Vegetables: The Most Authoritative Guide to Buying, Preparing, and Cooking with More than 300 Recipes [Hardcover]

James Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 17, 1998

The follow up to his award-winning Fish and Shellfish, James Peterson''s newest book, Vegetables, aims to be the most authoritative book on this topic available. '

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

James Peterson's Vegetables is an encyclopedic yet easy-to-read guide to preparing everything from artichokes and beet greens to plantains and watercress. It contains more than 300 enticing recipes, many which use just three or four ingredients.

This is a book about vegetables, but not a vegetarian cook book. To deliver appealingly intense flavors, Peterson uses chicken broth, anchovies, prosciutto, or bacon. He also does not skimp on cream or butter when he feels it is right for a dish.

Peterson starts with information on buying, storing, and using 64 vegetables. Photos illustrate how to trim fennel, clean and julienne leeks and perform other commonly used techniques. He also provides helpful information along with the recipes, like suggesting that you buy roasted, not raw cashews because they are less likely to be rancid. The recipes range from Mediterranean-style Creamy Zucchini Gratin to Mexican Avocado and Chile "Gazpacho," and Japanese Cucumber Salad, as well as expected classics like mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, and creamed spinach. When you need a gift, think of this book. --Dana Jacobi

From Publishers Weekly

Peterson, whose Sauces won IACP Cookbook-of-the-Year in 1992 and whose Fish & Shellfish won a 1997 IACP award, will no doubt earn more honors with his latest, a collection of over 300 recipes so imaginative and inviting that even veggie-phobes will rejoice. Accepting the challenge of making something tasty out of supermarket produce (and occasionally making use of dairy and meat products), Peterson proves to be more than up to the task. In the first third of the book, he suggests cooking techniques for over 60 vegetables, from artichokes to zucchinis, along the way providing countless tipsAsuch as uses for fennel stems (dry them and toss on a barbecue to scent grilled food; use fresh ones to enliven stocks and stews). The rest of the book is devoted to "The Dishes" and covers everything from Vegetable Salads to Pasta, Gnocchi and Risotto, not to mention Fried Vegetables and Vegetable Stews. Many recipes are inspired. When preparing Dried Bean and Mussel Salad, cook the beans in the mussel broth for deeper flavor; create a savory side dish for roast beef or turkey with Shallots Glazed with Black Currant Liqueur; blend classic flavors in a hearty Italian-Style Kale and Garlic Soup with Prosciutto. Particularly helpful is a chart of yields per vegetable. Peterson doesn't worry much about fats, and may convince readers to abandon these cares as wellAat least temporarily. Leek Gratin for four calls for a cup of heavy cream; Risotto with Dried Porcini or Morels, a first course for four, glistens with a stick of butter. Even so, Peterson's unpretentious tone and his deft way of amplifying vegetables' siren songs make this book uncommonly captivating. First serial to Gourmet; second serial to Food & Wine; BOMC main selection; author tour; rights held by Goodman Associates.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks (June 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688146589
• ISBN-13: 978-0688146580
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #647,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous recipes and information July 1, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

If you are thinking *maybe* you *might* want to buy this book -- buy it! You won't regret it. Not only is the information invaluable and in a very accessible format, but the recipes are delicious and a happy mix of decadent and healthful. For me, though, the best part of this book is how inspiring it is. If I am thinking of what to make for dinner, I grab this book, find a recipe, and then adapt it for what I have in the house. It has truly helped me to be a better, more imaginative cook. The only caveat is that in the color photo section the recipes are not cross referenced. That is, the photo of the recipe appears there but not the page number it is on. So, you have to go back and look it up in the index. This is a minor inconvenience, of course, but on the other hand, how hard would it have been to put the page numbers in? In any case, I heartily recommend this book to anyone. All my friends who have seen it have bought their own copies because they loved mine so much. This is THE reference guide to have if you ever cook fresh vegetables.

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll Never Look At Vegetables The Same Way Again! September 4, 2000

