Recipes from America's Small Farms: Fresh Ideas for the Season's Bounty [Paperback]

Joanne Hayes (Editor), Lori Stein (Editor), Maura Webber (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 2003

Recipes from America’s Small Farms gathers the most exciting, original, and authentic recipes—using the freshest ingredients—from those who know best how to set a table anytime of the year. Favorite recipes from farmers across the country and members of Community Supported Agriculture—a national organization that facilitates direct farmer-to-consumer sales of produce—will inspire home cooks everywhere. Also included are recipes from high-profile chefs such as Rick Bayless (Frontera Grill), Peter Hoffman (Savoy), Roxanne Klein (Roxanne’s), and Kevin von Klause (White Dog Café).

Readers will find it easy to locate recipes, organized by food family, that call for the vegetables and fruits that are in season, readily available, and simple to use. Recipes like Creamy Turnip Soup; Heirloom Tomatoes with Fresh Herbs, Toasted Pine Nuts, and Tapenade Toast Points; Greek Zucchini Cakes; and Hiroko’s Fusion Choy with Tahini-Soy Dip give common produce exotic appeal.

The book includes a chapter on meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood, and there are vegan recipes throughout. Each chapter provides details about the history, characteristics, and nutritional qualities of specific fruits and vegetables. Cooking techniques, useful sidebars, and a glossary make this book an indispensable resource.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"From Bachelor’s Buttons to Odorless Brassica cooking, Fusion Choy, Chremslach and why they all say E.I.E.I.O down at the Grindstone Farm in Pulaski, N.Y., this fun little book is chock full of colorful personalities, anecdotes and very useful information! As a founding member of the Chef’s Collaborative, I am thrilled to see the current growth and development of Community Supported Agriculture. What better accompaniments to the rich harvest of fresh, local and seasonal produce than these simple, homey and delicious recipes." -Michael Romano, Executive Chef/Partner at The Union Square Café, and co-author of The Union Square Café Cookbook and Second Helpings from Union Square Café

"The authors have done an excellent job of providing the reader with ways to experience unusual vegetables. They provide a wonderful recipe for busy people to connect with seasonal eating. It's an opportunity to bring your local farmer into your kitchen." -Joel Patraker, co-author of The Greenmarket Cookbook

"Start with the fact that this is not just, as its title suggests, a book of recipes from America's small farms, but a collection of facts, farmers, recipes, and resources that begins with 'Basic Techniques' and 'Basic Recipes,' and ends with thierty-nine pages designed to help any reader find sources of local foods. In between are the specific instructions--classified surprisingly by plant parts--including enough variations to eliminate produce overwhelm. The page-sized sidebars introduce farmers, along with 'heirlooms,' 'that cabbage smell,' 'some stuffings,' and 'corporate tomatoes'--a good read while the garlic roasts." -Joan Dye Gussow, author of This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader

“This book is as close as you can get to the experts at the farmer’s market without being there. These delicious recipes for year-round seasonal cooking will not disappoint.” -Nell Newman, author of The Newman’s Own Organics Guide to a Good Life

“At Moosewood Restaurant, we've always appreciated the value of high
quality, locally grown produce. The recipes here are delicious examples of
how best to feature the fresh, wholesome flavors of produce grown as close
to one's own backyard as possible.” -David Hirsch, author of The Moosewood Restaurant Kitchen Garden

“Hurrah! What fun to have great new recipes from those closest to the earth. These recipes celebrate a renaissance in American cuisine, as more and more of us want fresh, wholesome food that wakes up the palette.” -Frances Moore Lappé, Co-author of Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet

From the Inside Flap

Recipes from America?s Small Farms gathers the most exciting, original, and authentic recipes?using the freshest ingredients?from those who know best how to set a table anytime of the year. Favorite recipes from farmers across the country and members of Community Supported Agriculture?a national organization that facilitates direct farmer-to-consumer sales of produce?will inspire home cooks everywhere. Also included are recipes from high-profile chefs such as Rick Bayless (Frontera Grill), Peter Hoffman (Savoy), Roxanne Klein (Roxanne?s), and Kevin von Klause (White Dog Café).

