Learn to COOK - The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook: Seasonal Foods, Simple Recipes and Stories from the Market and Farm
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List Price: $22.95
Our Price: $15.61
Your Save: $ 7.34 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Blenheim Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5979493
EAN: 9780979042904
ISBN: 0979042909
Label: Blenheim Press
Manufacturer: Blenheim Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: 2007-06-16
Publisher: Blenheim Press
Studio: Blenheim Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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For more than a quarter century, the Santa Monica Farmers' Market has inspired both renowned chefs and home cooks, making it a regional market with national presence. One of the largest markets in the state, it stands at the forefront of a national trend toward cooking with local and seasonal ingredients. For more than twenty years, Amelia Saltsman has shopped its stands, talked with its farmers, and cooked its magnificent produce for family and friends. The result is The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook, a celebration of the market s excellence and its hardworking farmers. What s the difference between white and green zucchini? What are amaranth, sapote, and ramps? With Amelia as your guide, you ll learn the answers to these questions and more. You'll also find advice on how to select and store produce, stories about farmers and their crops, chef and farmer cooking tips, and more than 100 of Amelia's simple, tempting recipes including: -- Fava Bean and Pea Shoot Salad -- Classic Tomato Soup with a Goat Cheese Swirl -- Black Cod with Green Tomatoes -- Roast Leg of Lamb with Oil-Cured Black Olives and Herbs -- Seared White Nectarines with Burnt Honey -- Meyer Lemon Sundaes with Cara Cara Oranges and Tangelos With a foreword by acclaimed cookbook author Deborah Madison, a design by Ph.D and photos by Anne Fishbein.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Ode to Farmers' Market Cooking
Comment: Saltsman does a fabulous job of putting the Santa Monica Farmers' Market in the golden light those of us who have lived with its fruits (and veg and milk and meat and bread and fish and good vibes) know it deserves. She does it in a way that makes the book relevant to people living with any market. I frequently refer to the book for inspiration to cook what is coming up in my local market in NYC.
A beautiful (and very useful!) book. Thank you for it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Go bravely forth! (but take this with you!)
Comment: Plainly and simply, this book is a treasure! I use it as much for the delicious recipes as I do for the tips and tricks - which are all nestled nicely in between beautiful photographs of the farmers of the Santa Monica Market.
Amelia sheds light on those wonderful farmers' market items that you always want to cook, but aren't quite sure how to easily prepare. I use it often as a quick guide to remind me how to cook seasonal items I don't necessarily cook year round. What do I do with wax beans again? What can I do with green garlic? Spring greens? Beet tops? Amelia keeps my birdbrain in order and reminds me how to trim this, preserve that, boil, bake, reduce and roast year round. If I have a general question on how to prepare an item, I generally find that Amelia has the answer!
It's a comprehensive cookbook that teaches you to be fearless in your produce selection, adventurous in your ability to actually use the items you buy, and gives you a wonderful context for the heart and community of the Santa Monica Market.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Plain "jane"
Comment: I was very disappointed with this book. The picutures used at the front of the book could have been spaced through out the book appropriately, as an introduction for each section. When persons look at a cook book they are expecting to see pictures of some of the dishes. Pictures speak volumes and make you want to recreate the dish. I will use it as a reference book only.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A treasure of a cookbook for every season!
Comment: author of Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family
I actually DID trail "Amelia around the Santa Monica market to learn what's in peak season, and to be introduced to the farmers that grew it" (see previous review) when I wrote about this wonderful book for the Orange County Register. But there were frequent interruptions, because Amelia Saltsman - writer, cooking teacher, producer/host of her own TV show - is the undisputed queen of the Santa Monica Farmers Market and instantly recognized by shoppers and farmers alike. This cookbook is as much an homage to the farmers, their histories, and their commitment to excellence as it is a collection of fuss-less, original and artful recipes inspired by the amazing varieties they produce. Fava Bean and Pea Shoot Salad. Fresh Porcini and Potato Soup. Slow Baked Quince with Honey and Cognac. Recipes that showcase ingredients over method, with Saltsman guiding us from the familiar to the exotic, as you can see by the following excerpt from the Register:
"People are overwhelmed by choice," she said, "but don't know how to proceed. The only way farmers are going to grow these varieties is if people know how to cook them."
