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'The French Market'
by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde
HarperCollins Publishers -- 2005
Buy it on Amazon

Although glorious American markets do exist, nothing quite compares to the French marketplace -- the endless barrels of olives alone distinguish them. But in the next-best-thing category, the author of "My French Kitchen" attempted -- and succeeded -- to capture the art of French market-inspired cooking yet again in "The French Market: More Recipes from a French Kitchen."

French cooking at its core makes strong use of fresh produce, with dishes like the traditional tomato salad, which frugally pairs tomatoes with parsley and heaps of pepper to magnificent results. "The French Market" seems to share this proclivity for cooking with tight ingredient lists, relying largely on the flavors of quality produce -- and the occasional bouquet garni.

See what we tested and find out whether the book's worth buying after the jump.

I spent most of June anticipating the 4th of July. It's not that I harbor a particular love for fireworks, crowds or parades. I was looking forward to it because it was was a Friday off from work that I could use to go berry picking. I got up early and drove out to rural New Jersey to Mood's Farm Market to pick blueberries. Sadly, the berries weren't quite as ripe as I would have liked (I imagine they are absolutely perfect today) but I still managed to pick 8 pounds of sweet, spicy and tart berries.

While at the market, I also picked up 2 quarts of tiny plums, half a dozen super-fresh ears of corn, several pounds of new potatoes (destined for a quick trip through the oven with rosemary and garlic), a dozen fresh apple cider donuts (possibly one of the best treats ever created), a whole mess of Kirby cucumbers and half a bushel of small, sweet white peaches. Details about how I used all this wonderful, fresh abundance is after the jump.