Need help at the Farmer’s Market

I think of myself as a savvy shopper of fresh vegetables and fruits. After all, I tell myself, I’ve grown most of these items. I should be able to tell when a tomato will have that perfect “from-the-garden” taste. But, I’ve been wrong. I also find the farmers market full of vegetables and fruits that I’ve never tried before.

Just last Sunday I purchased a tomato that tasted as bland as the ones I buy at the grocery store in January. I also have some little green and yellow squashes I’ve never cooked before.

What did I do? I did what I always do when I have questions:  I ask what books could help me find the answers. I found a huge array of resources. Fortunately, there are many people around the world who are a part of the “Eat Local” and “Slow Food” movement. It’s helped spawn a wide number of new books. Let me show you a few.

Fresh from the Farmers’ Market (Reissue): Year-Round Recipes for the Pick of the Crop by Janet Fletcher.

The author guides shoppers through the market, sharing tips on selection and storage as well as advice from the farmers themselves. Readers can turn peak-season produce into delicious eating year-round. This very useful cookbook is a celebration of market bounty with luscious color photographs. Among the 75 tempting dishes are Fingerling Potato Salad With Fennel, White Peaches in Raspberry Wine Sauce, Apple and Dried Cherry Crisp, Radicchio With Raisins and Pine Nuts, and Penne With Broccoli. Sauce. Each delicious soup, salad, entree and dessert makes the most of the season’s best.

Simply in Season Expanded Edition (World Community Cookbook) by Cathleen Hockman-Wert, Mary Beth Lind.

This cookbook makes an occasion out of the season itself. . . In many ways, this cookbook is also a theology of food. It reminds us with every page the meaning and place of food in our lives. (Farmer’s Independent Weekly)

An essential kitchen companion for all of us who love to get our food from our own backyard, local CSA or farmers market–and always need new ideas. This is a book I will turn to over and over again. They’ve put the recipes in the most organized, easy-to-use cookbook I’ve seen. (Catherine Walthers, author)

I love this cookbook. It not only contains a diverse variety of recipes, but it is chock-full of information about using fresh, local, and seasonal foods. (B. Smith, lifestyle expert)

Farm to Fork: Cooking Local, Cooking Fresh by Emeril Lagasse

In this new book, Emeril Lagasse continues his lifelong commitment to using fresh, local ingredients in his restaurants and home kitchen. He has spent the past thirty years building close relationships with farmers, fishermen, and ranchers. Farm to Fork is his guide to help you explore the great local bounty through fifteen flavorful chapters—sweet summer in “The Three Sisters: Corn, Beans, and Squash,” juicy “Berries, Figs, and Melons,” sublime naturally raised meats in “Out on the Range,” fresh catch in “Fresh Off the Dock,” and home canning tips from “Home Economics: Preserving the Harvest.”

Fill your basket with the ripest ingredients from every season at the markets (or your backyard garden) and dig into delicious recipes such as Sweet Potato Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter, Cheesy Creole Tomato Pie, Honey-Brined Pork Chops with Nectarine Chutney, Watermelon Rind Crisp Sweet Pickles, and Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp. Even learn how to make your own cheese and pasta at home. Emeril shares his love for fresh from-the-fields foods—and the heritage of the artisans who bring them to the table.

There are so many more books to choose from. These are the three I’ve narrowed my shopping to. (Product descriptions of the books came from Amazon.)

I’d love to know of resources you have used. Please share!

This was first posted on my blog, Joyfully Retired