A delivery man whizzed by carrying mounds of bush-like, herby-looking bouquets. "Fresh garbanzo beans," Amelia informed me. "You can find unusual things at the farmers' market that you would never find anywhere else. It's not that they're so rare - they're just rare here. In Mumbai you could find them all the time. And even the very ordinary things sing with great flavor, the simplest things - carrots, potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes - it makes all the difference in the world."
Shopper Sue picks up a lavender and cream-colored, teardrop-shaped eggplant and asked Saltsman, "What do I do with this?"
"That's a Rosa Bianca - it's very creamy inside," Saltsman informed her. "Cut it in cubes and sauté it - it gets tender quickly - or roast it in thick slices. It just melts in your mouth."
At Windrose Farms I'm struck by what appear to be tiny white, faintly striped melons, which turn out to be lemon cucumbers. "They are so sweet," she rhapsodized. "You can only find them in farmers' markets. Cut them, and inside it looks exactly like the juice vesicles of a lemon."
But the main reason to shop at a farmers' market is the taste, she said. "Because the ingredients are so fresh, they will keep for a surprisingly long time, because they're picked at their peak. Their entire shelf life is spent in your home, not being shipped."
Customer Rating:
Summary: "Custard from the Garden"
Comment: THE SANTA MONICA
FARMERS MARKET COOKBOOK
"Custard from the Garden"
By Amelia Saltsman
With a foreword by Deborah Madison
A review, interview by Marty Martindale
Various attractions draw visitors year `round. Some are bold, deeper-diving roller coasters, sedate museums, mighty cliffs and deep, deep canyons. However, appearing on more attraction lists these days are farmers' markets, and Santa Monica's Farmer's Market has become a special destination for a new breed of pleasure seekers.
"Open up all your senses," urges Saltsman, "look for colors, smell the aromas, feel for ripeness, taste the sweetness and listen carefully to the farmers." Saltsman. "Shopping at a farmer' market is a communal, rather than a solitary experience and one that asks us to use all our senses and be a bit adventurous. Small farmers -- wiling to grow for flavor, wait until the crop is completely ripe, then get it to market within 24 hours of harvest - this is their passion, and they want to excel."
In her book, Amelia successfully shares her enthusiasm for everything market. She's quick to refer you to her Roasted Seasonal Vegetable Primer, pages 102 to 105. "This is a perfect example of how you can take the same simple technique, use the basic seasonings of olive oil, salt and pepper to dramatically heighten natural flavors ... from caramelized carrots to custard-centered summer squash." She's quick to recommend her Prosciutto and Persimmon Appetizer made with crushed, toasted peppercorns, also her Nettle & Potato Frittata.
Here's a glimpse at some of Amelia's 100 farmers' market recipes:
* Winter Squash Puree with Shaved Parmesan: Onion, garlic, sage, red pepper flakes, olive oil, squash, stock, cheese, pumpkin seed oil and bruschette
* Grilled Fig and Market Ham Salad: Balsamic vinegar, figs, olive oil, ham steak, raw almonds, dandelion greens, lemon and Camembert-style cheese
* Pummelo, Fennel and Radish Salad: Fennel, radishes, grapefruit, fennel fronds, black olives, chives, mizuna, olive oil and lemon
* Romanesco with Green Olives and Capers: Romanesco or cauliflower, green olives, capers, Italian parsley, lemon zest, olive oil, red pepper flakes, lemon juice and garlic
* Roasted Okra with Fresh Peanuts: Okra pods, chopped peanuts, olive oil, red pepper flakes and one lemon
* Garlic, Smoked Tomatoes and Chipotles: Tomatoes, chipotles garlic, sweet potatoes, olive oil and cilantro leaves
* Farfalle with Five Herbs and Cherry Tomatoes: Farfalle, olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, cherry tomatoes, Italian parsley, basil leaves, spearmint leaves, wild fennel fronds and chives
* Chicken Legs with Kumquats, Prunes and Green Olives: Prunes, kumquats, olive oil, chicken, onion, garlic white wine, green olives, chicken stock and optional Harissa
* Roasted Seasonal Fruit: Assorted or single fruit, red grapes, honey, lavender, muscat wine and yogurt cheese
* Dried Plum and Toasted Almond Cream Tart: Plums or pluots, cognac, raw almonds, heavy cream, sugar, flour, salt, unsalted butter and egg yolks
Marty Martindale can be reached at: mm@FoodSiteoftheDay.com.
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