"Farm Fresh Southern Cooking" Review

"Farm Fresh Southern Cooking"
by Tammy Algood

Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: April 17, 2012

Source: sent by publisher

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:  




Is there anything better than a kitchen countertop spread with the spoils of a Saturday morning at the farmers' market? Every trip yields some new assortment of old favorites and newfound treasures. One week, you're tempted by the sun-warmed heirloom tomatoes and the Mason jars brimming with orange blossom honey. Another week, it's the slabs of milky Havarti cheese and the Red Haven peaches heavy with juice, enticing you to spend just a little more than you planned. Kentucky pole beans, silky ears of sweet corn, and sacks of stone-ground buckwheat flour may find their way into your basket on another visit.



Whether you shop with a list or purely on impulse, you'll always find the truest taste of home at the local farms, roadside stands, and produce markets in your community. These are the places that offer up the native flavors of the South and all its seasons. They are your portal to the fields, the waters, and the vines where your food is cultivated. Get to know the origins of what you eat and the people who produce it. Tammy Algood's Farm Fresh Southern Cooking celebrates this experience with delicious recipes that will enhance the natural flavors of your latest market haul and stories of the South's most dedicated growers and culinary producers.
My Review:

This is a beautiful cookbook with so many new recipes to try, along with inspiring stories of locally owned farms around the southern states. The book cover and pages have a rustic look and feel, with a matte finish instead of glossy pages. It makes the book have more of a homespun feeling, even though sometimes the gorgeous photos do lose some of their luster.

My favorite thing about the cookbook was reading about all the locally owned farms and farmers markets that the author likes to visit. I'm glad there are web links too, because I really want to visit all of these places! It also encouraged me to seek out working farms near me where I can buy produce locally.

Since I love vegetarian dishes, I was excited to see so very many side dishes prepared with seasonal veggies. Some are snacks for sure, like the Fresh Peach Salsa that I can't wait to try. Others, like the casseroles, I feel could be served as the main dish for almost-vegetarians like me. There's a huge variety of different produce used in new ways I hadn't seen before.



Bottom Line: Overall, a wonderful addition to your cookbook collection, with varied and new recipes to try with locally available food.


I'm linking up to Weekend Cooking over at Beth Fish Reads! 

 

13 comments

  1. I think homegrown fruits and veggies are better than candy so this book sounds great! Be sure to let us all know how that peach salsa is. ;-)

    XOXO~ Renee C.

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  2. Sounds awesome. Like one I could dig. Great review.

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  3. I'm a cookbook fanatic. But I hate to admit that I'm a somewhat shallow one. While I love to pick cookbooks with awesome recipes, I also like cookbooks that have pictures on almost every page and with a small number of ingredients. I definitely want to know more about this one.

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  4. I love reviews of cookbooks and I was especially happy that you mentioned all the veggie dishes too!

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  5. This sounds like a winner of a cookbook ;)
    Thanks for sharing it ;) I'll try to find it :D

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  6. Hi Carrie!

    I love seasonal cookbooks especially those that showcase real local farms. I borrowed a similarly formatted cookbook from my library a while back and just loved it. Maybe you'd like to consider joining the weekly 'Weekend Cooking" meme that I sometimes participate in? It's hosted by Beth Fish Reads at http://www.bethfishreads.com

    Thanks so much for finding and following my blog today. I love meeting new people through blogging. I'm following you back through rss feeds. :)

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  7. Oh nice, this sounds like one I'd love! I definitely feel that way when I get home from the farmer's market and spread my bounty out in front of me. =)

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  8. Oh wow. This looks like a book I think I *must* own! I shop the farmers' market weekly from spring to fall. Thanks so much for bringing this great book to my attention.

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  9. I love to follow the seasons when cooking although it's not always easy while living in the city. I know what it's like from a 'previous' life though with plenty of farmers around us. When I'm back in that region I often go to local farmers to buy whatever they have on sale. Love it. So I can easily understand your excitement for this book. I love cook inspiring books anyway ;)
    Have a good weekend!!

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  10. Wow I see this was just released DAYS ago!!!! We have the best farmers market here :). Suddenly I am feeling all summery. I will look for this book!

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  11. Looking forward to visiting my local farmer's market soon. This book is great inspiration to get busy with new and healthy recipes :).

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  12. This book looks like one for me. I was just thinking yesterday that I need to check on the opening day for the Farmers Market. Should be sometime in the next month. I'll look for this book to help with new ideas.

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Thanks so much for your lovely comments!