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by: DEBORAH MADISON
Binding: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 432
Publication Date: June 11, 2002
Sales Rank: 757714
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In Local Flavors, bestselling cookbook author Deborah Madison takes readers along as she explores farmers’ markets across the country, sharing stories, recipes, and dozens of market-inspired menus. Her portraits of markets from Maine to Hawaii showcase the bounty of America’s family farms and reveal the sheer pleasure to be found in shopping for and cooking with local foods.
Deborah Madison follows the seasons in her cross-country journey, beginning with the first tender greens of spring and ending with those foods that keep. Recipes such as Chard and Cilantro Soup with Noodle Nests and Lamb’s-Quarters with Sonoma Teleme Cheese launch the market season, followed by such dishes as an Elixir of Fresh Peas or a Radish Sandwich. Recipes for Whole Little Cauliflowers with Crispy Breadcrumbs and White Beans with Black Kale and Savoy Cabbage illustrate the range of the robust crucifers, while herbs and alliums provide the inspiration for a lively Herb Salad, tisanes, and Sweet and Sour Onions with Dried Pluots and Rosemary.
Deborah Madison challenges the conventional view of what’s seasonal. A Young Root Vegetable Braise celebrates that early crop of delicate roots, while Braised Root Vegetables with Black Lentils and Red Wine Sauce offers an elegant centerpiece dish for the heartier roots of winter.
Superlative fresh eggs, along with handmade cheese, are featured players at the markets everywhere, and here they appear in such simple dishes as Fried Eggs with Sizzling Vinegar and Warm Ricotta Custard featuring fresh whole-milk ricotta. Because organically raised poultry and meats have an increasingly important presence in our farmers’ markets, they are included, too, paired with other market produce that highlights their flavors, as in Roast Chicken with Herbs Under the Skin.
Late summer corn and beans inspire Corn Fritters with Aged Cheddar and Arugula and Shelly Beans with Pasta and Sage. When markets are filled with squashes and melons, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, Deborah Madison shows us that they’re perfect ingredients for simple, vibrant dishes, such as Braised Farmers’ Long Eggplant Stuffed with Garlic or Tropical Melon Soup with Coconut Milk. For the happily overwhelmed cook, Platter Salads suggest how to go ahead and use all of the market’s bounty.
Fruits, another vital part of farmers’ markets, are generously featured. Huckleberries, unusual grapes, and figs; stone fruits like plums and peaches; heirloom apples, persimmons; winter citrus and subtropical fruits are all here. Fig Tart with Orange Flower Custard; Peach Shortcake on Ginger Biscuits; a Rustic Tart of Quinces, Apples, and Pears; and a Passion Fruit and Pineapple Compote are just a few of the luscious desserts. And, because the market features more than fresh foods of the moment, recipes based on dried fruits, oils, vinegars, preserves, and other long-keeping foods help the reader continue eating locally once the market season has ended.
By going behind the scenes to speak with the farmers and producers, Deborah Madison connects readers directly with the people who grow their food. Full-color photographs of gorgeous produce, mouthwatering dishes, and evocative scenes from the markets will entice every reader to cook from the farmers’ market as often as possible.
Amazon.com Review:
In her previous cookbooks Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and the classic Greens Cookbook, among others, Deborah Madison scored with savory yet sophisticated fare--the kind of food even meat lovers relish. Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets finds Madison shopping those havens of quality, taste, and diversity, and devising recipes based on their seasonally available bounty. Among the 350 recipes--not all vegetarian--fans will immediately recognize the Madison hand in dishes like Soft Tacos with Roasted Green Chiles, Spinach and Green Garlic Soufflé, and Winter Squash 'Pancake' with Mozzarella and Sage. There's more to the book, however: 'Many people still think that the farmers' market is the place you go to for cheap food,' says Madison. More to the point, they're a source for 'truly local and therefore truly seasonal [food], quite likely raised by sound sustainable methods and by someone who might become your friend.' It's a message most readers will embrace.
The book offers chapters deftly arranged by fruit and vegetable families as they appear in the markets, such as 'The Vegetable Fruits of Summer: Eggplants, Tomatoes, and Peppers' and 'A Cool Weather Miscellany,' which includes recipes such as Sautéed Artichokes with Potatoes and Garlic Chives and a marvelous 'essence-of' soup, Elixir of Fresh Peas. Madison also treats unfamiliar fruits and vegetables, presenting the likes of lamb quarters in a soup made with Sonoma Teleme cheese, and sugar loaf chicory simply grilled and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Recipes for delightful salads like Melon Salad with Thai Basil also appear, as do a selection of pastas and risotto, such as Winter Squash Risotto with Seared Radicchio, and sweets like White Peaches in Lemon Verbena Syrup and Date, Dried Cherry, and Chocolate Nut Torte. With sidebars like Atlanta's All-Organic Market: Late October and color photos throughout of vendors, produce, and many of the dishes, the book offers the perfect match of Madison and the markets. --Arthur Boehm
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Much More Useful Than I Thought It Would Be
I am on box #3 for my CSA, and have to say this book is the book I use the most. Three great spring recipes so far, all very easy to prepare and two for ingredients that few of my other cookbooks cared to mention even in passing (nettles and sorrel). I live in Minnesota, and I was concerned buying a California based book, but the utility has been outstanding. The Greens chapter is particularly useful, as we have a CSA (Harmony Valley Farms) that loves to pile on the greens.
I agree ... Read More
Rating:  - Great Cookbook! And really fun to read
I purchased this book after reading about it in Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" I shop at our local market a lot so I thought this book would be helpful. I LOVE reading Madison's stories and I agree with her advocation of local markets. This book is great for figuring out what to do with veggies when they are in season. The book is arranged by type of food for example - Greens, Nightshades, Stonefruits, which is both beautiful and useful. The only reason I didn't give it five stars ... Read More
Rating: - Fabulous Resource for Local Cooking
As a member of a Community Supported Agriculture program, I find "Local Flavors" (along with "From Asparagus to Zucchini...") to be a fabulous resource for exploring meal options for many of the unique produce items I receive. Deborah Madison's directions are clear and easy to follow, and the pictures are mouth-watering. As a non-vegetarian living with a vegetarian, I find that Deborah Madison's vegetarian recipes produce meals that satisfy meat-eaters and vegetarians alike.
Rating: - Great Recipies and Wonderful Pictures
Perhaps it is unsophisticated for me to enjoy pictures in cook books as much as I do - but I find it hard to cook without them. This book is full of lush vegetable and food photos. The recipies are true to the title, teaching the reader how to use ingredients from local farmers' markets and/or farm shares. The recipies range from simple to more advanced. I've already ordered more to give as gifts. This is one of the best books I've used in years. Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's ... Read More
Rating: - Great Book for Farmers Market Neighbor. Very Good Read
`Local Flavors' by leading vegetarian cookbook author and teacher, Deborah Madison is quite a bit different from her most famous and critically successful book, `Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone' which I consider a candidate for top ten positioning in anyone's list of cookbooks and easily near the top of your list of vegetarian cookbooks.
As quite loudly proclaimed by the subtitle, this book is really all about regional, seasonal, and organic produce from farmers' markets. As such, it is very ... Read More
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