Cooking seasonally means having a keen eye and a sensitive nose as you traverse the aisles of nature's store. The harbingers of each season are color-coded - spring's plate is drenched with verdant tender stalks and gentle herbs; summer is resplendent with myriad bold reds, oranges, and yellows; autumn is rich with umber root vegetables and a second hooray of green leaves. Understanding this spectrum is an essential starting point to setting a menu. The Farmer's Market Cookbook will guide the home cook through the ripening seasons and serve as a road map allowing him or her to navigate any local market - be it farm stand or grocer's aisle. Chef Richard Ruben offers dozens of simple, elegant recipes that celebrate the gifts of nature's cycle from spring (fiddlehead fern risotto; fried green tomatoes; lamb marinated in tropical juice; rhubarb and almond crisp) to summer (strawberry tomato salsa; chilled cucumber/mint soup; grilled chicken breast with summer squash; lemon verbena sorbet) to autumn (ginger butternut soup; curried brussels sprouts; venison sausage stew; crisp apple towers). Ruben also provides additional information on the origin and proper selection of produce, hints for putting up flavored vinegars and oils, and historical facts about food. The Farmer's Market Cookbook presents an original approach to modern cuisine that hearkens back to a simple time when the land around us provided our meals, while also helping to fulfill our eclectic current cravings. (81/4 X 81/4, 202 pages)
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
The trend towards cooking and eating according to the seasons has been steadily gaining momentum, and it's no wonder. A fresh, deep red, perfectly ripe tomato in the middle of August seems a different species altogether than those insipid, crunchy, watery specimens we see in the supermarket in January. In The Farmer's Market Cookbook, Richard Ruben goes one better. A chef and food consultant in New York City, Ruben conducts "Green Market" classes at Peter Kump's Cooking School. He's shopped at farmers' markets all over the world and has put together a beautiful collection of simple, clear, easy-to-follow recipes that take full advantage of the kinds of specialty produce available all across the country.
Divided into sections for spring, summer, and autumn, this little volume is peppered with poetic notes and introductions by Ruben, who is obviously inspired by the produce he finds. Fava beans must have "a full allotment developed within." Lavender transports him "to languid, sun-drenched days." Choosing wild mushrooms, his "mind was now conveyed to a moist, shadowy forest." He's even included a number of food-inspired haikus for good measure!
But even if you don't appreciate his poetry, Ruben's recipes are well worth a try. Ingredient lists are short and the instructions are simple--if the produce is delectably fresh, the argument goes, what more do you need? Spring offers dishes such as Fiddlehead Fern Risotto, Lamb Marinated in Tropical Juice (with fresh mint and spinach or baby bok choy), and Wilted Escarole Scented with Garlic. Summer's bounty includes Grilled Summer Corn and Tomatillo Relish, Grilled Chicken Breasts with Summer Squash, Gnocchi with Cherry Tomatoes and Sage Butter, and Lemon Verbena Sorbet. And in autumn there are dishes such as Quince and Pomegranate Chutney, Kale with Caramelized Onions and Portobello Mushrooms, and Stuffed Dumpling Squash.
Fortunately, most of the ingredients called for are available in supermarkets, so even if your idea of fun is not a Saturday morning at the market, you can still easily create these seasonal dishes at home. And for those who love nothing better than to wander through the stalls, chat with the farmers, and find a new vegetable or herb at the local farmers' market, chances are you'll find a simple recipe here to highlight whatever you discover. --Leora Y. Bloom
Review
Full of great recipes....This wonderful book just makes me want to pick up a basket and head straight to the farmer's market. -- Joanne Weir, author of Weir Cooking
It is wonderful to see how easy and delicious food can be when prepared with fresh produce purchased from organic farmers... -- Alice Waters, Chez Panisse Cafe & Restaurant
It is wonderful to see how easy and delicious food can be when prepared with fresh produce purchased from organic farmers... -- Alice Waters, Chez Panisse Cafe & Restaurant
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Tsurezure
Format:Hardcover
Richard Ruben is that rare being--a chef who can write well, bringing his passion for the bounty of nature's markets to the page as well as to the table. With prose that is as beautiful as it is informative, chef/teacher/poet/philosopher Ruben takes us on a culinary tour of the seasons via the farmer's market that brings all of nature's best to our tables. With stunning recipes and lyrical prose, Ruben shares his love affair with lavender and verbena in recipes such as Lavender Ricotta Cake and Sweet Potatoes Braised with Lemon Verbena. His extensive knowledge of world cuisine comes into play in the many exotic creations like Green Rice, and Apple Shochu, a Japanese distilled spirit infused with apple. Although the book can be wonderfully playful, Ruben also offers practical knowledge in comprehensive lists of seasonal vegetables, fruits, and herbs; hints for putting up flavored vinegars and oils; and tips on how to understand the color-coded spectrum of each season's offerings, including how to select produce properly. Like the evocative haiku sprinkled throughout this lovely book's pages, Ruben's recipes resonate with an appreciation of nature and its offerings, bringing fresh food from the market to the table in dishes that will delight everyone's palate and spirit. This will be the book I give as a gift to everyone I know who loves to eat and cook. It's a blessing that will grace anyone's table.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This is a cookbook that people who really love food in it's purest form must have. Richard Ruben translates his enthusiasm for the farmer's (or ethnic) market into simple recipes with sophisticated flavors that sing. His appoarch to food re-affirms that old adage, simple is better. As you read through his personal collection of recipes, you want to make every one. But must do so season by season to get the best results. In this day and age of hundreds of cookbooks, Ruben distinguishes himself quietly and with authority, reminiscent of the early days of Alice Waters when passion for food and the best ingrendients were the only motivators. If I could only have one cookbook and a market, it would certainly be this one. BUY THIS BOOK FOR THE SUMMER and continue to use it through fall and winter...
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This cookbook is magnificent! Fun, wittily written, simple to follow, Richard Ruben focuses on enjoying the fresh goodness the earth offers us in each season. It's about tasting and exploring what's in front of us, presented by the growers themselves. Easy-to-follow recipes, ideas, charts, seasonal suggestions....it's great. I'm not much of a cook and I used this book to wow a dinner party with pheasant, curried brussel sprouts, & individual squashes stuffed with fennel, apples, & carrots. It's a valuable, exciting, DELICIOUS standout in a crowded field.
By Pam Rauber
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am fortunate to have met and assisted Chef Richard Ruben in Atlanta Georgia. He is extremely knowledgeable in the nutritional values of fresh vegetables, herbs and spices. This is a great book to have in your kitchen.
By Julia Shealy
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love cooking fresh veggies and fruits, just got tired of the same dishes. This cookbook gave me fresh ideas to my favorite veggies and fruits.
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
My daughter lives in New York City and goes to the green market several times a week to buy fresh veggies, etc. for her growing family. She loves these cookbooks, so therefore I keep sending them to her as they become available-thanks to the great authors!!
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Richard Ruben's The Farmer's Market Cookbook is a MUST addition to any chef wannabe's collection.
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By OhA
Format:Hardcover
Great book, especially for anyone who shops at the Greenmarket at Union Square in NYC. I've taken several classes from Chef Richard, who teaches recreational greenmarket cooking classes at ICE, and they're even better than the book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Have
My self and many others think that The Farmers Market cook book by one of the greatest cookbook authors Richard Ruben is a MUST have. Read more
Published on January 17, 2001 by JBM
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Look At The Man I Know As My Uncle
There's so many things that I can say about this book, it combines great recipies with a great style of writing to get the reader really interested in his/her cooking. Read more
Published on November 22, 2000 by "rangers11c"
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