Customer Reviews

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

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

 

 

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

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.

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!

I purchased this cookbook in the hopes that it would give me some wonderful recipes to use on my CSA ingredients. There was a great variety of recipes and they all sound great...but thats as far as they go. They all just really lack flavor! My family is used to gourmet cooking with tremendous flavor...food that makes your mouth water just thinking about it, and this sadly didnt even come close to touching that. I am going to keep looking for a cookbook that will utilize my CSA veggies, but also packs a flavor punch!

I reviewed several CSA cookbooks before purchasing this one and Serving Up the Harvest. I have cooked numerous recipes from it and they are all excellent.

I've been a member of a CSA for more than four years, and over the past year have made a commitment to eating more locally. I've found that lots of my fellow members are frustrated and not sure how to make the most of the bags of vegetables they receive each week. So I was going to write a book, including templates for recipes.

I bought this book because I'm always looking for new recipes that feature produce, so imagine my surprise when it included lots of stuff I was going to include in the book I was going to write! I highly recommend this book to anyone new to CSAs (along with the Asparagus to Zucchini book). It gives tips for what to do when you get home, what to do with them (if you don't want to follow a recipe), and recipes that I will probably actually make.

I also reviewed this on my blog at [...]

I heard about this book from a friend who recommended it. It's a great book and I already bought it for a friend. If you are eating locally and need good ideas for recipes, this is a great choice. My only wish was that it had more photos of the recipes. Recommend!!