Lots of classics appear here, many with the addition of Sara's favorite ingredient, chipotle.

The last chapter is `a little something sweet' which tend to be quick assemblies rather than elaborate cakes and pies, although there is a pretty standard recipe for a piecrust and a blueberry pie. The recipe uses all vegetable shortening, and I am partial to pastry crusts done with butter. I don't thing Sara will mind if you use a classic French pate brisee in place of `Judy's Flaky PieCrust. Her sidebar on making piecrusts may not have every little detail, but it's very good if this is the only book you have.

Ms. Foster's pair of books is the perfect example for those of you who don't want a lot of cookbooks, but you want interesting recipes. Getting these two books will give you great value with no risk of recipe overlap. I certainly recommend these over books from Ms. Deen and Ms. Garten, although both of these ladies have done some very nice volumes.

Highly recommended!

First the good news: the recipes and photos are every bit as wonderful as those in Sara Foster's first cookbook. That is very high praise, as you know.

We've had the book less than a week and we've made the Icebox Pickles, the Chipotle Mustard Sauce, the Chicken Salad with Apples, Grapes, And Spicy Pecans, and the Dark Chocolate Soufflé Cake. It's all so, so good!

Sara Foster, I am your devoted fan and I will probably buy any cookbook you write. However, the layout on this one is terrible: small print and not much white space. For example, the "WHAT TO SERVE WHEN" section should have been separated from the intro paragraph, instead of just changing ink color. The binding should allow the page to lie flat - after all, it's a cookbook. The book is just plain hard to read and use.

That said, I'm already waiting for the next Sara Foster cookbook!

I own both this book and her first one, and while I generally have had more success with recipes from the first, Fresh Every Day is certainly not without merit. A previous reviewer is correct in stating that the print is too small and the layout could be more user friendly. I have found that the breakfast, bread, and dessert recipes are more reliable than some of the others. I only experienced one failure from Ms. Foster's first cookbook, when the chevre stuffing wouldn't stay in the chicken thighs. It was still delicious, just not pretty.

The most important thing I can say about my experience with Ms. Foster's cookbooks is this - I e-mailed her at Foster's Market with a question, and I received a personal reply with a plausible answer. For that fact alone, I'll buy whatever she writes. I recommend both her books.

I purchased this cookbook when it was released this past summer, and so far I've made over 25 of the recipes, and everything has been amazing! I started with the summer recipes, of course, and several-the grilled chicken, salmon, salsas, and gilled pork chops-became weekly favorites. I've now tried some of the fall and winter recipes, and again, many have become standards, such as the pot roast,the braised salmon, and many of the vegetable recipes.

What I like most about this book is that is works well for weekday cooking as well as entertaining. I think I made the herb-marinated grilled turkey breast with the corn and sugar snap pea salad about 4 times for casual dinner parties this summer.

The other thing that makes this book really worthwhile is that the author takes everyday dishes and adds a different twist. I tried the smashed green peas, for example, and they were delicious, yet so easy I was kicking myself for not thinking of it on my own! Same thing with the roasted mushrooms with green peas and tomatoes (I substituted green beans)--standard vegetables put together in a unique combination.

For these reasons-along with the fact that everything (including the 2 desserts I've made)--has turned out perfectly on the first try-I highly recommend this book. You will find interesting, unique twists on old favorites, and, I guarantee you will turn to it for everyday cooking as well as casual entertaining.

Fresh Every Day educates the adventurous novice cook and challenges those of us with years of experience in the kitchen. Both will appreciate Sara Foster's well-organized, straightforward style and plentiful tips. Each section incorporates mini-lessons that cover elementary info -- using a meat thermometer, making pie crust, cooking fish -- as well as more advanced topics -- roasting garlic, making risotto, frying sage. Looking for traditional Southern favorites? You'll find Creamy Cheesy Corn Grits, Angel Biscuits, and Molasses Sweet Potato Pie. Something more contemporary? Try the Spicy Pad Thai Salad, Pan-Seared Scallops with Citrus Tarragon Butter, or Individual Tiramisu.

After Fresh arrived in the mail, I spent my spare hours browsing the pages, becoming acquainted with Foster's home cooking with a sophisticated twist. Plenty of large, yummy photos capture the taste and texture of the recipes: fried green tomatoes coated with crunchy cornmeal; slivers of parmesan and proscuitto glistening with homemade vinaigrette; a chunk of glazed pork sliced from a baby back rib; roasted pears resting in a golden sea of syrup.

