The Sustainable Kitchen: Passionate Cooking Inspired by Farms, Forests and Oceans (Paperback)

~ Stu Stein (Author), Judith H. Dern (Author), Mary Hinds (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stein and Hinds's Peerless Restaurant in Oregon's Rogue Valley is becoming one of the compulsory stops for foodies making West Coast pilgrimages to places like Chez Panisse and French Laundry. Now the restaurant's executive chefs present the philosophy and recipes that inform their cooking from seasonal Northwest ingredients. Eating is political for the authors, and they make a strong case for home cooks as well as restaurant chefs to support local farmers and purveyors to "encourage a regional food supply and a strong local economy, maintain a sense of community, encourage earth stewardship, and protect the future of small to medium-size family farms." Sprinkled between elegant recipes for Sweet Corn and Shiitake Mushroom Custard and Pan-Seared Alaskan Sablefish with Green Garlic, Fiddlehead Ferns and Soft Polenta are profiles of farmers and fishermen, as well as concise, non-preachy explanations of the environmental consequences of different production methods, in order to help readers make responsible and sustainable choices. The emphasis is firmly on Pacific Northwest products, especially fish and seafood, but each recipe offers substitutions to encourage cooks to use sources from close to home. The first step to a good meal is quality ingredients, and for Stein and Hinds that starts with knowing where your food comes from. 30 color and b&w photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

The Sustainable Kitchen brings home the thrill of tasting fine cuisine made from the best seasonal ingredients grown locally. Designed for people who want to make food choices that promote the economic, environmental and social health of their communities, this book gives seasonal cuisine new flair, using recipes adapted for exciting home cooking. Its two talented chefs share their passion for the culinary arts and their regional focus that inspires home cooks everywhere to connect with local farmers and purveyors to obtain the freshest produce available. These connections encourage regional food supplies and a strong local economy, maintain community, foster earth stewardship, and protect the future of family farms.

The Sustainable Kitchen focuses strongly on ingredients, offering a chef's insights into how and why to combine several together into a sauce, soup or ragoût for optimum flavor. The sumptuous recipes are offered as guidelines-the basis for inspiration, but not as absolutes-to allow for local market variations and a dash of spontaneity. Recipes include the full range, with special sections featuring entrees:

from oceans and rivers-seafood
from forests and farms-game, meat and poultry
from fields and gardens-vegetarian

Additional sections cover the basic tastes, tips for pairing food and wine, preserving the harvest, and "Notes to the Cook"-collecting useful recipes for basic vinaigrette, vegetable stock, crème fraîche, pasta dough, and much more.

Stu Stein and Mary Hinds are executive chefs at The Peerless Restaurant in Ashland, Oregon, which they own together. Both award-winning chefs with national experience, Stu has also appeared as featured chef on the nationally syndicated cooking series New American Cuisine and has contributed to several cookbooks.

Judith Dern has won awards for her food writing.

John Rizzo's prized photographs have appeared in many cookbooks and periodicals.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: New Society Publishers (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 086571505X
• ISBN-13: 978-0865715059
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #944,963 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Restaurant-Quality Food for the Home Kitchen, June 14, 2004

By	E. Deland (Klamath River, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

OK, let's get the disclosures out of the way: my husband and I are fortunate to live near Ashland, OR and we are huge fans of the Peerless Restaurant. I was also fortunate to be one of the recipe testers while they were writing their book. That said, this is a great cookbook with very do-able recipes that any home cook with a little bit of experience should be able to do. I tried 6 of the recipes during the testing phase and a couple of others since the book just came out and they were all winners.

I might not be able to duplicate the beautiful presentations that Stu and Mary offer at Peerless but the flavors of the home-cooked versions as compared to the restaurant versions are right on. The recipes give clear instructions, advice regarding advance preparations, ideas for substitutions, and wine recommendations.

Interspersed with the recipes are essays on how to make food choices that are good for our planet, eating seasonally, and interviews with artisanal food producers which give the reader an appreciation for the foods we eat and an understanding of how they are grown and produced.

This is an excellent, fun-to-read introduction to sustainable and seasonable cooking that tastes great too!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enhanced with 75 color and b/w photos, July 16, 2004

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Stu Stein and Mary Hinds are acclaimed chefs and co-owners of The Peerless Restaurant in southern Oregon. Together with Judith H. Dern, they have collaborated in The Sustainable Kitchen: Passionate Cooking Inspired By Farms, Forests And Oceans, a compilation of fresh, seasonal, flavorful, original, and thoroughly "kitchen cook friendly" recipes. Enhanced with 75 color and b/w photos, these delicious recipes range from Asparagus Custard; Three Oyster Stew; Heirloom Tomato Salad with Grilled Red Torpedo Onions and Pesto Vinaigrette; and Slow Roasted Ivory King Salmon with a Ragout of Mushrooms, Spinach and Fingerling Potatoes; to Sage Rubbed Leg of Pork with Apple-Fennel Pan Sauce; Root Vegetable and Onion Marmalade Pave; Chocolate Peppermint Brownie; and Honey Tangerine-Meringue Tartlet with Grand Marnier Pastry Cream and Berry Coulis. The Sustainable Kitchen will prove to be a welcome and appreciated addition to any kitchen cookbook collection!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too pretentious for me, August 19, 2008

By	Lisa (Oregon) - See all my reviews

I'm entirely for eating local and in-season, growing our own food, organic, etc, and we live in the same area of the restaurant, so I had high hopes. But while the recipes actually don't have too many ingredients (hard to find, yes, like duck fat or fennel bulbs, but not many of them) and seem reasonably straightforward and accessible, they aren't what I personally would cook for local and sustainable meals... these are definitely going for the gourmet high-end foodie who likes a bit of fussy in their food but wants to be greener. It's sustainable and local cooking in the hybrid-car way, rather than the bicycle way...