By sherri j. thorne

Format:Hardcover

I remember my reaction when the greenmarkets first hit N.Y.C.. I could hardly contain my glee!! It was a showcase for fresh produce grown by local farmers. On any given day, you will see all the usual suspects of the vegetable world. You will also see UNUSUAL vegetables such as chayote, jicama and salsify. How do you select, store and prepare all of them? By using this superb book!! This book, with more than 300 recipes, puts vegetables front and center! No longer relegated to an accompaning role, these recipes show how vegetables can be used as the MAIN COURSE! Yes, you will find recipes for various vegetable salades which are VERY good; but how about vegetable gratins made with coconut milk, or casseroles made with Bechamel sauce? Peterson offers some very interesting soups from around the world, such as Italian-style kale and garlic soup with white beans and prosciutto. A great surprise was the section on pickles and brine. My family loves to pickling and canning, so this section was extremely useful. As someone who is starting to feel comfortable in the kitchen, but does not know a lot about trimming, shaving, seeding and julienning anything, the techniques section, presented in beautiful color photographs was a tremendous help. The same can be said for the section that showed the finished dishes, where you can SEE just how everything is supposed to look. I loved the seasonal availabity of vegetables chart that was found in the back of the book as well as the sources listing, which gives you the names of stores where you can find the various ingredients. After reading this book and using the recipies, you'll never look at vegetables the same way again!

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent: a well-written, very descriptive and useful book September 17, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I borrowed this cookbook from the library and was so impressed by the clarity of the descriptions, the ease with which I was able to find recipes and the descriptive simplicity of the writing, that I decided to buy it. As an avid, library-book-borrower, this is the highest compliment I can pay to an author.

Two main points: Although this book is about vegetables, it does not assume that the reader is a vegetarian. Often the recipes suggest which meats would be complement the vegetable dish.

Furthermore, as a foreigner confronted with the wider variety of American vegetables, it was wonderful to have a step-by-step approach to preparing what may seem to some people common vegetables. For once, I did not feel the writer was being patronising, rather clarity was the aim.

On the strength of this book, I am quite willing to buy further books by James Peterson, sight unseen.

73 of 87 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars doesn't have many recipes for your run-of-the-mill vegetable August 9, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I purchased this book hoping to find some meatless entrees to fit into my regular non-vegan diet. There are a few recipes for your run-of-the-mill veggies like broccoli, cabbage, corn and string beans. Most of the book is dedicated to vegetables like truffles, watercress, sorrel, salsify, rutabagas, cardoons and fiddlehead ferns, to name a few. I was disappointed with the small number of recipes that I would consider using in such a large and expensive book.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Former Vegetable Novice November 24, 2001

By Jacqueline Qualls

Format:Hardcover

I LOVE this book. I used to hate making vegetables - I'd whip out a can of corn, green beans or frozen broccoli with the best of them. Thanks to this book - we have the best vegetables on our table. I love the short cut microwave artichoke method - so easy and delicious - even my kids like them! And don't get me started on the Roasted Tomatoes - To Die For!
This book details how to buy, store and prepare vegetables - its like having Grandma's knowledge in a book. This book is a must have for every kitchen.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great layout--wonderful information--mediocre recipes January 6, 2006

By Renee Gleason

Format:Hardcover

I agree with many previous reviewers. I absolutely love the layout of this book. The first part of the book focuses on a comprehensive study of several different vegetables, providing very useful information about each one (what they are, how to buy them, when they are seasonal, best uses for them, etc). I find this section to be very helpful, especially since there are many "exotic" veggies discussed here that are not often found in other cookbooks (ie/kohlrabi, chayote, or salsify). This section is very user-friendly, as each vegetable is listed in alphabetical order, making them very easy to find. Also, with each vegetable description, there is a full list of recipes for that particular vegetable and where to find it in the book. I find this to be a very useful tool. If I want to cook something with spinach, for example, I don't have to go hunting for different spinach recipes in the book. All I have to do is go to the spinach page and find a complete list of all the recipes in the book that have spinach in it. I can then make my choice from there. The rest of the book (the recipe section) is then broken down by cooking methods (ie/stews, grilled veggies, fried etc), which I find to be a more useful way to categorize recipes. There is also a wonderful instructional section with full color photos that shows the various techniques for working with many of the vegetables. For example, trimming artichokes, cleaning leeks, peeling fava beans, glazing pearl onions, etc.

Where the book falls short, as many reviewers have pointed out, is in the recipes themselves. I've made a small handful of them, and while none have been flops, my high expectations of them fell a little short on taste.... (read: bland) I treat his recipes as solid building blocks to quality dishes, but it is up to me to add the flavor. A few additions of herbs and spices do wonders for his dishes. But if you are someone who doesn't feel comfortable embellishing on recipes, then this cookbook is certainly not for you. It's such a shame, because this book is really beautifully written and organized and very educational about vegetables. If only the recipes were as full on taste as the book is on information, then this would be a perfect cookbook.

In conclusion, if you are someone who wants an informative source on vegetables and their uses and is comfortable with customizing a recipe to suit your tastes, then I can recommend this book. But if you are looking for foolproof recipes that require no tweaking, then you should probably look somewhere else. Read more ›