Farm Markets & Gardens (Canal House Cooking #4)

Farm Markets & Gardens (Canal House Cooking #4)

by Melissa Hamilton, Christopher Hirsheimer

4 stars

What a gorgeous cookbook. Photographs are stunning. A reader can definitely see that the design was well thought-out and executed, which is the first thing a reader will see – not the recipes. If the design is flawed, no matter the quality of the recipes, most people will re-shelve that book in favor of an “easier on the eyes” tome. Luckily the design passes this “first impression” test with flying colors.

Now on to the recipes! Happily, the recipes look appetizing and mostly doable, using ingredients that one would find in a farmer’s market or a regular grocery store (if you are not of the locavore mindset).

Be aware though that some of the recipes are not formatted in the traditional way – mostly in the appetizer chapter.  They are reminiscent of old-fashioned cookbooks where the ingredients and method are embedded within a prose paragraph. The ingredients in this cookbook are highlighted, to make them easier to see – which helps – but there is a reason that recipes nowadays are written with the recipes listed first, method second. It is very, very easy to lose track of which ingredient you need to get next – as most home cooks don’t utilize the mis en place method of readying the ingredients beforehand.

Besides this minor annoyance, this cookbook is an adulation to summer cooking. The recipes rely heavily on seasonal vegetables and fruits, which is just smart cooking. To everything, there is a season.

My favorite chapter was the Preserving Summer section – I wish it were longer! I am a big home preserver, and the two canning recipes look wonderful. I will add them to my collection – I especially want to find red currants and whip up a batch of red currant jelly.

Thank you NetGalley and Open Road Integrated Media for the opportunity to review this beautiful cookbook.