Winter Harvest Cookbook: How to Select and Prepare Fresh Seasonal Produce All Winter Long Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My highest accolades go to cookbooks that make me want to run into the kitchen and cook before I have even finished reading them. This book is one of the best examples of that inspiration! The recipes are homey, yet sophisticated, using common ingredients as well as more exotic ones such as celeriac and gobi (burdock). The barley and hazelnut pilaf that accomapnies roast beef is superb! Do yourself a favor and buy this book. Then pull it out each November and fall in love with the recipes all over again!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Winter Harvest Cookbook: How to Select and Prepare Fresh Seasonal Produce All Winter Long

Anyone can include more local food in their diet at the peak of summer, but what do you do when the tomatoes are done and the first greens of spring are months away? The Winter Harvest Cookbook takes a seasonal approach to eating, even during the coldest months of the year. This fully updated and revised twentieth anniversary edition includes more than two hundred simple, mouth-watering recipes showcasing fresh produce from the winter garden or local market, rounded out by introductions to unfamiliar ingredients, shopping tips, menu suggestions, and resource lists. The author also invites us into her corner of the Pacific Northwest, with vignettes drawn from the region's farming, gardening, and cooking.Tantalize your tastebuds with an incredible array of soups, salads, sides, sauces, entrées, and desserts such as:Roasted brussels sprouts with sweet potatoes and garlic Penne with arugula, kale, and goat cheese Salad of roasted golden beets with feta and hazelnut oil Pot roast with hazelnut barleyWith a greatly expanded array of vegetarian and vegan dishes, Winter Harvest Cookbook is a must-have for anyone who wants to enjoy fresh, local, and delicious food-any time of the year!Lane Morgan is deeply committed to spreading the word about the joys of local produce in any season. The author and editor of numerous books on Pacific Northwest food and history including The Good Food Guide to Washington and Oregon and The Territorial Seed Company Cookbook, Lane has cooked, gardened, and homesteaded in western Washington for more than forty years.

Get 39% OFF

Click here for more information about Winter Harvest Cookbook: How to Select and Prepare Fresh Seasonal Produce All Winter Long

Read More...

Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking: Traditional and Modern Recipes to Savor and Share Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is my third book by Paula Wolfert. I intend to get all of them. Her books are not just full of recipes, but also contain relevant background information and insights into other cultures. I'm especially interested in learning more about cooking in clay. So this is the perfect book for me. In addition to the material in the book, you'll find more information about Paula's methods on eGullet's forums. I came across a thread on tagines and another on how to cure claypots. Paula contributed to both threads. Her knowledge, enthusiasm, and curiosity are amazing. It also speaks well of her how she encourages others on the forums. Clearly, a very neat lady.
Now the warning: you may end up with a house full of a new class of toys. So far I've accumulated a Chinese sandpot (which I cracked making a Wolfert recipe and successfully repaired using Paula's instructions), four different tagines, an Emile Henry Flame Top dutch oven, two Roemertopf's, a Japanese donabe, a Spanish Cazuela, and a Baeckeoffe oval tureen from Alsace. Regrettably, I'm not done yet. I still want to get some Black Chamba Clay Cookware and perhaps a daubière... unless my wife puts me out of my misery first.
Update (1-21-2010):
I've made numerous recipes from the book by now: Moroccan Fish Tagine with Tomatoes, Olives, and Preserved Lemons (for which I bought an inexpensive Rifi Tagra), Fried Spatchcocked Chicken (made in an Italian mattone), Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Sweet Onions and Raisins, Baked Moroccan Chicken with Charred Tomatoes, Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Winter Squash and Toasted Pine Nuts, etc. , etc. They were fun to make and tasted wonderful. Some recipes are easy to make and some require patience and dedication. There's a thread on eGullet that deals with cooking from this book. Its title is Cooking with Paula Wolfert's "Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking" You'll find some pictures, experiences, and hints on this thread, should you need help. Paula contributes here as well.
Update (2-17-2010):
I'm still happy with this book and I'm cooking at least one new recipe from it per week. My two recent favorites were "Chicken with Red Wine Vinegar, Tomato, and Shallots" and "White Beans with Tomatoes and Sage." The latter required making the beans before, according to another recipe: "Tuscan White Beans with Sage and Garlic." The beans were just terrific with the tomatoes and sage. It was an instant favorite for us while it was also one of the easiest recipes to make. I used my Chamba bean pot for this dish. (It's winter now in Colorado and it feels nice to put one's cold hands on the warm lid of the Chamba while inhaling the wonderful aromas escaping from the pot.) I'm completely sold on cooking in clay, thanks to Ms. Wolfert. Her book serves as an instruction manual on how to utilize the various clay pots available by providing the recipes that are best made in these pots. Months after I bought the book, I still have clay pots coming in on a regular basis--not that I *must* have them, but because I'm hooked. (Paula says in her book that 75% of the recipes can be made in just six different pots.) I'm also a fan of Ms. Wolfert's style of presenting information, which is not at all dry. As of today, I own all of her books.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking: Traditional and Modern Recipes to Savor and Share

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking: Traditional and Modern Recipes to Savor and Share

Read More...