The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook [Paperback]

Mimi Luebbermann (Author), Robert Holmes (Photographer), Dan Mills (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 2006

Whether you say "to-may-to" or you say "to-mah-to," chances are you'll agree there's nothing like the taste of a sun-ripened heirloom tomatoand this beautifully photographed book is a cornucopia for the tomato lover. First there are the recipes: 50 in all, provided by such notable food names as One Market, Caprial's Bistro, Jimtown Store, and DaVero Olive Oil. Perfect for brunch, cocktails, or dinner, tomatoes are showcased in such delicious dishes as Gazpacho with Cucumber Salsa Verde, Cheese and Pesto Fondue with Tomato-Foccacia Skewers, and Grilled Sea Bass with Lemon-Oregano, Tomato Relish. Accompanying each is a wine pairing suggested by Kendall-Jackson, which each year hosts the Heirloom Tomato Festival in Sonomathe inspiration for this book. Then there's the photographic glossary of the top 25 heirloom varieties, detailed cultivation information, and an invaluable sourcelist of seeds and plants to entice those who want to eat their fruit and grow it too. Add to this, advice on choosing and storing tomatoes and a brief history, and you have a book as vibrant as the tomato it celebrates.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mimi Luebbermann is the author of almost 20 books on gardening and cooking and is a contributor to numerous national cooking and gardening magazines. She lives on a small farm in Petaluma, California.

Robert Holmes' photographs have appeared in National Geographic , Travel & Leisure , Conde Nast Traveler , and in numerous other magazines and books. He lives in Northern California.

Dan Mills has specialized in wine and food photography for nearly 25 years. His work has appeared in Time , Fortune , Forbes , Wired , the Los Angeles Times , and New York Times . He lives in Northern California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (June 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811853551
• ISBN-13: 978-0811853552
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 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: #399,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook, January 13, 2007

By 

Lana L. Stabio (La Verne, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook (Paperback)

I read cookbooks like many people read magazines: cover to cover. The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook offers not only delicious, yet simple, recipes with a suggestion for a wine paring, but also a variety of other tomato topics that range from how to's of saving seeds, drying, and cultivating of favorite heirlooms. Your gardener, chef, and tomato lover will appreciate the beautiful illustrations as well.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty pictures, bad-to-average recipes, October 2, 2010

By 

Eva Gerald (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook (Paperback)

Unlike most of the other reviewers of this book, I actually made some of the recipes. The tomato bisque was thin and bland, tasting mostly of onion and watery cream with just a hint of tomato flavor. I expect that ripe heirloom tomatoes of "any" variety (I used brandywine, pineapple, and black zebras) may be too soggy, and the soup really suffered. The same thing happened when I made the brandywine tomato sauce -- the tomatoes disintegrated into nothing, leaving me with a lot of specks of skin and a watery sauce. It would have been helpful if the recipes had suggested several varieties that would work best, something the author did only a few times.

The crab cakes were okay but would have been quite bland if I hadn't added more seasonings than the prescribed salt and pepper, and it's a good thing I did because the tomato-corn relish that accompanied it was quite unremarkable and would not have made up for the lack of seasoning in the crab cakes and the citrus aioli also didn't add much to the cakes other than a citrus-y bite.

Too many "recipes" merely involve cutting up tomatoes and other fruits/vegetables, seasoning them, and adding a commonplace dressing. Most people could figure that out on their own; why was recipe space wasted on it? And do you really need a cookbook to tell you how to make a BLT just because you're using heirlooms?

There are, however, informative sections on common heirloom varieties and their cultivation along with lots of pretty pictures, so I gave it two stars for that.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Used it daily this summer, November 27, 2008

By 

Brandywine girl (mid-atlantic) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook (Paperback)

I found this book at Crate and Barrel while on vacation and bought it, since I grow alot of different kinds of tomatoes. I love this book so much that I'm here shopping for it for friends as gifts. What I esp. like is that many of the recipes are good as vegetarian entrees. Also, I like to collect cookbooks on one topic, so it was a good addition to my collection. And I did follow the procedures for saving heirloom seeds. So, I'm all set for next summer's growing season, and I can't wait!