Fresh Every Day passed my shopping simplicity test. Once I chose several recipes and created my grocery list, I had no problem finding the simple, fresh ingredients at just one store, and thankfully the recipes required no new culinary equipment. Foster uses plenty of fresh herbs so I'd suggest planting pots filled with rosemary, basil, sage, and mint to avoid paying several dollars each for the small packages found in grocery stores.

Blue Heaven Smoothie, packed with fruit, a hint of cinnamon plus a tablespoon of honey, is refreshing and tart. Pickled Shrimp are perfect appetizers for picnics and tailgating. My daughter begged for the leftovers. Roasted plum tomatoes, garlic cloves, and quartered onions give Roasted Tomato Sauce with Basil its distinctly rich flavor. I froze the sauce for a meal I'm planning in a few weeks. Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder was my pick from the chapter, Meals That Cook Themselves. Before serving it, I couldn't resist munching several crispy outer cuts. Apple and Avocado Salad with Fresh Mint and Lime is a delightfully tart contrast to the pork. I substituted slices of my favorite Asiago cheese for the feta and it worked well with the tangy dressing. Eastern peaches are abundant and cheap right now so I rounded out the meal with Roasted Peach Halves with Crumb Topping. Remember to pick up the vanilla ice cream. I didn't.

Fresh Every Day makes a lovely gift. My only quibble is the delicate dust jacket. Please give me a sturdy one so I can protect this nouveau Southern cooking treasure!

Everything I have made from this book has been a hit. From fridge pickles to minestrone soup, this book makes everything so easy. Nothing in here is unapproachable. So, if you are a little nervous in the kitchen - don't worry - you'll be fine.

Fresh Every Day looks great (cool design, including fresh, foody colors), has great recipes and includes great tips and techniques. My fave recipe thus far is Roasted Asparagus Soup. Includes ingredients that were unexpected but which MADE the recipe! I've really enjoyed even just flipping through the book b/c it includes "tricks of my trade," "about..." and "basics" - which are all little tips that I can use for these recipes or any others. The tips have helped me extend my kitchen, you might say! I also really love the fact that Sara Foster encourages experimentation - she encourages you to throw this or that into a recipe - to be brave and bold, making a recipe your own (and maybe even tastier!). This is not one of those cookbooks that stays around the corner on a shelf in the Keeping Room; it's one of my 2-3 faves that stays on a handy shelf in the kitchen next to the stove.

I'm a cookbook junkie and in order to get my habit under control I've decided that before I commit to buying another cookbook, I will copy down one recipe that appeals to me and go home and see if it is yummy. I did that with the Apple and Avocado Salad with Lime and Mint-and it passed my test with flying colours!!It was refreshing and tasty with an original twist. Now I've purchased the book and everything I've made so far (three recipes)has been excellent. I also find the layout of this book fun-its packed with suggestions and information. I think both new cooks and experienced ones will enjoy using this book.

I use this cookbook constantly. It has so many wonderful ways to prepare all kinds of vegetables--most of the time I just make a rice pilaf and two or three vegetables, and maybe a sauce, all from this book. (The rice pilaf recipes are so good they've spoiled me for all other rice--the 'spring' pilaf with coconut milk and toasted almonds and peas is worth the entire price all by itself.) There are also a lot of great-looking meat and fish recipes, both fast and easy and slow-cooker/all-day roast type, but I haven't tried most of them yet. The few fish recipes I have tried came out wonderfully, though.

The really great thing about the vegetable recipes in this book is that they're original and surprising without being at all fancy or inaccessible--the sort of thing you'd never have thought to do but now make all the time because it goes with everything. It's ridiculously difficult to find creative new ways to cook vegetables that aren't, well, ridiculously difficult, so I'd treasure this book for that alone. Also, after reading it, you *will* try and roast every single vegetable that crosses your path, and your life will be the better for it.

In addition to the delicious recipes, the photography and layout is just gorgeous. The book is a sheer delight to look at and just flipping through it makes me want to get in the kitchen.

We love Foster's Market in Durham so when I saw this I had to buy. It is, as good as, the food at the market. Very unique recipies that are not unreasonable even for a weekday. The best part is the seasonal suggestions for most dishes. This allows one to enjoy the taste and price of the change of seasons. It encourages use of improvising a little, while not bending on the more important elements. This is my favorite cook book at the moment--Great for those that like an Epicurious type web-site.