“Harvest Eating” is a lifestyle of cooking and eating using methods that have been practiced for centuries all over the globe. Chef Keith Snow has introduced thousands to the idea of getting back to the source by eating locally grown and raised foods with his wildly popular HarvestEating.com website and PBS show Harvest Eating with Chef Snow. The website is a social community based on sustainable—local, seasonal, and organic—foods and includes videos of Chef Snow preparing recipes that utilize these fresh ingredients. The PBS cooking show highlights the lifestyle by visiting nearby farms and encouraging shopping locally.
The Harvest Eating Cookbook is the manual for “Harvest Eating,” and encourages the reader to use foods that are fresh and in-season, and to prepare them using whole, natural ingredients. The more than 200 easy, delicious recipes are identified by season to emphasize the importance of buying fresh ingredients. It includes a do-it-yourself chapter, called “Cookenomics,” that provides the reader with easy-to-follow instructions for making some staples at home (such as sausage, ground beef, mayonnaise, pickles, yogurt, ice cream, and canned vegetables) in order to avoid the processed foods that fill our supermarkets today. Includes a climactic zone chart that tells when certain foods are available in each region.
Seasonality is the watchword of the moment. Cooks demand fresh ingredients just arrived from farms in full abundance and at the peak of flavor. Snow puts forward a catalog of recipes designed to steer cooks in the direction of menus and meal preparation that take full advantage of such bounty. Although Snow sympathizes with the locavore movement, he is not strict about it, and his recipes call for items such as avocados, which must be trucked from southern climes to less-tropical regions. Snow’s recipes are all very simple, applying the least adornment to what are already superior ingredients. Symbols heading each recipe indicate the time of year most appropriate for them. Nevertheless, some of the recipes’ confusing instructions may puzzle cooks. Full-color photographs illustrate the book. Snow is about to launch a cooking series on PBS, so libraries may finds unusual demand for this title. --Mark Knoblauch
Review
Library Journal, 10/09 “Strongly recommended for home cooks and fans of his web site and cooking show.”
Honolulu Advertiser, December 10, 2009 “…a beautiful book with fantastic recipes that use fresh, seasonal foods and whole, natural ingredients.”
Taking the Local Movement Global- Introducing Chef Keith Snow and Harvest Eating
Armed with a complete set of resources to make the locavore movement inviting, accessible and easy for the home cook, Chef Keith Snow has spent the last three years using web 2.0 to propel his mission. In 2006, Keith developed and launched Harvest Eating, a unique social network dedicated to seasonal cooking. Subscribers receive weekly newsletters and visitors to the website gain access to an ever-growing library of over 325 cooking demonstration videos and over 800 categorized recipes. In the fall of 2009, Keith's audience will expand when he debuts a new PBS television show and cookbook, both aptly titled Harvest Eating. The Early Years: The Farm Influence
Raised in suburban New Jersey, Keith's family appreciated and valued the importance of fine cooking. Together, they frequented local farmers' markets, but he found his true calling on his uncles' farms: one owned a dairy farm in Goshen, New York and another raised horses and had a wild hatchery where grouse, partridges and other game birds could be found. There Keith was exposed at an early age to healthy, seasonal eating; he remembers a salad made straight from vegetables picked in his uncle's garden as the best he's ever consumed. Kitchen Accomplished
Keith's career as a chef began almost accidentally. At 14, he filled in for a friend as a dishwasher at a local Italian restaurant and found himself increasingly drawn to cooking. He eventually trained under the direction of the restaurant's disciplined former Navy chef. Keith's talent as a chef evolved into a career and took him all over the country including California, Florida, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Colorado
Keith was ahead of his time, thinking about fresh, unprocessed foods, long before organic and seasonal held much meaning for consumers. While still entrenched in the restaurant industry, Keith decided to combine his entrepreneurial spirit with his passion for natural foods and in 1992, at 25, he created Capone's All-Natural Pasta Sauces. Unlike other jarred sauces, these were made without artificial ingredients or preservatives. Originally sold from the back of his car, his product quickly became available on shelves nationwide.
In 1998, Keith accepted a position at a small restaurant in North Carolina, where he and his wife were drawn to the serene quality of life. However, in 2000, he became Executive Chef at Colorado's premiere Copper Mountain Resort, overseeing a staff of 12 chefs, 250 employees, and nearly10 million dollars in food & beverage sales. It was at this point in his career that Keith discovered his affinity for food media, making appearances as a guest chef on several local programs.