Readers will find it easy to locate recipes, organized by food family, that call for the vegetables and fruits that are in season, readily available, and simple to use. Recipes like Creamy Turnip Soup; Heirloom Tomatoes with Fresh Herbs, Toasted Pine Nuts, and Tapenade Toast Points; Greek Zucchini Cakes; and Hiroko?s Fusion Choy with Tahini-Soy Dip give common produce exotic appeal.

The book includes a chapter on meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood, and there are vegan recipes throughout. Each chapter provides details about the history, characteristics, and nutritional qualities of specific fruits and vegetables. Cooking techniques, useful sidebars, and a glossary make this book an indispensable resource.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Villard; 1 edition (July 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812967755
• ISBN-13: 978-0812967753
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #833,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THERE'S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE HERE, September 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Recipes from America's Small Farms: Fresh Ideas for the Season's Bounty (Paperback)

This is one of the finest from-the-farm cookbooks I've seen-- for organization, for content, variety, and appeal. I love the way the book is set up: first the basics we all need to give fresh produce the t.l.c. it deserves, then the vegetable recipes by category: leaves, cabbages, the whole huge onion family, stalks and stems, seeds and pods, fruits treated like vegetables (tomatoes, for example), roots and tubers. There's even a chapter on fresh herbs. I find the recipes both unusual and irresistible and can't wait to try the Bruschetta with Braised Greens, the Wild Arugula Salad with Mushrooms, the Striped Bass and Scallops with Braised Cabbage and Germolata, the Onion Biscuits, and oh, so many more. This cookbook is not only a "keeper," it's one that stays on my kitchen counter. A TAR HEEL FOOD LOVER

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars different and delicious!, August 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Recipes from America's Small Farms: Fresh Ideas for the Season's Bounty (Paperback)

This lovely cookbook lives up to its subtitle -- it's filled with all sorts of "fresh" and terrific ideas for making the most of seasonal vegetables and fruits. The recent publicity about obesity and American youngsters makes it clear that all parents (myself included) have to find enticing ways of teaching our kids to eat right. This book is loaded with ideas, and getting kids to understand that it's tastier and healthier to eat what's just been harvested -- instead of ripening on a truck or flash-frozen -- is important on any number of levels. This book isn't just for the dedicated vegetarian but for everyone. I've already tried a couple of recipes -- zucchini tacos and Swiss chard gratin-- and they were different and delicious.
It's fun to read too -- with info on every vegetable and fruit as well as all the different ways to clean, cook, and keep them fresh. I enjoyed the farmers' stories and was happy to learn about community-supported agriculture -- where people buy shares in the harvest. The book has spurred me on to join a local CSA-- community-supported agriculture is just what America needs.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unique recipes, June 30, 2009

By 

slbringman "Sarah" (Gettysburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Recipes from America's Small Farms: Fresh Ideas for the Season's Bounty (Paperback)

This book is good for adventurous chefs who have large gardens or else are very into farmer's markets/CSAs, etc. It has a small section on your basic recipes (such as stir fry) and then the majority of the book is a little more unique recipes such as "potato-leek soup with wild garlic flowers" and "celery stalks with ginger tofu dip." The recipes look excellent but most require a fair amount of ingredients (more than 10) which often ends up being more expensive...when my garden has a bountiful harvest I don't really like to go buy lots of extra groceries, but if you are looking for new ideas or recipes of a higher calliber, this is it! This book also has handy sections for each of 9 families of produce that include what to look for when harvesting or purchasing, how to use, how to preserve, and a variety of simple ways to prepare (i.e. directions to microwave, blanch, boil, braise, sautee, steam, etc.). Also has interludes throughout telling stories of CSA farms, details on heirloom vegetables, thoughts on how to use extra parts of produce (such as the flowers on zuccini or the stalky leaves of onions) and suggestions for simple ways to prepare. I am glad I bought this book for my husband and I think it will be a good book to pull out as the summer and our produce progresses!