Working long hours and dreading the harsh winters, Keith longed for the comfort of the North Carolina country lifestyle. He and his wife welcomed their first child, Olivia, and a few months later, Keith flew to the east coast and purchased a farm in western North Carolina on the spot. In 2003, Keith relocated his family into an 800-square foot apartment in a barn on the property.
Cooking Up a New Project
Once Olivia started eating solid foods, Keith and his wife, aware of the preservative-packed baby foods on the market, were determined to feed her the best possible diet. Using fresh vegetables and fruits grown in their garden, they created homemade baby food. During social outings, other parents expressed a keen interest in Olivia's pureed peas, broccoli and butternut squash. Keith was amazed at the reaction and realized that he had important information to share. Adding to his influence in the area, Keith co-founded the local Slow Food(R) upstate SC chapter, which helped bring awareness to food policies and production practices, and ensured equity and sustainability.
"As I started to cook with these local seasonal ingredients, I finally developed a style of cooking I could call my own." In 2006, he started shooting videos in his barn and housed them via Harvest Eating's website. Diluting the "white coat intimidation" most chefs exude, Keith offers an inviting interactive experience. His cooking is resource-driven; the website even includes food finders to help home cooks find local farms.
Unlike many food sites, Keith supplies weekly content, creating 30-50 videos each month. Today, HarvestEating.com maintains a growing subscriber list of 20,000+ members in 100 different countries and his videos are available for syndication.
A Chef of a Different Breed
Keith is a natural on camera. Offering food that's rustic and accessible, he is warm and engaging; there's no chef's ego to obscure the cooking. In May 2008, he was the National Restaurant Association's first recipient of the YOUTUBE "Hot Chef" title. A last minute entry, Keith's video accumulated the most votes, winning him a trip to Chicago where he appeared with nationally recognized celebrity chefs.
Waiting for the right deal to showcase his recipes, Keith signed on with Running Press to create his first book, The Harvest Eating Cookbook, which will include over 200 recipes and 140 images (September 2009). That same month, Keith will broaden his viewership with a new show on PBS. He'll shed light on the artisan producers, organic farmers and other dedicated people who create healthy foods, fresh from the ground. Then Keith will bring the bounty home to whip up a meal in his farm's studio kitchen.
Keith currently resides in North Carolina with his wife, two daughters and has a new baby son.
For more information about Keith Snow and Harvest Eating, contact Amanda Santoro at The Brooks Group 212-768-0860
This review is from: The Harvest Eating Cookbook: More than 200 Recipes for Cooking with Seasonal Local Ingredients (Hardcover)
I bought this book a few days after it came out and it's one of the best cooking book I own right now, for the following reasons :
It's easy to find the recipes, as the Index is clear and the book is well sorted.
The recipes are clear and easy to reproduce, I've never yet been hit by a "Wait, so the oven is supposed to go to...", which is common with a lot of books nowadays.
I'm not usually a 5 star person when I rate things, but this books fully delivers to its descriptions and impressions. Oh, and also, the recipes are delicious. I love the emphasis on the ingredients, makes for a perfect final dish IMO. There's also really good looking pictures, makes me want to cook every time I open it up. :)
I love it and would fully recommend to anyone looking for a cooking book for any purpose.
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This review is from: The Harvest Eating Cookbook: More than 200 Recipes for Cooking with Seasonal Local Ingredients (Hardcover)
I was at the Epcot International food and wine fest when I caught the end of Keith's seminar, and chatted with him afterwards about cooking, and healthy living in Asheville NC and Boulder CO. What a nice guy - very genuine, like his cooking :). Anyway, I purchased his book immediately (from my iPhone on Amazon, saved $10!), and have already tried 3 of his recipes for Thanksgiving (well, OK, my mother did most of the work). They were absolutely delicious. The Butternut Squash soup was tremendous. The chipotle shrimp was also very tasty. Looking forward to trying more. Also love watching his podcasts on iTunes. Short quick videos on mostly simple recipes - all organic and healthy.
I wish it was a little easier to find things in the book (although the index is nice), and also the little icons that differentiate the seasons could be a little larger. But overall, its a beautiful book with great photos and a nice intro about seasonal cooking. I highly recommend this book, his podcast, and his show on PBS.
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This review is from: The Harvest Eating Cookbook: More than 200 Recipes for Cooking with Seasonal Local Ingredients (Hardcover)
I love new recipes and this cookbook has provided several great meals. It is great to be able to make dishes look like the pictures in this book. Instructions are well written and easy to follow. You can make a fantastic meal that belongs in a pricy restaurant at home. The Mango Creme Brulee is a fantastic desert and is a family favorite. Recommend to anyone who likes to cook!
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